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THE
HI8T0EY
OF
McLean County.
iLHiiiisrois,
CONTAINING
A History of the County— its Cities, Towns, &c. ; Portraits of Early
Settlers and Prominent Men; General Statistics; Map of
McLean County; History of Illinois, Illustrated;
History of the Northwest, Illustrated;
Constitution of the United States,
Miscellaneous Matters,
&c., &c.
» <♦» 4
tXjI:jTjste,.a.tex3.
) CO
CHICAGO :
WM. LE BARON, Jr., & CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET.
1879.
PREFACE
TN presenting our History of McLean County, we deem a few prefatory words
necessary. We have spared neither pains nor expense to fulfill our engagement with
our patrons and make the work as complete as possible. We have acted upon the
principle that justice to those who have subscribed, be they few or many, requires that
the work should be as well done as if it was patronized by every citizen in the county.
We do not claim that our work is entirely free from errors ; such a result could not be
attained by the utmost care and foresight of ordinary mortals. The General History of
the County was compiled by Prof. Merriman, of Bloomington, and the Township His-
tories of Bloomington, Normal and White Oak, by Capt. J. H. Burnham, and the balance
of the Townships by our historians, H. H. Hill and A. W. Kellogg. Some of the Town-
ship Histories are indeed longer than others, as the townships are older, containing
larger cities and towns, and have been the scenes of more important and interesting
events. While fully recognizing this important difference, the historians have sought to
write up each township with equal fidelity to the facts and information within their
reach. We take this occasion to present our thanks to all dur numerous subscribers
for their patronage and encouragement in the publication of the work. In this confident
belief, we submit it to the enlightened judgment of those for whose benefit it has been
|)repared. believing that it will be received as a most valuable and complete work.
.•;.'.
• •, • ••••
• • •
*..
> • • • •
• • •• ■
THE PUBLISHERS.
Foun(<afions
CHIOAOO:
ri'I.VRK. PAGE, IIOYNE A CO., PRlNTJCRfc,
118 >Bd ISO MoDrix Btntl.
CONTENTS.
HI.STORI€AI>.
Page.
History Northwest Territory 19
Geographical 19
Early Exploration 20
Discovery of the Ohio 32 \
English Explorations and Settle- '
ments 34
American Settlements 59
Division of the Northwest Terri-
tory 65
Tecumseh and the war of 1812 79
Page.
Black Hawk and the Black Hawk
War 73
Present Condition of the North-
west 79
History of Illinois 88
Coal 1(13
Compact of 1787 95
History of Chicago 110
Early Discoveries 88
Earlv Settlements 94
Page.
Education 107
First French Occupation 91
Genius of La Sale 92
Material Resources 1U2
Massacre of Fort Dearborn 117
Physical Features 99
Progress of Development 101
Religion and Morals 106
War Record ot Illinois lOf^
Page.
Source of the Mississippi 22
Mouth of the Mississippi 31
La Salle Landing on the Shore of
Green Bay 24
Buffalo Hunt 26
Trapping 28
Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain 42
Indians Attacking Frontiersmen... 55
A Pioneer Dwelling fiO
IIiL,lTSTR.4TIOXS.
Lake Bluff 62
Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chieftain... 68
Indians Attacking a Stockade 71
Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain 74
Kinzie House 87
Lincoln Monument, Springfield, 111. 80
A Pioneer School House 81
High Bridge and Lake Bluff 33
Page.
Hunting Prairie Wolves at an
Early Day , 85
Starved Rock, on the Illinois River,
La Salle County, 111 89
Chicago in 1833 82
Old Fort Dearbron in 1830 79
Present site of Lake Street Bridge,
Chicago, in 1833 58
Shabbona 121
McLiKAN I'OrXTY HISTORY.
Page.
General History of McLean County. 189 Dauvers
Arrowsmith Township 671 Dry Grove
Page.
Township 564 I
Allin
Anchor
Bloomington
Bellelliiwer
Blue Mound
Cropsey
Cheney's Grove
Chenoa
Downs
.716 ^ale
.747
.299
.735
.723
.739
.536
.498
.701
Empire
Funk's Grove '
Grid ley
Hudson '
Lawndale '
Lexington '
Martin
Page.
Mount Hope Township 577
695
4:^5
li-lh
G48
459 -
589
G80
0-9
T-M^
686
Money Creek
Glio-
Normal
sis
Old Town
018
Padua
552
Randolph
599
Towanda
636
AVhite Oak
483
West
753
Yates
L.lTHOGRAPHI€ PORTRAITS.
Page.
Adams, W. H. H 547
Bishop, James 781
Barnura, S. F 873
Barnett, T. J 799
Benjamin, D. C 979
Carlvl, John 98
Cheney, W. H 691
Carlock, A W 1033
Dimniitt, Wm 205
Elder, W. A 511
Ewins, John A 835
Flagg, W. F 223
Funk, Isaac 637
Ferre, L 601
Franklin, Noah 745
Fisher, T. D 889
Freeman, G. W 50
Gridley. A 277
Page.
Gregory, John 457
Greenman, E. E 763
Gildersleeve, James T 961
Hayes, James W .''67
Hewett, E. C 565
Havens. H 997
Keenan, J 925
Lewis, Samuel H 943
Moore, A. H 619
Mahan, J. C 702
Mitchell, T. F 475
McCullough, William 295
Ogden, B 055
Orme, W. W .313
Parke, Charles R 493
Parke, George W 403
Parkhurst, H 853
Rogers. Elihu 66
Page.
Rogers, Thomas P 439
Riebsame, C KtuI
Smith, Giles A 331
Stetson, Albert 583
Scbroeder, H 421
Soldiers' Slonument 187
Stokes, George W 1015
Trimmer. Jesise 673
Tipton, Thomas F 385
Van Schoick, Wm 529
Van Dolah, D. H 727
Withers, Allen 349
Wakefield, C 259
Whitmer, P 241
West, Henry 817
Wcedman, John 907
Wheeler, G. W 114
IV
CONTENTS.
BIOnKAPHlCAL. SKKTCIIK^i.
Page.
Arrowfmith 951
Allin 1008
Anchor 1056
BIoomingtoD 761
Belleflower 1014
Blue Mound 1023
Cropsev 1059
Cheney's Grove 897
Chenoa 859
Downs 957
Page.
Dan vers 1035
Dry Grove 1046
Dale 1027
Empire 869
Funk's Grove 985
Gridley 906
Hudson 94^
Lawndale 1043
Lexington 850
Martin 1062
Page.
Mount Hope 934
Money Creek '. 1020
Normal 831
Old Town 995
Padua 914
Randolph 840 .
Towaiida 989
White Oak 1053
West 918
Yates 106O
ABSTRACT OF lLL.INOI!i^ STATE I.AWS.
Page.
Adoption of Children 132 |
Bills of E.xchango and Promissory
Notes 123
County Courts 127 |
Conveyances 136 i
Church Organizations 157 '
Descent 123
Deeds and Mortgages 129
Drainage 135
Damagfs from Trespass 139
Definition of Commercial Terms 143
Exemptions from Forced Sale 128
Estrays 129
Fences 138
Forms :
Articles of Agreement 145
Bills of Purchase 144 |
Bills of Sale 146
Bonds 146
Page.
Forms :
Chattel Mortgages 147
Codicil 157
Lease of Farm and Build-
ings 149
Lease of House 150
Landlord's Agreement 150
Notes 144
Notice Tenant to Quit 151
Orders 144
Quit Claim Deed 153
Receipt 144
Real Estate IMortgaged to Secure
Payment of Money 151
Release 154
Tenant's Agreement 150
Tenant's Notice of Leaving 151
Warranty Deed 1.52
Will .". 1.55
Page.
Game 130
Interest 123
Jurisdiction of Courts 126
Limitation of Action 127
Landlord and Tenant 139
Liens 142
Married Women 127
Millers 131
Marks and Brands 131
Paupers 136
Roads and Bridges 133
Surveyors and Surveys 132
Suggestions to Persons Purchasing
Books by Subscription 158
Taxes 126
Wills and Estates 124
Weights and Measures 130
Wolf .Scalps 136
Page.
Map of McLean County Front
Constitution of the U. S 160
Electors of President and Vice Pres-
ident 172
Practical Rules for Every Day U30.173
0. S. Government Land MeiDiure.;.176
Agricultural Productions of Illi-
nois by Counties, 1870 186 I
Surveyors" Measure 177 I
How to Keep Accounts 177 I
MISlEIiliANKOUK.
Page.
Interest Table 178
Miscellaneous Tables 178
Names of the States of the Union
and their Signification 179
Population of the United States 180
Population of Fifty Principal Cities
of the United States 180
Population and Area of the United
States 181
Page.
Population of the Principal Coun-
tries in the World 181
Population of Illinois 182-183
State Laws Relating to Interest 184
State Laws Relating to Limitations
of Actions 185
Population of McLean Co 1064
Business Directory 1065
Errata 831
The Northwest Territory.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States
by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the
Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the
United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States
of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of
Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United
States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi
River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary
of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the
Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National
domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the
*' New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old " Northwestern
Territory."
In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast
magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater
in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States,
including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected
eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula-
tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of
the entire population of the United States.
Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent
flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far-
stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the
highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent
on the globe.
For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North-
west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United
States.
(19)
20 THE NORTUWEST TERRITORY.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New
World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel
of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than
half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence
to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no
settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that
he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and
disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery
for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize
upon any news from this extensive domain, and were tlie first to profit by
DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before an}^ adventurer
took advantae^e of these discoveries.
In 1616, four 3'ears before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the
wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene-
trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which
run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the
first mission among the lake tril)es. It was just one hundred years from
the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian
envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary,
below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent
result; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous far traders
attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes,
nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by
Me>nard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude
Allouez built the earliest lastiufj habitation of the white man amonof the
Indians of the Nortliwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette
founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Prills of St. Mary, and two
years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen-
eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the
present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a
grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were
taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken
of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at
Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac.
During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St.
Ignatius, tliey learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied
— as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's
cliildren resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come.
Filled with a wisli to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a
THE NORTHWEST TERRITG.xY. 21
request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his
king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico
or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe-
dition, prepared for the undertaking.
On the 13th of May, 1673," the explorers, accompanied by five assist-
ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of
discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were
astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade
them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as
exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of
frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But,
nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he
was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region
they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which
the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they
separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the
adventurers 6ntered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and
Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar-
quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the
town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows,
which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to
thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in
giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to
which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the
3'ear previous. Here ]\Iarquette drank mineral waters and was instructed
in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake.
He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to
Joliet, said: " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun-
tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths
of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct
them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on
the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to
witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet
ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage,
returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin,
which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown
waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck
out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were
now upon the bosom of th3 Fathet of Waters. The mystery was about
to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is
beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been
clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of
22
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand
" reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of
France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared
on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a
country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab-
itants vet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas-
tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.
SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon
the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the
boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed tlie path till they discovered a
village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a
half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most
hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person.
After remaining a few days they re-eml)arked and descended the river to
about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being
satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course
THE NORTHWEST TERKTTORY. ' £3
up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois,
rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point
to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, *' did we see
such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards,
swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River."
The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and
reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age, but of
which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by
the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette
returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them
until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the
mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan — he asked
to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe,
he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time
passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found
him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefull}'- passed away while at
prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place
fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving
the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The rivei; has since been
called Marquette.
While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in
the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre-
paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun
by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin.
After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see
the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French
trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of
those ages — a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an
expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific,
when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind
of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol-
lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous
western tributaries, the object could easily.be gained. He applied to
Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan,
dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that
LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes bv a chain of forts with the Gulf
of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un-
measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis-
tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized.
LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who
warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also receivad
from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Ghev-
24
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at
once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on
these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1670, having been joined
by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He
passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and
into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were
some time at Mieliillimackinac, where LaSalle founded e fort, and passed
on to Green Bay, the '' Baie des Puans" of the French, where he found
a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with
these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors,
LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY.
started her on her return voyage. The vessel "vvas never afterward heard
of. He remained about these parts until early in the AVinter, when, hear-
ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all tlie men — thirty Avorking
men and three monks — and started again upon his great undertaking.
By a short portage they passed to tlic Illinois or Kankakee, c.dled by
the Indians, '•Tiicukeke," ivolf, because of the tribes of Indians called
by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The
Frencli pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee.
"Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the
country," about the last of Deceml)er they reached a village of the Illi-
nois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment
i
THE NORTHWEST TERRIIORY. 25
no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalie biding in want of some breadstuffs,
took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi-
ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes
under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village
of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored,
the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening,
on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have
been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Pim-i-te-wi, that
is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met
with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent
some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that
place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were
trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men
were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the travel.
He called this fort " Crevecoeur''' (broken-heart), a name expressive of the
very natural sorrow and anxiety which the pretty certain loss of his ship.
Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the
part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might well cause
him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was
placed in his food, but fortunately was discovered.
While building this fort, the Winter wore away, the prairies began to
look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded to
return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew in
the enterprise. For this purpose he made Hennepin the leader of a party
to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and he set out on his jour-
ney. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons, and
was successfully made, though over an almost u iknown route, and in a
bad season of the year. He safely reach'jd Cana ia, and set out again for
the object of his search.
Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecoeur on the last of February,
1680. When LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he
found the fort entirely deserted, and he was obliged to return again to
Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven days after
leaving the fort, Hennepin reached the Mississippi, and paddling up the
icy stream as best he could, reached no higher than the Wisconsin River
by tlie 11th of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a
band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness. Hen-
nepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this voy-
age they found several beautiful lakes, and " saw some charming prairies."
Their captors were the Isaute or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe of the Sioux
nation, who took them up the river until about the first of May, when
they reached some falls, which Hennepin christened Falls of St, Anthony
26
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
in honor of his patron yaint. Here they took the land, and traveling
nearly two hundred miles to the northwest, brought them to their villages.
Here they were kept about three months, were treated kindly by their
captors, and at the end of that time, were met by a band of Frenchmen,
BUFFALO HUNT.
headed by one Seur de Luth, wlio, in pursuit of trade and game, had pene-
trated thus far by the route of Lake Superior; and with these fellow-
countrymen Hennepin and his companions were allowed to return to the
borders of civilized life in NovemV)er, 1680, just after LaSalle had
returned to the wilderness on his second trip. Hennepin soon after went
to France, where he published an account of his adventures.
THE MORTHWEST TERRITORY. 27
The Mississippi was first discovered by De Soto in April, 1541, in his
vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following Spring,
De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander-
ings, he fell a victim to disease, and on the 21st of May died. His followers,
reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men, wandered
about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to rescue them-
selves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels, called brigan-
tines, in which they embarked, and descending the river, supposing it
would load them to the sea, in July they came to the sea (Gulf of
Mexico), and by September reached the Island of Cuba.
They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but,
being so weary and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country,
and hardly had an intelligent idea of Avhat they had passed through.
To La Salle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the
first account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess
this entire country for his king, and in January, 1682, he and his band of
explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt, crossed
the portage, passed down the Illinois River, and on the 6th of February,
reached the banks of the Mississippi.
On the 13th they commenced their downward course, which they
pursued with but one interruption, until upon the 6th of March they dis-
covered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters
into the gulf. La Salle thus narrates the event :
" We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three
leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de LaSalle
went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti
meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main
outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the 8th we reascended the river, a
little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the
reach of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about
twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to
the column were affixed the arms of France with this inscription :
Louis Le Grand, Roi De France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvieme Avril, i632.
The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deum, and then, after
a salute and cries of " Vive le Roi," the column Avas erected by M. de
La Salle, who, standing near it, proclaimed in a loud voice the authority of
the King of France. LaSalle returned and laid the foundations of the Mis-
sissippi settlements in Illinois, thence he proceeded to France, where
another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander, and in two
succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by sailing along
the shore of the gulf. On his third voyage he was killed, through the
■28
THE NOiiTHWEST TERRITORY,
treachery of his followers, and the object of his expeditions was not
accomplished until 1699, when D"Iberville, under the authority of the
crown, discovered, on the second of March, by way of the sea, the mouth
of the " Hidden River." This majestic stream was called by the natives
*■' Malbouchia,'' and by the Spaniards, " Zd Falissade," from the great
t'l .Mm\i^^,
^^'^:m^m&^%j^''
TRAPPING.
number of trees about its mouth. After traversing the several outlets,
and satisfying liimsclf as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its western
outlet, and returned to France.
An avenue of trade was now opened out which was fully improved.
Jn 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colo-
nists. In 17<)2, the colony Avas made over to Spain, to be regained by
France under the consulate of Napoleon. In 1803, it was purchased by
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 29
the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territorv
of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under the
charge of the United States. Although LaSalle's labors ended in defeat
and death, he h:id not worked and suffered iu vaiu. He had thrown
open to France and the world an immense and most valuable country ;
had established several ports, and laid the foundations of more than one
settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, are to this day monu-
ments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them
(unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur,)
it was by those whom he led into the West that these places were
peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of
the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored."
The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the
year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois,
and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary
station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil-
lages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of
these missions is learned from a letter written by Father Gabriel Marest,
dated " Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de ITuimaculate Conception de
la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of
Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while
Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecoeur. This must have been
about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubaclie river,
(pronounced Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly^ was estab-
lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether prob-
able that on LaSalle's last trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia
and Cahokia. In Jul}', 1701, the foundations of Fort Ponchartrain
were laid by De la Motte Cadillac on the Detroit River. These sta-
tions, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to
occupy the Northwest Territory. At the same time efforts were being-
made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settle-
ment and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England
in 1718. This was mainly accomplished through the efforts of the
famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious John Law,
who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who with his
scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away.
From the time of the founding of these stations for fifty years the
French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the lower Missis-
sippi, and the war with the Chicasaws, who had, iu revenge for repeated
* Tliere is considerable dispute about tliis date, some asserting it was founded as late as 1743. "Wli^n
the new court lio\ise at Vincennes was erected, all authorities 0:1 the suljject were carefully examined, ami
>iQ-Z fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court house.
3) THE NOUTHWEST TEllKITORY.
injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company
did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened
the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of grains
indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is known of
the settlements in the Northwest, as it was not until this time that the
attention of the English was called to the occupation of this portion of the
New World, which they then supposed they owned. Vivier, a missionary
among the Illinois, writing from " Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort
Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have here whites, negroes and
Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages,
and three villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one leagues
situated between the Mississippi and another river called the Karkadaid
(Kaskaskias). In the five French villages are, i)erhaps, eleven hundred
whites, three hundred blacks and some sixty red slaves or savages. The
three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hundred souls all
told. Most of the French till the soil; they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and
horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is produced as can
be consumed; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New
Orleans." This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and
save in the extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were
found, almost all the products of the country foimd their way to France
by the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated Novem-
ber 7, 1750, this same priest says : " For fifteen leagues above the
mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low
to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lands are only partially
occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I
think, than twelve hundred persons. To this jjoint come all lumber,
bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all, pork
and flour from the Illinois. These things create some commerce, as forty
vessels and more have come hither this year. Above New Orleans,
plantations are again met with ; the most considerable is a colony of
Germans, some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty-five
leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, within five
or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty leagues farther
up is the Natchez post, where we have a garrison, who are kept prisoners
through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee, they raise
excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas,
where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river
traders. * * * From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred
leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, however, a fort at
the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the
Mississippi. In Ihe Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to
THE NORTHWEST TERRITOKY.
31
work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writnig from the post at
Vincennesin 1812, makes the same observation. Vivier also says : " Some
individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada.
•Two Spaniards now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are
like those of Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find
silver under the lead ; and at any rate the lead is excellent. There is also
in this country, beyond doubt, copper ore, as from time to time large
pieces are found in the streams."
MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the
lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at
the Mauinee in the country of the Miamis, and one at Sandusky in what
may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the Northwest
they had stations at St. Joseph's on the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan,
at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac,
Fox River of Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of
LaSalle were now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of
this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and settlement. Another
nation, however, was now turning its attention to this extensive country,
32 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
and hearinc: of its wealth, began to lay plans for occupying it and for
securing the great profits arising therefrom.
The Frencii, however, had another claim to this country, namely, the
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO.
«
This '' Beautiful"' river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de La-
Salle in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet
and Marquette.
While LaSalle was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found
leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois.
He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade, but he longed
to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West. An incident
soon occurred which decided him to fit out an exploring expedition.
While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a
distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state-
ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream.
LaSalle believing, as most of the French at that period did, that the great
rivers flowing west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to
embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent to
the commerce of China and Japan.
He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gov-
ernor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor and the lutendant,
Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no pro-
vision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St. Sul-
pice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expedition,
and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise money,
the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand eight hundred
dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four canoes and the
necessary supplies for the outfit.
On the 6th of Jul}', 1669, the party, numbering twenty-four persons,
embarked iu seven canoes on the St. Lawrence; two additional canoes
carried the Indian guides. In three days they were gliding over the
bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the
Seneca village on tlie bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity of the present
City of Rochester, New York. Here they expected to procure guides to
conduct them to the Ohio, but in this they were disappointed.
The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise. LaSalle suspected
that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After
waiting a month in the iiope of gaining their object, they met an Indian
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
i-^
from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them
that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence.
On their way they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they
heard for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving
IllfJU BltlDGE, LAKK BLUFF, LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned
from a Shawanee prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks.
Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to resume
their journey ; but just as they were about to start they heard of the
arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One of them proved
to bs Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as an explorer in the West. Ks
I
34 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
had been sent by tlie Canadian Government to explore the copper mines
on Lake Superior, but had failed, and was on his way back to Quebec.
He gave tlie missionaries a map of the country he had explored in the
lake region, togetlier with an account of the condition of the Indians in
^hat quarter. This induced the priests to determine on leaving the
expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle Avarned them that the
Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they would meet
with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their purpose, and
after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On arriving at
Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the Jesuit Fathers,
Marquette and Dablon, occupying tlie field.
These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted
no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron
saint ; and thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June
without having made a single discovery or converted a single Lidian.
After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois
village at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to a
tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far
as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle, the
persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669.
The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony-
mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle
himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. Li a letter written to Count
Frontenac in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he
discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was reofarded as
an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the Ohio
Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent by the colony
of Virginia in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French
had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty commandant at Quebec
replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries
of LaSalle, and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to
make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley."
ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.
When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters
and the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts
already described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seri-
ously about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States
of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet
under the dominion of the red inon. The English knew, however, pretty
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35
conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As early as
1710, Governor Spotswood, of Vii-ginia, had commenced movements to
secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English crown. In
Pennsylvania, Governor Keitli and James Logan, secretary of the prov-
ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the neces-
sity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however, by that
power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims of Britain
to this unexplored wilderness.
England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was a
discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her grants
to the colonies extended " from sea to sea." This was not all her claim.
She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land. This lat-
ter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord H oward. Gov-
ernor of Virginia, held a treaty with the six nations. These were the
great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the Mohawks, Onei-
das, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tuscaroras were
taken into the confederacy, and it became known as the Six Nations.
They came under the protection of the mother country, and again in
1701, they repeated the agreement, and in September, 1726, a formal deed
was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of this claim has
often been disputed, but never successfully. In 1744, a purchase was
made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain lands within the " Colony of
Virginia," for which the Indians received <£200 in gold and a like sum in
goods, with a promise that, as settlements increased, more should be paid.
The Commissioners from Virginia were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel
William Beverly. As settlements extended, the promise of more pay was
called to mind, and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with
presents to appease the savages. Col. Lee, and some Virginians accompa-
nied him with the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings
regarding the English. They were not satisfied with their treatment,
and plainly told the Commissioners why. The English did not desire the
cultivation of the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In
1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant
of land beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government
of Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hun-
dred thousand of which were to be located at once. Upon the 12th of
June, 1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west was
made to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100,000
acres were given to the Greenbriar Company. All this time the French
were not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in the
West, especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French
3iJ THE NOUTIIWEST TERRITORY.
settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts and so gain
possession of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1774, Vaud-
reuil, Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing the
consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build trading-
posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and to further
secure the c«aim of the French to the West, he, in 1719, sent Louis Cel-
eron witli a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River, in the mounds
and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates of lead, on which
were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard of in 1752, and
within the memory of residents now living along the '' Oyo," as the
beautiful river was called by the French. One of these plates was found
with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date August 16, 1749, and
a copy of the inscription with particular account of the discovery of the
plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the American Antiquarian Society,
among whose journals it may now be found.* These measures did not,
however, deter the English from going on with their explorations, and
though neither party resorted to arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and
it was onl}^ a question of time when the storm Avould burst upon the
frontier settlements. In 17")0, Christopher Gist was sent by the Ohio
Company to examine its lands. He went to a village of the Twigtwees,
on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. He
afterward spoke of it as very populous. From there he went down
the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the present City of Louisville,
and in November he commenced a survey of the Company's lands. Dur-
ing the Winter, General Andrew Lewis performed a similar vv'ork for the
Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing
their forts for defense, and in opening roads, and also sent a small party
of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having heard of the Eng-
lish post on the Miami River, early in 1652, assisted by the Ottawas and
Chippewas, attacked it, and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of
the natives were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison.
(They were probably garrisoned in a block house). The traders were
carried away to Canada, and one account says several were burned. This
fort or post was called by the English Pickawillany. A memorial of the
king's ministers refers to it as " Pickawillanes, in the center of the terri-
tory between the Ohio and the Wabash. The name is probably some
variation of Pickaway or Picqu^i in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones
Pickaweke."
■•The following Is a translation of the Inscription on the platr: "In the year 1749. reign of Louis XV.,
KiiiK<'f Franco, \vc, Celeron, commandant of a (U'taohment by Alonslenr the JIarquis of (Jallisoiiiere, com-
mander-ln-clilef of New Krance, to estahlish tranqnility In certain Indian villuKes of these cantons, have
bnrled this plate at the fonnncnce of the Toradakoln, this twenty- ninth of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise
neautlfnl River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and all its
trIliutnrleH; Inasmuch as the jnecedlntf Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and
treaties; especially by those of Uyswlck, Utrecht, and Alx La Chapelle."
THE NORTHWEST TERRITOEZ. 37
This WHS the first blood shed between the French and English, and
occurred near the present City of Piqua, Ohio, or at least at a point about
forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation became now more inter-
ested in the progress of events in the Northwest. The English deter-
mined to purchase from the Indians a title to the lands they wished to
occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterward Commander-in-chief over Washing-
ton at the commencement of the French War of 1775-1 T'OS), Lomax and
Patton were sent in the Spring of 1752 to hold a conference with the
natives at Logstown to learn what they objected to in the treaty of Lan-
caster already noticed, and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June,
these Commissioners met the red men at Logstown, a little village on the
north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pitts-
burgh. Here had been a trading point for many years, but it was aban-
doned by the Indians in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize
the treaty of Lancaster, but, the Commissioners taking aside Montour,
the interpreter, who was a son of the famous Catharine Montour, and a
chief among the six nations, induced him to use his influence in their
favor. This he did, and upon the 13th of June they all united in signing
a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a
settlement of the southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should
not be disturbed by them. These were the means used to obtain the first
treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.
Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manceuvre
eacli other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally
outwitted the Indians, and failed in many instances to fulfill their con-
tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further
increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammuni-
tion. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758 : " The Indians on the Ohio
left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French were
coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The
French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The
Governor of Virginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when
we wanted help, forsook us."
At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by
title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered cannon
and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The Eng=
lish made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not until
the Summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the plans
of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning them
away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain of forts
already begun, and would not abandon the field.
Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard-
38 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie of
Virc^inia determined to send to them another messenger and learn from
them, if possible, tlieir intentions. For this purpose he selected a young
man, a surveyor, who, at the earl}' age of nineteen, had received the lank
of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life. This
personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington, who then
held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this time just
twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two, accompanied
by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They left Will's
Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached the Monon-
gahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to
Logstown, wliere Washington had a long conference Avith the chiefs of
the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the French, and
also heard of their determination not to come down the river till tlie fol-
lowing Spring. The Indians were non-committal, as they were afraid to
turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to remain neutral.
Washington, finding nothing could be done with them, went on to
Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek. Here the
French had a fort, called Fort Machault. Through the rum and flattery
of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers. Finding nothing
of importance here, he pursued his way amid great privations, and on the
11th of December reached the fort at the head of French Creek. Here
he delivered Governor Dinwiddle's letter, received his answer, took his
observations, and on the 16th set out upon his return journey with no one
but Gist, his guide, and a few Indians who still remained true to him,
notwithstanding the endeavors of the French to retain them. Their
homeward journey was one of great peril and suffering from the cold, yet
they reached home in safety on the 6th of January, 1754.
From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by
Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French would
not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at once made
in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the French
finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications,
and gathered their forces to be in readiness.
The Old Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great
activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring
colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac
njfii were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation — which promised
two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were
gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point, whither Trent
had come for assistance for his little band of forty-one men, who were
THE NORTHWEST TEREITOIIY. 39
working away in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the fork of
the Ohio, to which botli parties were looking with deep interest.
" The first birds of Spring filled the air with their song ; the swift
river rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows of
Spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a few Indian
scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all was so quiet,
that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had been left by Trent
in command, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten
miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder-
ness, keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising at the fork, and
swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and upon the morning
of the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw
upon the Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink — sixty batteaux and
three hundred canoes filled with men, and laden deep with cannon and
stores. * * * That evening he supped with his captor, Contrecoeur,
and the next day he was bowed off by the Frenchman, and with his men
and tools, marched up the Monongahela."
The French and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la
Chapelle, in 1748, had left the boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the events already narrated show the
French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi
and its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by virtue
of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New-
foundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
first decisive blow had now been struck, and the first attempt of the
English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these lands, had resulted
disastrously to them. The French and Indians immediately completed
the fortifications begun at the Fork, which they had so easily captured,
and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne. Washing-
ton was at Will's Creek when the news of the capture of the fort arrived.
He at once departed to recapture it. On his way he entrenched him-
self at a place called the " Meadows," where he erected a fort called
by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and captured a force of
French and Indians marchinof asrainst him, but was soon after attacked
in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the
morning of Jaly 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia.
The English Government immediately planned four campaigns ; one
against Fort DuQuesne ; one against Nova Scotia ; one against Fort
Niagara, and one against Crown Point. These occurred during 1755-6,
and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions.
The expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General
Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those
40 -iHli >;oitTH\VEST TERRITORY.
acquainted -with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat. This
occurred on the morning of Jul}^ 9th, and is generally known as the battle
of Mononirahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war continued with
various vicissitudes through the years 1756-7 ; when, at the commence-
ment of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then Secre-
tary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations were made to
cany on the war. Three expeditions were planned for this year : one,
under General Amherst, against Louisburg ; another, under A.bercrombie,
against Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third, under General Forbes, against
Fort DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered after a
desperate resistance of more than forty days, and the eastern part of the
Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the British. Abercrombie
captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedition against Fort DuQuesne,
of which Washington had the active command, arrived there, it was
found in flames and deserted. The English at once took possession,
rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illustrious statesman, changed the
name to Fort Pitt.
The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduction of
Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst was to
reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to
capture Niagara. This latter place was taken in July, but the gallant
Prideaux lost his life in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga
and Crown Point without a blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memor-
able ascent to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated
Montcalm, and on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement
Montcolm and Wolfe l)oth lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's successor,
marched to Sillery, three miles above the city, with the purpose of
defeating the English, and there, on the 28tli of the following April, was
fought one of the bloodiest battles of tlie French and Indian War. It
resulted in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the City of Montreal.
The Governor signed a capitulation l)y which the whole of Canada was
surrendered to the English. This practically concluded the war, but it
was not until 1763 that the treaties of peace between France and England
were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that year, and
under its provisions all the country east of the Mississippi and north of
the Il>erville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same
time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain.
On the 13th of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent
from Montreal to take cliarg^ of Detroit, the only remaining French post
in the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum-
moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post,
Beletrc; refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41
French arms, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December 23d
under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to whom,
no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire the
purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He was
assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did not
desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did much
to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay, and while
on their journey home.
Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one
month on the way. His route was from Detroit to Mauraee, thence
across the present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the com-
mon trail of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of
the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is,
crossed the Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon
John's Town" on Mohickon Creek, the northern branch of White
Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town
on what is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were probably one
hundred and fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of
cleared land. From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across
Big Beaver, and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork.
The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule.
New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large
trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their promises
with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been perpe-
trated, and the country would have been spared their recital.
The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these
atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading
events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this
noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named
Alexander Henrj^, who, in the Spring of 1761, penetrated his domains as
far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French,
but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his
hunting grounds'. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian
to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached
him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He
declared that no treaty had been made with them; no presents sent
them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation.
He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dignified, and was
civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and Pottawatamies.
The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina,
were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified
February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly
42
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
rONTIAC, THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 4J
upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow stril^e every man dead.
Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander
of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares
and INIingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local qmirrels to unit^
in this enterprise.
The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May 7, 176^.
Nine Bi-itish posts fell, and the Indians drank, " scooped up in the hollow
of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton.
Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit.
Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian Avoman disclosing
the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was carried out,
however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when
Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian
chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed
musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He
saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. He
endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions ; but the guilt
was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe
rejirimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post.
Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace
between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764,
continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He organized a regular
commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark^
which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed. At
the conclusion of the treaty, in whicli it seems he took no part, he went
further south, living many years among the Illinois.
He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a
time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis
in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and only ended in a
quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon
afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the northern
Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed.
Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan
for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly
have been cari-ied out.
It was in the Spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex-
ander Henry went to Missilliraacnac, and everywhere found the strongest
feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises, and
were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met the chief,
Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that their
French father would awake soon and utterly destroy his enemies, said :
'' Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you have not
44 THJfi NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
yet conquered us ! We are not your slaves! These lakes, these woods,
these mountains, were left us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance,
and we will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like
the white people, can not live without bread and pork and beef. But you
ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided
food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains."
He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them,
no presents sent them, and that he and his people were yet for war.
Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after
the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no
doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet the
French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to the
English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were going
on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments.
In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre-
vent it falling into the hands of the English, who were becoming masters
of the entire West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fon-
tainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in question.
Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United States
and England, that part of Canada lying south and west of the Great
Lakes, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of these
sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ; and
twenty years still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to
France, and by France sold to the United States.
In the half century, from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by
LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set-
tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been
noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia,
Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large tract
of rich alluvial soil in Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site of St.
Louis.
^y the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including
all these and other towns of the Northwest, were given over to England;
but they do not appear to have btsn taken possession of until 1765, when
Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty of England, established him-
self at Fort Chartres bearing with him the proclamation of General Gaoe,
dated Decemljer 30, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Cath-
olics who worshiped here, and a right to leave the country with their
effects if they wished, or to remain with the privileges of Englishmen.
It was shortly after the occupancy of the West by the British that the
war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed in the sketch of that
chieftain By it many a Briton lost his life, and many a frontier settle-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45
ment in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not ended until the year
1764, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt, his confed-
eracy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid from the French, Pon-
tiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the Illinois, among whom
he afterward lost his life.
As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began
rapidly to survey the country and prepare for occupation. During the
year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces
explored and marked out nearlv all the valuable lands on the Monongra-
hela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha. This
was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George Washing-
ton was a party. The latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Capt. Crawford
and others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts-
burgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that stream about fourteen
miles, marked out several large tracts of land, shot several buffalo, which
were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and returned to the fort.
Pittsburgh was at this time a trading post, about which was clus-
tered a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This
same year, Capt. Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring villages.
He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia only
forty-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settlement, and
at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong. For a year
or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts, generally
Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who still main-
tained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from the posts
was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of pork and
flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this time the
policy of the British Government was strongly opposed to the extension
of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade, by royal
proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement beyond the
sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the instance
of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent the settlement
without the limits prescribed, and to retain the commerce within easy
reach of Great Britain.
The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 1769 : " In the
course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they
extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind for
themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the mother
country ceases, an independency in their government will soon follow."
In accordance with this policy. Gov. Gage issued a proclamation
in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their set-
tlements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To this they
4G THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and were allowed to
remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain led to its
change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the French
population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec petitioned
the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that province, which
was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2, 1774, extend-
ing the boundary so as to include the territory lying within the present
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.
In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern-
ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to favor
that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies ; but the
early alliance between France and America soon brought them to the side
of the war for independence.
In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emigration
to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt under the
pretense that the fort was under the government of that commonwealth.
One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a tract of land in the
Ohio Valle}-, gathered a force of men and garrisoned the fort, calling it
Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed to select sites for
settlements, and often came in conflict with the Indians, who yet claimed
portions of the valley, and several battles followed. These ended in the
famous battle of Kanawha in July, where the Indians were defeated and
driven across the Ohio.
Dtiring the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies
and the perseveranceof individuals, several settlements were firmly estab-
lished between the Alleghanies and the Ohio River, and western land
speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council held
in Kaskaskia on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders, calling
themselves the '' Illinois Land Company,'* obtained from ten chiefs of the
Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on
the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois. In 1775, a mer-
chant from the Illinois Country, named Viviat, came to Post Vincennes
as the agent of the association called the •' Wabash Land Company." On
the 8th of October he obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed for
37,497,600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors, attested
by a number of the inhabitants of Vincennes, and afterward recorded in
the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. This and other land com-
panies had extensive schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all
were frustrated by the breaking out of the Revolution. On the "20th of
April, 1780, the two companies named consolidated under the name of the
" United Illinois and Wabash Land Company."' They afterward made
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47
strenuous efforts to have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all
siunally failed.
When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky Avas an unor-
ganized country, though there were several settlements within her borders.
In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated thar at that time
" Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black in-
habitants — the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia con-
tains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were
east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771 " — when these observa-
tions were made — '• 300 white men capable of bearing arms, and 230
negroes."
From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and
nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in a report
made by a committee to Congress in June, 1778. From it the following
extract is made :
"Near the mouth of the River Kaskaskia, there is a village which
appears to have contained nearly eighty families from the beginning of
the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la
Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia Village. There
are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips, which is five
miles further up the river."
St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con-
tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and one
hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the country
west of the Mississippi was now under French rule, and remained so until
ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards sold it and the
country including New Orleans to the United States. At Detroit there
were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the Northwest from 1766 to
1768, more than one hundred houses, and the river was settled for more
than twenty miles, although poorly cultivated — the people being engaged
in the Indian trade. This old town has a historv, which we will here
relate.
It is the oldest town in the Northwest, having been founded by
Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an
oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width.
As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a permanent
resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that space
between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkins' house
(near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the public barn,
and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was surrounded by
oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the ground, and had
four gates — east, west, north and south. Over the first thi-ee of these
4g THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY.
gates were block houses provided with four guns apiece, each a six-
pounder. Two six-gun batteries were phinted fronting the river and in a
parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets running
east and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen
feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles were from ten
to fifteen feet in width.
At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the
enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present
northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel was
inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood, two
stories high, sufiBcient to contain ten officers, and also barracks sufficient
to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick. The
citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town of
Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty houses, most of them one story,
with a few a story and a half in height. They were all of logs, some
hewn and some round. There was one building of splendid appearance,
called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near the east
gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor commissioned
by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near the west gate and
the other near the Government House. Each of the guards consisted of
twenty-four men and a subaltern, who mounted regularly every morning
between nine and ten o'clock, Each furnished four sentinels, who weie
relieved every two hours. There was also an officer of the day, who pjr-
formed strict duty. Each of the gates was shut regularly at sunset;
even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock, and all the ke^'s were
delivered into the hands of the commanding officer. They were opened
in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was permitted to enter
town with any weapon, such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a stand-
ing order that the Indians should deliver their arms and instruments of
every kind before they were permitted to pass the sentinel, and they were
restored to them on their return. No more than twenty-five Indians were
allowed to enter the town at any one time, and they were admitted only
at the east and west gates. At sundown the drums beat, and all the
Indians were required to leave town instantly. There was a council house
near the water side for the purpose of holding council with the Indians.
The population of the town was about sixty families, in all about two
hundred males and one hundred females. This town was destroyed by
fire, all except one dwelling, in 1805. After which the present " new "
town was laid out.
On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held every post of
importance in the West. Kentucky was formed as a component part of
Virginia, and the sturdy pioneers of the West, alive to their interests,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49
and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the trade in
this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes, and those
within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exercise their
civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Ricliard Gallaway,
burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state.
Early in September of that year (1777) the first court was held
in Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards major, who had arrived
in August, was made the commander of a militia organization which
had been commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty
was growing. The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented
her the year previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move
unequaled in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the
British throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. Ht
saw it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy
access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British
intended to penetrate the country from the north and soutn, ana annihi-
late the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel,
afterwards General, George Rogers Clark. He knew the Indians were not
unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that, could
the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the natives
might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the purpose,
he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois settlements
might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the certainty of the
project, he repaired to the Capital of Virginia, which place he reached on
November 5th. While he was on his way, fortunately, on October 17th,
Burgoyne had been defeated, and the spirits of the colonists greatly
encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia, and at
once entered heartily into Clark's plans. The same plan had before been
agitated in the Colonial Assemblies, but there was no one until Clark
came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of affairs at the
scene of action to be able to guide them.
Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility of his
plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of instructions — one secret,
the other open — the latter authorized him to proceed to enlist seven
companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three
months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized him
to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of General Hand
at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the country.
With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburgh, choosing rather
to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed
in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hoi-
50 TBE NORTHWEST TEUUiTOKY.
stou for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required
nuniher of men. The settlers in these parts were afraid to leave their
own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced to
join the proposed expedition. With three companies and several private
volunteers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he
navigated as far as the Falls, where he took possession of and fortified
Corn Island, a small island between the present Cities of Louisville,
Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortification may
yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him
with such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, and
as many as could be spared from the station. Here he announced to
the men their real destination. Having completed his arrangements,
and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the island, and on the
'24:th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which to them augured
no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of starting, he with
his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was to go by water as
far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march direct to Kaskaskia.
Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and after its capture go to
Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastlv to Detroit. Should he fail, he
intended to march directly to the Mississippi River and cross it into the
Spanish country. Before his start he received two good items of infor-
mation : one that the alliance had been formed between France and the
United States ; and the other that the Indians throughout the Illinois
country and the inhabitants, at the various frontier posts, had been led to
believe by the British that the " Long Knives" or Virginians, were the
most fierce, bloodthirsty and cruel savages that ever scalped a foe. With
tliis impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper management would
cause them to stibmit at once from fear, if stirprised, and then from grati-
tude would become friendly if treated with unexpected lenienc3^
The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished throtigh a hot July sun,
and the town reached on the evening of July 4. He captured the fort
near the village, and soon after the village itself b}^ surprise, and without
tiie loss of a single man or by killing any of the enemy. After sufficiently
working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they were at per-
fect lii)erty to worship as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the
great conflict they would, also he would protect them from any barbaritv
from British or Indian foe. This had the desired effect, and the inhab-
itants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised by the unlooked
for turn of affiiirs, at once swore allegiance to the American arms, and
when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of Jul}^, they accom-
panied him, and through their influence the inhabitants of the place
surrendered, and gladly placed tliemselves under his protection. Thus
jar
^■^'
y^^/^//lA^.eje''-*^i-^^!i-^
RANDOLPH m
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 51
the two important posts in Illinois passed from the hands of the English
into the possession of Virginia.
In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a
powerful ally and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession
of tlae Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its boun-
daries, he must establish a government for the colonies he had taken.
St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit, remained yet to be taken
before the MississipjDi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault told him that
he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw off its connection
with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and on the 14th of July,
in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault started on his mission of
peace, and on the 1st of August returned with the cheerful intelligence
that the post on the " Oubache " had taken the oath of allegiance to
the Old Dominion. During this interval, Clark established his courts,
placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, successfully re-enlisted his
men, sent word to have a fort, which proved the germ of Louisville,
erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched Mr. Rocheblave, who
had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of war to Richmond.
In October the County of Illinois was established by the Legislature
of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor,
and in November General Clark and his men received the thanks of
the Old Dominion through their Legislature.
In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the
natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore alle-
giance to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton,
having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved down
the Wabash to Vincennes intending to operate from that point in reducing
the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky and drive the
rebels from the West. Gen. Clark had, on the return of M. Gibault,
dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier County, Virginia, with an attend-
ant named Henry, across the Illinois prairies to command the fort.
Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and was greatly
surprised on his arrival to be confronted by Capt. Helm, who, standing at
the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to fire upon his assail-
ants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded possession of the
fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, he surrendered to
the British General, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the
force in the garrison.
Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was
contending, gave up his intended campaign for the Winter, sent his four
hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio,
52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
and to annoy the Americans in all ways, and sat quietly down to pass the
Winter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark, he
saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that unless
he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received the
news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having suffi-
ciently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Mississippi
a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the Ohio and
Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the fray.
On the next day, Clark, with his little force of one hundred and
twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching
through much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring-^
rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his " battoe," at
once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American back-
woodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered to the
intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great kind-
ness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton was
sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement.
During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered prizes
to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans they would bring to him,
and had earned in consequence thereof the title " Hair-buyer General,"
by which he was ever afterward known.
Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising
Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry being
apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and Clark con-
cluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison the posts.
Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton succeeded in
uniting the western Indians for the next Spring's campaign, the West
Avould indeed have been swept from the Mississippi to the Allegheny
Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated from
the commencement, by the British.
" But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the
union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might
have been effected, and the whole current of our history changed."
At this time some fears were entertained by the Colonial Govern-
ments that the Indians in the North and Northwest were incliniuG: to the
British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-in-
Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American inde-
pendence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon the
Ohio frontier. Col. Bowman, acting under the same general's orders,
marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These
expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were compelled
to sue for peace.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53
During this same year (1779) the famous "Land Laws" of Virginia
were passed. The passage of these laws was of more consequence to the
pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few Indian
conflicts. These laws confirmed in main all grants made, and guaranteed
to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After providing for the
settlers, the laws provided for selling the balance of the public lands at
forty cents per acre. To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature
sent four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims, over many
of which great confusion prevailed concerning their validity. These
gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and
continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided
three thousand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, who
came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his duties on the
10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the opening of the
next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis-
sippi commenced. The Spanish Government exacted such measures in
relation to its trade as to cause the overtures made to the United States
to be rejected. The American Government considered they had a right
to navigate its channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below
the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. The settle-
ments in Kentucky were being rapidl}^ filled by emigrants. It was dur-
ing this year that the first seminary of learning was established in the
West in this young and enterprising Commonwealth.
The settlers here did not look upon the building of this fort in a
friendly manner, as it aroused the hostility of the Indians. Spain had
been friendly to the Colonies during their struggle for independence,
and though for a while this friendship appeared in danger from the
refusal of the free navigation of the river, yet it was finally settled to the
satisfaction of both nations.
The Winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusually severe ones
ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred to it as the
"Great Cold." Numbers of wild animals perished, and not a few
pioneers lost their lives. The following Summer a party of Canadians
and Indians attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it
in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting
colonies. They met with such a determined resistance on the part of the
inhabitants, even the women taking part in the battle, that they weie
compelled to abandon the contest. The}^ also made an attack on the
settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable
manner, they fled the country in great haste.
About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress con-
cerning the western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts
54 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New
York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele-
gates of that State in Congress the power to cede her western lands for
the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress
during the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until Sep-
tember 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling upon the States
claiming western lands to release their claims in favor of the whole body.
This basis formed the union, and was the first after all of those legislative
measures \vhich resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of the same
year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The conquest might
have easily been effected by Clark had the necessary aid been furnished
him. Nothing: decisive was done, vet the heads of the Government knew
that the safety of the Northwest from British invasion lay in the capture
and retention of that important post, the only unconquered one in the
territory.
Before the close of the j^ear, Kentucky was divided into the Coun-
ties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the Town
of Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of
American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the
United States.
Virginia, in accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d
day of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the United
States upon certain conditions, which Congress would not accede to, and
the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was
anything farther done until 1783. During all that time the Colonies
were busily engaged in tlie struggle with the mother country, and in
consequence thereof but little heed was given to the western settlements.
Upon the IGth of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio River of
American parentage occurred, being that of Mary Heckewelder, daughter
of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band of Christian
Indians suffered in after years a horrible massacre by the hands of the
frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder of several of
their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to humanity,
a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of shame upon their lives.
For tliis and kindred outrages on the part of the whites, the Indians
committed many deeds of cruelty which darken the years of 1771 and
1772 in the history of the Northwest.
During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and
frontiersmen occurred, and ])etween the Moravian Indians and the Wyan-
dots. In tlicse, horrilde acts of cruelty were practised on the captives,
many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of the notorious
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
55
frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those of his brothers,
was a terror to women and children. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio
valleys. Cotemporary with them were several engagements in Kentucky,
In which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill
and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruc-
^^
INDIANS ATTACKING FRONTIEltSMEN.
tion. By the close of the year victory had perched upon the American
banner, and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace had
been arranged between the Commissioners of England and her uncon-
querable colonies. Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October
preceding, and the liberty of America was assured. On the 19th of
April following, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was
08
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the compciny, was pressing
its claims before Congress, that bod}- was bringing into form an ordinance
for the political and social organization of this Territory. When the
cession was made by Virginia, in 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected.
A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition
of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then discussed and altered,
and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina.
By this proposition, the Territory was to have been divided into states
PRESKXT SITK 01' J.AKE SillKKT lilUDGi;, CHICAGO, i:s' 1833.
by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was thought, would make ten
states, which were to have been named as follows — beginning at the
northwest corner and going southwardly : Sylvania, Michigania, Cher-
sonesus, Assenisi[)ia, Metropotamia, Illenoia, Saratoga, Washington, Poly-
potamia and Pelisipia.
There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of
names, — the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu-
tion of Congress passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries
of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 59
square. These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir-
ginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1786, the
subject was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division into
not more than five states, and not less than three. This was approved by
the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the Government was
again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year
and until July, 1787, when the famous "Compact of 1787" was passed,
and the foundation of the government of the Northwest laid. This com-
pact is fully discussed and explained in the history of Illinois in this book,
and to it the reader is referred.
The passage of this act and the grant to the New England Company
was soon followed by an application to the Government by John Cleves
Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of the land between the Miamis,
This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1786, and,
being greatly pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the
New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury
Board with power to act, and a contract was concluded the following
year. During the Autumn the directors of the New England Company
were preparing to occupy their grant the following Spring, and upon the
23d of November made arrangements for a party of forty-seven men,
under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six
boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the sur-
veyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hart-
ford and proceed on their journey westward ; the remainder to follow as
soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime, upon the :^)d of October,
had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western settlers, and
to prevent unauthorized intrusions ; and two days later appointed Arthur
St. Clair Governor of the Territory of the Northwest.
AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.
The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now com-
plete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of Indian affairs, settlers from
the East began to come into the country rapidly. The New England
Company sent their men during the Winter of 1787-8 pressing on over
the Alleghenies by the old Indian path which had been opened into
Braddock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike
from Cumberland westward. Through the weary winter days they toiled
on, and by April were all gathered on the Yohiogany, where boats had
been built, and at once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived
on the 7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded
as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor.
60
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY,
Gen. St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwast, not having
yet arrived, a set of hiws were passed, written out, and published by
being nailed to a tree in the embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed
to administer them.
Washington in writing of this, the first American settlement in the
Northwest, said : " No colony in America was ever settled under
such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at Muskingum.
Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know
many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calcu-
lated to promote the welfare of such a community.''
*4^*:v*:
A PIONEER PAVEIXING.
On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held
on the banks of liie Muskingum, " for the jnirpose of naming the new-
born city and its squares." As j'^et the settlement was known as the
"Muskingum," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor
of Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the block -houses stood
was called '-'■ Campus Martius ;'' square number 19, '•'- Capitol iuin ;'" square
number 61, '■'•Cecilia T !>"d the great road through the covert way, " Sacra
Via.'' Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum,
who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been apjjointed to the
judicial bench of the territory on the l(3th of October, 1787. On July 9,
Gov. St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act
of 1787 provided two district grades of government for the Northwest,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 61
under the first of which tlie whole power was invested in the hands of a
governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed upon
the Governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th
of July. These provided for the organization of the militia, and on the
next day appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that country
that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River into the
County of Washington. From that time forward, notwithstanding the
doubts yet existing as to the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the
2d of September the first court of the territory was held with imposing
ceremonies.
The emigration westward at this time was very great. The com-
mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four
thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between Feb-
ruary and June, 1788 — many of whom would have purchased of the
"Associates," as the New England Company was called, had they been
ready to receive them.
On the 26th of November, 178^, Symmes issued a pamphlet stating
the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt. In
January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest
in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sections upon
which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-third of this locality, he
sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John Filson, and the
three, about August, commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which
was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the moulh of which
they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The naming of the
town is thus narrated in the "Western Annals " : — " Mr. Filson, who had
been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town, and, in respect to
its situation, and as if with a prophetic perception of th'e mixed race that
were to inhabit it in after days, he named it Losantiville, which, being-
interpreted, means : ville, the town ; anti^ against or opposite to ; os^ the
mouth ; L. of Licking." ,
Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse
teams under way for the West. These reached Limestone (now Mays-
ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here
Mr. Symmes tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789
caused the " Point," as it was and is yet called, to be fifteen feet under
water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers
removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony left
the " Point," two settlements had been made on his purchase. The first
was by Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the Avhole plan, who, with a
colony of Redstone people, had located at the mouth of the Miami,
whither Symmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clearing had
62
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
been made by the Indians owing to the great fertility of the soil. Mr.
Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of November, 1788»
with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house, prepared to remain
through the Winter. They named the settlement Columbia. Here they
were kindly treated l)y the Indians, but suffered greatly from the flood
of 1789.
On the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution of the United States
went into operation, and on April 30, George Washington was inaug-
urated President of the American people, and during the next Summer,
an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. The
President at first used pacific means ; but these failing, he sent General
Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but
LAKE BLTTT.
The frontage of Lake Bluff Grounds on Lake Michigan, with one hundred and seventy feet of gradual ascent.
was defeated in two battles, near the present City of Fort Wayne,
Indiana. From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were
the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair
was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians ; but while
he was encamped on a stream, the St. Mary, a branch of the Maumee,
he was attacked and defeated with the loss of six hundred men.
General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794,
he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the
Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following year, the
treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a large
tract of country was ceded to the United States.
Before proceeding in our narrative, we will pause to notice Fort
Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati.
Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITOKY. 63
whole country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer structures,
known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon-
chartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud Cities of Chicago,
Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities east and west
of the Mississippi. Fort Washington; erected by Doughty in 1790, was a
rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a number of
strongly-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers' barracks
were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers quarters
were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and furnished.
The whole were so placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an
acre of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles.
The logs for the construction of this fort were cut from the ground
upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth Streets
of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row, now
Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary of
of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river,
immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of tlie fort, called the
Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed by
small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of
laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame house,
familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommodation of
the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best finished
and most commodious edifice in the Queen Cit}'. Fort Washington was
for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments
of the Northwestern Territory.
Following the consummation of the treaty various gigantic land spec-
ulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain
from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands.
These were generally discovered in time to prevent the outrageous
schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war.
On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States and Spain
was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured.
No sooner had the treat}" of 1795 been ratified than settlements began
to pour rapidly into the West. The great event of the year 1796 was the
occupation of that part of the Northwest including Michigan, which was
this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated by the British
forces. The United States, owing to certain conditions, did not feel
iustified in addressing;' the authorities in Canada in relation to Detroit
and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities were
called to give them up, they at once complied, and General Waj'ne, who
had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and who, before
the year's close, sickened and died near Erie, transferred his head-
gl THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
quarters to the neighborhood of the hikes, where a county named after
him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of Michigan^
and the northeast of Indiana. During this same year settlements were
formed at the present City of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middle-
town to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators
began to appear in great numbers. In September, the City of Cleveland
was laid out, and during the Summer and Autumn, Samuel Jackson and
Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of paper — the " Red-
stone Paper Mill" — in the West. St. Louis contained some seventy
houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and. along the river, contiguous
to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants, mostly French Canadians,
Indians and half-breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that
part of the Northwest.
The election of representatives for the territory had taken place^
and on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville — now
known as Cincinnati, having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and
considered the capital of the Territory — to nominate persons from whom
the members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance with
a previous ordinance. This nomination being made, the Assembly
adjourned until the 16th of the following September. From those named
the President selected as members of the council, Henry Vandenburg,
of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob
Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th
of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two
houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected President
of the Council.
The message of Gov. St. Clair was addressed to the Legislature
September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to
Congress Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the votes
cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of
Gen. St. Clair.
The whole number of acts passed at this session, and approved by
the Governor, were thirty-seven — eleven others were passed, but received
his veto. The most important of those passed related to the militia, to
the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of December this pro-
tracted session of the first Legislature in the West was closed, and on the
30th of December the President nominated Charles Willing Bryd to the
office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry Harrison, elected to
Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day.
THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 65
DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TEERITORY.
. The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain,
and the inconvenient modes of travel, made it very difficult to conduct
the ordinary oiDerations of government, and rendered the efficient action
of courts almost impossible. To remedy this, it was deemed advisable to
divide the territory for civil purposes. Congress, in 1800, appointed a
committee to examine the question and report some means for its solution.
This committee, on the 3d of March, reported that :
" In the three western countries there has been but one court havings
cognizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders
experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned crim-
inals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements
in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assist-
ance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * To
minister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee
that it is expedient that a division of said territory into two distinct and
separate governments should be made ; and that such division be made
by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, running
directly north until it intersects the boundary between the United States
and Canada."
The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its
suggestions, that body passed an Act extinguishing the Northwest Terri-
tory, which Act was approved May 7. Among its provisions were these :
" That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the Territory of
the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward
of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the
Kentucky River, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north
until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and
Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a
separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory."
After providing for the exercise of the civil and criminal powers of
the territories, and other provisions, the Act further provides :
" That until it shall otherwise be ordered by the Legislatures of the
said Territories, respectively, Chillicothe on the Scioto River shall be the
seat of government of, the Territory of the United States northwest of the
Ohio River ; and that St. Vincennes on the Wabash River shall be the
seat of government for the Indiana Territory."
Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was appointed Governor of the Indiana
Territory, and entered upon his duties about a year later. Connecticut
also about this time released her claims to the reserve, and in March a law
6C THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
■was passed accepting this cession. Settlements had been made upon
thirty-five of the townships in the reserve, mills had been built, and seven
hundred miles of road cut in various directions. On the 3d of Novembei-
the General Assembly met at Chillicothe. Near the close of the year,
the first missionary of the Connecticut Reserve came, who found no
township containing more than eleven families. It was upon the first of
October that the secret treaty had been made between Napoleon and the
King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to France the province
of Louisiana.
In January, 1802, the Assembly of the Northwestern Territory char-
tered the collecre at Athens. From the earliest dawn of the western
colonies, education was promptly provided for, and as early as 1787,
newspapers were issued from Pittsburgh and Kentucky, and largely read
throughout the frontier settlements. Before the close of this year, the
Congress of the United States granted to the citizens of the Northwestern
territor}' the formation of a State government. One of the provisions of
the " compact of 1787" provided that whenever the number of inhabit-
ants within prescribed limits exceeded 45,000, they should be entitled to
a separate government. The prescribed limits of Ohio contained, from a
census taken to ascertain the legality of the act, more than that number,
and on the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed the act defining its limits,
and on the 29th of November the Constitution of the new State of Ohio,
so named from the beautiful river forming its southern boundar}^ came
into existence. The exact limits of Lake Michigan were not then known,
but the territory now included within the State of Michigan was wholly
within the territory of Indiana.
Gen. Harrison, while residing at Vincennes, made several treaties
•with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of lands. The next year is
memorable in the history of the West for the purchase of Louisiana from
France l>y the United States for -115,000,000. Tlius by a peaceful mode,
the domain of the United States was extended over a large tract of
country west of the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction
of the Northwest government, and, as has been mentioned in the early
part of this narrative, was called the "New Northwest." The limits
of this history will not allow a description of its territory. The same year
large grants of land were obtained from the Indians, and the House of
Representatives of the new State of Oliio signed a bill respecting the
College Township in the district of Cincinnati.
Before the close of the year, Gen. Harrison obtained additional
grants of lands from the various Indian nations in Indiana and the present
limits of Illinois, and on the 18tli of August, 1804, completed a treaty at
St. Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of lands were obtained from the
BLOOMINGTON
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 67
aborigines. Measures were also taken to learn the condition of affairs in
and about Detroit.
C. Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, still a part of Indiana Terri-
tory, reported as follows upon the condition of matters at that ]30st :
" The Town of Detroit. — The charter, which is for fifteen miles
square, was granted in the time of Louis XIV. of France, and is now,
from the best information I have been able to get, at Quebec. Of those
two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four are occupied by the town
and Fort Lenault. The remainder is a common, except twenty-four
acres, which were added twenty years ago to a farm belonging to Wm.
Macomb. * * * A stockade incloses the town, fort and citadel. The
pickets, as well as the public houses, are in a state of gradual decay. The
streets are narrow, straight and regular, and intersect each other at right
angles. The houses are, for the most part, low and inelegant."
During this year, Congress granted a township of land for the sup-
port of a college, and began to offer inducements for settlers in these
wilds, and the country now comprising the State of Michigan began to
fill rapidly with settlers along its southern borders. This same year, also,
a law was passed organizing the Southwest Territory, dividing it into two
portions, the Territory of New Orleans, which city was made the seat of
government, and the District of Louisiana, which was annexed to the
domain of Gen. Harrison.
On the 11th of January, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was formed,
Wm. Hull was appointed governor, with headquarters at Detroit, the
chano-e to take effect on June 30. On the 11th of that month, a fire
occurred at Detroit, which destroyed almost every building in the place.
When the officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it in
ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the country. Rebuild-
ing, however, soon commenced, and ere long the town contained more
houses than before the fire, and many of them much better built.
While this was being done, Indiana had passed to the second grade
of government, and through her General Assembly had obtained large
tracts of land from the Indian tribes. To all this the celebrated Indian,
Tecumthe or Tecumseh, vigorously protested, and it was the main cause
of his attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with the
settlers. To obtain a full account of these attempts, the workings of the
British, and the signal failure, culminating in the death of Tecumseh at
the battle of the Thames, and the close of the war of 1812 in the Northwest,
we will step aside in our story, and relate the principal events of his life,
and his connection with this conflict.
68
THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY,
TECUMSEH, THE SHAWANOE CHIEFTAIN.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 69
TECUMSEH, AND THE WAR OF 1812.
This famous Indian chief was born about the year 1768, not far from
the site of the present City of Piqua, Ohio. His father, Puckeshinwa,
was a member of the Kisopok tribe of the Swanoese nation, and his
mother, Methontaske, was a member of the Turtle tribe of the same
people. They removed from Florida about the middle of the last century
to the birthplace of Tecumseh. In 1774, his father, who had risen to be
chief, was slain at the battle of Point Pleasant, and not long after Tecum-
seh, by his bravery, became the leader of his tribe. In 1795 he was
declared chief, and then lived at Deer Creek, near the site of the
present City of Urbana. He remained here about one year, when he
returned to Piqua, and in 1798, he went to White River, Indiana. In
1805, he and his brother, Laulewasikan (Open Door), who had announced
himself as a prophet, went to a tract of land on the Wabash River, given
them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. From this date the chief
comes into prominence. He was now about thirty-seven years of age,
was five feet and ten inches in height, was stoutly built, and possessed of
enormous powers of endurance. His countenance was naturally pleas-
ing, and he was, in general, devoid of those savage attributes possessed
by most Indians. It is stated he could read and write, and had a confi-
dential secretary and adviser, named Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, who
afterward became chief of the Pottawatomies. He occupied the first
house built on the site of Chicago. At this time, Tecumseh entered
upon the great work of his life. He had long objected to the grants of
land made by the Indians to the whites, and determined to unite all the
Indian tribes into a league, in order that no treaties or grants of land
could be made save by the consent of this confederation.
He traveled constantly, going from north to south ; from the south
to the north, everywhere urging the Indians to this step. He was a
matchless orator, and his burning words had their effect.
Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, by watching the move-
ments of the Indians, became convinced that a grand conspiracy was
forming, and made preparations to defend the settlements. Tecumseh's
plan was similar to Pontiac's, elsewhere described, and to the cunning
artifice of that chieftain was added his own sagacity.
During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the prophet were actively pre-
paring for the work. In that year. Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty
with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel River Indians
and Weas, in which these tribes ceded to the whites certain lands upon
the Wabash, to all of which Tecumseh entered a bitter protest, averring
YO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
as one principal reason that he did not want the Indians to give up any
lands north and west of the Ohio River.
Tecumseh, in August, 1810, visited the General at Vincennes and
held a council relating to the grievances of the Indians. Becoming unduly
angry at this conference he was dismissed from the village, and soon after
departed to incite the southern Indian tribes to the conflict.
Gen. Harrison determined to move upon the chiefs headquarters at
Tippecanoe, and for this purpose went about sixty-five miles up the
Wabash, where he built Fort Harrison. From this place he went to the
prophet's town, where he informed the Indians he had no hostile inten-
tions, provided they were true to the existing treaties. He encamped
near the village early in October, and on the morning of November 7, he
was attacked by a large force of the Indians, and the famous battle of
Tippecanoe occurred. The Indians were routed and their town broken
up. Tecumseh returning not long after, was greatly exasperated at his
brother, the prophet, even threatening to kill him for rashly precipitating
the war, and foiling his (Tecumseh's) plans.
Tecumseh sent word to Gen. Harrison that he was now returned
from the South, and was ready to visit the President as had at one time
previously been proposed. Gen. Harrison informed him he could not go
as a chief, which method Tecumseh desired, and the visit was never
made.
Ill June of the following year, he visited the Indian agent at
Fort Wayne. Here he disavowed any intention to make a war against
the United States, and reproached Gen. Harrison for marching against his
people. The agent replied to this ; Tecumseh listened with a cold indif-
ference, and after making a few general remarks, with a haughty air drew
his blanket about him, left the council house, and departed for Fort Mai-
den, in U[)per Canada, where he joined the British standard.
He remained under this Government, doing effective work for the
Crown while engaged in the war of 1812 which now opened. He was,
however, always humane in his treatment of the prisoners, never allow-
ing his warriors to ruthlessly mutilate the bodies of those slain, or wan-
tonly murder the captive.
In the Summer of 1813, Perry's victor}'- on Lake Erie occurred, and
shortly after active preparations were made to capture Maiden. On the
27th of September, tlie American army, under Gen. Harrison, set sail for
the shores of Canada, and in a few hours stood around the ruins of Mai-,
den, from which the British army, under Proctor, had retreated to Sand-
wich, intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the Valley of
the Thames. On the 29th Gen. Harrison was at Sandwich, and Gen,
McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
71
On the 2d of October, the Americans began their pursuit of Proctor,
whom they overtook on the 5th, and. the battle of the Thames followed.
Early in the engagement, Tecumseh who was at the head of the column
of Indians was slain, and they, no longer hearing the voice of their chief-
tain, fled. The victory was decisive, and practically closed the war in
th.e Northwest.
INDIANS ATTACKING A STOCKADE.
Just who killed the great chief has been a matter of much dispute ;
but the weight of opinion awards the act to Col. Richard M. Johnson,
who fired at him with a pistol, the shot proving fatal.
In 1805 occurred Burr's Insurrection. He took possession of a
beautiful island in the Ohio, after the killing of Hamilton, and is charged
by many with attempting to set up an independent government. His
plans were frustrated by the general government, his property confiscated
and he was compelled to flee the country for safety.
72 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
In January, 1S07, Governor Hull, of Michigan Territory, made a
treaty with the Indians, whereby all that peninsula was ceded to the
United States. Before the close of the year, a stockade was built about
Detroit. It was also during this year that Indiana and Illinois endeavored
to obtain the repeal of that section of the compact of 1787, whereby
slavery was excluded from the Northwest Territory. These attempts,
however, all signally failed.
In 1809 it was deemed advisable to divide the Indiana Territory.
This was done, and the Territory of Illinois was formed from the^estern
part, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia. The next year,
the intentions of Tecumseh manifested themselves in open hostilities, and
then began the events already narrated.
While this war was in progress, emigration to the West went on with
surprising rapidity. In 1811, under Mr. Roosevelt of New York, the
first steamboat trip was made on the Ohio, much to the astonishment of
the natives, many of whom fled in terror at the appearance of the
" monster." It arrived at Louisville on the 10th day of October. At the
close of the first week of January, 1812, it arrived at Natchez, after being
nearl}^ overwhelmed in the great earthquake which occurred while on its
downward trip.
The battle of the Thames was fought on October 6, 1813. It
effectually closed hostilities in the Northwest, although peace was not
fully restored until July 22, 1814, when a treaty was formed at Green-
ville, under the direction of General Harrison, between the United States
and the Indian tribes, in Avhich it was stipulated that the Indians should
cease hostilities against the Americans if the war were continued. Such,
happily, was not the case, and on the 24th of December the treaty
of Ghent was signed by the representatives of England and the United
States. This treaty was followed the next year by treaties with various
Indian tribes throughout the West and Northwest, and quiet was again
restored in this part of the new world.
On the 18th of March, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city.
It then had a population of 8,000 people, and was already noted for its
manufacturing interests. On April 19, Indiana Territory was allowed
to form a state government. At that time there were thirteen counties
organized, containing about sixty-three thousand inhabitants. The first
election of state officers was held in August, when Jonathan Jennings
was chosen Governor. The officers were sworn in on November 7, and
on December 11, the State was formally admitted into the Union. For
some time the seat of government was at Corydon, but a more central
location being desirable, the present capital, Indianapolis (City of Indiana),
was laid out January 1, 1825.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 73
On the 28th of December the Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, was
chartered, with a capital of $300,000. At this period all banks were
under the control of the States, and were allowed to establish branches
at different convenient points.
Until this time Chillicothe and Cincinnati had in turn enjoyed the
privileges of being the capital of Ohio. But the rapid settlement of the
northern and eastern portions of the State demanded, as in Indiana, a
more central location, and before the close of the year, the site of Col-
umbus was selected and surveyed as the future capital of the State.
Banking had begun in Ohio as early as 1808, when the first bank was
chartered at Marietta, but here as elsewhere it did not bring to the state
the hoped-for assistance. It and other banks were subsequently unable
to redeem their currency, and were obliged to suspend.
In 1818, Illinois was made a state, and all the territory north of her
northern limits was erected into a separate territory and joined to Mich-
igan for judicial purposes. By the following year, navigation of the lakes
was increasing with great rapidity and affording an immense source of
revenue to the dwellers in the Northwest, but it was not until 1826 that
the trade was extended to Lake Michigan, or that steamships began to
navigate the bosom of that inland sea.
Until the year 1832, the commencement of the Black Hawk War,
but few hostilities were experienced with the Indians. Roads were
opened, canals were dug, cities were built, common schools were estab-
lished, universities were founded, many of which, especially the Michigan
University, have achieved a world wide-reputation. The people were
becoming wealthy. The domains of the United States had been extended,
and had the sons of the forest been treated with honesty and justice, the
record of many years would have been that of peace and continuous pros-
perity.
BLACK HAWK AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
This conflict, though confined to Illinois, is an important epoch in
the Northwestern history, being the last war with the Indians in this part
of the United States.
Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah, or Black Hawk, was born in the principal
Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the
Mississippi, in the year 1767. His father's name was Py-e-sa or Pahaes ;
his grandfather's, Na-na-ma-kee, or the Thunderer. Black Hawk early
distinguished himself as a warrior, and at the age of fifteen was permitted
to paint and was ranked among the braves. About the year 1783, he
Went on an expedition against the enemies of his nation, the Osages, one
74
THE NORTHWEST TEKRITORY.
BLACK HAWK, THE SAC CHIEFTAIN.
THE NORTHWEST TERKITORY. 75.
of whom he killed and scalped, and for this deed of Indian bravery he was
permitted to join in the scalp dance. Three or four years after he, at the
head of two hundred braves, went on another expedition against the
Osages, to avenge the murder of some women and children belonging to
his own tribe. Meeting an equal number of Osage warriors, a fierce
battle ensued, in whicli the latter tribe lost one-half their number. The
Sacs lost only about nineteen warriors. He next attacked the Cherokees
for a similar cause. In a severe battle with them, near the present City
of St. Louis, his father was slain, and Black Hawk, taking possession of
the " Medicine Bag," at once announced himself chief of the Sac nation.
He had now conquered the Cherokees, and about the year 1800, at the
head of five hundred Sacs and Foxes, and a hundred lowas, he waged
war against the Osage nation and subdued it. For two years he battled
successfully with other Indian tribes, all of whom he conquered.
Black Hawk does not at any time seem to have been friendly to
the Americans. When on a visit to St. Louis to see his " Spanish
Father," he declined to see any of the Americans, alleging, as a reason^
he did not want two fathers.
The treaty at St. Louis was consummated in 1804. The next year the
United States Government erected a fort near the head of the Des Moines
Rapids, called Fort Edwards. This seemed to enrage Black Hawk, who
at once determined to capture Fort Madison, standing on the west side of
the Mississippi above the mouth of the Des Moines River. The fort was
garrisoned by about fifty men. Here he was defeated. The difficulties
with the British Government arose about this time, and the War of 1812
followed. That government, extending aid to the Western Indians, by
giving them arms and ammunition, induced them to remain hostile to the
Americans. In August, 1812, Black Hawk, .at the head of about five
hundred braves, started to join the British forces at Detroit, passing on
his way the site of Chicago, where the famous Fort Dearborn Massacre
^■■^ ^ a few days before occurred. Of his connection with the British
'-^. L . ernment but little is known. In 1813 he with his little band descended
the Mississippi, and attacking some United States troops at Fort Howard
was defeated.
In the early part of 1815, the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi
were notified that peace had been declared between the United States
and England, and nearly a]l hostilities had ceased. Black Hawk did not
sign any treat}-, however, until May of the following year. He then recog-
nized the validity of the treaty at St. Louis in 1804. From the time of
signing this treaty in 1816, until the breaking out of the war in 1832, he
and his band passed their time in the common pursuits of Indian life.
Ten years before the commencement of this war, the Sac and Fox
76 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Indians were urged to join the lowas on the west bank of the Father of
AVaters. All were agreed, save the band known as the British Band, of
which Black Hawk was leader. He strenuously objected to the removal,
and was induced to comply only after being threatened with the power of
the Government. This and various actions on the part of the white set-
tlers provoked Black Hawk and his band to attempt the capture of his
native village now occupied by the whites. The war followed. He and
his actions were undoubtedly^ misunderstood, and had his wishes been
acquiesced in at the beginning of the struggle, much bloodshed would
have been prevented.
Black Hawk was chief now of the Sac and Fox nations, and a noted
warrior. He and his tribe inhabited a village on Rock River, nearly three
miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, where the tribe had lived
many generations. When that portion of Illinois was reserved to them,
they remained in peaceable possession of their reservation, spending their
time in the enjoyment of Indian life. The fine situation of their village
and the quality of their lands incited the more lawless white settlers, who
from time to time began to encroach upon the red men's domain. From
one pretext to another, and from one step to another, the crafty white
men gained a foothold, until through whisky and artifice the}^ obtained
deeds from many of the Indians for their possessions. The Indians were
finally induced to cross over the Father of Waters and locate among the
lowas. Black Hawk was strenuously opposed to all this, but as the
authorities of Illinois and the United States thought this the best move, he
was forced to comply. Moreover other tribes joined the whites and urged
the removal. Black Hawk would not agree to the terms of the treaty
made with his nation for their lands, and as soon as the military, called to
enforce his removal, had retired, he returned to the Illinois side of the
river. A large force was at once raised and marched against him. On
the evening of May 14, 1832, the first engagement occurred between a
band from this army and Black Hawk's band, in which the former were
defeated.
This iittack and its result aioused the whites. A large force of men
was raised, and Gen. Scott hastened from the seaboard, by way of the
lakes, with United States troops and artillery to aid in the subjugation of
the Indians. On the 24th of June, Black Hawk, with 200 warriors, was
repulsed l)y Major Demont between Rock River and Galena. The Ameri-
can army continued to move up Rock River toward the main body of
the Indians, and on the 21st of July came upon Black Hawk and his band,
and defeated them near the Blue Mounds.
Before this action, Gen. Henry, in command, sent word to the main
army by whom he was immediately rejoined, and the v/hole crossed the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 77
Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band who were fleeing to the
Mississippi. They were overtaken on the 2d of August, and in the battle
which followed the power of the Indian chief was completely broken. He
fled, but was seized by the Winnebagoes and delivered to the whites.
On the 21st of September, 1832, Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds con-
cluded a treaty with the Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes by which they
ceded to the United States a vast tract of country, and agreed to remain
peaceable with the whites. For the faithful performance of the provi-
sions of this treaty on the part of the Indians, it was stipulated that
Black Hawk, his two sons, the prophet Wabokieshiek, and six other chiefs
of the hostile bands should be retained as hostages during the pleasure
of the President. They were confined at Fort Barracks and put in irons.
The next Spring, by order of the Secretary of War, they were taken
to Washington. From there they were removed to Fortress Monroe,
"there to remain until the conduct of their nation was such as to justify
their being set at libert3\" They were retained here until the 4th of
June, when the authorities directed them to be taken to the principal
cities so that they might see the folly of contending against the white
people. Everywhere they were observed by thousands, the name of the
old chief being extensively known. By the middle of August they
reached Fort Armstrong on Rock Island, where Black Hawk was soon
after released to go to his countrymen. As he passed the site of his birth-
place, now the home of the white man, he was deeply moved. His village
where he was born, where he had so happily lived, and where he had
hoped to die, was now another's dwelling place, and he was a wanderer.
On the next day after his release, he went at once to his tribe and
his lodge. His wife was yet living, and with her he passed the remainder
of his days. To his credit it may be said that Black Hawk always re-
mained true to his wife, and served her with a devotion uncommon among
the Indians, living with her upward of forty years.
Black Hawk now passed his time hunting and fishing. A deep mel-
ancholy had settled over him from which he could not be freed. At all
times when he visited the whites he was received with marked atten-
tion. He was an honored guest at the old settlers' reunion in Lee County,
Illinois, at some of their meetings, and received many tokens of esteem.
In September, 1838, while on his way to Rock Island to receive his
annuity from the Government, he contracted a severe cold which resulted
in a fatal attack of bilious fever which terminated his life on October 3.
His faithful wife, who was devotedly attached to him, mourned deeply
during his sickness. After his death he was dressed in the uniform pre-
sented to him by the President while in Washington. He was buried in
a grave six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. " The
78 THE NORTHWEST TEIilUTORY.
body was placed in tlie middle of the grave, in a sitting posture, upon a
seat constructed for the purpose. On his left side, the cane, given him
by Henry Cla}', was placed upright, with his right hand resting upon it.
Many of the old w-arrior's trophies were placed in the grave, and some
Indian garments, together with his favorite weapons.""
No sooner was the Black Hawk war concluded than settlers began
rapidly to pour into the northern parts of Illinois, and into Wisconsin,
now free from Indian depredations. Chicago, fi»om a trading post, had
grown to a commercial center, and was rapidly coming into prominence.
In 1835, the formation of a State Government in Michigan was discussed,
but did not take active form until two years later, when the State became
a part of the Federal Union.
The main attraction to that portion of the Northwest lying west of
Lake Michigan, noAv included in the State of Wisconsin, was its alluvial
wealth. Copper ore was found about Lake Superior. For some time this
region was attached to Michigan for judiciary purposes, but in 183f) was
made a territory, then including Minnesdta and Iowa. The latter State
was detached two jenvs later. In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a
State, Madison being made the capital. We have now traced the various
divisions of the Northwest Territory (save a little in Minnesota) from
the time it was a unit comprising this vast territory, until circumstances
compelled its present division.
TKE liTOETHWEST TERRITORY.
79
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE NORTHWEST
Preceding chapters have brought us to the close of the Black Hawk
war, and we now turn to the contemphxtion of the growth and prosperity
of the Northwest under the smile of peace and the blessings of our civili-
zation. The pioneers of this region date events back to the deep snow
OLD FOET DEARBOKN, 1830.
of 1831, no one arriving here since that date taking first honors. The
inciting cause of the immigration which overflowed the prairies early in
the '30s was the reports of the marvelous beauty and fertility of the
region distributed tlirough the East by those who had participated in the
Black Hawk campaign with Gen. Scott. Chicago and Milwaukee then
had a few hundred inhabitants, and Gurdon S. Hubbard's trail from the
former city to Kaskaskia led almost through a wilderness. Vegetables
and clothing were largely distributed through the regions adjoining the
80
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
lakes by steamers from the Ohio towns. There are men now living in
Illinois who came to tlie state when barel}' an acre was in cultivation,
and a man now prominent in the business circles of Chicago looked over
the swampy, cheerless site of that metropolis in 1818 and went south-
ward into civilization. Emigrants from Pennsylvania in 1830 left behind
LINCOLN MONUMENT, SPIilNGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
them but one small railway in the coal regions, thirty miles in length,
and made their way to the Northwest mostly with ox teams, finding in
Northern Illinois petty settle-ments scores of miles apart, although the
southern portion of the state was fairly dotted with farms. The
water courses of the lakes and rivers furnished transportation to the
second great army of immigrants, and about 1850 railroads were
pushed to that extent that the crisis of 1837 was precipitated upon us,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
81
from the effects of which the Western country had not fully recovered
at the outbreak of the war. Hostilities found the colonists of the prairies
fully alive to the demands of the occasion, and the honor of recruiting
k¥''&J.
'illlliiirt^^^^^^^^^^^^
the vast armies of the Union fell largely to Gov. Yates, of Illinois, and
Gov. Morton, of Indiana. To recount the share of the glories of the
campaign won "by eux Western troops is a needless task, except to
mention the fact that Illinois gave to zLe nation the President who save']
S2
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
it, and sent out at the head of one of its regiments tne general who led
ts armies to the final victory at Appomattox. The struggle, on the
ffl'l ■il'li' I, 'liVII/' I': M\>' il'""'
whole, had a marked effect for the Letter on the new Northwest, gi fing
it an impetus whicli twenty years of peace would not have produced.
In a large degree this prosperity was an infl:ited one, and with the rest
of the Union we have since been coiapelled to atone therefor by four
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 83
years of depression of values, of scarcity of employment, and loss of
fortune. To a less degree, however, than the manufacturing or mining
regions has the West suffered during the prolonged panic now so near its
end. Agriculture, still the leading feature in our industries, has been
quite prosperous through all these dark years, and the farmers have
cleared away many incumbrances resting over them from the period of
fictitious values. The population has steadily increased, the arts and
sciences are gaining a stronger foothold, the trade area of the region is
becoming daily more extended, and we have been largely exempt from
the financial calamities which have nearly wrecked communities on the
seaboard dependent wholly on foreign commerce or domestic manufacture.
At the present period there are no great schemes broached for the
Northwest, no propositions for government subsidies or national works
of improvement, but the capital of the world is attracted hither for the
purchase of our products or the expansion of our capacity for serving the
nation at large. Anew era is dawning as to transportation, and we bid
fair to deal almost exclusively with the increasing and expanding lines
of steel rail running through every few miles of territory on the prairies.
The lake marine will no doubt continue to be useful in the warmer
season, and to serve as a regulator of freight rates; but experienced
navigators forecast the decay of the system in moving to the seaboard
the enormous crops of the "West. Within tlie past five years it has
become quite common to see direct shipments to Europe and the West
Indies going through from the second-class towns along the Mississippi
and Missouri.
As to popular education, the standard has of late risen very greatly,
and our schools would be creditable to any section of the Union.
More and more as the events of the war pass into obscurity will the
fate of the Northwest be linked with that of the Southwest, and the
next Congressional apportionment will give the valley of the Mississippi
absolute control of the legislation of the nation, and do much toward
securing the removal of the Federal capitol to some more central location.
Our public men continue to wield the full share of influence pertain-
ing to their rank in the national autonomy, and seem not to forget that
for the past sixteen years tliey and their constituents have dictated the
principles which should govern the country.
In a work like this, destined to lie on the shelves of the library for
generations, and not doomed to daily destruction like a newspaper, one
can not indulge in the same glowing predictions, the sanguine statements
of actualities that fill the columns of ephemeral publications. Time may
bring grief to the pet projects of a writer, and explode castles erected on
a pedestal of facts. Yet there are unmistakable indications before us of
g4 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the same radical chanue in our sjreat Northwest which characterizes its
history for the past thirty years. Our domain has a sort of natural
geographical horder, save Avhere it melts away to the southward in the
cattle raising" districts of the southwest.
Our prime interest will for some years doubtless be the growth of
the food of the workl, in which branch it has already outstripped all
competitors, and our great rival in this duty will naturally be the fertile
plains of Kansas, Nebraslva and Colorado, to say nothing of the new
empire so rapidly growing np in Texas. Over these regions there is a
continued progress in agriculture and in railway building, and we must
look to our laurels. Intelligent observers of events are fully aware of
the strides made in the way of shipments of fresh meats to Europe,
many of these ocean cargoes being actually slaughtered in the West and
transported on ice to the wharves of the seaboard cities. That this new
enterprise will continue there is no reason to doubt. There are in
Chicago several factories for the canning of prepared meats for European
consumption, and the orders for this class of goods are already immense.
English capital is becoming daily more and more dissatisfied with railway
loans and investments, and is gradually seeking mammoth outlays in
lands and live stock. The stock yards in Chicago, Indianapolis and East
St. Louis are yearly increasing their facilities, and their plant steadily
grows more valuable. Importations of blooded animals from the pro-
gressive countries of Europe are destined to greatly improve the quality
of our beef and mutton. Nowhere is there to be seen a more enticing-
display in this line than at our state and county fairs, and the interest
in the matter is on the increase.
To attempt to give statistics of our grain production for 1877 would
be useless, so far have we surpassed ourselves in the quantity and
quality of our product. We are too liable to forget that we are giving
the world its first article of necessity — its food supply. An opportunity
to learn this fact so it never can be forsj^otten was afforded at Chicaoo at
tlie outbreak of the great panic of 1878, when Canadian purchasers,
fearing the prostration of business mightbring about an anarchical condition
of affairs, went to that city willi coin in bulk and foi'cign drafts to secure
their sui)plies in ihcii- own cui'rency at first hands. It may be justly
claimed by the agricultural community that their combined efforts gave
the nation its first impetus toward a restoiation of its crippled industries,
and tlicir labor brought tiie gold premium to a lower depth than the"
tjovernment was able; to reach b^; its most intense efforts of lesrislation
and compulsion. The hundreds of millions about to be disbursed for
farm products liave already, by the anticipation common to all commercial
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
85
nations, set the wheels in motion, and will relieve us from the perils so
long shadowing our efforts to return to a healthy tone.
Manufacturing has attained in the chief cities a foothold which bids
fair to render the Northwest independent of the outside world. Nearly
TIirXTTXf; PRAIRIE WOLVES IX AX EARLY DAY.
our whole region has a distribution of coal measures which ^ ill in time
support the manufactures necessary to our comfort and prosperity. As
to transportation, the chief factor in the production of all articles excep"
food, no section is so magnificently endowed, and our facilities are yearly
increasing beyond those of any other region.
86 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The period from a central point of the war to the outbreak of the
panic was marked by a tremendous growth in our railway lines, but the
de^jression of tlie times caused almost a total suspension of operations.
Now that prosperity is returning to our stricken country we witness its
anticipation by the railroad interest in a series of projects, extensions,
and leases which bid fair to largely increase our transportation facilities.
The process of foreclosure and sale of incumbered lines is another matter
to be considered. In the case of the Illinois Central road, which formerly
transferred to other lines at Cairo the vast burden of freight destined for
the Calf region, we now see the incorporation of the tracks connecting
through to New Orleans, every mile co-operating in turning toward the
northwestern metropolis the weight of the inter-state commerce of a
tliousand miles or more of fertile plantations. Three competing routes
to Texas have established in Chicago their general freight and passenger
agencies. Four or five lines compete for all Pacific freights to a point as
as far as the interior of Nebraska. Half a dozen or more splendid bridge
structures have been thrown across the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers by
the railways. The Chicago and Northwestern line has become an aggre-
gation of over two thousand miles of rail, and the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul is its close rival in extent and importance. The three lines
running to Cairo via Vincennes form a through route for all traffic with
the states to the southward. The chief projects now under discussion
are the Chicago and Atlantic, which is to unite with lines now built to
Charleston, and the Cliicago and Canada Southern, which line will con-
nect with all tlie various branches of that Canadian enterprise. Our
latest new road is the Chicago and Lake Huron, formed of three lines,
and entering the city from Valparaiso on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
and Chicago track. The trunk lines being mainly in operation, the
progress made in the way of shortening tracks, making air-line branches,
and running extensions does not show to the advantage it deserves, as
this process is constantly adding new facilities to the established order
of things. The panic reduced the price of steel to a point where the
railways could hardly afford to use iron rails, and all our northwestern
lines report large relays of Bessemer track. The immense crops now
being moved have given a great rise to the value of railway stocks, and
theii- transportation must result in heavy pecuniary advantages.
Few are aware of the importance of the wholesale and jobbing trade
of Chicago. One leading firm has since the panic sold $24,000,000 of
dry goods in one year, and they now expect most confidently to add
seventy per cent, to the figures of their last year's business. In boots
and shoes and in clothing, twenty or more great firms from the east have
placed here their distributing agents or their factories ; and in groceries
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
87
Chicago supplies the entire Northwest at rates presenting advantages
over New York.
Chicago has stepped in between New York and the rural banks as a
financial center, and scarcely a banking institution in the grain or cattle
regions but keeps its reserve funds in the vaults of our commercial insti-
tutions. Accumulating here throughout the spring and summer months,
they are summoned home at pleasure to move the products of the
prairies. This process greatly strengthens the northwest in its financial
operations, leaving home capital to supplement local operations on
behalf of home interests.
It is impossible to forecast the destiny of this grand and growing
section of the Union. Figures and predictions made at this date might
seem ten years hence so ludicrously small as to excite only derision.
KTNZIE HOirSE.
Early History of Illinois.
The name of this beautiful Prairie State is derived from IlUm, a
Delaware word signifying Superior Men. It has a French termination,
and is a sjnnbol of how the two races — the French and the Indians —
were iiitermixed during the early history of the country.
The appellation was no doubt well applied to the primitive inhabit-
ants of the soil whose prowess in savage warfare long withstood the
combined attacks of the fierce Iroquois on the one side, and the no less
savage and relentless Sacs and Foxes on the other. The Illinois were
once a powerful confederacy, occupying the most beautiful and fertile
region in the great Valley of the Mississippi, which their enemies coveted
and struggled long and hard to wrest from them. By the fortunes of
war they were diminished in numbers, and finally destroyed. " Starved
Rock," on the Illinois River, according to tradition, commemorates their
last tragedy, where, it is said, the entire tribe starved rather than sur-
render.
EARLY DISCOVERIES.
The first European discoveries in Illinois date back over two hun-
dred years. The}^ are a part of that movement which, from the begin-
ning to the middle of the seventeenth century, brought the French
Canadian missionaries and fur traders into the Valley of the Mississippi,
and which, at a later period, established the civil and ecclesiastical
authority of France from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico,
and from the foot-hills of the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains.
The great river of the West had been discovered by DeSoto, the
Spanish conqueror of Florida, three quarters of a century before the
French founded Quebec in 1608, but tlie Spanish left the country a wil-
'lerness, without further exploration or settlement within its borders, in
which condition it remained until the Mississippi was discovered by the
agents of the French Canadian government, Jolietand Marquette, in 1673.
These renowned explorers were not the first white visitors to Illinois,
In 1671 — two years in advance of them — came Nicholas Perrot to Chicago
He had been sent by Talon as an agent of the Canadian government tc
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
89
90 HISTORY OF THE STATE OP ILLINOIS.
ciill a great peace convention of Western Indians at Green Bay, prepara-
tory to the movement for the discovery of the Mississippi. It was
deemed a good stroke of policy to secure, as far as possible, the friend-
ship and co-operation of the Indians, far and near, before venturing ujion
an enterprise which their hostility might render disastrous, and which
their friendship and assistance would do so much to make successful ;
and to this end Perrot was sent to call together in council the tribes
throughout the Northwest, and to promise them the commerce and pro-
tection of the French government. He accordingly arrived at Green
Bay in 1671, and procuring an escort of Pottawattamies, proceeded in a
bark canoe upon a visit to the Miarais, at Chicago. Perrot was there-
fore the first European to set foot upon the soil of Illinois.
Still there were others before Marquette. In 1672, the Jesuit mis-
sionaries. Fathers Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, bore the standard
of the Cross from their mission at Green Bay through western Wisconsin
and northern Illinois, visiting the Foxes on Fox River, and the Masquo-
tines and Kickapoos at the mouth of the Milwaukee. These missionaries
penetrated on the route afterwards followed by Marquette as far as the
Kickapoo village at the head of Lake Winnebago, where Marquette, in
his journey, secured guides across the portage to the Wisconsin.
The oft-repeated story of Marquette and Joliet is well known.
They were the agents employed by the Canadian government to discover
the Mississippi. Marquette was a native of France, born in 1637, a
Jesuit priest by education, and a man of simple faith and of great zeal and
devotion in extending the Roman Catholic religion among the Indians.
Arriving iu Canada in 1666, he was sent as a missionary to the far
Nortliwest, and, iu 1668, founded a mission at Sault Ste. Marie. The
following year he moved to La Pointe, in Lake Superior, where he
instructed a branch of the Hurons till 1670, when he removed south, and
founded the mission at St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mackinaw. Here
he remained, devoting a portion of liis time to the study of the Illinois
language under a native teacher who had accompanied him to the mission
from La Pointe, till he was joined by Joliet in the Spring of 1673. By
the way of Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, they entered
the Mississippi, wiiich they explored to the mouth of the Arkansas, and
returned by the way of the Illinois and Chicago Rivers to Lake Michigan.
On his way up the Illinois, Marquette visited the great village of
the Kaskaskias, near what is now Utica, in the county of LaSalle. The
following year he returned and established among them the mission of
the Immacnlato Virgin Mary, whicii was the first Jesuit mission founded
in Illinois and in tlie Mississippi Valley. The intervening winter he
had spent in a hut which his comjianions erected on the Chicago River, a
few leagues from its mouth. The founding of this mission was the last
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 91
act of Marquette's life. He died in Michigan, on his way back to Green
Bay, May 18, 1675.
FIRST FRENCH OCCUPATION.
The first French occupation of the territory now embraced in Illi-
nois was effected by LaSalle in 1680, seven years after the time of Mar-
quette and Joliet, LaSalle, having constructed a vessel, the " Griffin,"
above the falls of Niagara, which he sailed to Green Bay, and having
passed thence in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, by which
and the Kankakee he reached the Illinois, in January, 1680, erected Fort
Crevecoeur, at tlie lower end of Peoria Lake, where the city of Peoria is
now situated. The place where this ancient fort stood may still be seen
just below the outlet of Peoria Lake. It was destined, however, to a
temporary existence. From this point, LaSalle determined to descend
the Mississippi to its mouth, but did not accomplish this purpose till two
years later — in 1682. Returning to Fort Frontenac for the purpose of
getting materials with which to rig his vessel, he left the fort in charge of
Touti, his lieutenant, who during his absence was driven off by the Iro-
quois Indians. These savages had made a raid upon the settlement of
the Illinois, and had left nothing in their track but ruin and desolation.
Mr. Davidson, in his History of Illinois, gives the following graphic
account of the picture that met the eyes of LaSalle and his companions
on their return :
" At the great town of the Illinois they were appalled at the scene
which opened to their view. No hunter appeared to break its death-like
silence with a salutatory whoop ot welcome. The plain on which the
town had stood was now strewn with charred fragments of lodges, which
had so recently swarmed with savage life and hilarity. To render more
hideous the picture of desolation, large numbers of skulls had been
placed on the upper extremities of lodge-poles which had escaped the
devouring flames. In the midst of these horrors was the rude fort of
the spoilers, rendered frightful by the same ghastly relics. A near
approach showed that the graves had been robbed of their bodies, and
swarms of buzzards were discovered glutting their loathsome stomachs
on the reeking corruption. To complete the work of destruction, the
growing corn of the village had been cut down and burned, while the
pits containing the products of previous years, had been rifled and their
contents scattered with wanton waste. It was evident the suspected
blow of the Iroquois had fallen with relentless fury."
Tonti had escaped LaSalle knew not whither. Passing down the
lake in search of him and his men, LaSalle discovered that the fort had
been destroyed, but the vessel which he had partly constructed was still
92 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
on the stocks, and but slightly injured. After further fruitless search,
failing to find Tonti, he fastened to a tree a painting representing himself
and party sitting in a canoe and bearing a pipe of peace, and to the paint-
ing attached a letter addressed to Tonti.
Tonti had escaped, and, after untold privations, taken shelter among
the Pottawattamies near Green Bay. These were friendly to the French.
One of their old chiefs used to say, " There were but three great cap-
tains in the world, himself, Tonti and LaSalle."
GENIUS OF LaSALLE.
We must now return to LaSalle, whose exploits stand out in such
bold relief. He was born in Rouen, France, in 1643. His father was
wealthy, but he renounced his patrimony on entering a college of the
Jesuits, from which he separated and came to Canada a poor man in 1666.
The priests of St. Sulpice, among whom he had a brother, were then the
proprietors of Montreal, the nucleus of which was a seminary or con-
vent founded by that order. The Superior granted to LaSalle a large
tract of land at LaChine, where he established himself in the fur trade.
He was a man of daring genius, and outstripped all his competitors in
exploits of travel and commerce with the Indians. In 1669, he visited
the headquarters of the great Iroquois Confederacy, at Onondaga, in the
heart of New York, and, obtaining guides, explored the Ohio River to
the falls at Louisville.
In order to understand the genius of LaSalle, it must be remembered
that for many years prior to his time the missionaries and traders were
obliged to make their way to the Northwest by the Ottawa River (of
Canada) on account of the fierce hostility of the Iroquois along the lower
lakes and Niagara River, which entirelj^ closed this latter route to the
Upper Lakes. Tlie}^ carried on their commerce chiefly by canoes, pad-
dling them through the Ottawa to Lake Nipissing, carrying them across
tiie portage to French River, and descending that to Lake Huron. This
being the route by wliich they reached the Northwest, accounts for the
fact that all the earliest Jesuit missions were established in the neighbor-
liood of the Upper Lakes. LaSalle conceived the grand idea of opening
the route by Niagara River and the Lower Lakes to Canadian commerce
by sail vessels, connecting it with the navigation of the Mississippi, and
thus opening a magnificent water communication from the Gidf of St.
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. This truly grand and comprehensive
purpose seems to have animated him in all his wonderful achievements
and the matchless difficulties and liardships he surmounted. As the first
.step in the accomplishment of this object he established himself on Lake
Ontario, and biiik and garrisoned Fort Frontenac, the site of the present
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 93
city of Kingston, Canada. Here he obtained a grant of land from the
French crown and a body of troops by which he beat back the invading
Iroquois and cleared the passage to Niagara Falls. Having by this mas-
terly stroke made it safe to attempt a hitherto untried expedition, his
next step, as we have seen, was to advance to the Falls with all his
outfit for building a ship with which to sail the lakes. He was success-
ful in this undertaking, though his ultimate purpose was defeated by a
strange combination of untoward circumstances. The Jesuits evidently
hated LaSalle and plotted against him, because he had abandoned them
and c(i-operated with a rival order. The fur ti'aders were also jealous of
his superior success in opening new channels of commerce. At LaChine
he had taken the trade of Lake Ontario, which but for his presence there
would have gone to Quebec. While they were plodding with their barK
canoes through the Ottawa he was constructing sailing vessels to com-
mand the trade of the lakes and tlie Mississippi. These great plans
excited the jealousy and envy of the small traders, introduced treason and
revolt into the ranks of his own companions, and finally led to the foul
assassination by which his great achievements were prematurely ended.
In 1682, LaSalle, having completed liis vessel at Peoria, descended
the Mississippi to its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico. . Erecting a
standard on which he inscribed the arms of France, he took formal pos-
session of the whole valle}^ of the mighty river, in the name of Louis
XIV., then reigning, in honor of whom he named the country Louisiana.
LaSalle tlien went to France, was appointed Governor, and returned
with a fleet and immigrants, for the purpose of planting a colony in Illi-
nois. They arrived in due time in the Gulf of Mexico, but failing to
find the mouth of the Mississippi, up which LaSalle intended to sail, his
supply ship, with the immigrants, was driven ashore and wrecked on
Matagorda Bay. With the fragments of the vessel he constructed a
stockade and rude huts on the shore for the protection of the immigrants,
calling the ]30st Fort St. Louis. He then made a trip into New Mexico,
in search of silver mines, but, meeting with disappointment, returned to
find his little colony reduced to forty souls. He then resolved to travel
on foot to Illinois, and, starting with his companions, had reached the
valley of the Colorado, near the mouth of Trinity river, when he was
shot by one of his men. This occurred on the 19th of March, 1687.
Dr. J. W. Foster remarks of him : " Thus fell, not far from the banks
of the Trinity, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, one of the grandest charac-
ters that ever figured in American history — a man capable of originating
the vastest schemes, and endowed with a will and a judgment capable of
carrying them to successful results. Had ample facilities been placed by
the King of France at his disposal, the result of the colonization of this
continent might have been far different from what we now behold."
94 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
A teraporarv settlement was made at Fort St. Louis, or the old Kas-
kaskia village, on the Illinois River, in what is now LaSalle County, in
1682. In 1690, this was removed, with the mission connected with it, to
Kaskaskia, on the river of that name, emptying into the lower Mississippi
in St. Clair County. Cahokia was settled about the same time, or at
least, both of these settlements began in the year 1690, though it is now
pretty well settled that Cahokia is tlie older place, and ranks as the oldest
permanent settlement in Illinuis, as well as in the Mississippi Valley.
The reason for the removal of the old Kaskaskia settlement and mission,
was probably because the dangerous and difficult route by Lake Michigan
and the Chicago portage had been almost abandoned, and travelers and
traders passed down and up the Mississippi by the Fox and Wisconsin
River route. They removed to the vicinity of the Mississippi in order
to be in the line of travel from Canada to Louisiana, that is, the lower
part of it, for it was all Louisiana then south of the lakes.
During the period of French rule in Louisiana, the population prob-
ably never exceeded ten thousand, including whites and blacks. Within
that portion of it now included in Indiana, trading posts were established
at the principal Miami villages which stood on the head waters of the
Maumee, the Wea villages situated at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and
the Piankeshaw villages at Post Vincennes ; all of which were probably
visited by French traders and missionaries before the close of the seven-
teenth century.
In the vast territory claimed by the French, many settlements of
considerable importance had sprung up. Biloxi, on Mobile Bay, had
been founded by DTberville, in 1699; Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac had
founded Detroit in 1701 ; and New Orleans had been founded by Bien-
ville, under the auspices of the Mississippi Company, in 1718. In Illi-
nois also, considerable settlements had been made, so that in 1730 they
embraced one hundred and forty French families, about six hundred " con^
verted Indians," and many traders and voyageurs. In that portion of the
country, on the east side of the Mississippi, there were five distinct set-
tlemetits, witli their respective villages, viz. : Cahokia, near the mouth
of Cahokia Creek and about five miles below the present city of St.
Louis ; . St. Philip, about forty-five miles below Cahokia, and four miles
above Fort Chartrcs ; Fort Chartres, twelve miles above Kaskaskia ;
Kaskaskia, situated on the Kaskaskia River, five miles above its conflu-
ence with the Mississippi ; and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres.
To these must be added St. Genevieve and St. Louis, on the west side
of the Mississippi. These, with the exception of St. Louis, are among
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 95
the oldest French towns in the Mississippi Valley. Kaskaskia, in its best
days, was a town of some two or three thousand inhabitants. After it
passed from the crown of France its population for many years did not
exceed fifteen hundred. Under British rule, in 1773, the population had
decreased to four hundred and fifty. As early as 1721, the Jesuits had
established a college and a monastery in Kaskaskia.
Fort Chartres was first built under the direction of tlie Mississippi
Company, in 1718, by M. de Boisbraint, a military officer, under command
of Bienville. It stood on the east bank of the Mississippi, about eighteen
miles below Kaskaskia, and was for some time the headquarters of the
military commandants of the district of Illinois.
In the Centennial Oration of Dr. Fowler, delivered at Philadelphia,
by appointment of Gov. Beveridge, we find some interesting facts with
regard to the State of Illinois, which we appropriate in this history:
In 1682 Illinois became a possession of the French crown, a depend-
ency of Canada, and a part of Louisiana. In 1765 the English flag was
run up on old Fort Chartres, and Illinois was counted among the treas-
ures of Great Britain.
In 1779 it was taken from the English by Col. George Rogers Clark.
This man was resolute in nature, wise in council, prudent in policy, bold
in action, and heroic in danger. Few men who have figured in the his-
tory of America are more deserving than this colonel. Nothing short of
first-class ability could have rescued Vincens and all Illinois from the
English, And it is not possible to over-estimate the influence of this
achievement upon the republic. In 1779 Illinois became a part of Vir-
ginia. It was soon known as Illinois County. In 1781 Virginia ceded
all this territory to the general government, to be cut into States, to be
republican in form, with " the same right of sovereignty, freedom, and
independence as the other States."
In 1787 it was the object of the wisest and ablest legislation found
in any. merely human records. No man can study the secret history of
THE "COMPACT OF 1787,"
and not feel tliat Providence was guiding with sleepless eye these unborn
States. The ordinance that on July 13, 1787, finally became the incor-
porating act, has a most marvelous history. Jefferson had vainly tried
to secure a system of government for the northwestern territory. He
was an emancipationist of that day, and favored the exclusion of slavery
from the territory Virginia had ceded to the general government; but
the South voted him down as often as it came up. In 1787, as late as
July 10, an organizing act without tlie anti-slavery clause was pending.
This concession to the South was expected to carry it. Congress was in
06 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
session in New York City. On July 5, Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, of
Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby on the northwestern terri-
tory. Evervthino; seemed to fall into his hands. Events were ripe.
The state of the public credit, the growing- of Southern prejudice,
the basis of his mission, his personal cliaracter, all combined to complete
one of those sudden and marvelous revolutions of public sentiment that
once in five or ten centuries are seen to sweep over a country like the
breath of the Almighty. Cutler was a graduate of Yale — received his
A.M. from Harvard, and his D.D. from Yale. He had studied and taken
degrees in the three learned professions, medicine, law, and divinity. He
had thus America's best indorsement. He had published a scientific
examination of the plants of New England. His name stood second only
to that of Franklin as a scientist in America. He was a courtly gentle-
man of the old style, a man of commanding presence, and of inviting
face. The Southern members said they had never seen such a gentleman
in the North. He came representing a company that desired to purchase
a tract of land now included in Ohio, for the purpose of planting a colony.
It was a speculation. Government money was worth eighteen cents on
the dollar. This Massachusetts company had collected enough to pur-
chase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other speculators in New York made
Dr. Cutler their agent (lobbyist). On the 12th he represented a demand
for 5,500,000 acres. This would reduce the national debt. Jefferson
and Virginia were regarded as authority concerning the land Virginia
had just ceded. Jefferson's policy wanted to provide for the public credit,
and this was a good opportunity to do something.
Massachusetts then owned the territory of Maine, which she was
crowding on the market. She was opposed to opening the northwestern
region. This fired the zeal of Virginia. The South caught the inspira-
tion, and all exalted Dr. Cutler. The English minister invited him to
dine with some of the Southern gentlemen. He was the center of interest.
The entire South rallied round him. Massachusetts could not vote
against him, because many of the constituents of her members were
interested personally in the western speculation. Tlius Cutler, making-
friends with the South, and, doubtless, using all the arts of the lobb}^.
was enabled to command the situation. True to deeper convictions, he
dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise states-
manship that has ever adorned any human law book. He borrowed from
Jefferson the term " Articles of Compact," which, preceding the federal
constitution, rose into tlie most sacred cliaracter. He then followed very
closely the constitution of Massachusetts, adopted three years before.
Its most marked points were :
1. The exclusion of shivei'y from tiie territory forever.
2. Provision for public schools, giving one township for a seminary,
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 97
and every section numbered 16 in each township ; that is, one-thirty-sixth
of all the land, for public schools.
3. A provision prohibiting the adoption of any constitution or the
enactment of any law that should nullify pre-existing contracts.
Be it foreyer remembered that this compact declared that " Religion,
morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always
be encouraged."
Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platform and would not yield.
Giving his unqualified declaration that it was that or nothing — that unlet^s
they could make the land desirable they did not want it — he took his
horse and buggy, and started for the constitutional convention in Phila-
delphia. On July 13, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage, and was
unanimously adopted, every Southern member voting for it, and only one
man, Mr. Yates, of New York, voting against it. But as the States voted
as States, Yates lost his vote, and the compact was put beyond repeal.
Thus the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis-
consin— a vast empire, the heart of the great valley — were consecrated
to freedom, intelligence, and honesty. Thus the great heart of the nation
was prepared for a year and a day and an hour. In the light of these eighty-
nine years I affirm that this act was the salvation of the republic and the
destruction of slavery. Soon the South saw their great blunder, and
tried to repeal the compact. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee
of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported that this ordinance
was a compact, and opposed repeal. Thus it stood a rock, in the way
of the on-rushing sea of slavery.
With all this timely aid it was, after all, a most desperate and pro-
tracted struggle to keep the soil of Illinois sacred to freedom. It Avas
the natural battle-field for tlie irrepressible conflict. In the southern end
of -the State slavery preceded the compact. It existed among the old
French settlers, and was hard to eradicate. The southei-n part of the
State was settled from the slave States, and this population brought their
laws, customs, and institutions with them. A stream of population from
the North poured into the northern part of the State. These sections
misunderstood and hated each other perfectly. The Southerners regarded
the Yankees as a skinning, tricky, penurious race of peddlers, filling tlie
country with tinware, brass clocks, and wooden nutmegs. The North-
erner thought of the Southerner as a lean, lank, lazy creature, burrowing
in a hut, and rioting in whisky, dirt and ignorance. These causes aided
in making the struggle long and bitter. So strong was the sympathy
with slavery that, in spite of the ordinance of 1787, and in spite of the
deed of cession, it was determined to allow the old French settlers to
retain their slaves. Plantei:s from the slave States might bring their
98 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ELLIXOIS.
slaves, if the}' would give them a chance to choose freedom or jeavs
of service and bondage for their children till they should become
thirty years of age. If they chose freedom they must leave the State
in sixtv days or be sold as fugitives. Servants were whipped for offenses
for wliich white men are fined. Each lash paid forty cents of the fine. . A
negro ten miles from home without a pass was whipped. These famous
laws were imported from the slave States just as they imported laws for
the inspection of flax and wool when there was neither in the State.
These Black Laws are now wiped out. A vigorous effort was made
to protect slavery in the State Constitution of 1817. It barely failed.
It was renewed in 1825, when a convention was asked to make a new
constitution. After a hard fight the convention was defeated. But
slaves did not disappear from the census of the State until 1850. There
were mobs and murders in tlie interest of slavery. Lovejoy was added
to the list of martyrs — a sort of first-fruits of that long life of immortal
heroes who saw freedom as the one supreme desire of their souls, and
were so enamored of her that they preferred to die rather than survive her.
The population of 12,282 that occupied the territory in A.D. 1800,
increased to 45,000 in A.D. 1818, when the State Constitution was
adopted, and Illinois took her place in the Union, with a star on the flag
and two votes in the Senate.
Shadrach Bond was the first Governor, and in his first message he
recommended the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
The simple economy in those days is seen in the fact that the entire
bill for stationery for the first Legislature was only $13.50. Yet this
simple body actually enacted a very superior code.
There was no money in the territory before the war of 1812. Deer
skins and coon skins were the circulating medium. In 1821, the Legisv
lature ordained a State Bank on the credit of the State. It issued notes
in the likeness of bank bills. These notes were made a legal tender for
every thing, and the bank was ordered to loan to the people flOO on per-
sonal security, and more on mortgages. They actually passed a resolu-
tion requesting the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to
receive these notes for land. The old French Lieutenant Governor, Col.
Menai-d, put the resolution as follows: *' Gentlemen of the Senate : It is
moved and seconded dat de notes of dis bank be made land-office money.
All in favor of dat motion say aye ; all against it say no. It is decided
in de affirmative. Now, gentlemen, I bet you one hundred dollar he
never be land-office money ! " Hard sense, like hard money, is always
above par.
This old Frenchman presents a fine figure up against the dark back-
ground of most of his nation. They made no progress. They clung to
their earliest and simplest implements. They never wore hats or cap?
BELLEFLOWER TP. i^
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 99
They pulled their blankets over their heads in the winter like the Indians,
with whom they freely intermingled.
Demagogism had an early development. One John Grammar (only
in name), elected to the Territorial and State Legislatures of 1816 and
1836, invented the policy of opposing every new thing, saying, " If it
succeeds, no one will ask who voted against it. If it proves a failure, he
could quote its record." In sharp contrast with Grammar was the char-
acter of D. P. Cook, after whom the county containing Chicago was
named. Such was his transparent integrity and remarkable ability that
his will was almost the law of the State. In Congress, a young man,
and from a poor State, he was made Chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee. He was pre-eminent for standing by his committee, regard-
less of consequences. It was his integrity that elected John Quincy
Adams to the Presidency. There were four candidates in 1824, Jackson,
Clay, Crawford, and John Quincy Adams. There being no choice by the
people, the election was thrown into the House. It was so balanced that
it turned on his vote, and that he cast for Adams, electing him ; then
went home to face the wrath of the Jackson party in Illinois. It cost
him all but character and greatness. It is a suggestive comment on the
times, that there was no legal interest till 1830. It often reached 150
per cent., usually 50 per cent. Then it was reduced to 12, and now to
10 per cent.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE PRAIRIE STATE.
In area the State has 55,410 square miles of territory. It is about
150 miles wide and 400 miles long, stretching in latitude from Maine to
North Carolina. It embraces wide variety of climate. It is tempered
on the north by the great inland, saltless, tideless sea, which keeps the
thermometer from either extreme. Being a table land, from 600 to 1,600
feet above the level of the sea, one is prepared to find on the health
maps, prepared by the general government, an almost clean and perfect
record. In freedom from fever and malarial diseases and consumptions,
the three deadly enemies of the American Saxon, Illinois, as a State,
stands without a superior. She furnishes one of the essential conditions
of a great people — sound bodies. I suspect that this fact lies back of
that old Delaware word, Illini, superior men.
The great battles of history that have been determinative of dynas-
ties and destinies have been strategical battles, chiefly the question of
position. Thermopylae has been the war-cry of freemen for twenty-four
centuries. It only tells how much there may be in position. All this
advantage belongs to Illinois. It is in the heart of the greatest valley in
the world, the vast region between the mountains — a valley that could
100 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
feed mankind for one thousand years. It is well on toward the center of
the continent. It is in the great temperate belt, in Avhich have been
found nearly all the aggressive civilizations of history. It has sixty-five
miles of frontage on the head of the lake. With the Mississippi forming
the western and southern boundary, with the Ohio running along the
southeastern line, with the Illinois River and Canal dividing the State
diagonally from the lake to the Lower Mississippi, and with the Rock and
Wabash Rivers furnishing altogether 2,000 miles of water-front, con-
necting with, and running through, in all about 12,000 miles of navi-
gable water.
But this is not all. These waters are made most available by the
fact that the lake and the State lie on the ridge running into the great
valley from the east. Within cannon-shot of the lake the water runs
away from the lake to the Gulf. The lake now empties at both ends,
one into the Atlantic and one into the Gulf of Mexico. The lake thus
seems to hang over the land. This makes the dockage most serviceable ;
there are no steep banks to damage it. Both lake and river are made
for use.
The climate varies from Portland to Richmond ; it favors every pro-
duct of the continent, including the tropics, with less than half a dozen
exceptions. It produces every great nutriment of the world except ban-
anas and rice. It is hardly too much to say that it is the most productive
spot known to civilization. With the soil full of bread and the earth full
of minerals ; with an upper surface of food and an under layer of fuel ;
with perfect natural drainage, and abundant springs and streams and
navigable rivers ; half way between the forests of the North and the fruits
of the South ; within a day's ride of the great deposits of iron, coal, cop-
per, lead, and zinc ; containing and controlling the great grain, cattle,
pork, and lumber markets of the world, it is not strange that Illinois has
the advantage of position.
This advantage has been supplemented by the character of the popu-
lation. In the early days when Illinois was first admitted to the Union,
her population were cliiefly from Kentucky and Virginia. But, in the
conflict of ideas concerning slavery, a strong tide of emigration came in
from the East, and soon changed this composition. In 1870 her non-
native population were from colder soils. New York furnished 133,290 ;
Ohio gave 162,623; Pennsylvania sent on 98,352; the entire South gave
us only 206,734. In all her cities, and in all her German and Scandina-
vian and other foreign colonies, Illinois has only about one-fifth of her
people of foreign birth.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. IQl
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
One of the greatest elements in the early development of Illinois is
the Illinois and Michigan Canal, connecting the Illinois and Mississippi
Rivers with the lakes. It was of the utmost importance to the State.
It was recommended by Gov. Bond, the first governor, in his first message.
In 1821, the Legislature appropriated $10,000 for surveying the route.
Two bright young engineers surveyed it, and estimated the cost at
1600,000 or $700,000. It finally cost $8,000,000. In 1825, a law was
passed to incorporate the Canal Company, but no stock was sold. In
1826, upon the solicitation of Cook, Congress gave 800,000 acres of land
on the line of the work. In 1828, another law — commissioners appointed,
and work commenced with new survey and new estimates. In 183-1—35,
George Farquhar made an able report on the whole matter. This was,
doubtless, the ablest report ever made to a western legislature, and it
became the model for subsequent reports and action. From this the
work went on till it was finished in 1818. It cost the State a large
amount of money; but it gave to the industries of the State an impetus
that pushed it up into the first rank of greatness. It was not built as a
speculation any more than a doctor is employed on a speculation. But
it has paid into the Treasary of the State an average annual net sum of
over $111,000.
Pending the construction of the canal, the land and town-lot fever
broke out in the State, in 1884-35. It took on the malignant type in
Chicago, lifting the town up into a city. The disease spread over the
entire State and adjoining States. It was epidemic. It cut up men's
farms without regard to locality, aiid Jut up the purses of the purchasers
without regard to consequences. It is estimated that building lots enough
were sold in Indiana alone to accommodate every citizen then in the
United States.
Towns and cities were exported to the Eastern market by the ship-
load. There was no lack of buyers. Every up-ship came freighted with
speculators and their money.
This distemper seized upon the Legislaiure in 1836-37, and left not
one to tell the tale. They enacted a system of internal improvement
without a parallel in the grandeur of its conception. They ordered the
construction of 1,300 miles of railroad, crossing the State in all direc-
tions. This was surpassed by the river and canal improvements.
There were a few counties not touched by eith^r railroad or river or
canal, and those were to be comforted and compensated by the free dis-
tribution of $200,000 among them. To inflate this balloon beyond cre-
dence it was ordered that work should be commenced on both ejids of
102 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
each of these railroads and rivers, and at each river-crossing, all at the
same time. The approj^riations for these vast improvements were over
812,000,000, and commissioners were appointed to borrow the money on
the credit of the State. Remember that all this was in the early days of
railroading, when railroads were luxuries ; that the State had whole
counties with scarcely a cabin ; and that tlie population of the State was
less than 400,000, and you can form some idea of the vigor with which
these brave men undertook the work of making a great State. In the
light of history I am compelled to say that this was only a premature
throb of the power that actually slumbered in the soil of the State. It
was Hercules in the cradle.
At this juncture the State Bank loaned its funds largely to Godfre}^
Gilman & Co., and to other leading houses, for the purpose of drawing
trade from St. Louis to Alton. Soon they failed, and took down the
bank with tliem.
In 1840, all hope seemed gone. A population of 480,000 were loaded
with a debt of $14,000,000. It had only six small cities, really only
towns, namely : Chicago, Alton, Springfield, Quincy, Galena, Nauvoo.
This debt was to be cared for when there was not a dollar in the treas-
ury, and when the State had borrowed itself out of all credit, and when
there was not good money enough in the hands of all the people to pay
the interest of the debt for a single year. Yet, in the presence of all
these difficulties, the young State steadily refused to repudiate. Gov.
Ford took hold of the problem and solved it, bringing the State through
in triumph.
Having touched lightly upon some of the more distinctive points in
the history of the development of Illinois, let us next briefly consider the
MATERIAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE.
It is a garden four hundred miles long and one hundred and fifty
miles wide. Its soil is chiefly a black sandy loam, from six inches to
sixty feet thick. On the American bottoms it has been cultivated for
one hundred and fifty years without renewal. About the old French
towns it has yielded corn for a century and a half without rest or help.
It produces nearly everything green in the temperate and tropical zones.
She leads all other States in the number of acres actually under plow.
Her products from 25,000,000 of acres are incalculable. Her mineral
wealth is scarcely second to her ai»ricultural power. She has coal, iron,
lead, copper, zinc, many varieties of building stone, fire clay, cuma claj-,
common l)rick clay, sand of all kinds, gravel, mineral paint — every thing
needed for a high civilization. Left to herself, she has the elements of
all greatness. The single item of coal is too vast for an appreciative
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 103
handling in figures. We can handle it in general terms like algebraical
signs, but long before we get up into the millions and billions the human
mind drops down from comprehension to mere symbolic apprehension.
When I tell you that nearly four-fifths of the entire State is under-
laid with a deposit of coal more than forty feet thick on the average (now
estimated, by recent surveys, at seventy feet thick), you can get some
idea of its amount, as you do of the amount of the national debt. There
it is ! 41,000 square miles — one vast mine into which you could put
any of the States ; in which you could bury scores of European and
ancient empires, and have room enough all round to work without know-
ing that they had been sepulchered there.
Put this vast coal-bed down by the other great coal deposits of the
world, and its importance becomes manifest. Great Britain has 12,000
square miles of coal; Spain, 3,000; France, 1,719; Belgium, 578; Illinois
about twice as many square miles as all combined. Virginia has 20,000
square miles ; Pennsylvania, 16,000 ; Ohio, 12,000. Illinois has 41,000
square miles. One-seventh of all the known coal on this continent is in
Illinois.
Could we sell the coal in this single State for one-seventh of one cent
a ton it would pay the national debt. Converted into power, even with
the wastage in our common engines, it would do more work than could
be done by the entire race, beginning at Adam's wedding and working
ten hours a day through all the centuries till the present time, and right
on into the future at the same rate for the next 600,000 years.
Great Britain uses enough mechanical power to-day to give to each
man, woman, and child in the kingdom the help and service of nineteen
untiring servants. No wonder she has leisure and luxuries. No wonder
the home of the common artisan has in it more luxuries than could be
found in the palace of good old King Arthur. Think, if you can conceive
of it, of the vast army of servants that slumber in the soil of Illinois,
impatiently awaiting the call of Genius to come forth to minister to our
comfort.
At the present rate of consumption England's coal supply will be
exhausted in 250 years. When this is gone she must transfer her dominion
either to the Indies, or to British America, which I would not resist ; or
to some other people, which I would regret as a loss to civilization.
COAL IS KING.
At the same rate of consumption (which far exceeds our own) the
deposit of coal in Illinois will last 120,000 years. And her kingdom shall
be an everlasting kingdom.
Let us turn now from this reserve power to the annual products of
104 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
the State. We shall not be humiliated in this field. Here we strike the
secret of our national credit. Nature provides a market in the constant
appetite of the race. Men must eat, and if we can furnish the provisions
we can command the treasure. All that a man hath will he give for his
Hfe.
According to the last census Illinois produced 30,000,000 of bushels
of wheat. That is more wheat than was raised by any other State in the
Union. She raised In 1875, 130,000,000 of bushels of corn — twice as
much as any other State, and one-sixth of all the corn raised in the United
States. She harvested 2,747,000 tons of hay, nearl}^ one-tenth of all the
hay in the Republic. It is not generally appreciated, but it is true, that
the hay crop of the country is worth more than the cotton crop. The
hay of Illinois equals the cotton of Louisiana. Go to Charleston, S. C,
and see them peddling handfuls of hay or grass, almost as a curiosity,
as we regard Chinese gods or the cryolite of Greenland ; drink your
coffee and condeyised milk ; and walk back from the coast for many a
league through the sand and burs till you get up into the better atmos-
phere of the mountains, without seeing a waving meadow or a grazing
herd ; then you will begin to appreciate the meadows of the Prairie State,
where the grass often grows sixteen feet high.
The value of her farm implements is $211,000,000, and the value of
her live stock is only second to the great State of New York. in 1875
she had 25,000,000 hogs, and packed 2,113,845, about one-half of all that
were packed in the United States. This is no insignificant item. Pork
is a growing demand of the old world. Since the laborers of Europe,
have gotten a taste of our bacon, and we have learned how to pack it dry
in boxes, like dr}'^ goods, the world has become the market.
The hog is on the march into the future. His nose is ordained to
uncover the secrets of dominion, and his feet shall be guided by the star
of empire.
Illinois marketed $57,000,000 worth of slaughtered animals — more
than any other State, and a seventh of all the States.
Be patient with me, and pardon my pride, and I will give you a list
of some of the things in which Illinois excels all other States.
Depth and richness of soil ; per cent, of good ground ; acres of
improved land ; large farms — some farms contain from 40,000 to 60,000
acres of cultivated land, 40,000 acres of corn on a single farm ; number of
farmers ; amount of wheat, corn, oats and honey produced ; value of ani-
mals for slaughter; numljer of hogs; amount of pork; number of horses
— three times as many as Kentucky, the horse State.
Illinois excels all other States in miles of railroads and in miles of
postal service, and in money orders sold per annum, and in the amount of
lumVjer sold in licr markets.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 105
Illinois is only second in many important matters. This sample list
comprises a few of the more important : Permanent school fund (good
for a young state) ; total income for educational purposes ; number of pub-
lishers of books, maps, papers, etc.; value of farm products and imple-
ments, and of live stock ; in tons of coal mined.
The shipping of Illinois is only second to New York. Out of one
port during the business hours of the season of navigation she sends forth
a vessel every ten minutes. This does not include canal boats, which go
one every five minutes. No wonder she is only second in number of
bankers and brokers or in physicians and surgeons.
She is third in colleges, teachers and schools; cattle, lead, hay,
flax, sorghum and beeswax.
She is fourth in population, a'u children enrolled in public schools, in
law schools, in butter, potatoes and carriages.
She is fifth in value of real and personal property, in theological
seminaries and colleges exclusively for women, in milk sold, and in boots
and shoes manufactured, and in book-binding.
She is only seventh in the production of wood, while she is the
twelfth in area. Surely that is well done for the Prairie State. She now
has much more wood and growing timber than she had thirty years ago.
A few leading industries will justify emphasis. She manufactures
$205,000,000 worth of goods, which places her well up toward New York
and Pennsylvania. The number of her manufacturing establishments
increased from 1860 to 1870, 300 per cent.; capital employed increased 350
per cent,, and the amount of product increased 400 per cent. She issued
5,500,000 copies of commercial and financial newspapers — only second to
New York. She has 6,759 miles of railroad, thus leading all other States,
worth $636,458,000, using 3,245 engines, and 67,712 cars, making a train
long enough to cover one-tenth of the entire roads of the State. Her
stations are only five miles apart. She carried last year 15,795,000 passen-
gers, an average of 36|^ miles, or equal to taking her entire population twice
across the State. More than two-thirds of her land is within five miles of
a railroad, and less than two per cent, is more than fifteen miles away.
The State has a large financial interest in the Illinois Central railroad.
The road was incorporated in 1850, and the State gave each alternate sec-
tion for six miles on each side, and doubled the price of the remaining
land, so keeping herself good. The road received 2,595,000 acres of land,
and pays to the State one-seventh of the gross receipts. The State
receives this year 1350,000, and has received in all about $7,000,000. It
is practically the people's road, and it has a most able and gentlemanly
management. Add to this the annual receipts from the canal, $111,000,
and a large per cent, of the State tax is provided for.
106 mSTOKY OF THE STATE OF ILLlNOiS.
THE RELIGION AND MORALS
of the State keep step with her productions and growth. She was born
of the missionary spirit. It was a minister who secured for her the ordi-
nance of 1787, by which she has been saved from slavery, ignorance, and
dishonesty. Rev. Mr. Wiley, pastor of a Scotch congregation in Randolph
County, petitioned the Constitutional Convention of 1818 to recognize
Jesus Christ as king, and the Scriptures as the only necessary guide and
book of law. The convention did not act in the case, and the old Cove-
nanters refused to accept citizenship. They never voted until 1824, when
the slavery question was submitted to the people; then they all voted
against it and cast the determining votes. Conscience has predominated
whenever a great moral question has been submitted to the people.
But little mob violence has ever been felt in the State. In 1817
regulators disposed of a band of horse-thieves that infested the territory.
The Mormon indignities finally awoke the same spirit. Alton was also
the scene of a pro-slavery mob, in which Lovejoy was added to the list of
martyrs. The moral sense of the people makes the law supreme, and gives
to the State unruffled peace.
With $22,300,000 in church property, and 4,298 church organizations,
the State has that divine police, the sleepless patrol of moral ideas, that
alone is able to secure perfect safety. Conscience takes the knife from
the assassin's hand and the bludgeon from the grasp of the highwayman.
We sleep in safety, not because we are behind bolts and bars — these only
fence against the innocent ; not because a lone officer drowses on a distant
corner of a street; not because a sheriff may call his posse from a remote
part of the county ; but because conscience guards the very portals of the
air and stirs in the deepest recesses of the public mind. This spirit issues
within the State 9,500,000 copies of religious papers annually, and receives
still more from without. Thus the crime of the State is only one-fourth
that of New York and one-half that of Pennsjdvania.
Illinois never had but one duel between her own citizens. In Belle-
ville, in 1820, Alphonso Stewart and William Bennett arranged to vindi-
cate injured honor. The seconds agreed to make it a sham, and make
them shoot blanks. Stewart was in the secret. Bennett mistrusted some-
thing, and, unobserved, slip})ed a bullet into his gun and killed Stewart.
He then fled the State. After two years he was caught, tried, convicted,
and, in spite of friends and political aid, was hung. This fixed the code
of honor on a Christian basis, and terminated its use in Illinois.
The early preachers were ignorant men, who were accounted eloquent
according to the strength of their voices. But they set the style for all
public speakers. Lawyers and political speakers followed this rule. Gov.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, 107
Ford says: "Nevertheless, these first preachers were of incalculable
benefit to the country. They inculcated justice and morality. To them
are we indebted for the first Christian character of the Protestant portion
of the people."
In education Illinois surpasses her material resources. Tlie ordinance
of 1787 consecrated one thirty-sixth of her soil to common schools, and
the law of 1818, the first law that went upon her statutes, gave three per
cent, of all the rest to
EDUCATION.
The old compact secures this interest forever, and by its yoking
morality and intelligence it precludes the legal interference with the Bible
in the public schools. With such a start it is natural that we should have
11,050 schools, and that our illiteracy should be less than New York or
Pennsylvania, and only about one-half of Massachusetts. We are not to
blame for not having more than one-half as many idiots as the great
States. These public schools soon made colleges inevitable. The first
college, still flourishing, was started in Lebanon in 1828, by the M. E.
church, and named after Bishop McKendree. Illinois College, at Jackson-
ville, supported by the Presbyterians, followed in 1830. In 1832 the Bap-
tists built Shurtleff College, at Alton. Then the Presbyterians built Knox
College, at Galesburg, in 1838, and the Episcopalians built Jubilee College,
at Peoria, in 1847. After these early years colleges have rained down,
A settler could hardly encamp on the prairie but a college would spring
up by his wagon. The State now has one very well endowed and equipped
university, namely, the Northwestern University, at Evanston, with six
colleges, ninety instructors, over 1,000 students, and $1,500,000 endow-
ment.
Rev. J. M. Peck was the first educated Protestant minister in tne
State. He settled at Rock Spring, in St. Clair County, 1820, and left his
impress on the State. Before 1837 only party papers were published, but
Mr. Peck published a Gazetteer of Illinois. Soon after John Russell, of
Bluffdale, published essays and tales showing genius. Judge James Hall
published The Illinois Monthly Magazine with great ability, and an annual
called The Western Souvenir^ which gave him an enviable fame all over the
United States. From these beginnings Illinois has gone on till she has
more volumes in public libaaries even than Massachusetts, and of the
44,500,000 volumes in all the public libraries of the United States, she
has one-thirteenth. In newspapers she stands fourth. Her increase is
marvelous. In 1850 she issued 5,000,000 copies; in 1860, 27,590,000 ; in
1870, 113,140,000. In 1860 she had eighteen colleges and seminaries ; in
1870 she had eighty. That is a grand advance for the war decade.
This brings us to a record unsurpassed in the history of any age,
108 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
THE WAR RECORD OF ILLINOIS.
I hardly know where to begin, or how to advance, or what to say. 1
can at best give you only a broken synopsis of her deeds, and you must
put them in the order of glory for yourself. Her sons have always been
foremost on fields of danger. In 1832-33, at the call of Gov. Reynolds,
her sons drove Blackhawk over the Mississippi.
When the Mexican war came, in May, 1846, 8,370 men offered them-
selves when only 3,720 could be accepted. The fields of Buena Vista and
Vera Cruz, and the storming of Cerro Gordo, will carry the glory of Illinois
soldiers along after the infamy of the cause they served has been forgotten.
But it was reserved till our day for her sons to find a field and cause and
foemen that could fitly illustrate their spirit and heroism. Illinois put
into her own regiments for the United States government 256,000 men,
and into the army through other States enough to swell the number to
290,000. This far exceeds all the soldiers of the federal government in
all the war of the revolution. Her total years of service were over 600,000.
She enrolled men from eighteen to forty -five 3'ears of age when the law
of Congress in 1864 — the test time — only asked for those from twenty to
forty-five. Her enrollment was otherwise excessive. Her people wanted
to go, and did not take the pains to correct the enrollment. Thus the
basis of fixing the quota was too great, and then the quota itself, at least
in the trying time, was far above any other State.
Thus the demand on some counties, as Monroe, for example, took every
able-bodied man in the county, and then did not have enough to fill the
quota. Moreover, Illinois sent 20,844 men for ninety or one hundred days,
foi- whom no credit was asked. When Mr. Lincoln's attention was called
to the inequality of the quota compared with other States, he replied,
*' The country needs the sacrifice. We must put the whip on the free
horse." In spite of all these disadvantages Illinois gave to the country
73,000 years of service above all calls. With one-thirteenth of the popu-
lation of the loyal States, she sent regularly one-tenth of all the soldiers,
and in the jjeril of the closing calls, when patriots were few and weary,
yhe then sent one-eighth of all that were called for by her loved and hon-
ored son in the white house. Her mothers and daughters went into the
fields to raise the grain and keep the children together, while the fathers
and older sons went to the harvest fields of the world. I knew a father
and four sons who agreed that one of them must stay at home ; and they
pulled straws from a stack to see who might go. The father was left.
The next day he came into the camp, saying : " Mother says she can get
tlie crops in, and I am going, too." I know large Methodist churches
from which every male member went to the army. Do you want to know
HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 109
what these heroes from Illinois did in the field ? Ask any soldier with a
good record of his own, who is thus able to judge, and he will tell you
that the Illinois men went in to win. It is common history that the greater
victories were won in the West. When everything else looked dark Illi-
nois was gaining victories all down the river, and dividing the confederacy.
Sherman took with him on his great march forty-live regiments of Illinois
infantry, three companies of artillery, and one company of cavalry. He
could not avoid
GOING TO THE SEA.
If he had been killed, I doubt not the men would have gone right on.
Lincoln answered all rumors of Sherman's defeat with, " It is impossible ;
there is a mighty sight of fight in 100,000 Western men." Illinois soldiers
brought home 300 battle-flags. The first United States flag that floated
over Richmond was an Illinois flag. She sent messengers and nurses to
every field and hospital, to care for her sick and wounded sons. She said,
*• These suffering ones are my sons, and I will care for them."
When individuals had given all, then cities and towns came forward
with their credit to the extent of many millions, to aid these men and
their families.
Illinois gave the country the great general of the war — Ulysses S.
Grant — since honored with two terms of the Presidency of the United
States.
One other name from Illinois comes up in all minds, embalmed in all
hearts, that must have the supreme place in this story of our glory and
of our nation's honor ; that name is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.
The analysis of Mr. Lincoln's character is difficult on account of its
symmetry.
In this age we look with admiration at his uncompromising honesty.
And well we may, for this saved us. Thousands throughout the length
and breadth of our country who knew him only as " Honest Old Abe,"
voted for him on that account ; and wisely did they choose, for no other
man could have carried us through the fearful night of the war. When
his plans were too vast for our comprehension, and his faith in the cause
too sublime for our participation ; when it was all night about us, and all
dread before us, and all sad and desolate behind us ; when not one ray
shone upon our cause ; when traitors were haughty and exultant at the
South, and fierce and blasphemous at the North ; when the loyal men heie
seemed almost in the minority ; when the stoutest heart quailed, the bravest
cheek paled ; when generals were defeating each other for place, and
contractors were leeching out the very heart's blood of the prostrate
republic : when every thing else had failed us, y\e looked at this calm,
patient man standing like a rock in the storm, and said : " Mr. I^incoln
110 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.'
is honest, and we can trust him still." Holding to this single point with
the energy of faith and despair we held together, and, under God, he
brought us through to victory.
His practical wisdom made him the wonder of all lands. With such
certainty did Mr. Lincoln follow causes to their ultimate effects, that his
foresight of contingencies seemed almost prophetic.
He is radiant with all the great virtues, and his memory shall shed a
glory upon this age that shall fill the eyes of men as they look into his-
tor}^ Other men have excelled him in some point, but, taken at all
points, all in all, he stands head and shoulders above every other man of
6,000 years. An administrator, he saved the nation in the perils of
unparalleled civil war. A statesman, he justified his measures by their
success. A philanthropist, he gave liberty to one race and salvation to
another. A moralist, he bowed from the summit of human power to the
foot of the Cross, and became a Christian. A mediator, he exercised mercy
under the most absolute abeyance to law. A leader, he was no partisan.
A commander, he was untainted with blood. A ruler in desperate times,
he was unsullied with crime. A man, he has left no word of passion, no
thought of malice, no trick of craft, no act of jealousy, no purpose of
selfish ambition. Thus perfected, without a model, and without a peer,
he was droppea into these troubled years to adorn and embellish all that
is good and all that is great in our humanity, and to present to all coming
time the representative of the divine idea of free government.
It is not too much to say that away down in the future, when the
republic has fallen from its niche in the wall of time ; when the great
war itself shall have faded out in the distance like a mist on the horizon ;
when the Anglo-Saxon language shall be spoken only by the tongue of
the stranger ; then the generations looking this way shall see the great
president as the supreme figure in this vortex of historv
CHICAGO.
It is impossible in our brief space to give more than a meager sketch
of such a city as Chicago, which is in itself the greatest marvel of the
Prairie State. This mysterious, majestic, mighty city, born first of water,
and next of fire; sown in weakness, and raised in power; planted among
the willows of the marsh, and crowned with the glory of the mountains ;
sleeping on the bosom of the prairie, and rocked on the bosom of the sea ,
the youngest city of the world, and still the eye of the prairie, as Damas-
cus, the oldest city of the world, is the eye of the desert. With a com-
merce far exceeding that of Corinth on her isthmus, in the highway to
the East; with the defenses of a continent piled around her by the thou-
sand miles, making her far safer than Rome on the banks of the Tiber ;
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. ill
with schools eclipsing Alexandria and Athens ; with liberties more con-
spicuous than those of the old republics ; with a heroism equal to the first
Curtilage, and with a sanctity scarcely second to that of Jerusalem — set
your thoughts on all this, lifted into the eyes of all men by the miracle of
its growth, illuminated by the flame of its fall, and transfigured by the
divinity of its resurrection, and you will feel, as I do, the utter impossi-
bility of compassing this subject as it deserves. Some impression of her
importance is received from the shock her burning gave to the civilized
world.
When the doubt of her calamity was removed, and the horrid fact
was accepted, there went a shudder over all cities, and a quiver over all
lands. There was scarcely a town in the civilized world that did not
shake on the brink of this opening chasm. The flames of our homes red-
dened all skies. The city was set upon a hill, and could not be hid. Ali
eyes were turned upon it. To have struggled and suffered amid the
scenes of its fall is as distinguishing as to have fought at Thermopylae, or
Salamis, or Hastings, or Waterloo, or Bunker Hill.
Its calamity amazed the world, because it was felt to be the common
property of mankind.
The early history of the city is full of interest, just as the early his-
tory of such a man as Washington or Lincoln becomes public property,
and is cherished by every patriot.
Starting with 560 acres in 1833, it embraced and occupied 23,000
acres in 1869, and, having now a population of more than 500,000, it com-
mands general attention.
The first settler — Jean Baptiste Pointe au Sable, a mulatto from the
West Indies — came and began trade with the Indians in 1796. John
Kinzie became his successor in 180-1, in which year Fort Dearborn was
erected.
A mere trading-post was kept here from that time till about the time
of the Blackhawk war, in 1832. It was not the city. It was merely a
cock crowing at midnight. The morning was not yet. In 1833 the set-
tlement about the fort was incorporated as a town. The voters were
divided on the propriety of such corporation, twelve voting for it and one
against it. Four years later it was incorporated as a city, and embraced
660 acres.
The produce handled in this city is an indication of its power. Grain
and flour were imported from the East till as late as 1837. The first
exportation by way of experiment was in 1839. Exports exceeded imports
first in 1842. The Board of Trade was organized in 1848, but it was so
weak that it needed nursing till 1855. Grain was purchased by the
wagon-load in the street.
I remember sitting with my father on a load of wheat, in the long
112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
line of wagons along Lake street, while the buyers came and untied the
bags, and examined the grain, and made their bids. That manner of
business had to cease with the day of small things. Now our elevators
will hold 15,000,000 bushels of grain. The cash value of the produce
handled in a year is 1215,000,000, and the produce weighs 7,000,000
tons or 700,000 car loads. This handles thirteen and a half ton each
minute, all the year round. One tenth of all the wheat in the United
States is handled in Chicago. Even as long ago as 1853 the receipts of
grain in Chicago exceeded those of the goodly city of St. Louis, and in
1854 the exports of grain from Chicago exceeded those of New York and
doubled those of St. Petersburg, Archangel, or Odessa, the largest grain
markets in Europe.
The manufacturing interests of the city are not contemptible. In
1873 manufactories employed 45,000 operatives ; in 1876, 60,000. The
manufactured product in 1875 was worth $177,000,000.
No estimate of the size and power of Chicago would be adequate
that did not put large emphasis on the railroads. Before they came
thundering along our streets canals were the hope of our country. But
who ever thinks now of traveling by canal packets ? In June, 1852,
there Avere only forty miles of railroad connected with the city. The
old Galena division of the Northwestern ran out to Elgin. But now,
who can count the trains and measure the roads that seek a terminus or
connection in this city ? The lake stretches away to the north, gathering
in to this center all the harvests that might otherwise pass to the north
of us. If you will take a map and look at the adjustment of railroads,
you will see, first, that Chicago is the great railroad center of the world,
as New York is the commercial city of this continent ; and, second, that
the railroad lines form the iron spokes of a great wheel whose hub is
this city. The lake furnishes the only break in the spokes, and this
seems simply to have pushed a few spokes together on each shore. See
the eighteen trunk lines, exclusive of eastern connections.
Pass round the circle, and view their numbers and extent. There
is the great Northwestern, with all its branches, one branch creeping
along the lake shore, and so reaching to the north, into the Lake Superior
regions, away to the right, and on to the Northern Pacific on the left,
swinging around Green Bay for iron and copper and silver, twelve months
in the year, and reaching out for the wealth of the great agricultural
belt and isothermal line traversed by the Northern Pacific. Another
branch, not so far north, feeling for the heart of the Badger State.
Anotiier pushing lower down the Mississippi — all these make many con-
nections, and tapping all the vast wheat regions of Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Iowa, and all the regions this side of sunset. There is that elegant road,
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, running out a goodly number of
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 113
branches, and reaping the great fields this side of the Missouri River.
I can only mention the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, our Illinois Central,
described elsewhere, and the Chicago & Rock Island. Further around
we come to the lines connecting us with all the eastern cities. The
Chicago, Indianapolis & St. Louis, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne &
Chicago, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Michigan Cen-
tral and Great Western, give us many highways to the seaboard. Thus we
reach the Mississippi at five points, from St. Paul to Cairo and the Gulf
itself by two routes. We also reach Cincinnati and Baltimore, and Pitts-
burgh and Philadelphia, and New York. North and south run the water
courses of the lakes and the rivers, broken just enough at this point to
make a pass. Through this, from east to west, run the long lines that
stretch from ocean to ocean.
This is the neck of the glass, and the golden sands of commerce
must pass into our hands. Altogether we have more than 10,000 miles
of railroad, directly tributary to this city, seeking to unload their wealth
in our coffers. All these roads have come themselves by the infallible
instinct of capital. Not a dollar was ever given by the city to secure
one of them, and only a small per cent, of stock taken originally by her
citizens, and that taken simply as an investment. Coming in the natural
order of events, they will not be easily diverted.
There is still another showing to all this. The connection between
New York and San Francisco is by the middle route. This passes inevit-
ablv through Chicago. St. Louis wants the Southern Pacific or Kansas
Pacific, and pushes it out through Denver, and so on up to Cheyenne.
But before the road is fairly under way, the Chicago roads shove out to
Kansas City, making even the Kansas Pacific a feeder, and actually leav-
ing St. Louis out in the cold. It is not too much to expect that Dakota,
Montana, and Washington Territory will find their great market in Chi-
cago.
But these are not all. Perhaps I had better notice here the ten or
fifteen new roads that have just entered, or are just entering, our city.
Their names are all that is necessary to give. Chicago & St. Paul, look-
ing up the Red River country to the British possessions ; the Chicago,
Atlantic & Pacific ; the Chicago, Decatur & State Line; the Baltimore &
Ohio; the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes; the Chicago & LaSalle Rail-
road ; the Chicago, Pittsburgh & Cincinnati ; the Chicago and Canada
Southern ; the Chicago and Illinois River Railroad. These, with their
connections, and with the new connections of the old roads, already in
process of erection, give to Chicago not less than 10,000 miles of new
tributaries from the richest land on the continent. Thus there will be
added to the reserve power, to the capital within reach of this city, not
less than $1,000,000,000.
11-1 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
Add to all this transporting power the ships that sail one every nine
minutes of the business hours of the season of navigation ; add, also, the
canal boats that leave one every five minutes during the same time — and
you will see something of the business of the city.
THE COMMERCE OF THIS CITY
has been leaping along to keep pace with the growth of the country
around us. In 1852, our commerce reached the hopeful sum of
§!20,000,000. In 1870 it reached -$100,000,000. In 1871 it was pushed
up above $150,000,000. And in 1875 it touched nearly double that.
One-half of our imported goods come directly to Chicago. Grain
enough is exported directly from our docks to the old world to employ a
semi-weekly line of steamers of 3,000 tons capacity. This branch is
not likely to be greatly developed. Even after the great Welland Canal
is completed we shall have only fourteen feet of water. The great ocean
vessels will continue to control the trade.
The banking capital of Chicago is $21,431,000. Total exchange in
1875, .$659,000,000. Her wholesale business in 1875 was $291,000,000.
The rate of taxes is less than in au}^ other great city.
The schools of Chicago are unsurpassed in America. Out of a popu-
lation of 300,000 there were only 186 persons between the ages of six
and twenty-one unable to read. This is the best known record.
In 1831 the mail system was condensed into a half-breed, who went
on foot to Niles, Mich., once in two weeks, and brought back what papers
and news he could find. As late as 1846 there was often only one mail
a week. A post-office was established in Chicago in 1833, and the post-
master nailed up old boot-legs on one side of his shop to serve as boxes
for the nabobs and literary men.
It is an interesting fact in the growth of the young city that in the
active life of the business men of that day the mail matter has grown to
a daily average of over 6,500 pounds. It speaks equally well for the
intelligence of the people and the commercial importance of the place,
that the mail matter distributed to the territory immediately tributary to
Chicago is seven times greater than that distributed to the territory
immediately tributary to St. Louis.
The improvements that have characterized the city are as startling
as the city itself. In 1831, Mark Beaubien established a ferry over the
river, and put himself under b(jnds to carry all the citizens free for the
privilege of charging strangers. Now there are twenty-four large bridges
and two tunnels.
In 1833 the government expended $30,000 on the harbor. Then
commenced that series of manoeuvers with the river that has made it one
*' ■ an I mni/veR TR
BEUEFLOWER TP
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 115
of the world's curiosities. It used to wind around in the lower end of
the town, and make its way rippling over the sand into the lake at the
foot of Madison street. They took it up and put it down where it now
is. It was a narrow stream, so narrow that even moderately small crafts
had to go up through the willows and cat's tails to the point near Lake
street bridge, and back up one of the branches to get room enough in
which to turn around.
In 1844 the quagmires in the streets were first pontooned by plank
roads, which acted in wet weather as public squirt-guns. Keeping you
out of the mud, they compromised by squirting the mud over you. The
wooden-block pavements came to Chicago in 1857. In 1840 water was
delivered by peddlers in carts or by hand. Then a twenty-five horse-
power engine pushed it through hollow or bored logs along the streets
till 1854, when it was introduced into the houses by new works. The
first fire-engine was used in 1835, and the first steam fire-engine in 1859.
Gas was utilized for lighting the city in 1850. The Young Men's Chris-
tian Association was organized in 1858, and horse railroads carried them
to their work in 1859. The museum was opened in 1863. The alarm
telegraph adopted in 1864. The opera-house built in 1865. The city
grew from 560 acres in 1833 to 23,000 in 1869. In 1834, the taxes
amounted to $48.90, and the trustees of the town borrowed $60 more for
opening and improving streets. In 1835, the legislature authorized a loan
of $2,000, and the treasurer and street commissioners resigned rather than
plunge the town into such a gulf.
Now the city embraces 36 square miles of territory, and has 30 miles
of water front, besides the outside harbor of refuge, of 400 acres, inclosed
by a crib sea-wall. One-third of the city has been raised up an average
of eight feet, giving good pitch to the 263 miles of sewerage. The water
of the city is above all competition. It is received through two tunnels
extending to a crib in the lake two miles from shore. The closest analy-
sis fails to detect any impurities, and, received 35 feet below the surface,
it is always clear and cold. The first tunnel is five feet two inches in
diameter and two miles long, and can deliver 50,000,000 of gallons per
day. The second tunnel is seven feet in diameter and six miles long,
running four miles under the city, and can deliver 100,000,000 of gal-
ions per day. This water is distributed through 410 miles of water-
mains.
The three grand engineering exploits of the city are : First, lifting
the city up on jack-screws, whole squares at a time, without interrupting
the business, thus giving us good drainage ; second, running the tunnels
under the lake, giving us the best water in the world ; and third, the
turning the current of the river in its own channel, delivering us from the
old abominations, and making decency possible. They redound about
116 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
equally to the credit of the engineering, to the energy of the people, and
to the healtli of the city.
That which really constitutes the city, its indescribable spirit, its soul,
the way it lights up in every feature in the hour of action, has not been
touched. In meeting strangers, one is often surprised how some homely
^vomen marry so well. Their forms are bad, their gait uneven and awk-
ward, their complexion is dull*, their features are misshapen and mismatch-
ed, and when we see them there is no beauty that we should desire them.
But when once they are aroused on some subject, they put on new pro-
portions. They light up into great power. The real person comes out
from its unseemly ambush, and captures us at will. They have power.
They have ability to cause things to come to pass. We no longer wonder
why they are in such high demand. So it is with our city.
There is no grand scenery except the two seas, one of water, the
other of prairie. Nevertheless, there is a spirit about it, a push, a breadth,
a power, that soon makes it a place never to be forsaken. One soon
ceases to believe in impossibilities. Balaams are the only prophets that are
disappointed. The bottom that has been on the point of falling out has
been there so long that it has grown fast. It can not fall out. It has all
the capital of the world itching to get inside the corporation.
The two great laws that govern the growth and size of cities are,
first, the amount of territory for which they are the distributing and
receiving points ; second, the number of medium or moderate dealers that
do this distributing. Monopolists build up themselves, not the cities.
They neither eat, wear, nor live in proportion to their business. Both
these laws help Chicago.
The tide of trade is eastward — not up or down the map, but across
the map. The lake runs up a wingdam for 500 miles to gather in the
business. Commerce can not ferry up there for seven months in the year,
and the facilities for seven months can do the work for twelve. Then the
great region west of us is nearly all good, productive land. Dropping
south into the trail of St. Louis, you fall into vast deserts and rocky dis-
tricts, useful in holding the world together. St. Louis and Cincinnati,
instead of rivaling and hurting Chicago, are her greatest sureties of
dominion. They are far enough away to give sea-room, — farther off than
Paris is from London, — and yet they are near enough to prevent the
springing up of any other great city between them.
St. Louis will be helped by the opening of the Mississippi, but also
hurt. That will put New Orleans on her feet, and with a railroad running
over into Texas and so West, she will tap the streams that now crawl up
the Texas and Missouri road. The current is East, not North, and a sea-
port at New Orleans can not permanently help St. Louis.
Chicago is in the field almost alone, to handle the wealth of one-
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 117
fourth of the territory of this great republic. This strip of seacoast
divides its margins between Portland, Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and Savannah, or some other great port to be created for the
South in the next decade. But Chicago has a dozen empires casting their
treasures into her lap. On a bed of coal that can run all the machinery
of the world for 500 centuries ; in a garden that can feed the race by the
thousand years ; at the head of the lakes that give her a temperature as a
summer resort equaled by no great city in the land ; with a climate that
insures the health of her citizens ; surrounded by all the great deposits
of natural wealth in mines aud forests and herds, Chicago is the wonder
of to-day, and will be the city of the future.
MASSACRE AT FORT DEARBORN.
During the war of 1812, Fort Dearborn became the theater of stirring
events. The garrison consisted of fifty-four men under command of
Captain Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant Helm (son-in-law of Mrs.
Kinzie) and Ensign Ronan. Dr. Voorhees was surgeon. The only resi-
dents at the post at that time were the wives of Captain Heald and Lieu-
tenant Helm, and a few of the soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and
a few Canadian voyageurs, with their wives and children. The soldiers
and Mr. Kinzie were on most friendly terms with the Pottawattamies
and Winnebagos, the principal tribes around them, but they could not
win them from their attachment to the British.
One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing on his violin and
his children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing
into the house, pale with terror, and exclaiming : " The Indians ! the
Indians!" "What? Where?" eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. "Up
at Lee's, killing and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who,
when the alarm was given, was attending Mrs. Barnes (just confined)
living not far off. Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river and took
refuge in the fort, to which place Mrs. Barnes and her infant not a day
old were safely conveyed. The rest of the inhabitants took shelter in the
fort. This alarm was caused by a scalping party of Winnebagos, who
hovered about the fort several days, when they disappeared, and for several
weeks the inhabitants were undisturbed.
On the 7th of August, 1812, General Hull, at Detroit, sent orders to
Captain Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and to distribute all the United
States property to the Indians in the neighborhood — a most insane order.
The Pottawattamie chief, who brought the dispatch, had more wisdom
than the commanding general. He advised Captain Heald not to make
the distribution. Said he : " Leave the fort and stores as they are, and
let the Indians make distribution for themselves ; and while they are
engaged in the business, the white people may escape to Fort Wayne."
118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLIXOIS.
Captain Heald held a council with the Indians on the afternoon or
the 12th, in which his officers refused to join, for they had been informed
that treachery was designed — that the Indians intended to murder the
white people in the council, and then destro}^ those in the fort. Captain
Heald, however, took the precaution to open a port-hole displaying a
cannon pointing directly upon the council, and by that means saved
his life.
Mr. Kinzie, who knew the Indians well, begged Captain Heald not
to confide in their promises, nor distribute the arms and munitions among
them, for it would only put power into their hands to destroy the whites.
Acting upon this advice, Heald resolved to withhold the munitions of
war ; and on the night of the 13th, after the distribution of the other
property had been made, the powder, ball and liquors were thrown into
the river, the muskets broken up and destroyed.
Black Partridge, a friendly chief, came to Captain Heald, and said :
" Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day: be careful on the
march you are going to take." On that dark night vigilant Indians had
crept near the fort and discovered the destruction of their promised booty
going on within. The next morning the powder was seen floating on the
surface of the river. The savages were exasperated and made loud com-
plaints and threats.
On the following day when preparations were making to leave the
fort, and all the inmates were deeply impressed with a sense of impend-
ing danger, Capt. Wells, an uncle of Mrs. Heald, was discovered upon
the Indian trail among the sand-hills on the borders of the lake, not far
distant, with a band of mounted Miamis, of whose tribe he was chief,
having been adopted by the famous Miami warrior. Little Turtle. When
news of Hull's surrender reached Fort Wayne, he hall started with this
force to assist Heald in defending Fort Dearborn. He was too late.
Every means for its defense had been destroyed the night before, and
arrangements were made for leaving the fort on the morning of the 15th.
It was a warm bright morning in the middle of August. Indications
were positive that the savages intended to murder the white people ; and
when they moved out of the southern gate of the fort, the march was
like a funeral procession. The band, feeling the solemnity of the occa-
sion, struck up the Dead March in Saul.
Capt. Wells, who had blackened his face with gun-powder in token
of his fate, took the lead with his band of Miamis, followed by Capt.
Heald, with his wife by his side on horseback. Mr. Kinzie hoped by his
personal influence to avert the impending blow, and therefore accompanied
them, leaving his family in a boat in charge of a friendly Indian, to be
taken to his trading station at the site of Niles, Michigan, in the event ol
his death.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 110
The procession moved slowly along the lake shore till they reached
the sand-hills between the prairie and the beach, when the Pottawattamie
escort, under the leadership of Blackbird, filed to the right, placing those
hills between them and the white people. Wells, with his Miamis, had
kept in the advance. They suddenly came rushing back, Wells exclaim-
ing, " They are about to attack us ; form instantly." These words were
quickly followed by a storm of bullets, which came whistling over the
little hills which the treacherous savages had made the covert for their
murderous attack. The white troops charged upon the Indians, drove
them back to the prairie, and then the battle was waged between fifty-
four soldiers, twelve civilians and three or four women (the cowardly
Miamis having fled at the outset) against five hundred Indian warriors.
The white people, hopeless, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
Ensign Ronan wielded his weapon vigorously, even after falling upon his
knees weak from the loss of blood. Capt. Wells, who was by the side of
his niece, Mrs. Heald, when the conflict began, behaved with the greatest
coolness and courage. He said to her, " We have not the slightest chance
for life. We must part to meet no more in this world. God bless you."
And then he dashed forward. Seeing a young warrior, painted like a
demon, climb into a wagon in which were twelve children, and tomahawk
them all, he cried out, unmindful of his personal danger, " If that is your
game, butchering women and children, I will kill too." He spurred his
horse towards the Indian camp, where they had left their squaws and
papooses, hotly pursued by swift-footed young warriors, who sent bullets
whistling after him. One of these killed his horse and wounded him
severely in the leg. With a yell the young braves rushed to make him
their prisoner ^nd reserve him for torture. He resolved not to be made
a captive, and by the use of the most provoking epithets tried to induce
them to kill him instantly. He called a fiery young chief a squaiv, when
the enraged warrior killed Wells instantly with his tomahawk, jumped
upon his body, cut out his heart, and ate a portion of the warm morsel
with savage delight !
In this fearful combat women bore a conspicuous part. Mrs. Heald
was an excellent equestrian and an expert in the use of the rifle. She
fought the savages bravely, receiving several severe wounds. Though
faint from the loss of blood, vshe managed to keep her saddle. A savage
raised his tomahawk to kill her, when she looked him full in the face,
and with a sweet smile and in a gentle voice said, in his own language,
" Surely you will not kill a squaw ! " The arm of the savage fell, and
the life of the heroic woman was saved.
Mrs. Helm, the step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie, had an encounter with
a stout Indian, who attempted to tomahawk her. Springing to one side,
she received the glancing blow on her shoulder, and at the same instant
120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
seized the savage round the neck with her arms and endeavored to get
hokl of his scalping knife, whicli hung in a sheath at his breast. While
she was thus struggling she was dragged from her antagonist by anothei
j)owerful Indian, who bore her, in spite of her struggles, to the margin
of the lake and plunged her in. To her astonishment she was held by
him so that she would not drown, and she soon perceived that she was
in the hands of the friendly Black Partridge, who had saved her life.
The wife of Sergeant Holt, a large and powerful woman, behaved as
bravely as an Amazon. She rode a fine, high-sj)irited horse, which the
Indians coveted, and several of them attacked her with the butts of their
guns, for the purpose of dismounting her ; but she used the sword which
she had snatched from her disabled husband so skillfully that she foiled
them ; and, suddenly wheeling her horse, she dashed over the prairie,
followed by the savages shouting. " The brave woman ! the brave woman !
Don't hurt her ! " They finally overtook her, and while she was fighting
them in front, a powerful savage came up behind her, seized her by the
neck and dragged her to the ground. Horse and woman were made
captives. Mrs. Holt was a long time a captive among the Indians, but
was afterwards ransomed.
In this sharp conflict two-thirds of the white people were slain and
wounded, and all their horses, baggage and provision were lost. Only
twenty-eight straggling men now remained to fight five hundred Indians
rendered furious b}'" the sight of blood. They succeeded in breaking
through the ranks of the murderers and gaining a slight eminence on the
prairie near the Oak Woods. The Indians did not pursue, but gathered
on their flanks, while the chiefs held a consultation on the sand-hills, and
showed signs of willingness to parley. It would have been madness on
the part of the whites to renew the fight ; and so Capt. Heald went for-
ward and met Blackbird on the open prairie, where terms of surrender
were soon agreed upon. It was arranged that the white people should
give up their arms to Blackbird, and that the survivors should become
prisoners of war, to be exchanged for ransoms as soon as practicable.
With this understanding captives and captors started for the Indian
camp near the fort, to which Mrs. Helm had been taken bleeding and
suffering bj' Black Partridge, and had met her step-father and learned
that her husband was safe.
A new scene of horror was now opened at the Indian camp. The
wounded, not being included in the terms of surrender, as it was inter-
preted by the Indians, and the British general. Proctor, having offered a
liJ)eral Ijounty for American scalps, delivered at Maiden, nearly all the
wounded men were killed and scalped, and the price of the trophies was
afterwards paid by the British government.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
121
SHABBONA.
[This was engraved from a daguerreotype, taken when Shabbona was 83 years old.]
This celebrated Indian chief, whose portrait appears in this work, deserves
more than a passing notice. Although Shabbona was not so conspicuous as
Tecumseh or Black Hawk, yet in point of merit he was superior to either
of them.
Shabbona was born at an Indian village on the Kankakee River, now in
Will County, about the year 1775. While young he was made chief of the
band, and went to Shabbona Grove, now DeKalb County, where they were
found in the early settlement of the county.
In the war of 1812, Shabbona, with his warriors, joined Tecumseh, was
122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF n.LTXOlS.
aid to tliut great chief, and stood by liis side when he fell at the battle of
the Thames. At the time of the Winnebago war, in 1827, he visited almost
every village among the Pottawatomies, and by his persuasive arguments
l)revented them from taking part in the Avar. By request of the citizens
of Chicago, Sliabbona, accompanied l)y Billy Caldwell (Sauganash), visited
Big Foot's village at Geneva Lake, in order to pacify the warriors, as fears
were entertained that they were about to raise the tora9.hawk against tlie
whites. Here Shabbona was taken prisoner by Big Foot, and his life
threatened, but on the following day was set at liberty. From that time
the Indians (througli reproach) styled him " the white man's friend,'^
and many limes his life was endangered.
Before the Black Hawk war, Shabbona met in council at two differ-
ent times,-and b}^ his influence prevented his people from taking part with
the Sacs and Foxes. After the death of Black Partridge and Senachwine,
no chief among the Pottawatomies exerted so much influence as Shabbona.
Black Hawk, aware of this influence, visited him at two different times, in
order to enlist him in his cause, but was unsuccessful. While Black Hawk
was a prisoner at Jefferson Barracks, he said, had it not been for Shabbona
the whole Pottawatomie nation would have joined his standard, and he
could have continued the war for years.
To Shabbona many of the early settlers of Illinois owe the pres-
ervation of their lives, for it is a well-known fact, had he not notified the
people of their danger, a large portion of them would have fallen victims
to the tomahawk of savages. By saving the lives of whites he endangered
his own, for the Sacs and Foxes threatened to kill him, and made two
attempts to execute their threats. They killed Pypeogee, his son, and
Pyps, his nephew, and hunted him down as though he was a wild beast.
Shabbona had a reservation of two sections of land at his Grove, but
by leaving it and going west for a short time, the Government declared
the reservation forfeited, and sold it the same as other vacant land. On
Shabbona's return, and finding his possessions gone,. he was very sad and
broken down in spirit, and left the Grove for ever. The citizens of Ottawa
raised money and bought him a tract of land on the Illinois River, above
Seneca, in Grundy County, on which they built a house, and supplied
him with means to live on. He lived here until his death, which occurred
on the 17th of July, 1859, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and was
buried with great pomp in the cemetery -at Morris. His squaw, Pokanoka,
was drowned in Mazen Creek, Grundy County, on the 30th of November,
1864, and was buried by his side.
In 1861 subscriptions were taken up in many of the river towns, to
erect a monument over the remains of Shabbona, but the war breaking
out, the enterprise was abandoned. Only a plain marble slab marks the
resting-place of this friend of the white man.
Abstract of Illinois State Laws.
BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES.
No promissory note, check, draft, hill of exchange, order, or note, nego-
tiable instrument payable at sight, or on demand, or on presentment, shall
be entitled to days of grace. All other bills of exchange, drafts or notes are
entitled to three days of grace. All the above mentioned paper falling
due on Sunday, Netv Years' Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas, or any
day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States or
the Governor of the State as a day of fast or thanksgiving, shall be deemed
as due on the day previous, and should two or more of these days come
together, then such instrument shall be treated as due on the day previous
to the first of said days. No defense can be made against a negotiable
instrument (^assigned before due} in the hands of the assignee without
notice, except fraud was used in obtaining the same. To hold an indorser,
due diligence must be used by suit, in collecting of the maker, unless suit
would have been unavailing. Notes payable to person named or to order,
in order to absolutely tratisfer title, must be indorsed by the payee. Notes
payable to bearer may be transferred by delivery, and when so payable
every indorser thereon is held as a guarantor of payment unless otherwise
expressed.
In computing interest or discount on negotiable instruments, a month
shall be considered a calendar month or tivelfth of a year, and for less
than a month, a day shall be figured a thirtieth part of a month. Notes
only bear interest when so expressed, but after due they draw the legal
interest, even if not stated.
INTEREST.
The legal rate of interest is six per cent. Parties may agree in writ-
ing on a rate not exceeding ten per cent. If a rate of interest greater
than ten per cent, is contracted for, it works a forfeiture of the whole of
said interest, and only the principal can be recovered.
DESCENT.
When no ivill is made, the property of a deceased person is distrib-
uted as follows :
123
124 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
First. To his or her children and their descendants in equal parts ;
the descendancs of the deceased child or grandchild taking the share of
their deceased parents in equal parts among them.
Second. Where there is no child, nor descendant of such child, and
no widow or surviving husband, then to the parents, brothers and sisters
of the deceased, and their descendants, in equal parts, the surviving
parent, if either be dead, taking a double portion ; and if there is no
parent living, then to the brothers and sisters of the intestate and their
descendants.
Third. When there is a widow or surviving husband, and no child or
children, or descendants of the same, then one-half of the real estate and
the whole of the personal estate shall descend to such widow or surviving
husband, absolutely, and the other half of the real estate shall descend as
in other cases where there is no child or children or descendants of the
same.
Fourth. When there is a widotv or surviving husband and also a child
or children, or descendants of the latter, then one third of all the personal
estate to the widow or surviving husband absolutely.
Fifth. If there is no child, parent, brother or sister, or descendants of
either of them, and no widow or surviving husband, then in equal parts
to the next of kin to the intestate in equal degree. Collaterals shall not
be represented except with the descendants of brothers and sisters of the
intestate, and there shall be no distinction between kindred of the whole
and the half blood.
Sixth. If any intestate leaves a tvidoiv or surviving husband and no
kindred, then to such tvidow or surviving husband ; and if there is no such
widow or surviving husband, it shall escheat to and vest in the county
where the same, or the greater portion thereof, is situated.
WILLS AND ESTATES OF DECEASED PERSONS.
No exact form of words are necessar}^ in order to make a will good at
law. Every male person of the age of twenft/-one years, and evevy female
of the age of eighteen years, of sound mind and memory, can make a valid
will ; it must be in writing, signed by the testator or by some one in his
or her presence and by his or her direction, and attested by two or more
credible ivitnesses. Care should be taken that the witnesses are not inter-
ested in the will. Persons knowing themselves to have been named in the
will or appointed executor, must within thirty days of the death of
deceased cause the will to be proved and recorded in the proper county,
or present it, and refuse to accept; on failure to do so are liable to forfeit
the sum of tioenty dollars per month. Inventory to be made by executor
or administrator within three months from date of letters testamentary or
ABSTiiACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. l25
•of administration. Executors' and administrators' compensation not te
exceed six per cent, on amount of personal estate, and three per cent,
on money realized from real estate, with such additional allowance a?
shall be reasonable- for extra services. Appraisers' compensation $2 pei
day.
Notice requiring all claims to be presented against the estate shall b^
given by the executor or administrator within six months of being quali-
fied. Any person having a claim and not presenting it at the time fixed
by said notice is required to have summons issued notifying the executor
or administrator of his having filed his claim in court ; in such cases the
costs have to be paid by the claimant. Claims should be filed within two
years from the time administration is granted on an estate, as after that
time they a,ve forever barred, unless other estate is found that was not in-
ventoried. Married women, infants, persons insane, imprisoned or without
the United States, in the employment of the United States, or of this
State, have two years after their disabilities are removed to file claims.
Claims are classified and paid out of the estate in the following manner :
First. Funeral expenses.
Second. The widow's award, if there is a widow ; or children if there
are children, and no widow.
Third. Expenses attending the last illness, not including physician's
bill.
Fourth. Debts due the common school or township fund .
Fifth. All expenses of proving the tvill and taking out letters testa-
mentarj^ or administration, and settlement of the estate, and the physi-
cian s bill in the last illness of deceased.
Sixth. Where the deceased has received money in trust for any pur-
pose, his executor or administrator shall pay out of his estate the amount
received and not accounted for.
Seventh. All other debts and demands of whatsoever kind, without
regard to quality or dignity, which shall be exhibited to the court within
two years from the granting of letters.
Award to Widow and Children, exclusive of debts and legacies or be-
quests, except funeral expenses :
First. The family pictures and wearing apparel, Jewels and ornaments
of herself and minor children.
Second. School books and the family library of the value of $100.
Third. One sewing machine.
Fourth. Necessary beds, bedsteads and bedding for herself and family.
Fifth. The stoves and ^:>«pe used in the family, with the necessary
booking utensils, or in case they have none, 850 in money.
Sixth. Household and kitchen furniture to the value of $100.
Seventh. One milch cow and calf for every four memhers of her family.
12G ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Eighth. Two sheep for each member of her family, and the fleeces
taken from the same, and one horse., saddle and bridle.
Xinth. Provisions for herself and family for one year.
Tenth. Food for the stock above specified for six months.
Eleventh. Fuel for herself and family for three months.
Twelfth. One hundred dollars loorth of other property suited to her
condition in life, to be selected by the widow.
The ividow if she elects may have in lieu of the said award, the same
personal property or money in place thereof as is or may be exempt from
execution or attachment against the head of a family.
TAXES.
The owners of real and personal property, on the first day of May in
each year, are liable for the taxes thereon.
Assessments should be completed before the fourth Monday in June.,
at which time the town board of review meets to examine assessments,
hear objections., and make such changes as ought to be made. The county
board have also power to correct or change assessments.
The tax books are placed in the hands of the town collector on or
before tl e tenth day of December, who retains them until the tenth day
of March following, when he is required to return them to the county
treasurer, who then collects all delinquent taxes.
No costs accrue on real estate taxes till advertised, which takes place
the first day of April, when three weeks' notice is required before judg-
ment. Cost of advertising, twenty cents each tract of land, and ten cents
each lot.
Judgment is usually obtained at May term of County Court. Costs
six cents each tract of land, and five cents each lot. Sale takes place in
June. Costs in addition to those before mentioned, twenty-eight cents
each tract of land, and twenty-seven cents each town lot.
Real estate sold for taxes may be redeemed any time before the expi-
ration of two years from the date of sale, by payment to the County Clerk
of the amount for which it was sold and twenty-five per cent, thereon if
redeemed within six months, fifty per cent, if between six and twelve
months, if between twelve and eighteen months seventy-five per cent.,
and if between eighteen months and two years one hundred per cent.,
and in addition, all subsequent taxes paid by the purchaser, with ten per
cent, interest thereon, also one dollar each tract if notice is given by the
purchaser of the sale, and a fee of twenty-five cents to the clerk for his
certificate.
JURISDICTION OF COURTS.
Justices have jurisdiction in all civil cases on contracts iov the recovery
of moneys for damages for injury to real property., or taking, detaining, or
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 127
injuring personal property ; for rent; for all cases to recover damages done
real or personal property by railroad companies, in actions of replevin, and
in actions for damages for fraud in the sale, purchase, or exchange of per-
gonal property, when the amount claimed as due is not over $200. They
have also jurisdiction in all cases for violation of the ordinances of cities,
towns or villages. A justice of the peace may orally order an officer or a
private person to arrest any one committing or attempting to commit a
criminal offense. He aUo upon complaint can issue his warrant for the
arrest of any person accused of having committed a crime, and have him
brought before him for examination.
COUNTY COURTS
Have jurisdiction in all matters of probate (except in counties having a
population of one hundred thousand or over), settlement of estates of
deceased perso7is, appointment of guardians and conservators, and settle-
ment of their accounts ; all matters relating to apprentices ; proceedings
for the collection of taxes and assessments, and in proceedings of executors,
administrators, guardiaiis and conservators for the sale of real estate. In
law cases they have concurrent jurisdiction with Circuit Courts in all
cases where justices of the peace now have, or hereafter may have,
jurisdiction when the amount claimed shall not exceed $1,000, and in all
criminal offenses where the punishment is not imprisonment in the peni-
tentiary, or death, and in all cases of appeals from justices of the peace
and police magistrates; excepting when the county judge is sitting as a
justice of the peace. Circuit Courts have unlimited jurisdiction.
LIMITATION OF ACTION.
Accounts jive years. Notes and written contracts ten years. Judg-
ments ttventy years. Partial payments or new promise in writing, within
or after said jperiod, will revive the debt. Absence from the State deducted,
and when the cause of action is barred bv the law of another State, it has
the same effect here. Slander and libel, one year. Personal injuries, two
years. To recover land or make entry thereon, tiventy years. Action to
foreclose mortgage or trust deed, or make a sale, 'within ten years.
All persons in possession of land, and paying taxes for seven consecu-
tive years, with color of title, and all persons paying taxes for seven con-
secutive years, with color of title, on vacant land, shall be held to be the
legal owners to the extent of their paper title.
MARRIED WOMEN
May sue and be sued. Husband and tvife not liable for each other'' s debts,
either before or after marriage, but both are liable for expenses and edu-
cation of the family.
128 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
She may contract the same as if unmarried, except that in a partner-
ship business she can not, without consent of her husband, unless he has
abandoned or deserted her, or is idiotic or insane, or confined in peniten-
tiary ; she is entitled and can recover her own earnings, but neither hus-
band nor wife is entitled to compensation for any services rendered for the
other. At the death of the husband, in addition to widow's award, a
married woman has a dower interest (one-third) in all real estate owned
by her husband after their marriage, and wliich has not been released by
her, and the husband has the same interest in the real estate of the wife
at her death.
EXEMPTIONS FROM FORCED SALE.
Home ivorth $1,000, and the folloiving Personal Property : Lot of ground
and buildings thereon, occupied as a residence by the debtor, being a house-
holder and having a family, to the value of $1,000. Exemption continues
after the death of the householder for the benefit of widow and family, some
one of them occupying the homestead until youngest child shall become
twenty-one years of age, and until death of ividow. There is no exemption
from sale for taxes, assessments, debt or liability incurred for the purchase
or improvement of said homestead. No release or waiver of exemption is
valid, unless in writing, and subscribed by such householder and wife (if
he have one), and acknowledged as conveyances of real estate are required
to be acknowledged. The following articles of personal property owned
by the debtor, are exempt from execution, writ of attachment, and distress
for rent : The necessary wearing apparel, Bibles, school books and family
pictures of every person ; and, 2d, one hundred dollars worth of other
property to be selected by the debtor, and, in addition, when the debtor
is the head of a family and resides with the same, three hundred dollars
worth of other property to be selected by the debtor ; provided that such
selection and exemption shall not be made by the debtor or allowed to
him or her from any money, salary or wages due him or her from any
person or persons or corporations whatever.
When the head of a family shall die, desert or not reside with the
same, the family shall be entitled to and receive all the benefit and priv-
ileges which are by this act conferred upon the head of a family residing
with the same. No personal property is exempt from execution when
judgment is obtained for the wages of laborers or servants. Wages of a
laborer who is the head of a family can not be garnisheed, except the sum
due him be in excess of $25.
ABSTEACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 129
DEEDS AND MORTGAGES.
To he valid there must he a valid consideration. Special care slioiild
be taken to have them signed, sealed, delivered, and properly acknowl-
edged, with the proper seal attached. Witnesses are not required. The
acknoivledgement must be made in this state, before Master in Chancery^
Notary Puhlic, United States Commissioner, Circuit or County Clerk, Justice
of Peace, or any Court of Record having a seal, or any Judge, Justice, or
Clerk of any such Court. When taken before a Notary Public, or United
States Commissioner, the same shall be attested by his official seal, when
taken before a Court or the Clerk thereof, the same shall be attested by
the seal of such Court, and when taken before a Justice of the Peace resid-
ing out of the county where the real estate to be conveyed lies, there shall
be added a certificate of the County Clerk under his seal of office, that he
was a Justice of the Peace in the county at the time of taking the same.
A deed is good without such certificace attached, but can not be used in
evidence unless such a certificate is produced or other competent evidence
introduced. Acknowledgements made out of the state must either be
executed according to the laws of this state, or there should be attached
a certificate that it is in conformity with the laws of the state or country
where executed. Where this is not done the same may be proved by any
other legal way. Acknowledgments where the Homestead rights are to
be waived must state as follows : " Including the release and waiver of
the right of homestead."
Notaries Puhlic can take acknowledgements any where in the state.
Sheriffs, if authorized by the mortgagor of real or personal jDroperty
in his mortgage, may sell the property mortgaged.
In the case of the death of grantor or holder of the equity of redemp-
tion of real estate mortgaged, or conveyed by deed of trust where equity
of redemption is waived, and it contains power of sale, must be foreclosed
in the same manner as a common mortgage in court.
ESTRAYS.
JETorses, mules, asses, neat cattle, swine, sheep, or goats found straying
at any time during the year, in counties where such animals are not allowed
to run at large, or between the last day of October and the 15th day of
April in other counties, the owner thereof being unknown, may be taken up
as estrays.
No person not a householder in the county where estray is found can
lawfully take up an estray, and then only upon or about his farm or place
of residence. Estrays should not be used before advertised, except animals
giving milk, which may be milked for their benefit.
130 ABSTRACT OP ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Notices must be posted up within five (5) days in tliree (3) of the
most pubhe places in the town or precinct in which estray was found, giv-
ing the residence of the taker uj), and a particular description of tlie
estray, its age, color, and marks natural and artificial, and stating before
what justice of the peace in such town or precinct, and at what time, not
less than ten (10) nor more than fifteen (15) days from the time of post-
ing such notices, he will apply to have the estray appraised.
A copy of such notice should be filed by the taker up with the town
clerk, whose duty it is to enter the same at large, m a hook kept by him
for that purpose.
If the owner of estray shall not have appeared and proved ownership,
and taken the same away, first paying the taker up his reasonable charges
for taking up, keeping, and advertising the same, the taker up shall apjDear
before the justice of the peace mentioned in above mentioned notice, and
make an affidavit as required by law.
As the affidavit has to be made before the justice, and all other steps as
to appraisement, etc., are before him, who is familiar therewith, they are
therefore omitted here.
Any person taking up an estray at any other place than about or
upon his farm or residence, or ivithout complyi7ig ivith the law, shall forfeit
and pay a fine of ten dollars with costs.
Ordinary diligence is required in taking care of estrays, but in case
they die or get away the taker is not liable for the same.
GAME.
It is unlauful for any person to kill, or attempt to kill or destroy, in
any manner, any prairie hen or chicken or woodcock between the 15th day
of January and the 1st day of September ; or any deer, fawn, wild-turkey,
imrtridge or pheasant between the 1st day of February and the 1st day
of October ; or any quail between the 1st day of February and 1st day of
November ; or any wild goose, duck, snipe, brant or other water fowl
between the 1st day of May and 15th day of August in each year.
Penalty: Fine not less than $5 nor more than $25, for each bird or
animal, and costs of suit, and stand committed to county jail until fine is
l)aid, but not exceeding ten days. It is unlauful to hunt with gun, dog
or net within the inclosed grounds or lands of another without jjermission.
Penalty: Fine not less than $3 nor more than $100, to be paid into
school fund.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Whenever any of the following articles shall be contracted for, or
sold or delivered, and no special contract or agreement shall be made to
the contrary, the weight per bushel shall be as follows, to-wit :
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 131
Pounds.
Pounds.
Stone Coal,
- 80
Buckwheat, -
- 52
Unslacked Lime,
- 80
Coarse Salt,
- 50
Corn ill the ear,
- 70
Barley, - - -
- 48
"Wiieat, _ = -
- 60
Corn Meal,
- 48
Irish Potatoes,
- 60
Castor Beans,
- 46
Wliite Beans,
- 60
Timothy Seed, -
- 45
Clover Seed, -
- 60
Hemp Seed, -
- 44
Onions, _ = -
- 57
Malt, - - - -
- 38
Shelled Corn,
- 56
Dried Peaches,
- 33
Rye, - - - -
- 56
Oats, - - - -
- 32
Flax Seed,
- 56
Dried Apples,
- 24
Sweet Potatoes, -
- 55
Bran, - - - -
- 20
Turnips,
- 55
Blue Grass Seed, -
- 14
Pine Salt, - - -
- 55
Hair (plastering).
8
Penalty for giving less than the above standard is double the amount
of property wrongfully not given, and ten dollars addition thereto.
MILLERS.
The owner or occupant of every public grist mill in this state shall
grind all grain brought to his mill in its turn. The toll for both steam
and water mills, is, for grinding and bolting wheats rye, or other grain, one
eighth part; for grinding Indian corn, oats, barley and buckwheat not
required to be bolted, one seventh part; for grinding malt, and chopping all
kinds of grain, one eighth part. It is the duty of every miller when his
mill is in repair, to aid and assist in loading and unloading all grain brought
to him to be ground, and he is also required to keep an accurate half
hushel measure, and an accurate set of toll dishes or scales for weighing
the grain. The penalty for neglect or refusal to comply with the law is
$b, to the use of any person to sue for the same, to be recovered before
any justice of the peace of the county where penalty is incurred. Millers
are accountable for the safe keeping of all grain left in his mill for the
purpose of being ground, with bags or casks containing same (except it
results from unavoidable accidents), provided that such bags or casks are
distinctly marked with the initial letters of the owner's name.
MARKS AND BRANDS.
Owners of cattle, horses, hogs, sheep or goats may have one earmark
and one brand, but which shall be different from his neighbor's, and may
be recorded by the county clerk of the county in which such property is
kept. The/ee for such record is fifteen cents. The record of such shall
be open to examination free of charge. In cases of disputes as to marks
o.v brands, such record is vrima facie evidence. Owners of cattle, horses,
hogs, sheep or goats that may have been branded by the former owner,
132 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
may be re-branded in presence of one or more of his neighbors, who shall
certify to the facts of the marking or branding being done, when done,,
and in what brand or mark they were re-branded or re-marked, which
certificate may also be recorded as before stated.
ADOPTION OF CHILDREN.
Children may be adopted by any resident of this state, by filing a
petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which he resides,
asking leave to do so, and if desired may ask that the name of the child
be changed. Such petition, if made by a person having a husband or
wife, will not be granted, unless the husband or wife joins therein, as the
adoption must be by them jointly.
The petition shall state name, sex, and age of the child, and the new
name, if it is desired to change the name. Also the name and residence
of the parents of the child, if known, and of the guardian, if any, and
whether the parents or guardians consent to the adoption.
The court must find, before granting decree, that the parents of the
child, or the survivors of them, have deserted his or her family or such
child for one year next preceding the application, or if neither are living,,
the guardian ; if no guardian, the next of kin in this state capable of giving
consent, has had notice of the presentation of the petition and consents,
to such adoption. If the child is of the age of fourteen years or upwards,,
the adoption can not be made without its consent.
SURVEYORS AND SURVEYS.
There is in every county elected a surveyor known as county sur-
veyor, who has power to appoint deputies, for whose official acts he is
responsible. It is the duty of the county surveyor, either by himself or
his deputy, to make all surveys that he may be called upon to make within
his county as soon as may be after application is made. The necessary
chainmen and other assistance must be employed by the person requiring
the same to be done, and to be by him paid, unless otherwise agreed ; but
the chainmen must be disinterested persons and approved by the surveyor
and sworn by him to measure justly and impartially.
The County Board in each county is required by law to provide a copy
of the United States field notes and plats of their surveys of the lands
in the county to be kept in the recorder's office subject to examination
by the public, and the county surveyor is required to make his surveys
in conformity to said notes, plats and the laws of the United States gov-
erning such matters. The surveyor is also required to keep a record
of all surveys made by hiin, which shall be subject to inspection by any
one interested, and shall be delivered up to his successor in office. A.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 13
Q
certified copy of the said surveyor's record shall be prima facie evidence
of its contents.
The fees of county surveyors are six dollars per day. The county
surveyor is also ex officio inspecto?' of mines, and as such, assisted by some
practical miner selected by him, shall once each year inspect all the
mines in the county, for which they shall each receive such compensa-
tion as may be fixed by the County Board, not exceeding $5 a day, to
be paid out of the county treasury.
ROADS AND BRIDGES.
Where practicable from the nature of the ground, persons traveling
in any kind of vehicle, must turn to the right of the center of the road, so
as to permit each carriage to pass without interfering with each other.
The peyialty for a violation of this provision is $5 for every offense, to
be recovered by the party injured ; but to recover, there must have
occurred some injury to person or property resulting from the violation.
The owners of any carriage traveling upon any road in this State for the
conveyance of passengers who shall employ or continue in his employment
as driver any person who is addicted to drunkenness, or the excessive use of
spiritous liquors, after he has had notice of the same, shall forfeit, at the
rate of $5 per day, and if any driver while actually engaged in driving
any such carriage, shall be guilty of intoxication to such a degree as to
endanger the safety of passengers, it shall be the duty of the owner, on
receiving ivritten notice of the fact, signed by one of the passengers, and
certified by him on oath, forthwith to discharge such driver. If such owner
shall have such driver in his employ within three months after such notice,
he is liable for §5 per day for the time he shall keep said driver in his
employment after receiving such notice.
Persons driving any carriage on any public highway are prohibited
from ru7ining their horses upon any occasion under a penalty of a fine not
exceeding -$10, or imprisonment not exceeding sixty days, at the discre-
tion of the court. Horses attached to any carriage used to convey passen-
gers for hire must be properly hitched or the lines placed in the hands of
some other person before the driver leaves them for au}^ purpose. For
violation of this provision each driver shall forfeit twenty dollars, to be
recovered by action, to be commenced within six months. It is under-
stood by the term carriage herein to mean any carriage or vehicle used
for the transportation of passengers or goods or either of them.
The commissioners of highways in the different tov/ns have the care
and superintendence of highways and bridges therein. They have all
the powers necessary to lay out, vacate, regulate and repair all roads^
build and repair bridges. In addition to the above, it is their duty to
erect and keep in repair at the forks or crossing-placQ of the most
134 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
important roads post and guide boards with plain inscriptions, giving
directions and distances to the most noted places to which such road may
lead ; also to make provisions to prevent thistles, burdock, and cockle
burrs, mustard, yellow dock, Indian mallow and jimson weed from
seeding, and to extirpate the same as far as practicable, and to prevent
all rank growth of vegetation on the public highways so far as the same
may obstruct public travel, and it is in their discretion to erect watering
places for public use for watering teams at such points as may be deemed
advisable.
The Commissioners, on or before the 1st day of May of each year,
shall make out and deliver to their treasurer a list of all able-bodied men
in their town, excepting paupers, idiots, lunatics, and such others as are
exempt by law, and assess against each the sum of two dollars as a poll
tax for highway purposes. Within thirty days after such list is delivered
they shall cause a written or printed notice to be given to each person so
assessed, notifying him of the time when and place where such tax must
be paid, or its equivalent in labor performed ; they may contract with
persons owing such poll tax to perform a certain amount of labor on any
road or bridge in payment of the same, and if such tax is not paid nor
labor performed by the first Monday of July of such year, or within ten
days after notice is given after that time, they shall bring suit therefor
against such person before a justice of the peace, who shall hear and
determine the case according to law for the offense complained of, and
shall forthwith issue an execution, directed to any constable of the county
where the delinquent shall reside, who shall forthwith collect the moneys
therein mentioned.
The Commissioners of Highways of each town shall annually ascer-
tain, as near as practicable, how much money must be raised by tax on real
and personal property for the making and repairing of roads, only, to any
amount they may deem necessary, not exceeding forty cents on each one
hundred dollars' worth, as valued on the assessment roll of the previous
year. The tax so levied on property lying within an incorporated village,
town or city, shall be paid over to the corporate authorities of such town,
village or city. Commissioners shall receive $1.50 for each day neces-
sarily employed in the discharge of their duty.
Overseers. At the first meeting the Commissioners shall choose one
of their number to act General Overseer of Highways in their township,
whose duty it shall be to take charge of and safely keep all tools, imple-
ments and machinery belonging to said town, and shall, by the direction
of the Board, have general supervision of all roads and bridges in their
town.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 135
As all township and county officers are familiar with their duties, it
is only intended to give the points of the law that the public should be
familiar with. The manner of laying out, altering or vacating roads, etc.,
will not be here stated, as it would require more space than is contem-
plated in a work of this kind. It is sufficient to state that, the first step
is by petition, addressed to the Commissioners, setting out what is prayed
for, giving the names of the owners of lands if known, if not known so
state, over which the road is to pass, giving the general course, its place
of beginning, and where it terminates. It requires not less than twelve
freeholders residing within three miles of the road who shall sign the
petition. Public roads must not be less than fifty feet wide, nor more
than sixty feet wide. Roads not exceeding two miles in length, if peti-
tioned for, may be laid out, not less than forty feet. Private roads
for private and public use, may be laid out of the width of three rods, on
petition of the person directly interested ; the damage occasioned thereby
shall be paid by the premises benefited thereby, and before the road is
opened. If not opened in two years, the order shall be considered
rescinded. Commissioners in their discretion may permit persons who
live on or have private roads, to work out their road tax thereon. Public
roads must be opened in five days from date of filing order of location,
or be deemed vacated.
DRAINAGE.
Whenever one or more owners or occupants of land desire to construct
I drain or ditch across the land of others for agricultural, sanitary or
miniyig purposes, the proceedings are as follows :
File a petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which
the proposed ditch or drain is to be constructed, setting forth the neces-
sity for the same, with a description of its proposed starting point, route
and terminus, and if it shall be necessary for the drainage of the land or
coal mines or for sanitary purposes, that a drain, ditch, levee or similar
work be constructed, a description of the same. It shall also set forth
the names of all persons owning the land over which such drain or ditch
shall be constructed, or if unknown stating that fact.
No private property shall be taken or damaged for the purpose of
constructing a ditch, drain or levee, without compensation, if claimed by
the owner, the same to be ascertained by a jury ; but if the construction
of such ditch, drain or levee shall be a benefit to the owner, the same
shall be a set off against such compensation.
If the proceedings seek to affect the property of a minor, lunatic or
married woman, the guardian, conservator or husband of the same shall
be made party defendant. The petition may be amended and parties
made defendants at any time when it is necessary to a fair trial.
136 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
"When the petition is presented to the judge, he shall note therein
when he will hear the same, and order the issuance of summonses and
the publication of notice to each non-resident or unknown defendant.
The petition may be heard by such judge in vacation as well as in
term time. Upon the trial, the jury shall ascertain the just compensation
to each owner of the property sought to be damaged by the construction
of such ditch, drain or levee, and truly report the same.
As it is only contemplated in a work of this kind to give an abstract
of the laws, and as the parties who have in charge the execution of the
further proceedings are likely to be familiar with the requirements of the
statute, the necessary details are not here inserted.
WOLF SCALPS.
The County Board of any county in this State may hereafter alliiW
such bounty on icolf scalps as the board may deem reasonable.
Any person claiming, a bounty shall produce the scalp or scalps with
the ears thereon, within sixty days after the wolf or wolves shall have
been caught, to the Clerk of the County Board, who shall administer to
said person the following oath or affirmation, to-wit: "You do solemnly
swear (or affirm, as the case may be), that the scalp or scalps here pro-
duced by you was taken from a wolf or wolves killed and first captured
by yourself within the limits of this county, and within the sixty days
last past."
CONVEYANCES.
When the reversion expectant on a lease of any tenements or here-
ditaments of any tenure shall be surrendered or merged, the estate which
shall for the time being confer as against the tenant under the same lease
the next vested right to the same tenements or hereditaments, shall, to
the extent and for the purpose of preserving such incidents to and obli-
gations on the same reversion, as but for the surrender or merger thereof,
would have subsisted, be deemed the reversion expectant on the same
lease.
PAUPERS.
Every poor person who shall be unable to earn a livelihood in conse-
quence of any bodily infirmity^ idiocy^ lunacy or unavoidable cause^ shall
be supported by the father, grand-father, mother, grand-mother, children,
grand-children, brothers or sisters of such poor person, if they or either
of them be of sufficient ability; but if any of such dependent class shall
\ have become so from intemperance or other bad conduct^ they shall not be
entitled to support from any relation except parent or child.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 137
The children shall first be called on to support their parents, if they
are able ; but if not, the parents of such poor person shall then be called
on, if of sufficient ability ; and if there be no parents or children able,
then the brothers and sisters of such dependent person shall be called
upon ; and if there be no brothers or sisters of sufficient ability, the
grand-children of such person shall next be called on ; and if they are
not able, then the grand-parents. Married females, while their husbands
live, shall not be liable to contribute for the support of their poor relations
except out of their separate property. It is the duty of the state's
(county) attorney, to make complaint to the County Court of his county
against all the relatives of such paupers in this state liable to his support
and prosecute the same. In case the state's attorney neglects, or refuses, to
complain in such cases, then it is the duty of the overseer of the' poor to
do so. The person called upon to contribute shall have at least ten days'
notice of such application by summons. The court has the power to
determine the kind of support, depending upon the circumstances of the
parties, and may also order two or more of the different degrees to main-
tain such poor person, and prescribe the proportion of each, according to
their ability. The court may specify the time for which the relative shall
contribute — in fact has control over the entire subject matter, with power
to enforce its orders. Every county (except those in which the poor are
supported by the towns, and in such cases the towns are liable) is required
to relieve and support all poor and indigent persons Imvfully resident
therein. Residence means the actual residence of the party, or the place
where he was employed ; or in case he was in no employment, then it
shall be the place where he made his home. When any person becomes
chargeable as a pauper in any county or town who did not reside at the
commencement of six months immediately preceding his becoming so,
but did at that time reside in some other county or town in this state,
then the county or town, as the case may be, becomes liable for the expense
of taking care of such f)erson until removed, and it is the duty of the
overseer to notify the proper authorities of the fact. If any person shall
bring and leave any pauper in any county in this state where such pauper
had no legal residence, knowing him to be such, he is liable to a fine of
ilOO. In counties under township organization, the supervisors in each
town are ex-officio overseers of the poor. The overseers of the poor act
under the directions of the County Board in taking care of the poor and
granting of temporary relief; also, providing for non-resident persons not
paupers who may be taken sick and not able to pay their way, and in case
of death cause such person to be decently buried.
The residence of the inmates of poorhouses and other charitable
institutions for voting purposes is their former place of abode.
138 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
FENCES.
In counties under township organization, the toivn assessor and com-
missioner of highways are the fence-viewers in their respective towns.
In other counties the County Board appoints three in eacli precinct annu-
ally. A Imcful fence is four and one-lialf feet liigli^ in good repair, con-
sisting of rails, timber, boards, stone, hedges, or whatever the fence-
viewers of the town or precinct where the same shall lie, shall consider
equivalent thereto, but in counties under township organization the annual
town meeting may establish any other kind of fence as such, or the County
Board in other counties may do the same. Division fences shall be made
and maint;rined in just proportion by the adjoining owners, except when
the owner shall choose to let his land lie open, but after a division fence is
built by agreement or otherwise, neither party can remove his part of such
fence so long as he may crop or use such land for farm purposes, or without
giving the other party one year's notice in writing of his intention to remove
his portion. When any person shall enclose his land upon the enclosure
of another, he shall refund the owner of the adjoining lands a just pro-
portion of the value at that time of such fence. The value of fence and
the just proportion to be paid or built and maintained by each is to be
ascertained by two fence-viewers in the town or precinct. Such fence-
viewers have power to settle all disputes between different owners as to
fences built or to be built, as well as to repairs to be made. Each party
chooses one of the viewers, but if the other party neglects, after eight
days" notice in writing, to make his choice, then the other party may
select both. It is sufficient to notify the tenant or party in possession^
when the owner is not a resident of the town or precinct. The two
fence-viewers chosen, after viewing the premises, shall hear the state-
ments of the parties , in case they can't agree, they shall select another
fence-viewer to act with them, and the decision of any two of them is
final. The decision must be reduced to writing, and should plainly set
out description of fence and all matters settled by them, and must be
filed in the office of the town clerk in counties under township organiza-
tion, and in other counties with the county clerk.
Where any person is liable to contribute to the erection or the
repairing of a division fence, neglects or refuses so to do, the party
injured, after giving sixty days notice in writing when a fence is to be
erected, or ten days when it is only repairs, may proceed to have the
work done at the expense of the party whose duty it is to do it, to be
recovered from him with costs of suit, and the party so neglecting shall
also be liable to the party injured for all damages accruing from such
neglect or refusal, to be determined by any two fence-viewers selected
as before provided, the ap])raisement to be reduced to writing and signed.
ABSTEACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 139
Where a person shall conclude to remove his part of a division fence,
and let his land lie open, and having given the year's notice required, the
adjoining owner may cause the value of said fence to be ascertained by
fence-vi^wers as before provided, and on payment or tender of the
amount of such valuation to the owner, it shall prevent the removal, A
party removing a division fence without notice is liable for the damages^
accruing thereby.
Where a fence has been built on the land of another through mis-
take, the owner may enter upon such premises and remove his fence and
material within oix months after the division line has been ascertained.
Where the material to build such a fence has been taken from the land
on which it was built, then before it can be removed, the person claiming
must first pay for such material to the owner of the land from which it
was taken, nor shall such a fence be removed at a time when the removal
will throw open or expose the crops of the other party ; a reasonable
time must be given beyond the .six months to remove crops.
The compensation of fence-viewers is one dollar and fifty cents a
day each, to be paid in the first instance by the party calling them, but
in the end all expenses, mcluding amount charged by the fence-viewers,
must be paid equally by the parties, except in cases where a party neglects
or refuses to make or maintain a just proportion of a division fence, when
the party in default shall pay them.
DAMAGES FROM TRESPASS.
Where stock of any kind breaks into any person's enclosure, the
fence being good and sufficient, the owner is liable for the damage done ;
but where the damage is done by stock mnning at large, contrary to law,
the owner is liable where thti^re is not such a fence. Where stock is
found trespassing on the enclosure of another as aforesaid, the owner oi
occupier of the premises may take possession of such stock and keep the
same until damages, with reasonable charges for keeping and feeding and
all costs of suit, are paid. Any person taking or rescuing such stock so
held without his consent, shall be liable to a fine of not less than three
nor more than five dollars for each animal rescued, to be recovered by
suit before a justice of the peace for the use of the school fund. Within
twenty-four hours after taking such animal into his possession, the per-
son taking it up must give notice of the fact to the owner, if known, or
if unknown, notices must be posted in some public place near the premises.
LANDLORD AND TENANT.
The owner of lands, or his legal representatives, can sue for and
recover rent therefor, in any of the following cases :
First, When rent is due and in arrears on a lease for life or lives.
5
140 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Second. When lands are held and occupied by an}- person without
any siDecial agreement for rent.
Third. When possession is obtained under an agreement, written
or verbal, for the purchase of the j^remises and before deed given, the
right to possession is terminated by forfeiture on con-compliance with the
agreement, and possession is wrongfully refused or neglected to be giver
upon demand made in writing by the party entitled thereto. Provided
that all payments made by the vendee or his representatives or assigns,
may be set off against the rent.
Fourth. When land has been sold upon a judgment or a decree of
court, Avhen the party to such judgment or decree, or person holding under
him, wrongfully refuses, or neglects, to surrender possession of the same,
after demand in writing by the person entitled to the possession.
Fifth. When the lands have been sold upon a mortgage or trust
deed, and the mortgagor or grantor or person holding under him, wrong-
fully refuses or neglects to surrender possession of the same, after demand
in writing by the person entitled to the possession.
If any tenant, or any person who shall come into possession from or
under or by collusion with such tenant, shall willfully hold over any lands,
etc., after the expiration the term of their lease, and after demand made
•in writing for the possession thereof, is liable to pay double rent. A
tenancy from 5^ear to year requires sixty days notice in writing, to termi-
nate the same at the end of the year ; such notice can be given at any
time within four months preceding the last sixty days of the year.
A tenancy by the month, or less than a year, where the tenant holds
over without any sj)ecial agreement, the landlord may terminate the
tenanc}^ by thirty days notice in writing.
When rent is due, the landlord may serve a notice upon the tenant,
stating that unless the rent is paid within not less than five days, his lease
will be terminated ; if the rent is not paid, the landlord may consider the
lease ended. When default is made in any of the terms of a lease, it
shall not be necessary to give more than ten days notice to quit or of the
termination of such tenancy ; and the same may be terminated on giving
such notice to quit, at any time after such default in any of the terms of
such lease ; which notice may be substantially in the following form, viz:
To , You are hereby notified that, in consequence of your default
in (^here insert the character of the default), of the premises now occupied
by you, being etc. (here describe the premises), I have elected to deter-
mine your lease, and you are hereby notified to quit and deliver up pos-
session of the same to me witliin ten days of this date (dated, etc.)
The above to be signed by the lessor or his agent, and no other notice
or demand of possession or termination of such tenancy is necessary.
Demand may be made, or notice served, by delivering a written or
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 141
pnnted, or partly either, copy thereof to the tenant, or leaving the same
with some person above the age of twelve years residing on or in posses-
sion of the premises ; and in case no one is in the actual possession of the
said premises, then by posting the same on the premises. When the
tenancy is for a certain time, and the term expires by the terms of the
lease, the tenant is then bound to surrender possession, and no notice
to quit or demand of possession is necessar3\
Distress for rent. — In all cases of distress for rent, the landlord, by
himself, his agent or attorney, may seize for rent any personal property of
his tenant that may be found in the county where the tenant resides ; the
property of any other person, even if found on the premises, is not
liable.
An inventory of the property levied upon, with a statement of the
amount of rent claimed, should be at once filed with some justice of the
peace, if not over $200 ; and if above that sum, with the clerk of a court
of record of competent jurisdiction. Property may be released, by the
party executing a satisfactory bond for double the amount.
The landlord may distrain for rent, any time within six months after
the expiration of the term of the lease, or when terminated.
In all cases where the premises rented shall be sub-let, or the lease
assigned, the landlord shall have the same right to enforce lien against
such lessee or assignee, that he has against the tenant to whom the pre-
mises were rented.
When a tenant abandons or removes from the premises or any part
thereof, the landlord, or his agent or attorney, may seize upon any grain
or other crops grown or growing upon the premises, or part thereof so
abandoned, whether the rent is due or not. If such grain, or other crops,
or any part thereof, is not fully grown or matured, the landlord, or his
agent or attorney, shall cause the same to be properly cultivated, harvested
or gathered, and may sell the same, and from the proceeds pay all his
labor, expenses and rent. The tenant may, before the sale of such pro-
perty, redeem the same by tendering the rent and reasonable compensation
for work done, or he may replevy the same.
Exemption. — The same articles of personal property which are bylaw
exempt from execution, except the crops as above stated, is also exempt
from distress for rent.
If any tenant is about to or shall permit or attempt to sell and
remove from the premises, without the consent of his landlord, such
portion of the crops raised thereon as will endanger the lien of the land-
lord upon such crops, for the rent, it shall be lawful for the landlord to
distress before rent is due.
142 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
LIENS.
Any person who shall by contract, express or implied, or partly both^
with the owner of anv lot or tract of land, furnish labor or material, or-
services as an architect or superintendent, in building, altering, repairing
or ornamenting any house or other building or appurtenance thereto on
such lot, or upon any street or alley, and connected with such improve'
ments, shall have a lien upon the whole of such lot or tract of land, an(i
upon such house or building and appurtenances, for the amount due to
him for such labor, material or services. If the contract is expressed, and
the time for the completion of the work is beyond three years from the com-
mencement thereof; or, if the time of payment is beyond one year from
the time stipulated for the completion of the work, then no lien exists.
If the contract is implied, then no lien exists, unless the work be done or
material is furnished within one year from the commencement of the work
or delivery of the materials. As between different creditors having liens,
no preference is given to the one whose contract was first made ; but each
shares pro-rata. Incumbrances existing on the lot or tract of the land at
the time the contract is made, do not operate on the improvements, and
are only preferred to the extent of the value of the land at the time of
making the contract. The above lien can not be enforced unless suit is
commenced within six months after the last payment for labor or materials
shall have become due and payable. Sub-contractors, mechanics, workmen
and other persons furnishing any material, or performing any labor for a
contractor as before specified, have a lien to the extent of the amount due
the contractor at the time the following notice is served upon the owner
of the land who made the contract:
To , You are hereby notified, that I have been employed by
(here state whether to labor or furnish material, and substantially the
nature of the demand) upon your (here state in general terms description
and situation of building), and that I shall hold the (building, or as the
case may be), and your interest in the ground, liable for the amount that
may (is or may become) due me on account thereof. Signature,
Date,
If there is a contract in writing between contractor and sub-contractor»
a copy of it should be served with above notice, and said notice must be
served within forty days from the completion of such sub-contract, if there
is one ; if not, then from the time payment should have been made to the
person performing the labor or furnishing the material. If the owner is
not a resident of the county, or can not be found therein, then the above
notice must be filed with the clerk of the Circuit Court, with his fee, fifty
cents, and a copy of said notice must be published in a newspaper pub-
lished in the county, for four successive weeks.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 143
When the owner or agent is notified as above, he can retain any
money due the contractor sufficient to pay such claim ; if more than one
claim, and not enough to pay all, they are to be paid pro rata.
The owner has the right to demand in writing, a statement of the
contractor, of what he owes for labor, etc., from time to time as the work
13rogresses, and on his failure to comply, forfeits to the owner $50 for
every offense.
The liens referred to cover any and all estates, whether in fee for
life, for years, or any other interest which the owner may have.
To enforce the lien of sub-contractors, suit must be commenced within
three months from the time of the performance of the sub-contract, or
during the work or furnishing materials.
Hotel, inn and boarding-house keepers, have a lien upon the baggage .
and other valuables of their guests or boarders, brought into such hotel,
inn or boarding-house, by their guests or boarders, for the proper charges
due from such guests or boarders for their accommodation, board and
lodgings, and such extras as are furnished at their request.
Stable-keepers and other persons have a lien upon the horses, car-
riages and harness kept by them, for the proper charges due for the keep-
ing thereof and expenses bestowed thereon at the request of the owner
or the person having the possession of the same.
Agisters (persons who take care of cattle belonging to others), and
persons keeping, yarding, feeding or pasturing domestic animals, shall
have a lien upon the animals agistered, kept, yarded or fed, for the proper
charges due for such service.
All persons who may furnish any railroad corporation in this state
with fuel, ties, material, supplies or any other article or thing necessary
for the construction, maintenance, operation or repair of its road by con-
tract, or may perform work or labor on the same, is entitled to be paid as
part of the current expenses of the road, and have a lien upon all its pro-
perty. Sub-contractors or laborers have also a lien. The conditions and
limitations both as to contractors and sub-contractors, are about the same
as herein stated as to general liens.
DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL TERMS.
$ means dollars, being a contraction of U. S., which was formerly
placed before any denomination of money, and meant, as it means now,
United States Currency.
£ means pounds, English money.
@ stands for at or to. lb iov pound, and bbl. for barrel; '^ for joer or
by the. Thus, Butter sells at 20® 30c f lb, and Flour at $8@12 f bbl.
% for per cent and # for number.
May 1. — Wheat sells at |)1.20@1.25, "seller June." Seller June
144 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
means that the person -who sells the wheat has the privilege of delivering
it at anv time durinor the month of June.
Selling shorty is contracting to deliver a certain amount of grain or
stock, at a fixed price, within a certain length of time, when the seller
has not the stock on hand. It is for the interest of the person selling
"short," to depress the market as much as possible, in order that he may
buy and fill his contract at a profit. Hence the " shorts " are termed
" bears."
Buying long, is to contract to purchase a certain amount of grain or
shares of stock at a fixed price, deliverable within a stipulated time,
expecting to make a profit by the rise of prices. The "longs" are
termed "bulls," as it is for their interest to "operate" so as to "toss"
the prices upward as much as possible.
NOTES.
Form of note is legal, worded in the simplest way, so that the
amount and time of payment are mentioned.
$100. Chicago, 111., Sept. 15, 1876.
Sixty days from date I promise to pay to E. F. Brown^
or order, One Hundred dollars, for value received.
L. D. LowKY.
A note to be payable in any thing else than money needs only the
facts substituted for money in the above form.
ORDERS.
Orders should be worded simply, thus :
Mr. F. H. Coats: Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876.
Please pay to H. Birdsall, Twenty-five dollars, and charge to
F. D. SiLVA.
RECEIPTS.
Receipts should always state when received and what for, tlius :
$100. Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876.
Received of J. W. Davis, One Hundred dollars, for services
rendered in grading his lot in Fort Madison, on account.
Thomas Brady.
If receipt is in full it should be so stated.
BILLS OF PURCHASE.
W. N. Mason, Salem, Illinois, Sept. 15, 1876.
Bought of A. A. Graham.
4 Bushels of Seed Wheat, at $1.50 - . . . |6.00
2 Seamless Sacks " .30 - - .60
Received payment, ' $6.60
A. A. Graham.
ABSTRACT OF ILLESTOIS STATE LAWS. 145
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
An agreement is where one party promises to another to do a certain
thing in a certain time for a stipulated sum. Good business men always
reduce an agreement to writing, which nearly always saves misunder-
standings and trouble. No particular form is necessary, but the facts must
be clearly and explicitly stated, and there must, to make it valid, be a
reasonable consideration.
GENERAL FORM OF AGREEMENT.
This Agreement, made the Second day of October, 1876, between
John Jones, of Aurora, County of Kane, State of Illinois, of the first part,
and Thomas Whiteside, of the same place, of the second part —
WITNESSETH, that the said John Jones, in consideration of the agree-
ment of the party of the second part, hereinafter contained, contracts and
agrees to and with the said Thomas Whiteside, that he will deliver, in
good and marketable condition, at the Village of Batavia, 111., during the
month of November, of this year. One Hundred Tons of Prairie Hay, in
the following lots, and at the following specified times ; namely, twenty-
five tons by the seventh of November, twenty-five tons additional by the
fourteenth of the month, twenty-five tons more by the twenty -first, and
the entire one hundred tons to be all delivered by the thirtieth of
November.
And the said Thomas Whiteside, in consideration of the prompt
fulfillment of this contract, on the part of the party of the first part,
contracts to and agrees with the said John Jones, to pay for said hay five
dollars per ton, for each ton as soon as delivered.
In case of failure of agreement by either of the parties hereto, it i&
hereby stipulated and agreed that the party so failing shall pa}^ to the
other. One Hundred Dollars, as fixed and settled damages.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands the day and
year first above written. John Jones,
Thomas Whiteside.
AGREEMENT WITH CLERK FOR SERVICES.
This Agreement, made the first day of May, one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-six, between Reuben Stone, of Chicago, County
of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the first part, and George Barclay, of
Englewood, County of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the second part —
WITNESSETH, that said George Barclay agrees faithfully and dili-
gently to work as clerk and salesman for the said Reuben Stone, for
and during the space of one year from the date hereof, should both
live such length of time, without absenting himself from his occupation;
14 G ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
during which time he, the said Barclay, in the store of said Stone, of
Chicago, will carefully and honestly attend, doing and performing all
duties as clerk and salesman aforesaid, in accordance and in all respects
as directed and desired by the said Stone.
In consideration of which services, so ,to be rendered by the said
Barclay, the said Stone agrees to pay to said Barclay the annual sum of
one thousand dollars, payable in twelve equal monthly payments, each
upon the last day of each month ; provided that all dues for days of
absence from business by said Barclay, shall be deducted from the sum
otherwise by the agreement due and payable by the said Stone to the said
Barclay.
Witness our hands. Reuben Stone.
George Barclay.
BILLS OF SALE.
A bill of sale is a written agreement to another party, for a consider-
ation to convey his right and interest in the personal property. The
purchaser must take actual possession of the property. Juries have
power to determine upon the fairness or unfairness of a bill of sale.
COMMON FORM OF BILL OF SALE.
Know all Men by this instrument, that I, Louis Clay, of Princeton,
Illinois, of the first part, for and in consideration of Five Hundred
and Ten dollars, to me paid by John Floyd, of the same place, of the
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have sold, and
by this instrument do convey unto the said Floyd, party of the second
part, his executors, administrators, and assigns, my undivided half of
ten acres of corn, now growing on the farm of Thomas Tyrrell, in the
town above mentioned ; one pair of horses, sixteen sheep, and five cows,
belonging to me, and in my possession at the farm aforesaid ; to have and
to hold the same unto the party of the second j^art, his executors and
assigns, forever. And I do, for myself and legal representatives, agree
with the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives, to
warrant and defend the sale of the afore-mentioned property and chattels
unto the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives,
against all and every person whatsoever.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my hand, this tenth day
of Octoljer, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Louis Clay.
BONDS.
A bond is a written admission on the part of the maker in which he
pledges a certain sum to another, at a certain time.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 147
COMMON FORM OF BOND.
Know all Men by this instrument, that I, George Edgerton, of
Watseka, Iroquois Countjs State of Illinois, am firmly bound unto Peter
Kirchofi", of the place aforesaid, in the sum of five hundred dollars, to be
paid to the said Peter Kirchoff, or his legal representatives ; to which
payment, to be made, I bind myself, or my legal representatives, by this
instrument.
Sealed with my seal, and dated this second day of November, one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
The condition of this bond is such that if I, George Edgerton, my
heirs, administrators, or executors, shall promptly pay the sum of two
hundred and fifty dollars in three equal annual pa^yments from the date
hereof, with annual interest, then the above obligation to be of no effect ;
otherwise to be in full force and valid.
Sealed and delivered in
presence of George Edgerton. [l.s.]
William Turner.
CHATTEL MORTGAGES.
A chattel mortgage is a mortgage on personal property for payment
of a certain sum of money, to hold the property against debts of other
creditors. The mortgage must describe the property, and must be
acknowledged before a justice of the peace in the township or precinct
where the mortgagee resides, and entered upon his docket, and must be
recorded in the recorder's office of the county.
GENERAL FORM OF CHATTEL MORTGAGE.
This Indenture, made and entered into this first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five,
between Theodore Lottinville, of the town of Genesee in the County
of Henry, and State of Illinois, party of the first part, and Paul Henshaw,
of the same town, county, and State, part}^ of the second part.
Witnes^eth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consider-
ation of the sum of one thousand dollars, in hand paid, the receipt whereof
is hereby acknowledged, does hereby grant, sell, convey, and confirm unto
the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever, all and
singular the following described goods and chattels, to wit :
Two three-year old roan-colored horses, one Burdett organ. No. 987,
one Brussels carpet, 15x20 feet in size, one marble-top center table, one
Home Comfort cooking stove. No. 8, one black walnut bureau with mirror
attached, one set of parlor chairs (six in number), upholstered in green
rep, with lounge corresponding with same in style and color of upholstery,
now in possession of said Lottinville, at No. 4 Prairie Ave., Geneseo, 111.;
148 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Together with all and singular, the appurtenances thereunto \)elong-
ing, or in any wise appertaining ; to have and to hold the above described
goods and chattels, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and
assigns, forever.
Provided, always, and these presents are upon this express condition,
that if the said Theodore Lottinville, his heii's, executors, administrators,
or assigns, shall, on or before the first day of Januar}^ A.D., one thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six, pay, or cause to be paid, to the said Paul
Ranslow, or his lawful attorney or attorneys, heirs, executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, the sum of One Thousand dollars, together with the
interest that may accrue thereon, at the rate of ten per cent, per annum,
from the first day of January, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five, until paid, according to the tenor of one promissory note
bearing even date herewith for the payment of said sum of money, that
then and from thenceforth, these presents, and everything herein con-
tained, shall cease, and be null and void, anything herein contained to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Provided, also, that the said Theodore Lottinville may retain the
possession of and have the use of said goods and chattels until the day
of payment aforesaid ; and also, at his own expense, shall keep said goods
and chattels; and also at the expiration of said time of payment, if said
sura of money, together with the interest as aforesaid, shall not be paid,
shall deliver up said goods and chattels, in good condition, to said Paul
lianslow, or his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns.
And provided, also, that if default in payment as aforesaid, by said
party of the first part, shall be made, or if said party of the second part
shall at any time before said promissory note becomes due, feel himself
unsafe or insecure, that then the said party of the second part, or his
attorney, agent, assigns, or heirs, executors, or administrators, shall have
the right to take possession of said goods and chattels, wherever they
may or can be found, and sell the same at public or private sale, to the
highest bidder for cash in hand, after giving ten days' notice of the time
and place of said sale, together with a description of the goods and chat-
tels to be sold, by at least four advertisements, posted up in public places
in the vicinity where said sale is to take place, and proceed to make the
sum of money and interest promised as aforesaid, together with all reason-
able costs, charges, and expenses in so doing ; and if there shall be any
overplus, shall pay the same without delay to the said party of the first
part, or his legal representatives.
In testimony whereof, the said party of the first part has hereunto
set liis hand and affixed his seal, the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered in
presence of Theodour Lottinville. [l.s.]
Samcel J. Tilden.
ABSTRACT OF ILLLNOIS STATE LAWS. 149
LEASE OF FARM AND BUILDINGS THEREON.
This Indenture, made this second day of June, 1875, between David
Patton of the Town of Bisbee, State of Illinois, of the first part, and John
Doyle of the same place, of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said David Patton, for and in consideration of
the covenants hereinafter mentioned and reserved, on the part of the said
John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to be paid, kept,
and performed, hath let, and by these presents doth grant, demise, and
let, unto the said John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns,
all that parcel of land situate in Bisbee aforesaid, bounded and described
as follows, to wit :
[Here describe the land.^
Together with all the appurtenances appertaining thereto. To have
and to hold the said premises, with appurtenances thereto belonging, unto
the said Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for the term of
five years, from the first day of October next following, at a yearly rent
of Six Hundred dollars, to be paid in equal payments, semi-annually, as
long as said buildings are in good tenantable condition.
And the said Doyle, by these presents, covenants and agrees to pay
all taxes and assessments, and keep in repair all hedges, ditches, rail, and
other fences ; (the said David Patton, his heirs, assigns and administra-
tors, to furnish all timber, brick, tile, and other materials necessary for
such repairs.)
Said Doyle further covenants and agrees to apply to said land, in a
farmer-like manner, all manure and compost accumulating upon said
farm, and cultivate all the arable land in a husbandlike manner, accord-
ing to the usual custom among farmers in the neighborhood ; he also
agrees to trim the hedges at a seasonable time, preventing injury from
cattle to such hedges, and to all fruit and other trees on the said premises.
That he will seed down with clover and timothy seed twenty acres yearly
of arable land, ploughing the same number of acres each Spring of land
now in grass, and hitherto unbroken.
It is further agreed, that if the said Doyle shall fail to perform the
whole or any one of the above mentioned covenants, then and in that
case the said David Patton may declai^e this lease terminated, by giving
three months' notice of the same, prior to the first of October of any
year, and may distrain any part of the stock, goods, or chattels, or other
property in possession of said Doyle, for sufficient to compensate for the
non-performance of the above written covenants, the same to be deter-
mined, and amounts so to be paid to be determined, by three arbitrators,
chosen as follows: Each of the parties to this instrument to choose one,
150 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
and the two so chosen to select a third ; the decision of said arbitrators
to be final.
In witness whereof, we have hereto set our hands and seals.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
in presence of David Pattox. [l.s.]
James Waldron. John Doyle. [l.s.]
FORM OF LEASE OF A HOUSE.
This Instrument, made the first day of October, 1875, witnesseth
that Amos Griest of Yorkville, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, halh
rented from Aaron Young of Logansport aforesaid, the dwelling and lot
No, 13 Ohio Street, situated in said City of Yorkville, for five years
from the above date, at the yearly rental of Three Hundred dollars, pay-
able monthly, on the first day of each month, in advance, at the residence
of said Aaron Young.
At the expiration of said above mentioned term, the said Griest
agrees to give the said Young peaceable possession of the said dwelling,
in as good condition as when taken, ordinary we^r and casualties excepted.
In witness wliereof, we place our hands and seals the day and year
aforesaid.
Signed, sealed and delivered Amos Griest. [l.s.]
in presence of
NickolAs Sghutz, Aaron Young, [l.s.]
Notary Public.
LANDLORD'S AGREEMENT.
This certifies that I have let and recited, this first day of January,
1876, unto Jacob Schmidt, my house and lot. No. 15 Erie Street, in the
City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and its appurtenances ; he to have the
free and uninterrupted occupation thereof for one year from this date, at
the yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly in advance ;
rent to cease if destroyed by fire, or otherwise made untenantable.
Peter Funk.
TENANT'S AGREEMENT.
This certifies that I have hired and taken from Peter Funk, his
house and lot. No. 15 Erie Street, in the City of Chicago, State of Illi-
nois, with appurtenances thereto belonging, for one year, to commence
this day, at a yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly
in advance ; unless said house becomes untenantable from fire or other
causes, in which case rent ceases ; and I further agree to give and yield
said premises one year from this first day of January 1876, in as good
condition as now, ordinary wear and damage by the elements excepted.
Given under my hand this day. Jacob Schmidt.
ABSTEACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 151
NOTICE TO QUIT.
To F. W. Arlen,
Sir : Please observe that the term of one year, for which the house
and land, situated at No. 6 Indiana Street, and now occupied by you,
were rented to you, expired on the first day of October, 1875, and as I
desire to repossess said premises, you are hereby requested and required
to vacate the same. Respectfully Yours,
P. T. Barnum.
Lincoln, ISeb., October 4, 1875.
TENANT'S NOTICE OF LEAVING.
Dear Sir:
The premises I now occupy as your tenant, at No. 6 Indiana Street,
I shall vacate on the first day of November, 1875. You will please take
notice accordingly.
Dated this tenth day of October, 1875. F. W. Arlen.
To p. T. Barnum, Esq.
REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE TO SECURE PAYMENT OF MONEY.
This Indenture, made this sixteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between William
Stocker, of Peoria, County of Peoria, and State of Illinois, and 011a, his
wife, party of the first part, and Edward Singer, party of the second part.
Whereas, the said party of the first part is justly indebted to the said
party of the second part, in the sum of Two Thousand dollars, secured
to be paid by two certain promissory notes (bearing even date herewith)
the one due and payable at the Second National Bank in Peoria, Illinois,
with interest, on the sixteenth day of May, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-three ; the other due and payable at the Second
National Bank at Peoria, 111., with interest, on the sixteenth day of May,
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventj^-four.
Now, therefore, this indenture witnesseth, that the said party of the
first part, for the better securing the payment of the money aforesaid,
with interest thereon, according to the tenor and effect of the said two
promissory notes above mentioned ; and, also in consideration of the fur-
ther sum of one dollar to them in hand paid by the said party of the sec-
ond part, at the delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby
acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold, and conveyed, and by these
presents do grant, bargain, sell, and convey, unto the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all that certain parcel of land,
situate, etc.
[Descj'ibing the premises.^
To have and to hold the same, together with all and singular the
Tenements, Hereditaments, Privileges and Appurtenances thereunto
152 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
belonging or in any wise appertaining. And also, all the estate, interest,
and claim whatsoever, in law as well as in equity which the party of
the first part have in and to the premises hereby conveyed unto the said
party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, and to their only proper
use, benefit and behoof. And the said William Stocker, and 011a, his
wife, party of the first part, hereby expressly waive, relinquish, release,
and convey unto the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors,
administrators, and assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit
whatever, in and to tlie above described premises, and each and every
l)art thereof, which is given bj' or results from all laws of this state per-
taining to the exemption of homesteads.
Provided always, and these presents are upon this express condition,
that if the said party of the first part, their heirs, executors, or adminis-
trators, shall well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, to the said party of
the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, the afore-
said sums of money, with suoli interest thereon, at the time and in the
manner specified in the above mentioned promissory notes, according to
the true intent and meaning thereof, then in that case, these j)resents and
every thing herein expressed, shall be absolutely null and void.
In witness whereof, the said party of the first part hereunto set their
hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of
James Whitehead, William Stocker. [l.s.]
Fred. Samuels. Olla Stocker. [l.s.]
WARRANTY DEED WITH COVENANTS.
This Indenture, made this sixth day of April, in the year of oui
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between Henry Best
of Lawrence, County of Lawrence, State of Illinois, and Belle, his wife,
of the first part, and Charles Pearson of the same place, of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consideration
of the sum of Six Thousand dollars in hand paid by the said party of the
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have granted,
bargained, and sold, and by these presents do grant, bargain, and sell,
unto the said party of the second part, liis heirs and assigns, all the fol-
lowing described Iol, piece, or parcel of land, situated in the City of Law-
rence, in the County of Lawrence, and State of Illinois, to wit ;
\_Here describe the property .^
Together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances
thereunto ])elonging or in any wise appertaining, and the reversion and
reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof;
and all the estate, rignt, title, interest, claim, and demand whatsoever, of
the said party of the nrst part, either in law or equity, of, in, and to th«»
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 153
above bargained premises, with the hereditaments and appurtenances.
I'o have and to hokl tlie said premises above bargained and described,
with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs
and assigns, forever. And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, par-
ties of the first part, hereby expressly waive, release, and relinquish unto
the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, and
assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit whatever, in and to the
above described premises, and each and every part thereof, which is given
by or results from all laws of this state pertaining to the exemption of
homesteads.
And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, party of the first
part, for themselves and their heirs, executors, and administrators, do
covenant, grant, bargain, and agree, to and with the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, that at the time of the ensealing and
delivery of these presents they were well seized of the premises above
conveyed, as of a good, sure, perfect, absolute, and indefeasible estate of
inheritance in law, and in fee simple, and have good right, full power,
and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell, and convey the same, in
manner and form aforesafd, and that the same are free and clear from all
former and other grants, bargains, sales, liens, taxes, assessments, and
encumbrances of what kind or nature soever ; and the above bargained
premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, against all and every person or persons
lawfully claiming or to claim the whole or any part thereof, the said party
of the first part shall and will warrant and forever defend.
In testimony whereof, the said parties of the first part have hereunto
set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered
in presence of Henry Best, [l.s.]
Jerry Linklater. Belle Best. [l.s.]
QUIT-CLAIM DEED.
This Indenture, made the eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, between David Tour,
of Piano, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, party of the first part,
and Larry O'Brien, of the same place, party of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in considera-
tion of Nine Hundred dollars in hand paid by the said party of the sec-
ond part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and the said party
of the second part forever released and discharged therefrom, has remised,
released, sold, conveyed, and quit-claimed, and by these presents does
remise, release, sell, convey, and quit-claim, unto the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all the right, title, interest,
154 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
claim, and demand, which the said party of the first part has in and to
the following described lot, piece, or parcel of land, to wit :
l^ITere describe the land.li
To have and to hold the same, together with all and singular the
appurtenances and privileges thereunto belonging, or in any wise there-
unto appertaining, and all the estate, right, title, interest, and claim
whatever, of the said party of the first part, either in law or equity, to
the only proper use, benefit, and behoof of the said party of the second
part, his heirs and assigns forever.
In witness whereof the said party of the first part hereunto set his
hand and seal the day and year above written.
>Signed, sealed and delivered David Tour, [l.s.]
ill presence of
Tho.mas Ashley.
The above forms of Deeds and Mortgage are such as have heretofore
been generally used, but the following are much shorter, and are made
equally valid by the laws of this state.
WARRANTY DEED.
The grantor (here insert name or names and place of residence), for
and in consideration of (here insert consideration) in hand paid, conveys
and warrants to (here insert the grantee's name or names) the following
described real estate (here insert description), situated in the County of
in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
QUIT CLAIM DEED.
The grantor (here insert grantor's name or names and place of resi-
dence), for the consideration of (here insert consideration) convey and
quit-claim to (here insert grantee's name or names) all interest in the
following described real estate (here insert description), situated in the
County of in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
MORTGAGE.
The mortgagor (here insert name or names) mortgages and warrants
to (here insert name or names of mortgagee or mortgagees), to secure the
payment of (here recite the nature and amount of indebtedness, showing
when due and the rate of interest, and whether secured by note or other-
wise), the following described real estate (here insert descrijDtion thereof),
situated in the County of in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
RELEASE.
• Know all Men by these presents, that I, Peter Ahlund, of Chicago,
of the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, for and in consideration of
One dollar, to me in hand paid, and for other good and valuable considera-
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 15G
tions, the receipt whereof is hereby confessed, do hereby grant, bargain,
remise, convey, release, and quit-claim unto Joseph Carlin of Chicago,
of the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, all the right, title, interest,,
claim, or demand whatsoever, I may have acquired in, through, or by a
certain Indenture or Mortgage Deed, bearing date the second day of Jan-
uary, A. D. 1871, and recorded in the Recorder's office of said county,
in book A of Deeds, page 46, to the premises therein described, and which
said Deed was made to secure one certain promissory note, bearing even
date with said deed, for the sum of Three Hundred dollafs.
"Witness my hand and seal, this second day of November, A. D. 1874.
Peter Ahlund. [l.s.]
State of Illinois, )
Cook County. \ I, George Saxton, a Notary Public in
and for said county, in the state aforesaid, do hereby
certify that Peter Ahlund, personally known to me
as the same person whose name is subscribed to the
foregoing Release, appeared before me this day in
[ ''^sriL.^ - ] person, and acknowledged that he signed, sealed, and
delivered the said instrument of writing as his free
a.id voluntary act, for the uses and purposes therein
set forth.
Giv,an under my hand and seal, this second day of
November, A. D. 1874.
George Saxton, N. P.
GENERAL FOh-M OF WILL FOR REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.
I, Charles Mansfield, of the Town of Salem, County of Jackson,.
Srate of Illinois, being aware of the i.ncertainty of life, and in failing-
health, but of sound mind and memory, do make and declare this to be
my last will and testament, in manner folio (ving, to wit:
First. I give, devise and bequeath unto my oldest son, Sidney H.
Mansfield, the sum of Two Thousand Dollars, cf bank stock, now in the
Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the farm owned by myself
in the Town of Buskirk, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, with
all the houses, tenements, and improvements thereunto belonging ; to
have and to hold unto my said son, his heirs and assign**, forever.
Second. I give, devise and bequeath to each of my daughters, Anna
Louise Mansfield and Ida Clara Mansfield, each Two Thousand dollars in
bank stock, in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and also each
one quarter section of land, owned by myself, situated in the Town of
Lake, Illinois, and recorded in my name in the Recorder's officvi in the
county where such land is located. The north one hundred and sixty
acres of said half section is devised to my eldest daughter, Anna Louise.-
6
15G ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Third. I give, devise and bequeath to my son, Frank Alfred ^lans-
field, Five shares of Railroad stock in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
iind my one hundred and sixty acres of land and saw mill thereon, situ-
ated in Manistee, Michigan, with all the improvements and appurtenances
thereunto belonging, which said real estate is recorded in my name in the
•county where situated.
Fourth. I give to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, all my
household furniture, goods, chattels, and personal property, about my
Jiome, not hitherto disposed of, including Eight Thousand dollars of bank
stock in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, Fifteen shares in
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the free and unrestricted use, pos-
session, and benefit of the home farm, so long as she may live, in lieu of
■dower, to which she is entitled by law ; said farm being my present place
■of residence.
Fifth. I bequeath to m}^ invalid father, Elijah H. Mansfield, the
income from rents of my store building at 145 Jackson Street, Chicago,
Illinois, during the term of his natural life. Said building and land there-
with to revert to my said sons and daughters in equal proportion, upon
the demise of my said father.
Sixth. It is also my will and desire that, at the death of my wife,
Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, or at any time when she may arrange to
relinquish her life interest in the above mentioned homestead, the same
may revert to my above named children, or to the lawful heirs of each.
And liutly. I nominate and appoint as executors of this my last will
.and testament, my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, and my eldest son,
Sidney H. Mansfield.
I further direct that my debts and necessary funeral expenses shad
be paid from moneys now on deposit in the Savings Bank of Salem, the
residue of such moneys to revert to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield,
for her use forever.
In witness whereof, I, Charles Mansfield, to this my last will and
testament, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this fourth day of April,
eighteen hundred and seventy-two.
.Signed, sealed, and declared by Charles
Mansfield, as and for his last will and
testament, in the presence of us, who,
at his request, and in his presence, and
in the presence of each other, have sub- )>
scribed our names hereunto as witnesses
thereof.
Peter A. Schenck, Sycamore, Ills.
Frank E. Dext, Salem, Ills.
Charles Mansfield, [l.s.]
Charles Mansfield, [l.s.]
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 157
CODICIL.
Whereas I, Charles Mansfield, did, on the fourth day of April, one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, make my last will and testa-
ment, I do now, by this writing, add this codicil to my said will, to be
taken as a part thereof.
Whereas, by the dispensation of Providence, my daughter, Anna
Louise, has deceased November fifth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three,
and whereas, a son has been born to me, which son is now christened
Richard Albert Mansfield, I give and bequeath unto him my gold watch,
and all right, interest, and title in lands and bank stock and chattels
bequeathed to my deceased daughter, Anna Louise, in the body of this will.
In witness whereof, I hereunto place my hand and seal, this tenth
day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-five.
Signed, sealed, published, and declared to^
us by the testator, Charles Mansfield, as
and for a codicil to be annexed to his
last will and testament. And we, at
his request, and in his presence, and in
the presence of each other, have sub-
scribed our names as witnesses thereto,
at the date hereof.
Frank E. Dent, Salem, Ills.
John C. Shay, Salem, Ills.
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS
May be legally made by electing or api^ointing^ according to the usages
or customs of the body of which it is a part, at any meeting held for that
purpose, two or more of its members as trustees, wardens or vestrymen, and
may adopt a corporate name. The chairman or secretary of such meeting
shall, as soon as possible, make and file in tlie office of the recorder of
deeds of the county, an affidavit substantially in the following form :
State of Illinois, \
>
County. \
I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be),
that at a meeting of the members of the (here insert the name of the
church, society or congregation as known before organization), held at
(here insert place of meeting), in the County of , and State of
Illinois, on the day of , A.D. 18 — , for that purpose, the fol-
lowing persons were elected (or appointed) \here insert their names~\
trustees, wardens, vestrymen, (or officers by whatever name they may
choose to adopt, with powers similar to trustees) according to the rules
and usages of such Tchurch, society or congregation), and said
158 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
adopted as its corporate name (here insert name), and at said meeting-
this affiant acted as (chairman or secretary, as the case may be).
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this day of , A.D.
18—. Name of Affiant
which affidavit must be recorded by the recorder, and shall be, or a certi-
fied copy made by the recorder, received as evidence of such an incorpo-
ration.
No certificate of election after the first need he filed for record.
The term of office of the trustees and the general government of the
society can be determined by the rules or by-laws adopted. Failure to
elect trustees at the time provided does not work a dissolution, but the
old trustees hold over. A trustee or trustees may be removed, in the
same manner by the society as elections are held by a meeting called for
that purpose. The property of the society vests in the corporation. The
corporation may hold, or acquire by purchase or otherwise, land not
exceeding ten acres, for the purpose of the society. The trustees have
the care, custody and control of the property of the corporation, and can,
ivhen directed by the society, erect houses or improvements, and repair
and alter the same, and may also when so directed by the society,
mortgage, encumber, sell and convey any real or personal estate belonging
to the corporation, and make all proper contracts in the name of such
corporation. But they are prohibited b}^ law from encumbering or inter-
fering with any property so as to destroy the effect of any gift, grants
devise or bequest to the corporation ; but such gifts, grants, devises or
bequests, must in all cases be used so as to carry out the object intended
by the persons making the same. Existing societies may organize in tlie
manner herein set forth, and have all the advantages thereof.
SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE PURCHASING BOOKS BY SUBSCRIPTION.
The business of publishing books by subscription having so often been
brought into disrepute by agents making representations and declarations
not authorized by the publisher ; in order to prevent that as much as possi-
ble, and that there may be more general knowledge of the relation such
agents bear to their principal, and the law governing such cases, the fol-
lowing statement is made :
A subscription is in tlie nature of a contract of mutual promises, by
which the subscriber agrees to pay a certain sum for the work described ;
the consideration is concurrent that the publisher shall publish the book
named^ and deliver the same, for which the subscriber is to pay the price
named. Tlie nature and character of the ivork is described in the prospectus
and by the sample shoivn. These should be carefully examined before sub-
scribing^ as they are the basis and consideration of the promise to pay,
ABSTRACT OF I1.LINOIS STATE LAWS. 159
and not the too often exaggerated statements of the agent^ who is merely
employed to solicit subscriptions, for which he is usually jyaid a commission
for each subscriber, and has no authority to change or alter the conditions
upon which the subscriptions are authorized to be made by the publisher.
Should the agent assume to agree to make the subscription conditional or
modify or change the agreement of the publisher, as set out by prospectus
and sample, in order to bind the p>rincipal, the subscriber should see that
sucli conditions or changes are stated over or in connection ivith his signa-
ture, so that the publisher maj^ have notice of the same.
All persons making contracts in reference to matters of this kind, or
any other business, should remember that the laiv as to written contracts is,
that they can not be varied, altered or rescinded verbally, but if dojie at all,
must be done in writing. It is therefore important that all persons contem-
plating subscribing should distinctly understand that all talk before or after
the subscription is made, is not admissible as evidence, and is no part of the
contract.
Persons employed to solicit subscriptions are known to the trade as
canvassers. They are agents appointed to do a particular business in a
prescribed mode, and have no authority to do it in any other way to the
prejudice of their principal, nor can they bind their principal in ?iny other
matter. They cannot collect money, or agree that payment may be made
in anything else but money. They can not extend the time of payment
beyond the time of delivery, nor bind their jjriticipal for the payinent of
expenses incurred in their buisness.
It would save a great deal of trouble, and often serious loss, if persons,
before signing their names to any subscription book, or any written instru-
ment, would examine carefully what it is ; if they can not read themselves,
should call on some one disinterested who can.
160 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND ITS AMENDMENTS.
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity^ provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.
Article I.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
Mouse of Representatives.
Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem-
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the
electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.
No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in
which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev-
eral states which may be included within this Union, according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subse-
quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand,
but each state shall have at least one Representative ; and until such
enumeration shall be made the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled
to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plan-
tations one, Connecticut five. New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylva-
nia eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five,
and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the
Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Sec. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years ;
and each Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira-
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 161
tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that
one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any state,
the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacajcies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age
of thirty years and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he
shall be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President j?ro
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise
the office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole powder to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside.
And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds
of the members present.
Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of
honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment,,
and punishment according to law.
Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Sen-
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the Legis-
lature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter
such regulations, exc^t as to the places of choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.
Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute
a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members
in such manner and under such penalties as each house/ may provide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirdsj,
expel a member.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment,
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered
on the journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
Sec. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen-
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason.
102 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
felony, and l)reach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and
returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house
the}' shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United
States, which shall have been created, or the emolument's whereof shall
have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office
under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his
continuance in office.
Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments
as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President
the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it ; but if not he shall
return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi-
nated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of that
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec-
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by } eas and nays,
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered
on the journal of each house respectively. If an}' bill shall not be returned
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he
had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its
return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the
United States, and before the same shall take effect shall be approved by
him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two -thirds of
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and lim-
itations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power —
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts,
and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United
States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States ;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States ;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
Str.tes, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures ;
To provide for tiie punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads ;
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 163
To promote the progress of sciences and useful arts, by securing,
for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries ;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against tlie law of nations ;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water ;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years ;
To provide and maintain a navy ;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces ;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ;
To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the
United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the
officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the disci'
pline prescribed by Congress ;
To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not
exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the
consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful
buildings ; and
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart-
ment or officer thereof.
Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the
states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev-
enue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels
bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in
another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of
the receipts and expeditures of all public money shall be published from
time to time.
154 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
No title of nobilit}' shall be granted by the United States : and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder-
ation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and
imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the
revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as wiU
not admit of delay.
Article II.
Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same
term, be elected as follows :
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress ;
but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
[ * The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of
the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they
shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The Pres-
ident of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives, oj)en all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.
The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a ma-
jority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like
manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote
shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President,
*TliU clause between.brackets bas been superseded and annulled by the Twelfth. amendment.
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 165
the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be
the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-Presi-
dent.]
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and
the day on which the}'' shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that
office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been
fourteen years a resident within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-Pnesident, and the Congress
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inabil-
ity, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall
then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the dis-
ability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com-
pensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of
them.
Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the fol-
lowing oath or affirmation :
" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Sec. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardon for offenses
against the United States, eX'Cept in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present con-
cur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate,
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment
of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session.
Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such mea-
sures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may on extraordinary
16G CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
occasions convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagree-
ment between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United
States.
Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con-
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III.
Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested
in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from
time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at
stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.
Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United
States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ;
between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of differ-
ent states ; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants
of different states, and between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreisfn
states, citizens, or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls,
and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have
original jurisdiction.
In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions
and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall
have been committed ; but when not committed within aii}'^ state, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have
directed.
Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy-
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the tes-
timony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason,
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture,
except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV.
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 167
the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and tlie effect thereof.
Sec. 2. The citizens of each state shall 'be entitled to all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime,
who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand
of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered
up, to be removed to the state having jurisdic1"-on of the crime.
No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on the claim of the party to Avhom such service or labor may be due.
Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ;
but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any
other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states,
or parts of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the states
concerned, as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging
to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed
as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state.
Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Execu-
tive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic vio-
lence.
Article V.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the ap-
plication of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be
valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when rati-
fied by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by con-
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratifi-
cation may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and
eisfht shall in anv manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Article VL
All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adop-
tion of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under
this Constitution as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the
land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the mem-
168
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
bers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial offi-
cers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound
by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under
the United States.
Article VII.
The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying
the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names.
GEO. WASHINGTON,
President and Dej^uty from Virginia.
Neiv Hampshire.
John Langdon,
Nicholas Oilman.
Massachusetts.
Nathaniel Goeham,
RuFus King.
Connecticut.
Wm. Sam'l Johnson,
Roger Sherman.
Delaware.
Geo. Read,
John Dickinson,
Jaco, Broom,
Gunning Bedford, Jr.,
Richard Bassett.
Maryland.
James M' Henry,
Danl. Carroll,
Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer.
I^eiv York.
Alexander Hamilton.
New Jersey.
WiL. Livingston,
Wm. Paterson,
David Brearley,
JoNA. Dayton.
Pennsylvania.
B. Franklin,
Robt. Morris,
Thos. Fitzsimons,
James Wilson,
Thos. Mifflin,
Geo. Clymer,
Jared Ingersoll,
Gouv. Morris.
Virginia.
John Blair,
James Madison, Jr.
North Carolina.
Wm. Blount,
Hu. Williamson,
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight.
South Carolina.
J. Rutledge,
Charles Pinckney,
Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney,
Pierce Butler.
Georgia.
William Few,
Abr. Baldwin.
WILLLVM JACKSON, Secretary.
AliD ITS AMENDMENTS. 169
Articles in Addition to and Amendatory of the Constitution
OF THE United States of America.
Proposed hy Congress and ratified hy the Legislatures of the several states,
pursuant to the fifth artiole of the original Constitution.
Article I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Article II.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Article III.
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be pre-
scribed by law.
Article IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio-
lated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched
and the persons or things to be seized.
Article V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual
service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor '
shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Article VI.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ;
to have compulsory j)rocess for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Article VII.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact
170 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United
States than according to the rules of the common law.
Article VIII.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Article IX.
The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article X.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively,
or to tJie people.
Article XI.
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one
of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or sub-
jects of any foreign state.
Article XII.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their
ballots the person to be voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of
all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-
President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the
highest number not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; a
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-
thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a Presi-
dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of
the President. The person having tlie greatest number of votes as Vice-
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be the majority
of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a major-
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 171
ity, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose
the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible
to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.
Aeticle XIII.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris-
diction.
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.
Aeticle XIV.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and
of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.
Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per-
sons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right ta
vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the execu-
tive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legislature
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being
twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way
abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the num-
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens
twenty-one years of age in such state.
Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previ-
ously taken an oath as a Member of Congress, or as an officer of the
United States, or as a member of any state Legislature, or as an execu-
tive or judicial officer of any state to support the Constitution of the
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress mav
by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.
Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States author-
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and boun-
ties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques-
tioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt
or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the
United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts,
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
172
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this act.
Article XV.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.
ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT.
November 7, 1876.
COUNTIES.
Hayes and
Wheeler,
Republican.
Tilden and
Hendricks,
Ueniocrat.
II
-■5
4) V
si
< 0
c
<
COUNTIES.
Hayes and
Wheeler,
Republican.
Tilden and
Hendricks,
Democrat.
0
if
02 a-
Ji. 0
a
<
4953
1219
1520
1965
944
3719
441
2231
1209
4530
2501
1814
1416
1329
2957
36548
1355
1145
3679
1928
1631
2129
2715
970
1145
1881
1601
966
4187
703
1695
1996
627
3496
330
1315
4177
3768
2040
6308
1280
1142
363
1495
2218
900
918
1618
3103
3287
2197
1541
1989
2822
39240
1643
1407
1413
1174
1357
1276
2883
466
2265
2421
742
1.302
4669
1140
3160
1142
1433
4207
611
1015
1928
2578
2071
41
17
....
Livingston
3550
2788
3120
3567
4554
2009
1553
1566
1231
2952
3465
6363
1115
2209
845
2486
3069
1245
3833
4665
1319
1541
1807
3055
1043
646
2357
1410
3912
980
4851
1522
910
2069
1140
4708
3198
2850
978
4372
650
2795
1911
1570
1297
3851
4770
1672
4505
1733
2134
2595
2782
4076
4730
2444
1430
1939
793
2811
1874
4410
1657
1428
1651
3013
3174
1672
1921
5443
800
1383
1316
4040
772
459
2589
1552
2838
1081
5847
1804
1269
3553
786
5891
2758
3171
2155
3031
936
1984
1671
,1751
2066
2131
3999
1644
1568
2105
1170
37
268
114
39
209
135
86
20
347
34
518
10
90
7
201
109
28
104
95
5
48
117
35
"16
"i
■3
■'8
3
Logan
Bond
17
43
183
145
■"2
1
2
"li
Macon
Macoupin
Madison
lirowu
Marlon
Marshall..
Mason
1
Carroll
111
74
604
207
236
112
132
102
277
38
129
65
746
94
25
161
61
43
57
204
391
89
282
1
108
770
1
7
"i
16
"2
3
"i
6
9
■ "3
3
"8
"i
"4
Massac
Chrmn&icrn
McDonoiigh
....
McHenry
3
Clark
McLean
7
Clav
Menard
Mercer
3
Coles
Monroe
Cook . .
Montgomery
Crawford
Morgan
s
Moultrie
DeKalb
Ogle
H
DeWitt
Peoria
Pope
Perry
Piatt
Pike
4
Kftiiicriiaiii
Pulaski
Putnam
14
2
55
27
641
29
115
182
341
96
99
26
44
3
288
207
138
39
482
469
133
677
41
70
237
P'oru,
Randolph
Fronklin
Richland
Fulton
Rock Island
-^Tallatin
S.allne
Greene
Sangamon
Schuyler
^Jruiidv
Scott
Hanoofk
Shelby
Stark
Hardin
134
1
340
249
106
""4
14
"6
1
Henderson
St. Clair
"2
■"8
■13
1
1
Stephenson
3
I ro(j u"o is
Tazewell
Union
9
Jackson
Vermilion
^
Jelierson
1346
1345
2907
1367
5398
2627
1869
.5235
2619
6277
119H
3087
1667
2166
2276
893
2850
1363
.524
2632
1647
6001
1329
2080
647
"uo
61
172
26
309
141
55
514
27
100
■Y2
2
'■'2
■■■3
"5
2
■"i
1
15
"6
Wabash
Jersey
Warren
1
4I0I111S011
Wayne
Kane
White
4
Whltesi<le
1
Kendall
Will
Knox
Williamson
I^ake
Winnebago
">
LaSalle
Woodford
4
Total
Ivce
275958
257099
16951
130
157
Practical Rules for Every Day Use.
Hoiv to find the gain or loss per cent, when the cost and selling price
are given.
Rule. — Find the difference between the cost and selling price, which
will be the gain or loss.
Annex two ciphers to the gain or loss, and divide it by the cost
price ; the result will be the gain or loss per cent.
How to change gold into currency.
Rule. — Multiply the given sum of gold by the price of gold.
ITow to change currency into gold.
Divide the amount in currency by the price of gold.
ffow to find each partner's share of the gain or loss in a copartnership
business.
Rule. — Divide the whole gain or loss by the entire stock, the quo-
tient will be the gain or loss per cent.
Multiply each partner's stock by this per cent., the result will be
each one's share of the gain or loss.
How to find gross and net iveight and price of hogs.
A short and simple method for finding the net weight, or price of hogs.,
whe7i the gross weight or price is given, and vice versa.
Note.— It is generally assumed that the gross weight of Hogs diminished by 1-5 or 20 per cent
of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increased by K or 25 per cent, of itself equals the
gross weight.
To find the net iveight or gross price.
Multiply the given number by .8 (tenths.)
To find the gross iveight or net price.
Divide the given number by .8 (tenths.)
How to find the capacity/ of a granary, bin, or ivagon-hed.
Rule. — Multiply (by short method) the number of cubic feet by
6308, and point off one decimal place — the result will be the correct
answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel.
For only an approximate ansioer, multiply the cubic feet by 8, and
point off one decimal place.
Hoiv to find the contents of a corn-crib.
Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 54, short method, or
(173)
174 MISCELLAXEOUS INFORMATION.
by 4i ordinary method, and point off one decimal i^lace — the result wil'j
be the answer in bushels.
jjOTE.— In estimating corn in the ear, tlie quality and the time it lias been cribbed must be taken
into conshlcration. since corn will shrink considerably during the Winter and Spring. This rule generally holdi
good for corn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided it is sound and clean.
Hoiv to find the contents of a cistern or tank.
Rule. — Multiply the square of the meau diameter by the depth (all
m feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), aud point off one
decimal place — the result will be the contents in barrels of 311 gallons.
How to find the contents of a barrel or cask.
Rule. — Under the square of the mean diameter, write the length
(all in inches) in reversed order, so that its units will fall under the
TENS ; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430 ; point
off one decimal place, and the result will be the answer in wine gallons.
Hoiv to measure boards.
Rule. — Multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and
divide the product by 12 — the result will be the contents in square feet.
How to measure scantlings., joists, planks, sills, etc.
Rule. — Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together
(the width and thickness in inches, and the length in feet), and divide
the product by 12 — the result will be square feet.
Hoiv to find the number of acres in a body of land.
Rule. — Multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide the
product by 160 (carrying the division to 2 decimal places if there is a
remainder) ; the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths.
When the opposite sides of a piece of land are of unequal length,
add them together and take one-half for the mean length or width.
How to fiyid the number of square yards in a floor or irall.
Rule. — Multiply the length by the width or height, (in feet), and
divide the product by 9, the result will be square yards.
How to find the number of bricks required in a building.
Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 22^.
The number of cubic feet is found by multiplying the length, height
and thickness (in feet) together.
Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and two inches
thick ; hence, it requires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot without mortar,
but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills 1-6 of the space.
How to find the number <f shingles required in a roof.
Rule. — Multiply the numl)er of square feet in the roof by 8, if the
shingles are exposed 4.V inches, or by 7 1-5 if exposed 5 inches.
To find the number of stpiare feet, multiply the length of the roof by
twice the length of the rafters.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 1T5
To find the length of the rafters, at one-fourth pitch, multiply the
width of the building by .56 (hundredths) ; at one-third pitch, by .6
(tenths) ; at two-fifths pitch, by .6-1 (hundredths) ; at one-half
pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from
the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be
taken into consideration.
Note.— By X or H pitch is meant that the apex or comb of the roof is to be X or K the width of the
building higher than the walls or base of the rafters.
IIoiv to reckon the cost of hay.
Rule. — Multiply the number of pounds by half the price per ton,
and remove the decimal point three places to the left.
How to measure grain. ^
Rule. — Level the grain ;. ascertain the space it occupies in cubic
feet ; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point off one place to
the left.
Note.— Exactness requires the addition to every three hundred bushels of one extra bushel.
The foregoing rule may be used for finding the number of gallons, by
multiplying the number of bushels by 8.
If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2, to find
the number of bushels of shelled corn, because it requires 2 bushels of eai
corn to make 1 of shelled corn.
Rapid rules for measuring land tvithout instruments.
In measuring land, the first thing to ascertain is the contents of any
given plot in square yards ; then, given the number of yards, find out the
number of rods and acres.
The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now,
an ordinary-sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on
the average, with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes.
To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to
walk in a straight line ; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line
straight ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote ; and, in walk-
ing, keep these objects constantly in line.
Farmers and others hy adopting the following simple and ingenious con-
trivance., may always carry with them the scale to construct a correct yard
measure.
Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little finger of
the left hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the
left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink.
To find how many rods in length will make an acre., the width being given.
Rule. — Divide 160 by the Avidth, and the quotient will be the answer.
176 jnSCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
Hoiv to find the number of acres in any plot of land^ the number of rods
being given.
Rule. — Divide the number of rods by 8, multiply the quotient by 5,
and remove the decimal point two places to the left.
The diameter being given^ to find the circumference.
Rule. — Multiply the diameter by 3 1-7.
How to find the diameter., when the circumference is given.
Rule. — Divide the circumference by 3 1-7.
To find hoic matig solid feet a round stick of timber of the same thick-
ness throughout tvill contain when squared.
Rule. — Square half the diameter in inches, multiply by 2, multiply
by the length in feet, and divide the product by 144.
General rule for measuring timber., to find the solid contents in feet.
Rule. — Multiply the depth in inches by the breadth in inches, and
then multiply by the length in feet, and divide by 144.
To find the fiumber of feet of timber in trees with the bark on.
Rule. — Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumference in
inches, by twice the length, in feet, and divide by ^44. Deduct 1-10 to
1-15 according to the thickness of the bark.
Hoicard' s 7ieiv ride for computing interest.
Rule. — The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest
on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal
point two places to the left ; for ten times that time, remove the point
one place to the left; for 1-10 of the same time, remove the point three
places to the left.
Increase or diminish the results to suit the time given.
Note.— The reciprocal of the rate isfouiiil by inverting the rate; tliiis 3 per cent, per month, in-
verted, becomes % of a month, or 10 days.
When the rate is expressed by one figure, always write it thus: 3-1,
three ones.
Rule for converting English into American currency.
Multiply the pounds, with the shillings and pence stated in decimals,
by 400 plus the premium in fourths, and divide the product by 90.
U. S. GOVERNMENT LAND MEASURE.
A township — 36 sections each a mile square.
A section — 640 acres.
A quarter section, half a mile square — 160 acres.
An eightii section, lialf a mile long, north and south, and a quarter
of a mile wide — 80 acres.
A sixteenth section, a quarter of a mile square — 40 acres.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
177
The sections are all numbered 1 to 36, commencing at tlie north-east
corner.
The sections are divided into quarters, which are named by the
cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The de-
scription of a forty acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of
the south-west quarter of section 1 in township 24, north of range 7 west,
or as the case might be ; and sometimes will fall short and sometimes
overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain.
The nautical mile is 795 4-5 feet longer than the common mile.
SURVEYORS' MEASURE.
7 92-100 inches make 1 link,
25 links '* 1 rod.
4rods " 1 chain.
80 chains " 1 mile.
Note. — A chain is 100 links, equal to 4 rods or 66 feet.
Shoemakers formerly used a subdivision of the inch called a barley-
corn ; three of which made an inch.
Horses are measured directly over the fore feet, and the standard of
measure is four inches — called a hand.
In Biblical and other old measurements, the term span is sometimes
used, which is a lei'.gth of nine inches.
The sacred cubit of the Jews was 24.024 inches in length.
The common cubit of the Jews was 21.704 inches in length.
A pace is equal to a yard or 36 inches.
A fathom is equal to 6 feet.
A league is three miles, but its length is variable, for it is strictly
speaking a nautical term, and should be three geographical miles, equal
to 3.45 statute miles, but when used on land, three statute miles are said
to be a league.
In cloth measure an aune is equal to li yards, or 45 inches.
An Amsterdam ell is equal to 26.796 inches.
\ Trieste ell is equal to 25.284 inches.
A Brabant ell is equal to 27.116 inches.
HOW TO KEEP ACCOUNTS.
Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business,
should keep a record of his transactions in a clear and systematic man-
ner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunit}' of ac-
quiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we here
present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easily comprehended,
and well adapted to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics
and laborers.
178
MISCELLAISEOUS INFORMATION.
1875.
A. 11. JACKSON.
Dr.
Cr.
Jan.
Feb.
^larch
April
.May
July
10, To 7 bushels Wheat at $1.25
17 Bv shoeing span of Horses..
4 To 14 bushels Oats at I .45
4 To 5 lbs. Butter at .25
8 By new Harrow
8 By sharpening- 2 Plows.
13 By new Double-Tree.
27 To Cow and Calf
9 To half ton of Hay
9 By Cash \
6 By repairing Corn-Planter
24 To one Sow with Pigs ........
By Cash, to balance account ..
t8
75
S2
6
30
1
25
IS
' 2
48
00
6
25
, 25
4
17
50
35
$88
188
05
50
00
40
25
00
75
15
05
1875.
CASS A MASON.
I>r.
Cr.
Maich
21
a
21
t(
23
May
1
((
1
June
19
((
26
July
10
((
29
Aug.
12
ii
12
Sept. 1
By 3 days' labor. . . . .at $1.25
To 2 Slioats at 3.00
To 18 bushels Corn. _ . at .45
By 1 month's Labor .
To Cash
Bv 8 days' Mowing at $1.50
To 50 lbs. Flour
To 27 lbs. Meat ...at$ .10
By 9 days' Harvesting at 2.00
By 6 days' Labor .... at 1.50
To Casii
To Cash to balance account
$l3
$6
00
8
10
25
10
00
12
2
75
2
70
18
9
20
00
IS
20
$67
75
$67
75
00
00
00
00
75
INTEPtEST TABLE.
A SiMPLis RuLa Foa accuhaticlv Computing Inteukst at Anv Givkx Peu Ck
Length nv Timk.
Multiply the j)r(»i.C(/5'if (ainoiiiit of nionoy aC interest) b.v the time reduci'd to d(iys\ then d
toy the (yuofifdf ol)t!iine(l by (livi(liiiK3H0 ' the number of days in the interest year) bv the pc
auiXlhe quotient thus obtained will be the rciniired interest.
ILI.fSTllATlON.
llequlre the interest of $462.50 for i)!ie month and eighteen days at 6 percent. An
Interest month is .jOdays; one month and eighteen tlavs ennal 48 ilays. $462.50 multi-
)>ll''d liv ,48 1,'ives .«;222 0000; 360 divided bv 6 (the per cent, of iiitei-ost ) givtvs 60, and
5222.0000 divided by 60 will tjivc yon III'! e\:i'',t interest, which is i|!:^.70. 1 1 1 lie rare of
Interest in the above exampl" were 12 per cent., we would divide the $222.0000 by 30 6)360
(because 360 <livlded by 12 gives 30); it 4 per cent., we would divide by90;if8])er
cent., by 45; and In like manner for any other per cent. tjO
NT. Foil Any
ivide this#rofiitct
r cent, of ijiterest.
Solution.
$462.50
.48
370000
185000
\ 1H5I)'
/ $222.0
'$222.0000($3.70
180
420
420
"oo
.\I ISCELLANEOUS TxVBLE.
12 units, or things, 1 Dozen.
12 dozen, 1 Gross.
20 things, 1 Score.
196 poumls, 1 l$;irrel of Flour.
200 pounds, 1 Haricd of I'ork.
56 iionnds, 1 rirUinof IJutter.
24 sheets of paper. 1 Quire.
20 (in ires paj)er 1 Keam.
4 ft. wide, 4 ft. high, and 8 ft. long, 1 Cord Wood.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 179
NAMES OF THE STATES OF THE UNION, AND THEIR SIGNIFICATIONS.
Vir'ginia. — The oldest of the States, was so called in honor of Queen
Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh made
his first attempt to colonize that region.
Florida. — Ponce de Leon landed on the coast of Florida on Easter
Sunday, and called the country in commemoration of the day, which was
the Pasqua Florida of the Spaniards, or " Feast of Flowers."
Louisiana was called after Louis the Fourteenth, who at one time
owned that section of the country.
Alabama was so named by the Indians, and signifies " Here we Rest."
Mississippi is likewise an Indian name, meaning " Long River."
Arkansas^ from Kansas, the Indian word for " smoky water." Its
prefix was really arc, the French word for " bow."
The Carolinas were originally one tract, and were called "Carolana,"
after Charles the Ninth of France.
G-eorgia owes its name to George the Second of England, who first
established a colony there in 17-32.
Tennessee is the Indian name for the " River of the Bend," ^'. e., the
Mississippi which forms its western boundary.
Kentucky is the Indian name for "• at the head of the river."
Ohio means " beautiful ; " Iowa, " drowsy ones ; " Minnesota, " cloudy
water," and Wisconsin, " wild-rushing channel."
Illinois is derived from the Indian word illini, men, and the French
suffix ois, together signifying "tribe of men."
Michigayi was called by the name given the lake, fish-weir, which was
so styled from its fancied resemblance to a fish trap.
Missouri is from the Indian word " muddy," which more properly
applies to the river that flows through it.
Oregon owes its Indian name also to its principal river.
Cortes named California.
Massachusetts is the Indian for " The country around the great hills."
Connecticut, from the Indian Quon-ch-ta-Cut, signifying "Long
River."
Maryland, after Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles the First, of
England.
New York was named by the Duke of York.
Peniisyhiania means " Penn's woods," and was so called after William
Penn, its orignal owner.
180
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
Delaware after Lord De La Ware.
mxv Jersey, so called in honor of Sir George Carteret, who was
Governor of the Island of Jersey, in the British Channel.
:^laine was called after the province of Maine in France, in compli-
ment of Queen Henrietta of England, who owned that province.
Vermont, from the French word Vert Mont, signifying Green
Mountain.
New Hampshire, from Hampshire county in England. It was
formerly called Laconia.
The little State of RJiode Island owes its name to the Island of
Rhodes in the Mediterranean, which domain it is said to greatly
resemble.
Texas is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that
section of the country was called before it was ceded to the United States.
POPULATION OF THE
UNITED STATES.
States and Territories.
Alabama
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida ■
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massailiusetts....
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire.
NewJersey
New York
North Carolina..
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Khode I.sland ....
South Carolina...
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia...
Wisconsin
Total States.,
Toral
Poimlation.
996.992
484,471
560,247
537,454
12.5,015
187,748
1.184,109
2,539,891
1,680,637
1,191,792
364.399
1,321,011
726,915
626.915
780.894
1,457,351
1,184,059
439.706
827,922
1,721,295
122,993
42,491
318,300
906.096
4,382.759
1,071,361
2,665.260
90,923
3,,52 1,791
217,3.53
705,606
1,258, .520
818,579
330,551
1,22.5,163
442,014
1,054,670
38.113,253
POPULATION OF FIFTY
PRINCIPAL CITIES.
Cities.
Arizona
Colorada
Dakota
district of CoUimbla.
Idaho
Montana
New Mexico
Uuh
A's^hinKton
Wyoming
Total Territories
Total United States 38.555,983
9,658
39,864
14,181
131.700
14,999
20,595
91,874
86.786
23,955
9.118
T42.73O
New York, N. Y
Philadelphia, Pa
Brooklyn, N. Y
St. Louis, Mo
Chicago, 111
Baltimore, Md
Boston, Mass
Cincinnati, Ohio
New Orleans, La
San Francisco, cal....
Buffalo, N. Y
Washington, D. C
Newark. N. J
Louisville, Ky
Cleveland, Ohio
Pittsburg, Pa
Jersey Citv, N. J
Detroit, Mich
Milwiiukee, Wis
Albany, N. Y
Providence, R. I
Rochester, N. Y
Allegheny, Pa
Richmond, Va
New Haven, Conn...
Charleston, S. C
Indianapolis, Ind —
Troy, N. Y
Syracuse, N. Y
Worcester, Mass
Lowell, Mass
Memphis, Tenn
Cambridge, Mass —
Hartford, Conn
Scranton, Pa
Reading, Pa
Paterson. N. J
Kansas City, Mo
Mohile, Ala
Toledo. Ohio
Portland, Me
Columbus, Ohio
Wilmington. Del....
Dayton, Ohio
Lawrence, Mass
Utica, N. Y
Cliarlestown, Mass.
Savannah, (la
Lynn. Mass
Fall River, Mass.
Aggregate
Population.
942,292
674,022
396,099
310,864
298.977
267,354
250,526
216,239
191,418
149.473
117,714
109,199
105,059
100,753
92,829
86,076
82,546
79,577
71,440
69,422
68,904
62,386
53,180
51,038
50,840
48,956
48,244
46,465
43,051
41,105
40,928
40,226
39,634
37,180
35,092
33,930
33,579
32,260
32,034
31,684
31,413
31,274
30,841
30,473
28,921
28,804
28,323
28,235
28,233
26,766
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
181
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
States and
Territories.
States.
Alabama 50,
Arkansas 52,
California 188,
Connecticnt 4.
Delaware 2,
Florida 59,
Georgia 58,
Illinois 55,
Indiana 33,
Iowa 55,
Kansas 81,
Kentucky 37,
Louisiana 41,
Maine 31,
Maryland 11,
Massachusetts... 7,
Michigan* 56,
Minnesota 83,
Mississippi 47,
Missouri 65,
Nebraska 75,
Nevada lia,
New Hampshire. 9,
New Jersey 8,
New York 47,
North Carolina.. 50,
Ohio 39,
Oregon 95,
* Last Census of
Area in
sciuare
Miles.
722
198
981
674
120
268
000
410
809
045
318
600
346
776
184
800
.451
531
,156
,350
,9P5
,090
,280
,320
,000
,704
,964
,244
Population.
1870.
996,992
484.471
560,247
537,454
125,015
187,748,
1,184,109'
2,539,891
1,680,637
1,191.792
364,399
l,.321,0n
726,915
626,915
780,894
1.457,351
1,184,059
439,706
827,922
1,721,295
123,993
42,491
318,300
906,096
4,382.759
1,071,361
2,665,260
90,923
1375.
1,350,544
528,349
857,039
1,651,912
1,334.031
598,429
246,280
52,540
1,026,502
4,705,208
Miles
R. R.
1872.
671
25
013
820
227
466
108
904
529
160
760
123
539
871
820
,606
,235
,612
990
,580
828
593
790
,265
,470
,190
,740
lo9
Michigan taken in 1874.
States and
Territories.
States.
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina...
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Total States.
Territories.
Arizona
Colorado
Dakota
Dist. of Columbia.
Idaho
Montana
New Mexico
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Total Territories.
Area in
square
Miles.
Population.
1870.
46,000
1,306
29,385
45,600
237,504
10,212
40,904
23,000
53,924
1,950,171
113,916
104,500
147,490
60
90,93
143,776
121,201
80,056
69.944
93,107
965,032
3,521,791
217,353
705,606
1,258,520
818.579
330,551
1,225,163
442,014
1,054,670
38,113,253
9,658
39,864
14,181
131,700
14,999
20,595
91,874
86,786
23,955
9,118
442,730
1875.
258,239
925,145
1,236,729
Miles
R. R.
1872.
5,113
136
1,201
1,520
865
675
1,490
485
1,725
59,587
392
375
"498
1,265
Aggregateof U.S.. '2,915,203 38,555,983 60,852
• Included in the Railroad Mileage of Maryland.
PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD;
l^OPULATION AND AeEA.
Countries.
Population.
China
British Empire
Russia
United States with Alaska
Krance
Austria and Hungary
Japan
Great Britain and Ireland
German Empire
Italy
Spain
Brazil
Turk ey
Mexico
Sweden and Norway
Persia
Belgium
Bavaria
Portugal
Holland
J'" ew Grenada
Chili
Switzerland
Peru
Bolivia
Argentine Republic
Wurtemburg
Denmark
Venezuela
Baden
Greece
Guatemala
Ecuador
. Paraguay
Hesse
Liberia
San Salvador
Hayti
Nicaragua
Uruguay
Honduras
San Domingo
Costa Rica
Hawaii
446,
226
81,
38,
36
35
34
31
29,
27,
16,
10,
16,
9,
5,
5,
5,
4,
3,
3,
3,
2,
2,
2
2
1
1
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
500,000
817,108
92,5,400
925,600
469.800
9(14,400
785,300
817,100
906,092
439,921
642,000
000.000
463.000
173.000
921.500
000,000
021,300
861,400
995,200
688,300
000,000
000,000
669,100
,500,000
,000,000
,812,000
818,500
,784,700
500,000
461,400
457,900
; 180, 000
300,000
,000,000
823,1.38
718,000
600,000
572,000
350,000
300,000
350,000
136,000
165.000
62.9.50
Date of
Census.
1871
1871
1871
1870
1866
1869
1871
1871
1871
1871
1867
1869
1870
1870
1869
1871
1868
1870
1870
1869
1870
1871
'1869
1871
1870
'1871
1870
1871
'isVi
'isVi
1871
1871
1871
1871
'isVo
Area In
Square
Miles.
.3,741,846
4,677,432
8,003,778
2,603,884
204,091
240.348
149,399
121,315
160,207
118,847
195.775
3,253,029
672,621
761,526
292,871
635,964
11,373
29,292
34,494
12,680
357,157
132,616
15,992
471,838
497,321
871,848
7,533
14,753
368,238
5,912
19,353
40,879
218,928
63,7§7
2,969
9,576
7.335
10,205
58,171
66,722
47,092
17,827
21,505
7,633
Inhabitants
to Square
Mile.
119.3
48.6
10.2
7.78
178.7
149.4
232.8
262.3
187.
230.9
85.
3.07
24.4
20.
7.8
441.5
165.9
115.8
290.9
8.4
15.1
166.9
5.3
4.
2.1
241.4
120.9
4.2
247.
75.3
28.9
5.9
15.6
277.
74.9
81.8
56.
6.
6.5
7.4
7.6
7.7
80.
Capitals.
Pekin
London
St. Petersburg...
Washington
Paris
Vienna
Yeddo
London
Berlin
Rome
Madrid
Rio Janeiro
Constantinople ..
Mexico
Stockholm
Teheran
Brussels
Munich
Lisbon
Hague
Bogota
Santiago
Berne
Lima
Chuquisaca
Buenos Ayres...
Stuttgart
Copenhagen
Caraccas
Carlsruhe
Athens
Guatemala
Quito
Asuncion
Darmstadt
Monrovia
Sal Salvador
Port au Prince.
Managua
Monte Video
Comayagua
San Domingo
San Jose
Honolulu
Population.
648,800
251,800
667,000
109,199
825,300
833,900
554,900
251,800
825,400
244,484
332,000
420,000
075,000
2 10. .300
136,900
120,000
314,100
169,500
224,063
90,100
45,000
115,400
36,000
160,100
25,000
177.800
91,600
162.042
47,000
36,600
43,400
40,000
70,000
48,000
30,000
3,000
15,000
20,000
10,000
44,500
12,000
20,000
2,000
7,633
182
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
POPUIATION OF ILLINOIS,
By Counties.
COUNTIES.
Adams
Alexander. -
Bond
Boone
Brown
Bureau
Calhoun
Carroll
Cass -
Champaign.
Christian . .
Clark
Clay
Clinton
Coles
Cook
Crawford
Cumberland
De Kalb...
De Witt...
Douglas
Du Page
Edgar
Edwards
Effingham. .
Fayette
Ford
Franklin
Fulton
Gallatin
Greene
Grundy .
Hamilton ..
Hancock
Hardin
Henderson .
Henry
Iroquois
Jackson
Jasper
Jefferson
Jersey
Jo Daviess.
Johnson
Kane
Kankakee. .
Kendall
Knox .
Lake
La Salle
Lawrence
Lee
Livingston .
Logan
AGGREGATE.
1870.
56362
10564
13152
12942
12205
32415
6562
16705
II580
32737
20363
18719
15875
16285
25235
349966
13889
12223
23265
14768
13484
16685
21450
7565
15653
I963S
9103
12652
38291
III34
20277
14938
13014
35935
5113
12582
35506
25782
19634
11234
17864
15054
27S20
11248
39091
24352
12399
39522
21014
60792
12533
27171
31471
23053
I860. 1850. 1840. 1830
41323
4707
9815
I167S
9938
26426
5144
"733
11325
14629
10492
14987
9336
10941
14203
144954
11551
83H
19086
10820
7140
14701
16925
5454
7816
III 89
1979
9393
33338
8055
16093
10379
9915
29061
3759
9501
20660
12325
9589
8364
12965
12051
27325
9342
30062
15412
13074
28663
18257
48332
9214
17651
11637
14272
26508
2484
6144
7624
7198
8841
3231
4586
7253
2649
3203
9532
4289
5139
9335
43385
7135
3718
7540
5002
9290
10692
3524
3799
8075
5681
22508
5448
12429
3023
6362
14652
2887
4612
3807
4149
5862
3220
8109
7354
18604
4114
16703
7730
13279
14226
17815
6lEl
5292
1553
5128
14476
3313
5060
1705
4183
3067
1741
1023
2981
1475
1878
7453
3228
3718
9616
1 020 1
4422
1697
3247
3535
8225
3070
1675
6328
3682
13142
10760
11951
3945
9946
1378
1260
1695
3566
1472
5762
4535
6180
3626
6501
7060
2634
9348
709
2035
759
2333
1830.
2186
1390
3124
1090
3940
755
2330
3117
4071
1649
2704
4083
1841
7405
7674
2616
483
41
1828
2555
2111
1596
274
366S
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
183
POPULATION OF ILLINOIS— Concluded.
COUNTIES.
Macon
Macoupin...
Madison
Marion
Marshall
Mason
Massac
McDonough.
McHenry ..
McLean ...v
Menard
Mercer
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan
Moultrie
Ogle
Peoria
Perry
Piatt
Pike
Pope
Pulaski
Putnam
Randolph
Richland ...
Rock Island
Saline
Sangamon ..
Schuyler
Scott ,
Shelby
Stark'.
St. Clair
Stephenson.
Tazewell
Union
Vermilion- .
Wabash
Warren
Washington
Wayne
White
Whitesides .
Will.
Williamson .
Winnebago.
Woodford . .
Total. .
AGGREGATE.
1870.
26481
32726
44131
20622
16950
16184
9581
26509
23762
53988
II735
18769
12982
25314
2S463
IO3S5
27492
47540
13723
10953
30708
II437
875^
62S0
20859
12803
29783
12714
46352
17419
10530
25476
IO75I
51068
30608
27903
16518
30388
8841
23174
17599
19758
16846
27503
43013
17329
29301
18956
2539891
I860. 1850. 1840. 1830. 1820
13738
24602
31251
12739
13437
IO931
6213
20069
22089
28772
9584
15042
12832
13979
22II2
6385
2288S
36601
9552
6127
27249
6742
3943
5587
17205
9711
21005
9331
32274
14684
9069
14613
9004
37694
25112
21470
11181
19800
7313
18336
13731
12223
12403
18737
29321
12205
24491
13282
1711951
3988
12355
20441
6720
5180
5921
4092
7616
14978
10163
6349
5246
7679
6277
16064
3234
10020
17547
5278
1606
18819
3975
2265
3924
1 1079
4012
6937
5588
19228
10573
7914
7807
3710
20180
1 1666
12052
7615
11492
4690
8176
6953
6825
8925
5361
16703
7216
11773
4415
851470
3039
7926
14433
4742
1849
5308
2578
6565
4431
2352
4481
4490
19547
3479
6153
3222
11728
4094
2131
7944
2610
14716
6972
6215
6659
1573
13631
2800
7221
5524
9303
4240
6739
4810
5133
7919
2514
10167
4457
4609
476183
1122
1990
6221
2125
(^)
26
2000
2953
12714
1215
2396
3316
/:I3IO
4429
12960
/^2959
2972
7078
4716
3239
5836
2710
308
1675
2553
6091
1574^5
13550
*2I
I516
2610
3492
5248
2362
1517
III4
4828
*49
55162
184
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
STATE LAWS
Relating to Rates of Interest and Penalties for Usury.
States and Territories.
Legal I Rate al-
Rate of, lowed by
Interest.' Contract.
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Dakota
Delaware
District of Columbia .
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Mai#.'lan d
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi ...
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Ontario, Canada
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Quebec, Canada
Rhode Island
South Carolini
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington Territory
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
per cent
8
lO
6
lO
lO
7
7
6
6
8
7
lO
6
6
6
8
6
5
6
6
6
7
7
6
6
lo
lO
lO
6
7
6
7
6
6
6
lO
6
6
6
7
6
8
lO
6
6
lO
6
7
12
per cent.
8
Any rate.
lo
Any rate.
Any rate,
7
12
6
lO
Any rate.
12
24
lO
lO
lo
12
Any rate,
6
Any rate
lo
12
lo
lo
Any rate
12
Any rate
6
7
Any rate,
7
8
8
Any rate
12
Any rate
Any rate.
Any rate.
Any rate,
lo
12
Any rate.
6
6*
Any rate.
6*
lo
Any rate.
Penalties for Usury.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of principal and interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of principal.
Forfeiture of entire interest. '
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Fine and imprisonment.
Forfeiture of entire interest. •
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 12 per cent.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 7 per cent.
No Usury Law in this State.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of thrice the excess and costs.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of contract.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of excess above 6 per cent.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest
Forfeiture of entire interest.
• Except in cases defined by statutes of the State.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
185
STATE LAWS
Relating to Limitations of Actions : Showing Limit of Time in which
Action may be Brought on the following :
States and Tbreitories.
Alabama
Arkansas
California,
Colorado
Connecticut
Dakota
Delaware
District of Columbia .
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Ontario (U. Canada)..
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Quebec (L. Canada)..
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington Territory
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Assault
slander,
&c.
Open
AcctB.
Notes.
Judg-
ments.
Sealed and
witnessed
Instru-
ments.
Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
I
3
6
20
10
I
3
5
10
10
I
I
3
2
2
6
6
6
4
6
6
6
5
3
20
20
5
3
17
20
I
3
6
20
20
I
3
3
12
12
2
I
4
4
5
6
20
7
20
20
2
I
2
2
5
6
4
lO
20
5
20
2o
5
10
20
2
5
lO
20
10
I
I
I
2
3
2
3
6
5
15
5
20
5
15
10
20
15
15
20
20
I
2
2
3
6
• 6
3
20
6
12
20
6
12
20
10
2
6
6
10
6
I
2
3
5
6
10
7
20
7
10
2
5
10
10
10
I
2
2
4
2
6
5
4
6
5
5
20
10
4
20
2
6
6
20
16
I
6
10
10
10
2
6
6
20
20
3
I
2
3
6
6
3
15
6
10
IS
20
10
15
20
2
6
6
10
20
I
6
6
20
20
I
I
5
6
5
6
30
20
30
20
2
I
6
6
6
6
20
10
20
6
I
I
2
2
2
6
4
4
4
10
5
8
5
7
8
I
2
5
3
5
6
10
6
20
6
I
5
10
10
10
2
6
6
20
20
I
6
15
15
15
PRODUCTIONS OF AGRICULTURE, STATE OF ILLINOIS, BY COUNTIES.— 1870.
OOUNTIES.
Totnl ..
Adiilll!)
Alexander
lloiid..".
ISooiie ,
isrowii
Bureau
<;ulliouii
Carroll
Cass
ChaniiJaiKii
Christian
Clark
Clay
Clinton
Coles
Cook
Crawford
Cuinl>ei'laud
DeKall) ,
DeWitt
Douglas
DuPage
Edgar
Edwards
Effingham
Fayette
Koid
Franklin
Fulton
Gallatin
Greene
Grundy..
Hamilton
Hancock
Hardin
Henderson
Henry
Iroquois. .... .
Jackson
Jaspei- ,
Jeltersou .. ,
Jersey . ..
JoDaviess
lohnson .
Kane
fCankakee
Kendall ..
Knox
T^ake
LaSalle
Lawrence
Lee
Livingston
Logan
Macon
]\lacoui)in
Madison
Marion
Marshall
Mason
Massac
McDoiiougli
Mc Henry
McLean
Menard
Mercer
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan
Moulti'ie
Ogle
i'eoria
I'erry
I'latt
I'Ike
Pope
Pulaski
Putnam
Randolph
Uiclilaiid
Koclc Island
Saline
Sangamon
Schuyler
Sco I
Slielliy
Stark
St. Clair
Stephenson
Tazewell
Union
V<?rmillon
Wai>ash
W.irrcn
Washington
Wayne
Whlre
Wliitciides
Will
Willlainsou
Wliinehago
V/oodford
Improved
Land. Woodl'nd
Number.
19 3-29. 9.52
Numl)ei .
.5.061.578
oilier UM -
improved
Xuinher.
1.491.331
Spring
Wheat.
liusliels.
10.133.207
Winter
Wheat.
Rye.
Husliels. bushels. lUishels.
19 99.5.198 2.456.578 129.921.395
Indian
Corn.
Oats.
Uushels.
12.780.851
287.92b
13.836
145,045
137,30^
57,062
398,611
37,684
186,864
92.90
419,368
241.472
118.594
146.92i
ISO-U";
208.33";
348.824
105,505
75,34;;
334.502
168.539
147.633
164.874
~'65,458
58,912
120,343
187.196
141. 22H
80,749
228.13
49.57:
175,408
193,999
88,996
311,517
28.117
140,954
265,904
322,510
78,548
90,867
118,951
94,147
156. Sn
57,820
240,120
312,18-,J
164,001
330,829
207.779
533,724
87,828
322,212
377.505
321,70^.
205.25t)
231.059
257,032
173 081
166,057
209,453
25.151
261,635
230,51)6
494.978
134.17:-.
222 801)
92.81(1
276,682
2,^3,450
144,220
316,88::!
170,72i(
9:1754
91.454
233 785
55.980
19,319
37.271
140 764
75,07!)
155.214
72,:W9
421,748
96,195
85,331
310.179
138.129
231,117
251,857
2211,126
75.832
3!iO,251
51,063
266.187
177 592
147.3,52
9-.'.398
2S9 809
419.442
128,448
211.373
22.5,504
112,576
17.761
42,613
29,886
35,491
41,866
63.443
29,793
33,493
16,789
19,803
102,201
80,612
48,868
45,214
19,635
78,350
40,334
17,722
29,548
11,89';
17,243
66,803
57.585
56,330
93,460
2,996
3,994
123,823
68,750
9:3,24v
6,256
93,878
43,385
44,771
34,705
12,620
22,478
87,642
67,023
94,888
51,427
82,07*.
3
34,646
10,978
14,244
41,566
21,072
48,117
72,738
12.071
12,462
17,394
18,153
81,224
89,450
61,579
r8,26i
31,739
33,396
52,54-,
5;i29:i
40,36li
34.931
45,977
83,369
47,801
60,217
24.783
4:1,643
48.666
68.47(1
5.978
128,953
87,754
12.516
17,184
162.274
.50,618
31.239
70 393
51,085
62,47'
44,633
74,908
12 375
76,591
43.167
45.268
83 606
53,078
37 558
27 294
55.852
1 16, 194
78.167
21.823
24.261
116.949
;17.238
2,").217
19,370
1,915
2,658
25,608
1.5,803
2,754
33,;i02
6.604
58.502
19,173
.5,420
5,225
8,722
:i,274
17,337
27,185
5,604
6,551
17,633
7,316
3.851
14,282
830
26,206
16,786
6:i,976
86,710
4,076
2,565
29.653
4,505
3,343
18,480
107
14,243
31,459
6:i,498
5,991
12,250
778
1.363
45,779
79,141
399
10,598
2,283
2,5.155
24,399
2,356
3,273
7,409
41,788
408
9,115
7,343
13,675
4,142
2,976
31,013
3(t
14,035
57,998
49,087
13,9,52
22,588
666
8,495
1,376
13,112
14,913
2,516
220
13,897
9,302
4.174
1,170
2 025
20,755
809
19,932
21,294
1,610
9,314
2,783
2,016
13,701
14.846
5,300
31,122
509
14,583
1,931
10,486
869
37.310
6,335
1,618
1.5,237
2.3,135
16,191
700
241.04
i;i,276
465,236
75
418,073
12,165
102,577
18,360
1,894
500
2.651
144,296
60
550
398,059
106,493
7,683
106,096
13 283
77
42,571
365
193,669
21,700
129
181,378
13
161,112
462,379
57,160
890
282,758
188,826
10:5,466
90.681
267,764
168,914
271,181
450,79:1
120,206
198,056
55,239
160
550
106,129
73,261
27:3,871
401,790
211.801
36,152
289,291
59
18,196
17,128
497,038
92,361
26,382
130
28,137
450
243,541
200
89,304
56,221
It-
15,526
124,6:^0
2.550
527,394
1)2,417
4 4,806
"l'86;296
266
457.455
195,286
176
408,606
178,139
947.616
42,658
368.625
599
117,502
724
221,298
260
127,054
12:3,091
504,041
195.118
85,737
610.888
154.485
4,904
212,924
84,697
190
11,695
65,461
693
247,360
122,703
19,5,716
351,310
1,008
111.324
223,930
8:3,093
577,400
1511
92,347
232,75(1
32,306
69,062
445
10,48(1
329.036
87.808
100 55 !
558,367
555
92,191
325
480
1.249
7,654
221
2,19:i
264,134
2,260
1,339
40,96;i
196.613
861,398
1,207,181
17:3,65^
90(1
125,628
72. 3 K)
36,146
270
10,955
45,793
1:3,203
651.767
744.891
357.523
196.436
5,580
31 843
350,446
39.762
1 057,497
70.4 5;
44,922
79('
1,031,022
150,21)8
2.279
83.011
247.658
165.721
266.105
452,015
1,562 621
2,118
72410
180 231
249.558
202.201
5.712
672,486
161,689
181,321
264
1,996
170.787
2,468
108,307
20,989
30
6,240
35,871
4,742
43,811
186
25,721
2,772
45.752
10,722
7,308
3,221
1,619
8,825
20,171
15,497
14.798
21,018
11 540
9,017
7,532
37,.508
528
19,759
25,328
11,577
5.195
131,711
512
415
4,931
11.672
133,533
865
96,430
35,766
23,259
524
9,165
5,934
7.185
2,468
23,618
12,935
5,16:;
113,547
5.87(
48,30(-
1,121
14,829
26,16;^
37.232
29,22;i
2.401
3,685
r4,517
36,135
49,182
544
52.401
29.26-1
39.824
4,28::
40,77!-
1,42.^
3,29t
5,53.'
6,670
157,504
99,50i'
1,016
9.24,s
2.5.303
2,309
■'2"
7,70;
3,23.':
3.401
30,003
568
23,073
20,841
930
23.686
30 534
1,008
135.302
59,027
1,737
52,476
72,212
2,576
8,665
418
31,658
8,030
6.228
137,985
20.426
1,452,90,
244,220
1,064,05.
466,985
337.769
3,0:30,404
234,041
1,367 965
1,146,980
3,924,720
1,88.3,336
614,582
1,019,994
813,257
2,133,111
570,427
581,964
403,075
1,023,849
1,311,635
1,680,225
331,981
2,107,615
352,371
620,247
962,525
565,671
653,209
1,508,763
509,491
1,051,313
295,971
735,252
1,510,401
172,651
1,712,901
2,541,68:3
799,81(1
611,951
461,345
887,981
519,120
1,286,326
34:3,29!-
674,33:;
637,39!
681.26';
2,708,3U
517. 35:1
3,077,021-
656,36::
1,656,97^
1,182,691
4,221,641)
2,214,46S
1,051,544
2,127,549
1,034,05';
l,182,90:i
2,648,726
13:3.126
1,362,490
1,145.005
:3,723.37i<
1,97:3. 881 ■
2,054,962
543,71!-
1,527,898
3,198,835
1,753.141
1,787,066
969,224
384,446
1,029,725
1,399,188
31.5,958
195.73.''-
334,25!:
510,08(
482.59-!
1,459,65:1
531,516
4,388,763
440,975
752,771
2,082,578
1,149 878
1,423.121
1,615,679
2,062,053
679.753
2,818.027
421,361
2,982,853
836.115
1,179.291
8 70,, 521
2,162,943
1,131,458
655,710
1,237,406
2,154.185
759,074
21,627
461,097
579.127
' 70,852
987.426
26,231
775,100
168,784
721,375
383,821
212,628
269,945
446,;324
315.954
1,584,225
136,255
171,880
1,087,074
216,756
225,074
860.809
290,679
129.152
386.073
497,395
154.'^ '^9
22~, ij
261,390
27,164
64,029
269.332
203,464
579,599
26,991
229,286
668,367
430,746
149,931
149,214
285,949
71.770
874,016
74,525
785,608
772,408
468,890
787,952
699,069
1,509,642
131,386
90:3,197
659,300
490,226
454,648
459,417
475,252
389,446
362,604
272,660
22,097
280,717
910.397
911,127
235,091
452,889
152,251
668,424
198,724
263,992
141,540
334,892
338,760
1:30,610
161,419
67,886
16,511
86,519
414,487
204.634
276,575
69.793
397,718
119.3.59
13.462
637.812
316,726
476,851
960,620
.505,841
124,473
436,051
110,793
601,054
533,398
404,482
119.652
880 838
1,868,682
180,986
868,903
744, 5M
B
-^^w-.
SOLDIERS MONUMENT
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF MoLEAN COUNTY.
By prof. C. p. MERRIMAN.
In many respects, McLean County is one of the finest in the State, and, in some par-
ticulars, it has no rival. We will here notice several of the causes that have produced
this result.
It is now the largest county in the State, and there are but few acres of waste land
in its whole surface. Being situated in the central portion of the State, it is free from
the severities of winter which visit some of the northern counties, and equally free from
the summer heats experienced in some of the southern ones, as well as from the malarial
influences of the rivers in the western, southern and southeastern portion of it.
About one-ninth of its surface is covered with groves, most happily located in the
southern, western and central portion, protecting its prairies from the rough visitations
of violent winds, and furnishing grateful shade and shelter to stock in the changing sea-
sons. In these groves may be found some of the finest timber-lands in the country, pro-
ducing white oak, red oak, maple, hickory, black walnut, white ash, black ash,
elm, butternut, buckeye, sassafras, and a variety of smaller growths cdmmon in the
country.
In common with this portion of the Mississippi Valley, the surface inclination and
the drainage of this county are toward the southwest. It is moderately rolling, compar-
ing favorably with its adjoining counties, being free from extreme flatness, and from
abrupt changes, [ts summit elevation is about 220 feet above Lake Michigan, 545
feet above the water at the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi at Cairo, and
795 above the ocean. That it is more elevated than the surrounding country is evident
from the fact that it is well supplied with running water by the incipient streams that
contribute to the formation of the Vermilion, Sugar Creek, the Mackinaw, the
Kickapoo and the Sangamon River, running south, southwest, west, northwest and
northeast. Good water is found in all parts of the county by digging, and in the north-
eastern portion there are many natural springs of excellent water. Such are the physical
features of its surface, and the happy location of its large and small groves that, in the
leafy season of the year, it presents many scenes of quiet and picturesque beauty
which are scarcely surpassed in any country.
While the most of its surface is available as arable land, much of it is, happily,
adapted to stock-raising, and is largely devoted to that business. Belleflower, in the
southeastern corner of the county, is probably the finest township of land in the State ;
and, perhaps, the finest in any State. Much of its natural turf has been broken with a
team of two horses, while in other portions of the county a team of four and even of six
oxen has been required for the purpose. Its deep, rich soil is mixed with black sand,
A
190 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
rendering it sensitive to the influences of the sun, very easy of cultivation, and largely
productive. r>.uch of that portion of it that was sold as swamp lands at prices varying
from §4.50 to §5.50 per acre, on being properly drained, proves to be the most valuable
in the country, as at some feet below the rich surface there is a substratum of pebbles,
which retains moisture in dry seasons, and receives the excess of water in wet
seasons.
This county may also challenge comparison with any one in the State as to
the character of its inhabitants for energy, enterprise, public spirit, industry and liber-
ality, especially of its early settlers. These (jualities have chiefly contributed to place
the county in its present highly prosperous and influential position. It has furnished
many members of the State Legislature, Circuit Judges, Representatives to Congress, a
State Superintendent of Instruction, a State Treasurer, a Territorial Governor, a Lieu-
tenant Governor, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and a Judge of the
Supreme Court of the United States, as well as several Generals, and numerous other
oflicers of distinction ; but what is vastly better, it has furnished many thousands of
excellent citizens, male and female, in all the walks of life.
This is not the appropriate place for a discussion of various theories on the origin
of the prairies, yet a brief reference to the subject may not be improper to show why
this section of the country is now, and will permanently remain, among the most desira-
ble and important in the whole Union.
" One theory is that the soil resulted from the decomposition of vegetable matter
under water, and that the attending conditions were incompatible with the growth of
timber." Another theory is that the prairies are the results of the scarcity of moisture
in the atmosphere of the interior of continents. It is well known that the quantity of
water which annually falls in this country diminishes as the center of the continent is
approached from the Atlantic and the Pacific, and that the amount of timber-lands
diminishes in about the same ratio, resulting in a wide central waste. But be this as it
may, the fact remains the same, that we are here located in the midst of happy
surroundings, made up of lovely vales, gentle slopes, wide fields ^and grateful forest
groves.
It is well known that the pioneers of Illinois suff"ered much less in opening up its soil
than did those of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, from malarious diseases. This is
undoubtedly owing to the sparsoness of forests and large groves. The changeableness
of our climate, and the great difference of temperature between our winters and our
Bummers, have been made the grounds of objection to this section of the country. But
these very extremes contribute very largely to the productiveness of the country. Our
rich, deep, heavy soil is mellowed up by the frosts of winter, and so quickened by the
heats of summer as to produce a greater variety and richness of vegetable productions
than any other country within the same extent of surface. This result is greatly attrib-
utable to the effects of the very cold north winds from the regions of the great lakes,
and the hot winds coming up the Mississippi Valley, about which some are disposed to
complain.
Tradition says that our great staple production, Indian corn, was brought from the
South, where it originally grew very tall and slim, but produced very little grain. But its
excessive growtli of stalk was checked by our cool climate, and yet its grain brought to
perfection by our short hot summers, and the productiveness greatly increased. Owing
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUHTY. 191
to the same influences, we can successfully produce here the hardy vegetables of a north-
ern climate, and many of the delicious productions of a semi-tropical one Being thus
located in the very center of the corn-producing region, as surely as efiects fv/llow causes, we
are in the midst of animal development — having near us the greatest grain, beef and
pork market in the world. This fortunate state of things is simply the result of natural
and permanent causes. One of our geologists says, in speaking of our soil : " This
splendid soil-forming deposit is destined to make Illinois the great center of American
wealth and population. Perhaps no other country of the same extent on the face of
the globe can boast a soil so ubiquitous in its distribution, and so universally pro-
ductive. Enriched by all the minerals in the crust of the earth, it necessarily contains
a great variety of constituents. Since plants difi"er so widely in the elements of which
they are composed, this multiplicity of composition is the means of growing a great
diversity of crops, and the amount produced is correspondingly large."
This paragraph, in a few words, states with much felicity the character of our soil,
and suggests possible improvements in the direction of the introduction of new and
valuable vegetables and fruits, of which we at present have no adequate idea. The soil
is here, and the climate is here, and the necessary science and skill will develop this
section of the West into the richest agricultural country in the world. Other countries
have their specialties ; but here we can have in great perfection and in wonderful pro-
fusion all the essentials and many of the luxuries of life.
When to these facts and considerations we add that this county is in the midst of
the most magnificent coal-measures known to the world — extending over no less than
thirty-seven thousand square miles — sufficient to supply fuel for economical and manu-
facturing purposes for all time to come ; that our railroad connections are excellent ;
that our educational facilities, our social, moral and religious privileges are inferior to
none in the country, we may well be proud of old McLean.
Not much needs here to be said of the geology of this county. Its features, in
this respect, are so similar to those of much of the surrounding country, and now so
well known to the general reader, that we shall notice only a very few of them.
Speaking in reference to this county, the State Geologist says : " The soil is gener-
ally a rich, brown mold, varying somewhat, in difi"erent localities, in the proportion of
clay, etc., which it contains, some portions being more argillaceous than others. In the
timber, however, the soil is of somewhat different character ; the lighter colored and
more argillaceous subsoil, appearing at or near the surface. The geological forma-
tions appearing at the surface, consist almost entirely of the Drift and later formations.
The underlying rock, as far as can be ascertained, consists entirely of the different beds
of the coal-measure series.
The two shafts at Bloomington afford us the most satisfactory section of any of the
excavations in the district, enabling us to identify the two seams of coal which they
penetrate, with Nos. 4 and 6 of the general Illinois River section. The following sec-
tion, made up from records afforded by both shafts, illustrates well the variation of the
strata of the middle coal-measures in this region. This section commences at the base
of the Drift, and its upper portion, from 1 to 4 inclusive, was afforded by the Blooming-
ton Coal Company's shaft, and the remainder by that of the McLean County Coal-
Mining Company, which has struck a lower coal at the depth of 513 feet 8 inches
below the surface.
192
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
1.
2.
3.
4.
6.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Feet. Inches
Clay shale 16
Sandstone 32
Clay sliale 1
Coal No. 6 4
Fire-cl ay 13
Limestone 2 7
Fire-clay 10
Clay shale 8.
Fire-clay 15
Shale 5 C
Soft blue slate 22 7
Black slate 5
Coal No. 4 4
6
Feet. luchea.
15. Slate 3
10. Fire-clay 4 6
17. Sand Rock 20 6
18. Soapstone 62 5
19. Black Slate 2 7
20. Fire-clay 1 7
21. Sulphurous rock 1 2
22. Gray slate 11 1
23. Shale 1 2
24. Hard lime rock 2 1
25. Gray slate 2 8
26. Soapstone 6 8
27. Coal 3 8
Fire-clay, 10
In the northern and eastern portions of McLean County, we have only the records
of several borings, which afford but few particulars as to the character of the underly
i°g ^^^^- INDIANS.
When this section of the State began to be settled by the white people, the Kicka-
poo and the Pottawatomie Indians were in possession of the country between the
Wabash and the Illinois Rivers. The two tribes seemed to be so promiscuously inter-
mixed with each other, and with the fragments of some other tribes, as scarcely to be
distinguishable, on the part of the early settlers. Although they had confessedly dis-
posed of their title to the country to the United States Government, they manifested
some hostility of feeling when the pioneers came to take actual possession of their
former hunting-grounds, and of the homes of themselves and of their fathers. They
seemed to feel that their leaving the country was yielding to an inevitable necessity,
brought upon them by the unwelcome encroachments of the white man, rather than
complying with the terms of a voluntary cession of the territory. The old Kickapoo
chief, Machina, even threatened unpleasant consequences to the first installment of set-
tlers in this county if they did not leave. But there were no evil results. In fvct,
the intei course between these Indians and the early settlers, was, in this section of the
country, of the most friendly character, as a general thing. They would sometimes
steal necessaries from those whom they hated ; but the lives and the property of those
who treated them kindly, and with whom they were on friendly terms, were as safe as
among any other people. If they wanted a pig, or something of the kind, from a white
neighbor, they were told to help themselves, and, on the other hand, if a friendly house-
wife wanted some game for food, it would soon be forthcoming from the red man. There
is no record, nor yet tradition, that any white person was ever killed by the Indions
within the limits of this county, unless, perchance during the war of 1812.
These Indians had their head((uarters near Old Town Timber, near the center of
the county, their fort covering several acres, surrounded by a palisade and an embankment
on each side of it. Pleasant Hill, another of their stations, a few miles north, was with
them a favorite place for the cultivation of the few vegetables which they raised. In
the summer, many of them liked to stay about the southeast end of Blooming Grove,
the scene of the earliest settlements in this county.
This section of the country was evidently a great favorite with the Indians. Here
game of all kinds was abundant, wild fruits were plenty and excellent, the climate waa
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 193
genial, the range for their ponies was inexhaustible, the groves and the streams were
conveniently frequent, and the scenery was unsurpassable in its quiet beauty. Here
were the graves of their fathers, and here were the scenes of. their own exploits and
their homes. But they seemed to feel that they were a doomed people, and to antici-
pate their fate. Some of them were very intelligent people ; and in their intimate inter-
course with friendly whites, they would sometimes indulge in sad rehearsals of the many
wrongs which their tribes had suifered from the hands of the white man, as they had
been successively crowded from one portion of the country to another, westward, ever
westward !
The Indians remained in this section of the country until the Black Hawk war ;
and during that conflict, they seemed to flit about, equally desirous of avoiding contact
with the whites and the Indians engaged therein. These Indians afterward emigrated
to Northwestern Iowa, to fade from the memory of the early settlers in this State, and,
eventually, from the face of the earth.
In reference to them, we may adapt the lines of the poet, and say :
* " Full many a one was born to die unseen,
And waste his fierceness on the desert air."
ORIGIN.
In 1781, Virginia ceded to the United States the territory northwest of the Ohio
River, which was deeded to the United States in 1784, the deed being signed on the
part of Virginia by her illustrious citizens, Thomas Jefierson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur
Lee and James Monroe. In 1787, Congress passed an act establishing the North-
western Territory and authorizing the organization of a territorial government, the Terri-
tory embracing all northwest of the Ohio River to which Virginia held any claim. In
1789, Congress passed another act, putting the government of said Territory in opera-
tion. In 1800, by another act of Congress, the said Territory was divided ; the western
portion of it, embracing all west of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite the mouth of
the Kentucky River, and running thence to Fort Recovery ; and thence north until inter-
secting the territorial line between the United States and Canada, which was to be
called the Territory of Indiana.
Again, in 1809, Congress passed an act dividing Indiana Territory into two separate
governments, and constituting the portion of it lying west of the Wabash River and
a direct line drawn from the said Wabash River and Post Vincennes, due north to the
territorial line between the United States and Canada, a Territory, thus separated, and to
be called Illinois. In 1818, an act of Congress enabled the people of Illinois to form a
Constitution and a State Government, the State being admitted into the Union the same
year, and the boundaries being thus defined : Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash
River; thence up the same, and with the line of Indiana to the northwest corner of
said State ; thence east with the line of the same State to the middle of Lake Michigan;
thence north, along the middle of said lake, to north latitude forty-two degrees and
thirty minutes ; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi River ; and thence down
along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio River ; and thence up
the latter river along its northwestern shore to the beginning.
Under the territorial government, the State was divided into fourteen counties, as
follows : Bond, Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Jackson, Johnson, Pope,
Gallatin, White, Edwards, Crawfoi-d, Union, Washington and Franklin. In 1809, the
194 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. -
territory now embraced in McLean County was included in St. Clair County ; the Ter-
ritory of Illinois being divided into two counties, Randolph and St. Clair, the former
embracing all the southern portion of the Territory, and the latter all the northern por-
tion. In 1812, McLean County was embraced in Madison County. In 1814, McLean
formed part of the counties of Madison and Edwards ; that portion of it lying west of
the Third Principal Meridian being in Madison ; and that portion lying east of it being
in Edwards. In 1817, it formed part of Bond and Crawford Counties ; that portion of
it lying west of said Meridian being in Bond County ; and that east of it in Crawford.
In 1819, McLean County formed part of Clark and Bond Counties; that portion of it
west of the Meridian being in Bond, and the eastern portion in Clark. In 1821, the
portion of McLean County west of the Meridian was included in Sangamon County,
and the eastern portion in Fayette County. In 1826, Vermilion County was created,
and all that portion of what is now McLean County, formerly part of Fayette, was
attached to Vermilion for county purposes ; the western portion remaining in Sangamon.
In 1827, that portion of McLean west of the Meridian belonged to Tazewell County ;
the eastern portion remaining in Vermilion. In 1829, the boundaries of Tazewell
County were re-adjusted, but McLean remained as before, divided between Tazewell and
Vermilion.
In 1830, McLean County was created with the following boundaries : Beginning
at the southwest corner of Township 21 north. Range 1 west of the Third Principal
Meridian ; thence north between Ranges 1 and 2 west of said Meridian, to the north-
west corner of Township 28 north ; thence east between Ranges 28 and 29, to the
northeast corner of Township 28, Range 6 east of the Third Principal Meridian ; thence
south between Ranges 6 and 7 east of said Meridian, to the southeast corner of Town-
ship 21 north. Range 6 east of the Third Principal Meridian ; thence west to the place
of beginning. This territory lay wholly within the counties of Tazewell and Vermilion ;
the latter not within the county proper, but lands attached for county purposes. The
original boundaries of McLean County, as will be seen by the above description, com-
prised eight townships north and south, and seven ranges east and west, being in extent
42 by 48 miles, and in regular form — a perfect rectangle — containing fifty-six townships.
In 1837, Livingston County was created, and 9i townships were taken from
the northeast corner of McLean. In 1839, DeWitt County was created, taking 4f
townships from the south end of McLean ; and in 1841, Woodford County was created,
taking, in a zigzag direction, from west to northeast about 9 townships from the north-
west corner of McLean, and reducing it to its present shape and dimensions, but still
leaving it the largest county in the State.
REPRESENTATION.
At the time McLean County was organized, Tazewell and McLean were together
entitled to one Representative and one Senator in the State Legislature ; and the Clerks
of the County Commissioners' Courts of the two counties were required to meet at
Bloomington to compare the election returns of Senator and Representative. At the
same time, the counties of Peoria, Jo Daviess, Putnam, La Salle and Cook were enti-
tled to one Senator and one Representative. This indicates a remarkable change in the
relative population in the middle and the northern portion of the State, though the
increase here has itself been remarkable for its steadiness and rapidity.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 195
AN ACT CEEATING McLBAN COUNTY.
Section 1. Be it enacted hy the People of the State of Illinois^ repi-esented in
the General Assembly^ That all that tract of country lying within the following bound-
aries, to wit : Beginning at the southwest corner of township numbered twenty-one
north, of range numbered one, west of the third principal meridian, thence north between
ranges numbered one and two, west of said meridian, to the northwest corner of town-
ship numbered twenty-eight north ; thence east, between townships numbered twenty-
eight and twenty-nine, to the northeast corner of township numbered twenty-eight, of
range numbered six, east of the third principal meridian ; thence south, between ranges
numbered six and seven, east of said meridian, to the southeast corner of township
numbered twenty-one north, of range numbered six, east of said meridian ; thence west
to the place of beginning, shall constitute a new county, to be called McLean.
Sec. 2. For the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of said county,
the following-named persons are appointed Commissioners, viz. : Lemuel Lee, of Fay-
ette County ; Isaac Pugh and Elisha Freeman, of Macon County, which Commis-
sioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the house of James Allen, in said county,
on the second Monday of February next, or within five days thereafter, and, being
first duly sworn by some Justice of the Peace of the State, faithfully and impartially to
take into view the convenience of the people, the situation of the present settlement,
with a strict view to the population and settlements which will hereafter be made, and
the eligibility of the place, shall proceed to explore and carefully examine the country,
determine on and designate the place for the permanent seat of justice of the same ;
provided, that the proprietor or proprietors of the land shall give and convey, by deed
of general warranty, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, a quantityof land, in
a square form, or not more than twice as long as wide, not less than twenty acres ; but
should the proprietor or proprietors of the land refuse or neglect to make the donation
aforesaid, then said Commissioners shall fix the said county seat (having in view
the interest of the county) upon the land of some person who will make the donation
aforesaid. If the Commissioners shall be of opinion that the proper place for the seat
of justice is, or ought to be, on lands belonging to Government, they shall so repoit, and
the County Commissioners shall purchase one-half quarter section, the tract set forth,
in their name, for the use of said county. The Commissioners aforesaid, so soon as
they decide on a place, shall make a clear report to the County Commissioners' Court,
and the same shall be recorded at length in their record-book. The land donated, or
purchased, shall be laid out into lots and sold by the County Commissioners to the best
advantage, and the proceeds applied to the erection of public buildings and such other
purposes as the Commissioners shall direct, and good and sufficient deeds shall be made
for the lots sold.
Sec. 3. An election shall be held at the several places of holding elections as now
laid ofi" by Tazewell County, in the said county of McLean, on the second Monday of
March next, for one Sheriif, one Coroner and three County Commissioners, who shall
hold their offices until the next general election, and until their successors be qualified ;
and the Justices of the Peace and Constables who are now in office and residing within
the limits of said county of McLean, shall continue in office until the next quadrennial
election for Justices of the Peace and Constables, and until their successors be qualified.
And it shall be the duty of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of said county, and if there
196 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
be none acting, tlien tlie Eecordcr or Judge of Probate, shall give at least fifteen days'
notice previous to said election, and who shall appoint the judges and clerks of said elec-
tion, who shall be legal voters ; and the returns of the election shall be made to the
Clerk, Recorder, or Judge of Probate Court, as the case may be, who gave the notice
aforesaid, and by him, in the presence of one or more Justices of the Peace, shall be
opened and examined, and they jointly shall give to the persons elected Commissioners,
certificates of their election, and like certificates to the persons elected Sherifi" and Cor-
oner, to forward to the Governor ; which election shall in all other respects be conform-
able to law.
Sec. 4. All courts for said county shall be held at the house of James Allen until
public buildings are erected, unless changed to some other place by order of the County
Commissioners' Court, who shall make the same a matter of record.
Sec. 5. The Commissioners herein appointed to locate the county seat shall be
allowed two dollars per day each, for every day by them necessarily employed in
making said location, to be paid by said county.
Sec. 6. The seat of justice of said county of McLean shall be called and known
by the name of Bloomington.
(Approved December 25, 1830.)
OFFICIAL HISTORY.
After the creation of McLean County, as herein previously stated, by act of the
State Legislature, in 1831, the First Judicial Circuit of the State consisted of Pike,
Calhoun, Greene, Morgan, Sangamon, Tazewell, Macon, McLean and Macoupin
Counties ; and the first term was to be legally held in this county at the house of Mr.
James Allen, in Bloomington, on the first Thursday after the first Monday after the
fourth Monday in April in 1831. The Circuit Courts were then presided over by the
Judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and the Circuit Judge of the Fifth Judicial
Circuit. The Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood presided in the court, in this circuit, from
1831 till 1835 ; Hon. Stephen T. Logan presided from 1835 till 1837 ; Hon. Jesse B.
Thomas, from 1837 till 1839; Hon. William Thomas, from 1839 till 1840 ; Hon.
Samuel H. Treat, from 1840 till 1849.
The Circuit Judges then becoming elective, Hon. David Davis was elected, and
presided in this circuit from 1849 till 1863; then Hon. John M. Scott, from 1863 till
1870; Hon. Thomas F. Tipton, from 1870 till 1877, and then Hon. Owen T. Reeves,
the present incumbent, became his successor.
At the first term of the Court in this county, Mr. James Allen was the Clerk pro
tempore. In September, 1832, Gen. Meritt L. Covell was appointed Clerk, who held
the office till 1845 ; then Mr. James T. Gilderslceve held it till 1849; then Mr. Will-
iam H. Allen was elected to the office, and held it till 1853 ; then Mr. William McCul-
lough, till 1863; then Dr. E. R. Roe, till 1868; then Rev. Robert E. Guthrie, till
1872 ; then Mr. Samuel F. Dolliff", till 1876, who was succeeded by Mr. James C.
McFarland, the present incumbent.
David ii. Campbell, Escj., was Prosecuting Attorney in this circuit from 1849 till
1854. In 1855 and 1856, A. McWilliams, Esq., held the office ; in 1857 and till 1860,
it was held by Ward H. Lemon, Esq. ; in 1861 and 1862, by William H. Young, Esq.;
in 1863 and till 1867, by Henry S. Greene, Esq.; in 1867 and 1868, by Hon. Thomas
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 197
F. Tipton; in 1869, 1870 and 1871, by Jonathan Rowell, Esq. Since that time, it
has been held by J. W. Fifer, Esq., the present incumbent.
GRAND JURORS.
The first grand jury summoned together in this county, in 1832, was composed of
the following-named persons : John Houchins, Robert Turner, Thomas Glenn, Gard-
ner Randolph, Jesse Funk, John Buckles, James Merrifield, Asahel Gridley, Nathan
Low, Ephraim Myers, John Hendrix, John Cox, Reuben Oarlock, William Herford,
Henry Buckner, Ephraim Stout, Jr., John Doudy, WiUiam Patrick, Elbert Dickerson,
Aaron Foster, Benjamin Downey and Jacob Ellis.
RELATIVE POPULATION.
It may be of interest to some of our readers to learn that when this, the First
Judicial Circuit, in 1832, was composed of nine counties, including McLean, the other
eight all lying south of it, except Tazewell, the Fifth Circuit was composed of fifteen
counties, as follows : Cook, La Salle, Putnam, Peoria, Fulton, Schuyler, Adams, Han-
cock, McDonough, Knox, Warren, Jo Daviess, Mercer, Rock Island and Henry. This
shows very plainly from what direction came mostly the early settlers of the State, and
in what direction the incoming population moved. Now, the relative population is
reversed, the then insignificant county of Cook, at present containing something like
one-sixth of the entire population of the State.
PETIT JURORS.
The first petit jury called together in this county, in the spring of 1832, was com-
posed as follows : Andrew Brock, Gabriel Watt, Thomas Cuppy, John Moore, Esq.,
David Noble, Silas Waters, Amos Conaway, Henry Ball, Eli Frankerberger, Benjamin
Hains, John Kimler, John H. S. Rhodes, John Maxwell, Sr., James Canada, Henry
Hains, John Durley, Lewis Soward, Patrick Hopkins, Jacob Spawr, Absalom Funk,
John Dixon, David Wheeler, James Toliver, Mathew Robb.
COUNTY COURT.
The first Commissioners of the County Court, for the transaction of county busi-
ness, Hons. Jonathan Cheney, Timothy B. Hoblitt and Jesse Havens, held the first
session of their court in Bloomington, May 16, 1831.
Their successors in office have been, in 1832, Mr. Seth Baker and Mr. Andrew
McMillan; in 1838, William Orondorff, Esq.; in 1839, Mr. James R. Dawson; in
1840, Mr. Henry R. Clark; in 1841, Messrs. Nathan Low and William Conaway; in
1842, Mr. Israel W. Hall ; in 1843, Mr. Jesse Funk ; in 1844, Mr. William Bishop ;
in 1845, Mr. Henry Vansickle ; in 1847, Mr. Ezekiel Arrowsmith ; in 1848, Mr.
James Vandolah.
At the December term, 1849, the form of the Court was changed, the county
business being transacted by a Presiding Judge and two Associate Judges, and the
probate business by the Presiding Judge. Hon. John E. McClun had been elected
Presiding Judge, and Messrs. Silas Waters and Joseph H. Moore, Associate Judges.
In 1853, Hon, John M. Scott became Presiding Judge, and Hiram Buck, Esq., Asso-
ciate Judge, Associate Moore being re-elected. In 1854, Hon. B. H. Coffey became
Presiding Judge, and Milton Smith, Esq., became Associate in 1855. In 1856, Hon.
A. J. Merriman was elected County Judge, and, by re-elections, held the oflBce sixteen
198 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
jears, till 1872. The jurisdiction of the Court was then greatly extended, and Hon.
R. M. Benjamin, the present incumbent, was elected to that office.
At the organization of the Commissioners' Court, in 1831, Dr. Isaac Baker was
Clerk, and he acted also as Surveyor. In 1839, B. H. CoiFey became County Clerk,
and served till 1854. His successor, E. H. Rood, served till 1857, and he was suc-
ceeded by Dr. W. C. Hobbs, who served till 1861 ; then Reuben L. Davis was Clerk
till 186(5, and then Robert S. Mclntyre till 1870. His successor was Johnson W.
Straight, till 1874 ; then Reuben L. Davis was again Clerk till 1878, when Charles W.
Atkinson, the present incumbent, was elected to that office.
The first County Treasurer was Mr. Thomas Orondorif, in 1831. In 1833, Mr.
David Wheeler was appointed Treasurer. In 1836, James Rains became Treasurer,
and Richard Edwards in 1837. In 1838, G. B. Larrison was appointed Treasurer pro
tern., and Gen. Asahel Gridley was appointed to that office in 1839. In 1841, Gen.
Gridley resigned the Treasurership, and was succeeded by W. P. Brown, Esq. In 1842,
William H. Temple was elected Treasurer, and became Assessor in 1845, and the two
offices were held by the same person for several terms. In 1853, Mr. William Thomas
became Treasurer and Assessor, and served till 1858, in both capacities, when the
Supervisors' Court was established, and Township Assessors were employed ; but Mr.
Thomas served as County Treasurer till 1862. He was succeeded by Mr. Thomas
Fell, who was Treasurer till 1866; then Col. John L. Routt served till 1870; then
Mr. Lewis E. Ijams, till 1872; then Mr. Joseph Dennison, till 1876; then Mr. Isaac
Stroud, till 1878 ; then Mr. Dennison. who is the present incumbent, again became
Treasurer.
Cheney Thomas, Esq., appears to have been, in 1832, the first Sheriif and County
Collector in this county. In 1835, Mr. Martin Scott became his successor, and served
till 1840, when Mr. G. B. Larlson succeeded to the office of Sheriff. In 1842, Mr.
Richard Edwards was Sheriff. In 1844, Mr. William McCullough was elected Sheriff
and Collector, and served till 1850, and was then succeeded by Mr. Jonathan Glimpse
in 1851 and 1852; by Mr. George Parke in 1853 and 1854; by Mr. John J. Price
in 1855 and 1856 ; by J. H. Moore, Esq., in 1857 and 1858 ; by Mr. William P.
Withers in 1859 till 1862 ; then by Mr. Normal Dixon in 1863 and 1864; by Henry
A. Ewing, Esq., in 1865 and 1866; by Mr. Edward M. Pike in 1867 and 1868 ; by
Mr. Richard Osborn in 1869 and 1870 ; by Mr. Gustave Lange in 1871 and 1872 ;
by Mr. Henry Honscheitin 1873 and 1875; by James Goodheart in 1875 till 1878;
then by Mr. Joseph Ator, the present incumbent.
In 1832, James Latta, Esq., was appointed Commissioner of School Lands, and
was succeeded by Jesse W. Fell, Esq., in 1834. In 1836, Mr. Cheney Thomas was
elected School Commissioner. In 1844, Mr. James B. Price became School Commi.s-
sioner, and was succeeded in 1850 and 1851 by John M. Scott, Esq., and he was suc-
ceeded by Mr. C. P. Merrlman in 1852 till 1858; then by Mr. Daniel Wilkins in 1859
till 1862; then by Mr. C. P. Merriman again in 1862 and 1863; and by Mr. Daniel
Wilkins again in 1864 till 1868; then by Mr. John Hull from 1869 till 1875, and
then by Mr. William H. Smith, the present incumbent.
In 1831, Samuel Durley, P]sq., was appointed Assessor and Recorder. In 1835,
Dr. Isaac Baker became County Assessor. In 1839, Mr. William H. Hodge was
appointed County Collector, and again in 1840, Mr. R. C. Cowden being Assessor. In
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 199
1841, Zera Patterson, Esq., became County Assessor, and again in 1842. In 1843, Mr.
Isaac Smalley became Assessor, and Mr. William Creel, Collector. The offices of Sheriff
and Collector, and those of Treasurer and Assessor were then united till 1858, when the
Supervisors' Court came into the control of the county business.
In 1831, Dr. Isaac Baker seems to have been appointed Surveyor, by the County
Commissioners' Court, or, at least, to have been employed as such, till 1835, when Mr. ■
Elbert Dickason was Surveyor, who served till 1839 ; then Dr. Harrison Noble till
1847; then Mr. Nelson Buck till 1849; then Mr. James T. Swartz till 1851 ; then Mr.
Peter Folsome till 1857 ; then Mr. William T. Horr till 1859 ; then Mr. Peter Folsome
again till 1861 ; then Mr. John P. Hely till 1863; then Mr. J. M. Spaulding till 1865;
then Mr. George P. Ela till 1869 ; then Mr. William P. Anderson till 1875; then Mr.
George P. Ela, the present incumbent, was again elected.
PROBATE JUSTICES.
Samuel Durley, Esq., was appointed Probate Justice, and held the office from 1831
till 1835 ; Cheney Thomas, Esq., succeeded him, and served till 1837 ; then W. P.
Brown, Esq., served till 1839; then Wells Colton, Esq., till 1843; then Zera Patter-
sou, Esq., till 1850, when the form of the Commissioners' Court was changed, and the
Probate business passed into the hands of the County Judge.
In 1836, Mr. Elijah Rockhold was elected Coroner. Mr. William Matthews
served several terms. In 1868 and 1869, Mr. Mark Boss was Coroner; then Mr. Luke
Nevin till 1872 ; then Mr. William H. Hendrix till 1878, and then Dr. D. M. Foster,
the present incumbent, came into office.
supervisors' court.
At the first meeting of the Supervisors' Court, May 17, 1858, the members present
were as follows : From Mount Hope, Daniel Winsor ; Mosquito Grove, Presley T.
Brooks ; Danvers, James Wilson ; Funk's Grove, William S. Allin ; Dale, Richard
Howell ; Dry Grove, Elias Yoder ; White Oak, Benjamin F. Rowell ; Randolph, Alfred
M. Stringfield ; Bloomington, David Simmons and Hon. John E. McClun ; Nor-
mal, William G. Thompson ; Hudson, James H. Cox ; Savanna, Sylvester Peasley ;
Old Town, Scammon Rodman ; Towanda, N. S. Sunderland ; Money Creek, William F.
Johnson ; Gridley, Taylor Loving ; Lee, Josiah Horr ; Blue Mound, James A. Doyle ;
Lexington, Jacob C. Mahan ; Chenoa, J. B. Graham; Kickapoo, Henry West; Pleas-
ant, Ezekiel Arrowsmith. Hon. John E. McClun was chosen Chairman, and the Court
proceeded to business.
circuit courts.
In 1839, the Eighth Judicial Circuit of the State was composed of Sangamon,
Tazewell, McLean, Livingston, Macon, Dane, Logan and Menard Counties.
In 1841, the circuit consisted of Menard, Sangamon, Christian, Logan, Shelby
Macon, DeWitt, McLean, Champaign, Tazewell, Mason, Piatt and Livingston.
In 1850, the circuit consisted of Piatt, Sangamon, Tazewell, Woodford, Logan,
McLean, DeWitt, Champaign, Vermilion, Edgar, Shelby, Moultrie, Macon and Chris-
tian Counties.
In 1861, the circuit consisted of McLean, Logan and DeWitt Counties.
In 1871, the circuit was composed of McLean, DeWitt and Logan Counties.
In 1873, it was changed to McLean and Ford, and it has remained the same.
200 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
APPORTIONMENT.
In 1S31, at its creation, McLean County was entitled, conjointly with Tazewell, to
one Representative and one Senator in the State Legislature.
In 1836, McLean County was entitled to two Representatives and one Senator con-
jointly with Macon County.
In 1841, the State being redistricted, McLean County was entitled to one Repre-
sentative by itself, and one conjointly with Livingston, and to one Senator conjointly
with Livingston, Piatt, DeWitt and Macon.
In 1848, Tazewoll, McLean, Logan, DeWitt and Macon Counties constituted the
Eleventh Senatorial District and it was entitled to one Senator ; and McLean and DeWitt
constituted the Twenty-ninth Representative District, and it was entitled to one Rep-
resentative.
In 1861, McLean and DeWitt constituted the Thirty-eighth Representative District
and were entitled to two Representatives ; and McLean, DeWitt, Piatt, Moultrie and
Macon constituted the Tenth Senatorial District and were entitled to one State Senator.
In 1871, McLean became, by itself, the Twenty-eighth Senatorial District of the
State, and is entitled to one Senator and three Representatives.
CONGRESSIONAL.
In 1831, the State was divided into three Congressional Districts, the Third Dis-
trict consisting of Greene, Morgan, Sangamon, Tazewell, Macon, McLean, La Salle, Cook,
Putnam, Peoria, Henry, Knox, Jo Daviess, Mercer, Warren, Hancock, McDonough,
Fulton, Schuyler, Adams, Pike and Calhoun Counties.
In 1841, the State was divided into seven districts, and the Fifth District consisted
of Lake, McHeury, Boone, Cook, Kane, De Kalb, Du Page, Kendall, Grundy, La Salle,
Will, Iroquois, Livingston, McLean, Champaiga, Vermilion and Bureau Counties.
In 1852, the State was redistricted into nine districts, the Fourth District being
composed of Will, Kendall, Grundy, La Salle, Putnam, Bureau, Livingston, Iroquois,
Vermilion, Champaign, McLean and DeWitt Counties.
In 1861, our Congressional District consisted of Sangamon, Logan, DeWitt,
McLean, Tazewell, Woodford and Livingston Counties.
In 1871, this District, the Thirteenth Congressional, became composed of Mason,
Tazewell, McLean, Logan and DeWitt, and remains the same.
In the Constitutional Convention of 1847, McLean County was entitled alone to
one member, and to one conjointly with Livingston County. Judge David Davis, now
United States Senator, and Hon. Samuel Lander were the said members.
In the Constitutional Convention of 1869, McLean County, conjointly with DeWitt,
was entitled to two members. Hon. R. M. Benjamin, of McLean, and Hon. C. H.
Moore, of DeWitt, were those two members.
liWAMP-LANDS.
McLean County obtained about twenty-seven thousand acres from the United States
in virtue of the Swamp-lands act. These lands have been sold for about $130,000,
and the proceeds have been devoted to educational purposes — $70,000 to the State
Normal University, and the rest has been distributed to the townships, for the benefit
of the common schools. The sale of these lands has been effected through the agency
of Judge A. J. Merriman, under the sanction of the Supervisors' Court.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 201
REPRESENTATION.
The State of Illinois, up till 1831, constituted one Congressional District, and was
represented in Congress, from 1830, the year in which McLean County was created,
until 1832, by Hon, Joseph Duncan ; and the Third District, including McLean County,
was represented from 1832 till 1834 by the same gentleman.
From 1831 to 1838, the Third District was represented by Hon. William L. May.
From 1838 to 1842, the Third District was represented by Hon. John T. Stuart.
In 1841, the State was divided into seven districts, and the Fifth District, includ-
ing McLean County, was represented, from 1842 to 1850, by Hon. John Wentworth.
In 1851 and 1852, the district was represented by Dr. Richard T. Molony.
In 1852, the State was redistricted, and the Fourth District, including McLean
County, was represented by Hon. Jesse 0. Norton, in 1853, 1854, 1855 and 1856.
In 1857, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861 and 1862 it was represented by Hon. Owen
Lovejoy.
In 1861, the District, including McLean County, was changed, taking effect at
the November election in 1862. In 1863 and 1864, the new district was represented
by Hon. John T. Stuart. In 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869 and 1870, it was repre-
sented by Hon. Shelby M. CuUom. In 1871 and 1872, it was represented by Hon.
James C. Robinson.
In 1871, the State was again redistricted, to take effect at the November election
in 1872, and McLean County was embraced in the Thirteenth Congressional District,
which was. represented, in 1873 and 1874, by Hon. John McNulta. In 1875 and 1876,
it was represented by Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson. In 1877 and 1878, it was represented
by Hon. Thomas F. Tipton. The district is again represented by Hon. Adlai E. Stev-
enson, the present incumbent.
STATE LEGISLATURE.
Until 1872, McLean County was represented in the State Legislature by Repre-
sentative and Senatorial Districts ; since that date it has constituted a Senatorial Dis-
trict by itself — the Twenty-eighth. The Senators have been as follows :
In 1832, Hon. James Bird ; 1834, Hon. Benjamin Mitchell ; 1836 and 1838, Hon..
James Allen; 1840, Hon. John Moore; 1842, Hon. R. F. Barnett; 1844 and 1846,
Hon. George W. Powers ; 1849, Hon. E.O.Smith; 1851 and 1853, Hon. Asahel
Gridley; 1857 and 1859, Hon. Joel S. Post; 1861, Hon Richard J. Oglesby ; 1863
and 1865, Hon. Isaac Funk ; 1867, Hon. W. H. Cheney ; 1869, Hon. John McNulta ;
1871, Hons. John McNulta and Michael Donahue ; 1873 and 1875, Hon. John Cusey;
1877 and 1878, Hon. John M. Hamilton.
REPRESENTATIVES.
In 1832, Hon. Benjamin Briggs ; 1834, Hon. William Brown; 1836, Hons. John
Moore and John Hinshaw ; 1838, Hons. John Moore and Thomas Cheney; 1840,
Hon. Asahel Gridley; 1842, Hon, Andrew McMillan ; 1844, Hon. David Davis ; 1846,
Hon. James Robeson ; 1849 and 1851, Hon. James B. Price; 1853 and 1855, Hon.
John E. McClun ; 1857, Hon. J. H. Wickizer ; 1859, Hon. Leonard Swett ; 1861,
Hon. Harvey Hogg; 1863, Hon. Harrison Noble; 1865, Hons. Harrison Noble and
John Warner ; 1867, Hons. William M. Smith and H. S. Greene; 1869, Hons. Will-
iam M. Smith and J. Swigart ; 1871, Hons. William M. Smith, W. C. Watkins, E. R.
202 HISTORY OF McLean county.
Roe and G. H. Funk ; 1873, Hons. A. E. Stewart, T. F. Rogers and John Cassedy ; 1875,
Hons. A. E. Stewart, T. P. Rogers and John F. Winter; 1877, Hons. T. F. Mitchell,
T. P. Rogers and John F. Winter ; 1879, Hons. T. P. Rogers, T. F. Mitchell and H. A.
Ewing.
/ COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY.
At a meeting held in the Presbyterian Church in this city in September, 1852, the
McLean County Bible Society was re-organized, and the following Constitution adopted r
CONSTITUTION.
Article 1. This Society shall be called the McLean County Bible Society, the object of
which shall be to promote the circulation of the Scriptures without note or comment.
Art. 2. This Society shall be auxiliary to the American Bible Society, and, after supply-
ing the destitute within its own limits, shall pay over its surplus funds to that Society to aid in
supplying other places.
Art. 3. Tiie payment of any sum annually shall constitute membership. Those contrib-
uting $5 at one time shall be members for life, and entitled to one common Bible annually for
distribution.
Art. 4. The officers of this Society shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary,
Treasurer and Depositary, and three Directors who, together, shall constitute an Executive Com-
mittee, for the transaction of business; and Pastors co-operating shall be Vice Presidents, and
each Church shall be entitled to one Director.
Art. 5. It shall be the duty of this committee to meet as occasion may require, to appoint
local and traveling agents, to see that funds are remitted and books procured, to make arrangements
for raising funds and circulating books annually in all parts of the county, and to perform any
other acts in accordance with this Constitution which they may deem calculated to promote the
usefulness of the Society.
Art. 6. Any branch organization agreeing to purchase its books of this Society and place
its surplus funds at its disposal shall be recognized as an auxiliary, and its members shall be
considered as also members of the County Society.
Art. 7. There shall be an annual meeting of the Society on call of the officers, when an
address shall be delivered, reports presented by the Secretary and the Treasurer, officers
elected and such other business transacted as may be necessary. Immediately after this meeting,
the Secretary shall transmit an account of it, together with an abstract of the reports', and the
names and post offices of the officers to the Secretaries of the parent society at New York, and
to the agent of said society for this State, and also offer the same for publication in the county
newspapers.
Art. 8. This Constitution may be altered at any annual meeting by a vote of a majority
of the members present.
The Society then elected Rev. F. N. Ewing, President ; Hon. J. E. McClun, Vice
President ; Prof. D. Wilkins, Secretary ; Mr. John Magoun, Treasurer ; Mr. John
Ewing and Mr. Coleman, Directors.
At the annual meeting of the Society, September, 1853, very little business seems
to have been done other than the election of officers and listening to addresses.
At the annual meeting, December 3, 1854, at the .Methodist Episcopal Church,
the Society was addressed by Rev. Mr. Lord, State Agent, and by other gentlemen.
The reports of the Secretary and the Treasurer are not attainable just at present; but
we learn, incidentally, that about $100 were raised and expended annually by the
Society until 1857, when an agent was employed, and the Society commenced to employ
more efficient means to effi;ct its purposes. Substantially, the same officers were con-
tinued for the current year, except that Mr. Linas Graves was chosen Secretary. At a
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 20S
subsequent meeting of the Executive Committee, the same month, quite a number of
local agents were appointed to solicit aid for the Society.
At the annual meeting, November 4, 1855, the usual devotional exercises were had,
there were some interesting discussions, and about the same officers chosen, except that
Mr. 0. T. Reeves was made Treasurer, who resigned, and was succeeded by Mr. 0.
Rugg before the close of the current year. At a subsequent meeting of the Executive
Committee, June 9, held at the request of the State Agent, Rev. Mr. Lord, the Treas-
urer was authorized to procure a sufficient supply of Bibles and Testaments for the
county, and Mr. Lord was authorized to procure an agent to canvass the county the next
year.
At the annual meeting of the Society December 7, 1856, an eloquent address was
delivered by Rev. A. Eddy, the Treasurer made his report, Hon. John E. McClun was
chosen President, and the other officers were continued.
At the fifth anniversary of the Society, at the Methodist Church, December 7,
1857, Rev. F. N. Ewing presided in the absence of the President, Hon. J. E. McClun.
The County Agent, Rev. Joseph Messer, made his report as follows : During the cur-
rent year, he had labored eighty-five days, and held annual meetings of branch societies
at Randolph Grove, Le Roy, Cheney's Grove, St. Clairville, Old Town Timber, Money
Creek, Pleasant Hill, Lexington, Hudson, Concord, White Oak Grove and Johnson's
Precinct. He had lectured 35 times, and visited 1,048 families. He had received
from the county depository books to the amount of $157.08; had deposited with the
branch societies, sold, donated and returned books to the same amount. He had
received from the branch societies $412.66, and paid to the County Treasurer $250.62,
and the balance paid his own wages and expenses. He had obtained new subscriptions
to the amount of $228.71, there remaining $588.09 due on old subscriptions; books
now in branch societies, $620.03 ; receipts of societies the past year, $466.72, and books
circulated during the year, $249.34. He had found 40 families destitute of the Script-
ures. The report of the agent was received with the thanks of the Society. The same
officers were rechosen, except that Mr. John Magoun was made Treasurer. Twenty
German Bibles were donated to Rev. Mr. Andre for the benefit of his Bible class ;
the agent was instructed to forward the surplus funds to the parent society in New
York, and measures taken to canvass more thoroughly the city of Bloomington.
At the annual meeting, in December, 1858, the weather was very severe, and but
few were present. The reports of the Treasurer and Agent were adopted, and the
officers of the Society retained.
The seventh anniversary was'^held at the Methodist Church, December 18, 1859.
The new Agent, Rev. Mr. Ansley, and the Treasurer, Mr. Magoun, made acceptable
reports ; Mr. L. W. Capen was chosen Tresident, and the other officers retained. The
Society was addressed very interestingly by Rev. Mr. Price and Rev. Mr. Knowlton.
At the annual meeting, December 30, 1860, in the Presbyterian Church, the old offi-
cers were retained, the reports of the Agent and the Treasurer approved, and the Society
ably addressed by Rev. Messrs. Pitner, Clark and Eddy. At a meeting of the Execu-
tive Committee, $30 were appropriated to each of the following individuals, to make
them life-members of the American Bible Society : Rev. A. Eddy, Rev. H. R. Price,
Rev. L. Taylor, Rev. S. W. Knowlton, Rev. Mr. Clark, Messrs. James C. McFarland,^
Daniel Sill. Francis Smith and Miss Ann Gastman.
204 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The County Agent, Rev. J. Ansley, reported that he had received during the year,
from the County Society, 8101, and from the branch societies, $484.46, making
S5S5.46 ; and that the disbursements amounted to the same — $408.14 of it being sent
to the American Bible Society at New York. During the year, 823 families had been
visited; new subscriptions raised, $219.10; families found without the entire Bible,
38 ; children under sixteen years of age, able to read, without Testaments of their own,
70 ; books sold in the county, $177.14 ; books given and drawn in the county, $77.36 ;
total, $254.50. Books now on hand in county and branch societies, $653.92. Three
§30-pledges were also obtained to make life-members of the American Bible Society.
The ninth anniversary of the Society was held at the Methodist Church, Decem-
ber 17, 1861. Spirited addresses were made by Revs. Gr. R. Moore, Rucker and Price.
The old officers were continued. The County Agent, Rev. J. Ansley, made his annual
report substantially as follows : Cash received from the County Society,'$335.50 ; from
the branch societies, $419.11 ; total, $754.61. Disbursements for the year, the same,
of which $524.04 were sent to the American Bible Society, New York ; $224.04 in pay-
ment for books, and $300 donation. Families visited, 1,019; new subscriptions
obtained, $202.38 ; books sold in the county, $237.67 ; books given in the county
(largely to our soldiers), $132.51 ; total, $370.18. Books now on hand'in the county
and branch societies, $756.38.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee, December 30, 1859 (not previously
reported), by a donation of $30, the following-named gentlemen were made life-members
of the American Bible Society ; Messrs. John Magoun, John E. McClun, 0. Rugg,
D. Wilkins and Rev. F. N. Ewiog. At another meeting of said Committee, December
17, 1861, the following-named gentlemen were made members for life of the same
Society : Mr. L. W. Capen and Revs. L. C. Pitner, L. B. Kent, M. L. Moore, R. Con-
over, A. Bowen, J. Ansley, William E. Johnson, C. H. D. Harris and A. J. Thomas.
The tenth annual meeting of the Society was held in the Presbyterian Church,
February 8, 1863. The old officers were retained. Interesting speeches were made by
Rev. Mr. Button, Chaplain in the army, and Rev. Dr. Porter, Rev. J. Ansley, County
Agent, reported : Cash received from the County Society, $443.88 ; from the branch
societies, $645.45; total, $1,089.33. Disbursements amounting to the same, of which
$829.66 were paid to the American Bible Society, $458.91 for books, and $370.75
donation. Families visited during the year, 1,174; new subscriptions obtained,
$268.32 ; books sold in the county, $346.30 ; books given and drawn in the county,
$152.13 ; embracing 853 volumes given to the soldiers. Books circulated in the county,
$498.43 ; books on hand in County Society and branches, $748.20.
At a subsequent meeting of the Executive Committee, by a donation of $30 to
each, the following gentlemen and ladies were made life-members of the American Bible
Society : Revs. William T. Lowe, J. Gr. Evans ; Mrs. 0. Rugg, Mrs. J. E. McClune,
Mrs. Bradner, Mrs. Maxwell, Messrs. George Hill, Isaac S. Mahan, George Bradford,
S. Conkling and Rev. Mr. Berry.
At the eleventh animal meeting of the Society, at the Methodist Church, January
10, 1864, Mr. Henry Richardson was chosen President. The Society was ably addressed
by Judge John M. Scott, and also by Prof Knowlton, H. H. Hatch, Esq., and the
Agent. At a subsequent meeting of the Executive Committee, Rev. Mr. Andrus was
employed as an agent of the Society, at $500 a year, and Revs. Elburk and Hayes,
■"^^a^^t^B^"-^**^'
^^'^^
i
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BLOOMINGTON
7.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 207
and Mr. Danley, at $25 per month. Rev. Mr. Young was appointed to visit the
Grerman population. The usual reports were not ready.
At the twelfth annual meeting of the Society, January 5, 1865, at the Presby-
terian Church, Mr. J. W. Maxwell was chosen Treasurer and Depositary of the Society;
the other officers were retained. The meeting was highly entertained by speeches from
Kevs. Dr. Porter, Bailey, Andrus and Price. The usual reports were not in readiness.
At the thirteenth annual meeting of the Society, the old officers were retained,
except that Mr. 0. Rugg was chosen President, December 17, 1865, at the Methodist
Church. The meeting was entertained by speeches from Revs. Rutledge, Lowe, Ellis
and Bailey. Mr. J. W. Maxwell, Treasurer, made his report, which was referred to
Auditing Committee. Rev. Mr. Mayers, County Agent, made a partial report.
The fourteenth annual meeting of the Society was held in Shroeder's Hall, Decem-
ber 23, 1866. The old officers were retained. Mr. J. W. Maxwell, Treasurer, and
Mr. Ira Bristol, County Agent, made their reports. The meeting was entertained by
addresses from Revs. Hartshorn, State Agent, Rabe, Ellis and Jacques.
The fifteenth annual meeting of the Society was held in the Methodist Church,
December 22, 1867. The old officers were retained. The Secretary's report covered
those of the Treasurer and the Agent. Meeting addressed by Revs. McElroy, McDougal,
and the State Agent, Hartshorn.
The sixteenth annual meeting of the Socdety was held in the Presbyterian Church
March 14, 1879. The old officers were re-elected. The reports of Mr. J. W. Maxwell,
Treasurer, and of Mr. C. K. Daniels, County Agent, were read and referred to com-
mittee. Very interesting addresses were delivered by President Edwards, of the Nor-
mal University, and Judge Culver, of Pontiac.
The seventeenth anniversai*y of the Society was held in Schroeder's Opera-House,
April 8, 1870. Mr. W. H. Winegardner was chosen President, and the other officers
substantially retained. Mr. J. W. Maxwell, Treasurer, and Rev. Mr. Daniels, County
Agent, presented their reports, which were read and approved. Rev. Dr. Reed de-
livered a very fine address, which was well appreciated by the audience.
The eighteenth anniversary of the Society was held in the Academy of Music,
April 9, 1871. The old officers were rechosen. The audience was very large, and
listened with much interest to the addressess delivered by Rev. Mr. Pilcher, R. R.
Williams, Esq., and Mr. Jackman, Superintendent of machine shops, Chicago & Alton
Railroad. From the report of the County Agent, Mr. C. K. Daniels, we select the follow-
ing items. During the year, he had addressed 38 public meetings, obtained
new subscriptions amounting to $819.82, collected on subscriptions and notes, $1,048.98,
received from local agents and branch societies, $582.46, and from sale of books, $315.20,
making the entire receipts $1,946.64. He had traveled 1,100 miles, visited, with assist-
ance of local agents, 1,400 families. Number of books circulated, 1,400, to the value
of about $900 ; number of branch societies, 27, having in their depositories
books to the value of $716.81, and $694.42 worth in the county depository, amounting
to $1,411.23. There are 220 local agents, and 33 pastors co-operating in the
county. The Treasurer's report shows receipts to be $1,946.64, and disbursements and
$175.92 on hand, amounting to the same, $1,200 of which was sent to parent society,
New York. Books left over and purchased during the year, $1,643.39 ; books on hand
and distributed to the same amount.
B
208 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The nineteenth anniversary of the Society was a very interesting occasion. The
former oflScers were retained. The meeting, April 21, 1872, in Schroeder's Opera-
House, was very large, and most ably addressed by Dr. E. 0. Haven, President of the
Northwestern University, at Evanston. The substance of the reports was : Books in the
depository at the commencement of the current year, and purchases, $1,621.65 ; books
delivered to branch societies, sold, and on hand, the same. Cash received from sales
and branch societies, §2,089.51 ; disbursements and balance in Treasury, the same, of
which §1,10G were sent to parent society, New York. The resources of the Society
amount to $1,816.02. The County Agent, Mr. C. K. Daniels, had delivered 47
addresses ; obtained by subscriptions, S 1 ,430 ; secured 4 life-members to par-
ent society ; made cash collections, $1,789.04; traveled 2,700 miles ; visited 2,179
families; circulated 1,600 Bibles and Testaments; found 48 families destitute of the
Bible ; supplied 24, and did much other labor in the cause.
The twentieth anniversary of the Society was held in the Opera-House, July 27,
1878. Rev. John Ansley was chosen President, and the other officers retained. The
hall was packed, and many could not gain admittance. The meeting was eloquently ad-
dressed by Rev. Mr. Barnes. Measures were taken to supply the cars of the Chicago
& Alton Railroad with Bibles and Testaments. The Treasurer's report shows $2,514.60
in books held over, in receipts from branches through agent, and sales at depository.
The disbursements were the same, except $365.80 in treasury. Sent to parent society,
$1,444.24. Books in the county depository, and in those of the branch societies^
$1,370.20. The County Agent had addressed 32 public meetings, and obtained
$725 in subscriptions ; had traveled 2,000 miles ; 2,824 families were visited, 39
found without Bibles and supplied ; about 180 books were circulated, and much
other labor done.
The twenty-first anniversary of the Society was held at Durley Hall, June 7, 1874.
The meeting was immense. The former officers were retained. The audience was ad-
dressed by Mrs. Jennie Willing, Dr. Edwards, of Normal, and Rev. Dr. Fallows. The
Treasurer's report shows that $797.38 were received for books sold, and $829.45 for col-
lections and donations. To the parent society, $1,066.77 were sent, the expenses paid,
and $352.54 in the treasury. Value of books received during the year, $1,293.32;
value of books donated to supply Chicago & Alton Railroad cars, $207.47 ; value of
books in the chief and branch depositories, $1,317.37. Protestant Churches co-operat-
ing, 77 ; branch societies, 29 ; families visited, 1 ,696 ; destitute families supplied
with Scriptures, 12.
The twenty-second anniversary of the Society was held in Durley Hall, May 16,
1875. Mr. William Bone was chosen President, and Mr. J. A. Willson, Secretary.
The immense audience was addressed by Dr. Edwards, of Normal. From the Treas-
urer's report, we learn that the receipts from books sold were $674.55 ; from collections
and donations, $775. 6(> ; paid to the parent society $1,222.16 ; and, after paying the
expenses, $185.55 cash in the treasury. The value of books received during the year
was $900.21 ; the value of books sold, $674.75 ; and the value of books remaining in
the depositories, $1,441.14.
The twenty-third anniversary of the Society was held Aug. 27, 1876, at the Meth-
odist Church. The audience was large, and was addressed very satisfactorily by Rev.
A. I. Hobbs. The old officers were continued. At a previous meeting of the Executive
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 209
Committee, the following persons were constituted life-members of the County Soci-
ety : Miss May Bedell, of Lawndale ; Mr. William Morris, of West ; Mr. William
Baldridge, of White Oak, and Mr. J. M. Mitchell, of Gridley. As reported by the
Treasurer, there had been received from the County Agent $892.32, from the branch
societies, $221.75, and from sale of books in county depository, $570.40. The expenses
were paid, $663.92 sent to the parent society, and $719.36 remained in the treasury.
Books delivered to branches, $330.19 ; remaining in depository, $602.15. County
Agent had spoken publicly 42 times ; 1,736 families were visited ; 70 destitute families
supplied with Bibles; 1,280 miles traveled; 2,000 books circulated, and much other
labor was performed for the Society.
The twenty-fourth anniversary of the Society was held in the Presbyterian Church,
September 16, 1877. The old officers were retained, and the meeting addressed by Dr.
W. H. H. Adams. The Treasurer reported $1,933.72 receipts from all sources, with
what was on hand at the previous report. Expenses were paid, $1,044.30 sent to parent
society and $335,41 remained in treasury. Amount of books received from New York,
$1,065.35 ; books sold at depository, $530.45 ; books on hand, $750.21. Rev. James
Ferguson assisted the County Agent in canvassing. Families visited in the county,
4.000 ; number of destitute families and individuals supplied with Bibles, 183 ; miles
traveled, 1,800 ; value of books donated, $164.07 ; value of books sold, $739.03 ; value
of books on hand in the county, $1,600.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Society was held at the Methodist Church,
June 9, 1878. The old officers were retained. Meeting addressed by Revs. A. I.
Hobbs, J. A. Kumler and J. M. Baugh. The report of the Treasurer shows : Cash
from all sources, $1,127.07 ; disbursements show expenses paid, sent to American Bible
Society, $491.47, and remaining in treasury, $391.61. Books sold, $398.82 ; books
purchased, $314.60 ; books on hand, $641.64 in the county depository, and $818.98
in those of the branch societies. Miles traveled by the County Agent, 1,150; addresses
delivered, 25; families visited, 1,000; local agents, 150; branch societies 32; value of
books circulated, sold and donated, $448.42.
The Society has been in operation twenty-five years. It has sent to the American
Bible Society from $12,000 to $15,000, in payment for books or as donations, $1,000 hav-
ing been recently transmitted to it from the estate of the late Mr. T. C. Humphrey, of this
county. Many thousands of Bibles and Testaments have been put into the hands of
the people of this county through its agency, and incalculable good done by its many
incidental influences. The Society is in a healthy condition, and in hopeful spirits in
reference to its future successes, when the present financial embarrassments shall have
subsided.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
As will be seen in another place, while speaking of its origin, McLean County
assumed its present form and dimensions in 1841, on the formation of Woodford
County. The main body of it is forty-two miles east and west, and thirty-two north
and south, the northeast and the northwest corners having been cut off". There is no stream
of water of any considerable size within its limits. In the northeastern portion of the
county there are several creeks, as Bray's Creek, Henline Creek, Turkey Creek, Patton
Branch,- Money Creek, Crooked Creek and Buck Creek ; and in the northwestern por-
tion, Denman's Creek, Rock Creek, Six-Mile Creek and many smaller ones all running
210 HISTORY OF McLean county.
northwest, and combining to form the Mackinaw, which runs west, leaving the county
near the northwest corner of Township 25 north, Range 2 east, and passing into Taze-
well County. In the northeast corner, llock Creek and some other small creeks run
north, into the Vermilion.
In the western portion of the county are several branches of Sugar Creek, running
southwest, and leaving the county on the west side of Townships 22 and 23 north,
Range 1 west of the Third Principal Meridian. In the southwestern portion is Kick-
poo Crock, with its many branches, running southwest and leaving the county in the
northeastern part of Township 21 north, Range 1 east, and entering De Witt County.
In the southeastern portion are the branches of Salt Creek, running south into De Witt
County, in Township 21 north, Ranges 4 and 5 east ; and in the eastern part of the
county are the incipient waters of the Sangamon River, running east and south, and
leaving the county near the the southeastern corner of Township 23 north, Range 6 east^
This all shows very clearly that the middle portion of McLean County is a gentle
swell of country, higher than the surrounding counties ; it shows, also, how generally
and impartially all parts are supplied with running water.
Nor are the distribution and the size of its forest groves less admirable. In the
northwest is White Oak Grove ; in the north, Mackinaw Timber ; in the west, Stout's
Grove ; in the center, Blooming Grove and Old Town Timber ; in the south, Funk's
Grove, Randolph Grove and Buckle's Grove, and in the east, Cheney's Grove. As a
whole, this distribution ot streams and groves could scarcely be improved for agricult-
ural pursuits and for stock-raising, as well as for convenience, health and beauty. In
the southeastern portion of the county, more timber-land may seem desirable ; but there
is compensation in the fact that West and Belleflower are two as fine townships of land
as the sun shines upon in his daily course.
EARLY TIMES.
As will be seen elsewhere, the territory now comprising McLean County was, in
1821, embraced in two other counties, that portion of it lying west of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian being in Sangamon County, and the rest in Fayette, and the capital of
the State was Vandal ia, the county seat of the latter county.
At that time, there were no white settlers within the present limits of the county.
Although the Indians had, sometime previously, bargained away this section of the
West to the United States Government, they were still in full possession of the country
and roamed over it at will, enjoying all its advantages, as formerly.
The first surveying on the territory now composing this county was done in April,
1821, by Mr. John F. McCullum, who ran the Third Principal Meridian from the
standard line, on the south side of Town 21, as far north as the north line of Town 25.
The standard line on the south side was run also in April, 1821, by Mr. Joseph
Borough ; and the line north of Town 25 was surveyed in March, 1822, by Mr. Enoch
Stein. These lines were the bases of the survey of the county. Ranges 1 and 2 east
were surveyed in October and November, 1823, by Messrs. A. M. and P. M. Ham-
trameck. Range 3 east was surveyed in January and February, 1824, by Mr. Beal
Greenup. Ranges 4 and 5 east were surveyed in April, 1824, by Mr. John Barcroft.'
R:mg(! 0 (>ast was surveyed by Mr. E. Recton, probably in 1824; and Range 1 west
of the Third Principal Meridian, by Mr. P. M. January, in June, 1823.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 211
In their notes, these surveyors speak of there being a settlement of white people
on Section 15, in Randolph Township, in 1823. There was a camp of Delaware Indi-
ans on the northwest quarter of Section 36, in Lexington Township, near which was
their corn-field, consisting of a few acres. There was also a town of the Kickapoo
Indians near the present village of Pleasant Hill. Their corn-field, of about twenty
acres, was on the line between Sections 17 and 20. Mr. Patrick Hopkins, still living
in the vicinity, saw corn growing in that field, on the 25th of May, 1830, which the
Indians had planted, and which was at that time twenty inches high — the biggest corn
ever seen in this section of country so early in the year.
There was another noted Indian town at the head of Old Town Timber — hence
the name — on the line between Sections 31 and 32, in Arrowsmith Township. At the
time of the survey, this town was apparently abandoned. The outlines of their
intrenchments were seen as late as in 1863. On breaking up the turf, in 1864, bullets,
gun-barrels and many bones were thrown up; and numerous arrow-points are found,
even unto the present day.
The main trail of the Indians through this section of the State was southeast and
northwest, from Post Vincennes, on the Wabash, to Fort Clarke (Peoria), up the Wabash
and the Vermilion, in the direction of Danville ; thence across to the Sangamon, to the
northwest part of Champaign County; thence to the east end of Old Town Timber;
thence northwest, to Smith's Grove, in Towanda Township ; thence to the south end of
Haven's Grove, and thence westward, crossing the Mackinaw at Farnisville. From
this route, it will be seen that the Indians in those times, like the early settlers, were
very friendly to the groves, and liked to be as near them as practicable. Traces of this
trail can still be seen in the hills near the Mackinaw, cut by the feet of the Indian
ponies, in th^ir passing to and fro. This was the main trail through the county, and
other lighter trails were seen in different directions. Indians were quite common in
the vicinity of Indian Grove, in Livingston County, as late as in 1835. In those
times, the Indians, and the early settlers after them, made considerable quantities of
sugar from the maple-trees in these groves, especially in Blooming Grove, Randolph
Grove, Dry Grove and Stout's Grove, and some is still made in favorable seasons.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The first settlers in what is now McLean County were Mr. John W. Dawson and
Mr. John Hendrix, who came with their families to Blooming Grove in the
spring of 1822, and settled near its east end. They came from Sangamon County)
which, at that time, included the portion of this county west of the Third Principal
Meridian, and this portion of it, in which they settled, was in Fayette County. In the
summer of the same year, Mr. John Dawson came to join his family in the new home.
In the spring of 1823, the Orendorffs came to the Grove. In 182-1, came the Rhodes
family, and Mr. William H. Hodge, Mr. William R. Goodheart, Mr. William Evans
and Mr. William Dimmitt in 1825. In 1826, came the Guthries, Mr. David Cox and
Mr. William McCullough. In 1827, Dr. Isaac Baker, and, in 1829, the Allen family
came to cast their lot with the pioneers. A fuller account of the early settlement of
Blooming Grove will be found elsewhere in this work.
It is said that Mr. Gardner Randolph came to Randolph Grove in 1822, and Mr.
Alfred M. Stringfield in 1823. In fact, the surveyors of the county, in their noten
212 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
speak of there being a settlement in that Grrove in 1823. In 1824:, the Rutledges and
Mr. Jesse Funk came there ; in 1830, the Passwaters family, Mr. Jacob Bishop and
Mr. Coverdale; in 1830, the Stewarts and the Nobles ; and, in 1834, the Rusts. In
1823, the Bensons came to White Oak Grove and made permanent settlements. In
1824, the Funks and the Stubblcfields came to Funk's Grove and to Mount Hope and
made settlements. In 1825, the Cheneys settled at Cheney's Grove, and the Dicker-
sons at Le Roy, and Mr. E. B. Mitchell at Stout's Grove. In 1826, Mr. Jesse Trim-
mer settled at Money Creek; and, in 1827, Mr. Matthew Robb and the McClures and
the Hudges settled in Stout's Grove. The Spawrs settled in Lexington in 1826 and
1827. In 1828, Mr. Robert H. Johnson came to Dale Township, and the Beelers in
1830. In 1829, Mr. Lawson Downs settled in Downs Township; and, in 1826, came
Mr. Henry Vansickle to Dry Grove, followed by Mr. Stephen Webb and Mr. George
M. Hinshaw in 1827. In 1827, Mr. William M. McCord settled in Gridley Township,
and Mr. John B. Messer in 1829, followed by Mr. John Sloan and the Coons, in after
years. In 1829, Mr. Joseph Messer and the Havenses settled in Hudson, followed, the
next year, by Mr. Benjamin Wheeler and Mr. John Smith — the veritable John Smith.
In 1828, the Henlines settled in Lawndale Township. In 1825, Mr. William
Evans, Jr., settled in Padua, followed by Mr. Daniel Jackson in 183(^, and Mr.
Jeremiah Greenman in 1831. In 1828, Mr. Jesse Walden settled in Towanda Town-
ship.
Such were the chief initial settlements in this county in former times. In 1821,
the country between Blooming Grove and Lake Michigan was one of the grandest
specimens of the "unshorn fields of God" ever presented to the human eye. The
foot-prints of no white man contaminated its soil and tainted the air with his vicious
breath, fragrant of whisky and tobacco. The sole tenant of this vast region, big with
all the elements of future greatness, was one Mr. Lo. Even he was rather an erratic
body, with no fixed habitation, following after his equally erratic food — the champion
tramp of his day.
In those early times, the style of living was quite primitive, and somewhat difi'er-
ent from that of the present. Their dwellings were mostly of the composite style of
architecture, being made up of such material as could be most easily obtained. They
employed very little of the Corinthian style, but much of the Door-ic style. Their
pillars were taken from "God's first temples — the forests." They constructed their
buildings, so as to be adapted to a very economical system of self-ventilation and self-
heating. Being rather a hearty sort of people, they could tolerate the prairie breezes
and the sun's warm visitations. They were not of too delicate a mold to digest their
own food, instead of employing the contents of a drug store to carry on that necessary
process ; nor did they consider it disgraceful to gain their livelihood by personal industry
and constant labor. Very little do the young people of the present day know about the
privations and the hardships through which the first settlers in this county were obliged to
pass. The first settlers were obliged, sometimes, to go to the Wabash, or to Fox River,
to get their grinding d(me. It was not very uncommon to go a distance of fifty miles,
on horse-back, to get their plow-irons shar])ened. Sometimes they constructed sort of
mills, with millstones, cut from the lost rocks found on the prairies. They contrived,
by various means, to pound and crush the grain for their food. It is said that they also
used wooden grindstones, with sand worked into the circumference, to sharpen their
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 213
knives and implements. It was not infrequently, though game was plenty, that they
were out of meat when the preacher came to their houses, and a coon had to he caught.
But it was not always gloomy and sad with them. There was much of good feeling and
sociability among them. Their loves and their hates were demonstrative; and the
sparseness of the population, and the consequent mutual dependence upon each other,
as well in serious occupations as in their amusements, rendered them more helpful and
more hearty in their reciprocal deeds of kindness, and in their social intercourse. There
were not a few, even in this section of the country, whose hearts would respond to the
following, rather boisterous, but cheerful and expressive language of the poet :
" Oh ! to roam, like the i-ivers, through empires of woods,
Where the king of the eagles in majesty broods ;
Or, to ride the wild horse o'er the boundless domain,
And to drag the wild buffalo down to the plain ;
There to chase the fleet stag, and to track the huge bear,
And to face the lithe panther at bay in his lair.
Are a joy which, alone, cheers the pioneer's breast ;
For the only true hunting-ground lies in the West.
" Ho ! brothers, come hither and list to my story —
Merry and brief will the narrative be :
Here, like a monarch, I reign in qiy glory —
Master, am I, boys, of all that I see.
Where once frowned a forest, a garden is smiling —
The meadow and mooi-land are marshes no more ;
And there curls the smoke of my cottage, beguiling
The children, who cluster, like grapes, at the door.
Then enter, boys ; cheerly, boys, enter and rest ;
The land of the heart is the land of the West."
It may be true that the feelings and sentiments expressed in the above lines are
not the prevailing ones here at the present time ; that they are fast fading from the
hearts of the new population, and that their proper meridian is still moving west — ever
west. Yet there are some among us whose hearts still respond to the echoes of the
earlier and more demonstrative times of the past. Many of the early settlers, now
rapidly passing away, still linger among us ; and to them, and to those who have already
passed over, the present generation owes an immense debt of gratitude ; for bravely have
they met the difficulties incident to settling a new country ; and "broadly and well have
they laid the foundations of future prosperity in the county.
MATERIAL DEVELOPMENTS.
As will be seen elsewhere in this work, Tazewell County was created by the State
Legislature at its session of 1826 and 1827. An election was held in that county in
the following spring for county officers, McLean County being substantially embraced
therein. At that election, Messrs. James Latta. George Hittle and Benjamin Briggs
were elected County Commissioners ; Mr. James Benson, of Blooming Grove, was
elected County Treasurer, and Mr. William Orondorff and Mr. Absalom Funk were
securities ; Mr. William Orondorff' was elected Justice of the Peace ; Mr. William H.
Hodge, Sheriff", and Mr. Thomas Orondorff", Coroner.
On the 10th of April, 1827, the County Commissioners held their first court at
the bouse of Mr. William Orondorff. On April 25, of the same year, they held
214 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
their court at the house of Mr. Ephraim Stout, in Stout's Grove, and continued to hold
them there until the public buildings were finished at Mackinawtown, which had been
chosen for the county seat. At the court of the same Commissioners, held June 25,
1827. all that part of Tazewell County east of the Third Principal Meridian and
all north of Town 22 was formed into Blooming Grove Precinct ; and all south of Town
28 and east of Third Principal Meridian, including one range west of said meridian,
in Town 22, formed Kickapoo Precinct.
At the March term, 1829, a road was ordered to be laid out from Jonathan
Cheney's, in Cheney's Grove to the mouth of the Little Vermilion, at the Illinois River,
and the Road District Supervisor was ordered to make the road. The county revenue
of Tazewell County, for 1829, was SI, 061.89, and the expenses, $898.53.
At the first session of the County Commissioners' Court, held at the house of Hon.
James Allen, in Bloomington, for McLean County proper. May IG, 1831, the report
of Messrs. Lemuel Lee and Isaac C. Pugh, Commissioners appointed by the Legisla-
ture to locate the county seat, was received and ordered to be entered on record — said
report locating the said county seat on the land of Mr. James Allen, on the north end
of Blooming Grove. At the same session. Dr. Isaac Baker, Clerk of the Court, was
instructed to give notice, by written advertisements, that a sale of town lots in the town
of Bloomington, on the land donated by Mr. Allen for a county seat, would take place
on the 4th of July, of the same year.
At the June term of the Court, same year, the Commissioners thinking the tax on
land insufficient to defray the expenses of the county, ordered that a tax of one-half per
cent be levied on all property owned in the county. The Court then proceeded to lay
ofi" and designate the election precincts, as follows : All that territory included in Town-
ships 21 and 22 in Range 1 west, 21 and 22 in Range 1 east and 21 in Range 2 east
shall constitute Kickapoo Precinct, and the place of holding elections shall be at William
Murphey's mill; and James H. Scott, Walter McPherson and Frederick Barnett were
appointed Judges of Elections.
Townships 21, 22, 23 and 24 in Ranges 4, 5 and 6 east shall constitute Salt Creek
Precinct, and the place of holding elections shall be at the house of Nathan Britton,
Esq., Jesse Frankerburger, Amos Conaway and Daniel Crumbaugh being appointed
Judges of Elections.
Townships 23 in Range 1 west, 23 and 24 in Range 1 east, 22, 23 and 24 in
Ranges 2 and 3 east, and Sections from 12 to 36 in Town 25, Range 2 east, and
Sections from 16 to 36 in Town 25, Range 3 east shall constitute Bloomington Pre-
cinct, and the place of holding elections shall be in Bloomington; and the Court
appointed Peter McCullough, David Wheeler and Seth Baker Judges of Elections.
Townships 26, 27 and 28 in Ranges 2 and 3 east, Towns 25, 26, 27 and 28 in.
Ranges 4, 5 and 6 east, and Sections from 1 to 12 in Town 25, Range 2 east, and Sec-
tions from 1 to 16 in Town 25, Range 3 east, constituted Mackinaw Precinct, and the
place of holding elections was at John Patten's ; and John Haney, John Patten and
Coon rod Fleshcr were ap[)()inted Judges of Elections.
Townships 24 to 28 north in Range 1 west, and Townships from 25 to 28 in
Range 1 east, shall constitute Painter Creek Precinct, and the place of holding elec-
tions shall be at John Harbert's, and Mathew Robb, William Patrick and Mathew
Bracken are appointed Judges of Pjlections.
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 215
The Cpurt then laid off the Road Districts as follows: Townships 21 and 22 in
Range 1 west shall be called District Number One, and Allen McCay is appointed
Supervisor.
Townships 21 and 22 of Range 1 east shall compose Road District Number Two,
and Jeremiah Greenman is appointed Supervisor.
Townships 21 and 22, Range 2 east, shall compose Road District Number Three,
and Gardner Randolph is appointed Supervisor.
Township 21, Ranges 3 and 4, and west half of Range 5 east, the southwest quarter
of Town 22, Range 5 east, and the south half of Town 22, Ranges 3 and 4 east, shall
compose Road District Number Four, and James Merrifield is appointed Supervisor.
The north half of Town 22, Ranges 3 and 4 east, and the northwest quarter of
Town 22, Range 5 east, the west half of Range 5, Town 23 east, and Town 23 in
Ranges 3 and 4 shall compose Road District Number Five, and James Vanscoyc is
appointed Supervisor. .
The east half of Towns 21, 22 and 23 in Range 5 east, and Townships 21, 22
and 23 in Range 6 east shall compose Road District Number Six, and Robert Cun-
ningham is appointed Supervisor.
Townships 23, 24 and 25 in Range 1 west shall compose Road District Number
Seven, aud Robert McClure is appointed Supervisor.
Townships 23, 24 and 25 in Range 1 east shall compose Road District Number
Eight, and Samuel Barker is appointed Supervisor.
Townships 23, 24 and 25 in Range 2 east, and Townships 24 and 25, Range 3
east, shall compose Road District Number Nine, and David Trimmer is appointed Super-
visor.
The townships beginning at the southwest corner of Town 24 in Range 4 east, and
extending east to the county line, shall compose Road District Number Ten, and John
Haner is appointed Supervisor.
Beginning at the southeast corner of Township 26, Range 3 east, and extending
north and west to the county line, shall compose Road District Number Eleven, and
Young Billberry is appointed Supervisor.
These divisions give a tolerable idea of the relative number of inhabitants in those
early times in different portions of the county, and show who many of them were.
At the same session, William Orondorff, Esq., paid into court a fine of $6, ofl&cially
collected by him from Thomas Wilson and Francis Evans, for assault and battery — the
first transaction of the kind on record in the county. At the same session, Mr. Henry
Miller applied for license to keep a tavern in Bloomington — the first application. The
amount paid was $2. At the July session, Messrs. Frederick and Samuel Troxell
applied for license to vend goods, wares and merchandise in the county of McLean for
one year. License granted for $5 — the first on record.
At the December term, Mr. Robert H. Johnson made application to the Court for
relief in behalf of Sarah Potter, an insane person in his care. Relief was granted —
the first in the county.
At the same term, a petition was presented signed by Jacob Spawr and others,
dated July 27. 1831, praying for a road to be located from Frederick Rook's, on the
Vermilion, thence to William Evans', on the Mackinaw, thence to Jacob Spawr's, on
Money Creek, thence south, crossing Sugar Creek at a point north of Bloomington, and
216 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
below the fork, through Main street, Bloomington, south through Randolph Grrove and
Long Point, to the south line of the county. The petition was granted, and Isaac
Baker, Elbert Dickason and Gardner Randolph appointed Viewers of the same. This
was the first important move of the kind in McLean County proper.
The Court appointed William H. Hodge, John Hendrix and William Orondorff
Trustees of school lands in Town 23 north, Range 2 east ; Ephraim Stout, Robert
Drain and Isaac Sample in Town 24 north. Range 1 west ; John Moore, Gardner Ran-
dolph and Elijah Hedrick in Town 22 north, Range 2 east ; James Murphey, Andrew
Biggs and Samuel Murphey in Town 22 north, Range 1 east ; Walter McPherson,
Benjamin Day and John Glenn, Esq., in Town 21 north, Range 1 east ; and William
Conaway, James Merrifield and Officer Rutledge in Town 22 north. Range 4 east.
At the January term, 1832, a petition was presented to the Court signed by David
Maxwell and others, praying for a road to be established, commencing at the west end of
Front street , in the town of Bloomington, thence to James Toliver's, John Maxwell's,
Samuel Rhodes', Timothy M. Gates', Nathan Low's, John Hougham's, and thence to
Funk's Grove. The petition was granted, and Isaac Baker, James Allen and James
Latta were appointed to view the same and report.
At the March term, a petition was presented to the Court praying to have a road
viewed and located leading from the east end of Front street, in the town of Blooming-
ton, running in nearly a southeast course to Buckles' Grove, on Salt Creek, thence to
the county line in a direction to intersect a road leading from Vermilion County to
Osburn's Grove, on the Sangamon River. The petition was granted, and Isaac Baker,
County Surveyor, Michael Dickerson and Reuben Clearwaters were appointed to view
and locate the road and report.
A petition was presented by Ephraim Stout, also, and others, praying for an altera-
tion of the county road from Decatur to Mackinawtown, commencing at Ephraim
Stout's bridge, and to run north side of David Stout's, thence in a direction to intersect
the old road opposite Jonathan Hodge's house. Petition granted, and Isaac Baker,
Isaac Sample and Isaac Gaskill appointed to review the same and report.
The Court appointed Road District Supervisors for the ensuing year, as follows :
District No. 1, Benjamin Shipley; No. 2, Benjamin Day; No. 3, Elijah Hedrick; No.
4, Alvin Barnett; No. 5, John W. Dawson; No. 6, William M. Riggs ; No. 7, James
Watson ; No. 8, Wolford Wyatt ; No. 9, Seth Baker ; No. 10, John B. Thomas ; No.
11, William C. Moore; No. 12, James Benson; No. 13, William Evans.
A petition was presented, signed by Owen Cheney and others, praying for a road
beginning at the county line opposite to a road leading through Vermilion County to
Osburn's Grove, on the Sangamon River ; thence on the nearest and best route to the
most suitable fording on Salt Creek, in the upper part of Buckles' Grove ; thence on the
nearest and best route to intersect the road leading from the Vermilion Salt Works to
Fort Clark, at William Maxwell's, on Kickapoo Creek ; thence with the said road to the
town of Bloomington. Prayer granted, and Isaac Baker, John Dawson and Daniel
Crumbaugh instructed to make report thereon at the next term.
The Court levied a tax of one-half per cent on the following-described property :
All horses, mulea (and their male parents), neat cattle three years old and over, town
lots, sheep one year old, pleasure carriages, wagons, household property, watches, and all
distilleries.
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 217
At the June term, 1832, the Court established the previously-proposed road from
the Vermilion through Bloomington, on Main street, to the south line of the county at
fifty feet wide ; also the one from the east end of Front street, Bloomington, in a south-
easterly course to Buckles' Grove, at the same width.
The amount of the county revenue collected from taxes for the current year, as
reported to the County Court at the June term, 1832, was $2,313 ; and the amount
paid the County Assessor, Mr. Thomas OrondorfF, was $40.
At the December term, 1832, of the Court, Mr. John Scott, Mr. Ebenezer Barnes,
and Mr. William McGrhee came into Court and made application for the privilege of
proving themselves to have been Revolutionary soldiers. After due investigation, the
Court confirmed their declarations as true. The same was done in the case of Mr.
Thomas Sloan, and his declaration in the matter taken to be correct.
A petition was presented in Court, signed by John Benson and others, praying for
a road to be located from Bloomington to Painter Creek Mill, and thence to Walnut
•Grove, near John Oatman's, in McLean County. Petition granted, and Isaac Baker,
Robert McClure and Josiah Brown appointed as viewers of said road.
A petition was presented, also, signed by Lemuel Evans, Jesse Sutton, and others,
praying a road to be located, beginning at John Funk's farm, in Funk's Grove; thence to
the south to the crossing on Kickapoo, near A. Larison's ; thence through the town plat
of Waynesville, to the county line near Pilot Grove. Petition granted, and Isaac
Baker, Samuel Murphy and Runion Hougham appointed Viewers.
It will readily be inferred, from the districting of the county, the appointment of
township ofl&cers, the location of so many roads, and the frequent mention of so many
names in every direction, that the country, as well as Bloomington, was filling up rapidly
with immigrants. Such was the case. In 1830 and 1831, the prairie turf had been
broken in large quantities, and the decay of such masses of vegetable growth had filled
the atmosphere with malaria, and the fever and ague were very common and severe. In
the winter of 1831, occurred, also the great fall of snow, such as has never been wit-
nessed since. It caused great loss of stock, covered under the snow, and from starvation.
The inhabitants were themselves nearly buried in their dwellings, and intercourse
between the distant neighbors was suspended for weeks. The abundant game in the country
became worthless from starvation, and perished in great numbers from the severity of
the weather. Yet such were the energy and the perseverance of the early settlers, and
the goodly reports which they sent back to their friends of the fertility of the soil and
the magnificent prospects for acquiring good homes and future independence, that immi-
gration continued to pour in, and the material resources of the country were rapidly
developed.
For some years, the style of building was mostly one story high, and the walls
were of hewed logs, very substantial and comfortable. Some of such buildings are still
in use in the city and in the county, in very tolerable condition, some of them from forty to
fifty years old. The roofs were covered with long split shingles, and the chimneys made
up of stone, or sticks and clay. As the early settlers nearly all stuck closely around
the groves, that manner of building was tolerably convenient, and the immediate forest-
trees supplied an abundance of excellent fuel and of rail timber. One of the most
serious discouragements to be met in those days, in settling up this State, was the sickness
caused by malaria. Yet it was not nearly as severe in Illinois as in Indiana and Michigan.
218 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
This was unooubtedly owinir to the scarcity of forests. On this account, and owing to
its fortunate location in reference to rivers, and its elevation, McLean County was then,
as it is now, an exceptionally healthy one.
Later experiences show that the so-much-slighted open, wide prairies are more
healthy than the immediate vicinity of the groves. But the abundance of fuel and the
protection of the groves to man and beast decided the location of the early settlements.
In those days, people ridiculed the idea that the broad prairie, would be settled up for
generations. To obtain boards and plank, they were obliged to saw them by hand from
forest logs, a slow and laborious process ; and when saw-mills were afterward erected,
still the lumber was so expensive and heavy to handle that but little progress was made
on the prairies, for several years. When Chicago began to assume the characteristics
of a town, and became a lumber market, the process of transporting it on wagons a
hundred and fifty miles, the teams hauling up grain and pork, and bringing back boards,
was still too slow to encourage venturing out onto the grassy seas surrounding the
groves. That movement waited the advent of the iron horse, breathing fire and
steam.
Much timber was destroyed by the storm that passed across this county on the
23d of June, 1827. Though it visited Blooming Grove very roughly. Old Town Tim-
ber was the principal scene of destruction marking its pathway. The largest forest-
trees of the most sturdy kinds, were but as playthings in its grasp, as it seized them in
its might, hurling them headlong to the ground, and piling them in promiscuous heaps.
This was far the fiercest storm that has visited this county within the knowledge of the
white man. It is a subject of remark that this county has since been very fortunate in
escaping similar visitations, though they have passed repeatedly over the country several
times, quite near.
At the December term of the Commissioners' Court, Messrs. James Allen and M.
L. Covell, Messrs. John and Samuel Durleyand Mr. Benjamin Haines made application
for license to sell goods, wares and merchandise in the town of Bloomington. The style
of doing business in those days was quite difi'erent from the present one. Each store
was stocked with a miscellaneous assemblage of multitudinous articles then known and
recognized as necessary to meet the few wants and satisfy the simple tastes of earnest
and sensible people in a new country. The merchants and shopkeepers could not then,
as now, send an order on the swift-winged lightning, and receive a bill of goods on the
next day's train.
To replenish their miscellany of goods, wares and merchandise involved the neces-
sity of shinning around among their customers for two or three weeks, to raise the
necessary funds, suflScient at least to pay traveling expenses, and then a trip to Pekin,
by horse-power, and thence by a tub of a steamer, when one was luckily encountered in
its meanderings up and down the Illinois River, in search of sandbars, that were to be
avoided. By this process a replenishment of goods and wares could be obtained from
St. Louis in the short period of two or three weeks, involving, of course, the departure
and return of the swift wagon-train of Mr. Benjamin Depcw and his associates in that
line. We say St. Louis, for Chicago, in those days, knew not itself Or if any of the
business men of the time were bold enough to undertake a pilgrimage to Philadelphia,
for goods, their return was greeted with much welcome by those who still remembered
them.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 219
As we have before said, the Commissioners' Court was held at the residence of Mr.
James Allen ; but at the January term, 1832, the Court resolved to have a Court House ;
it accordingly instructed its Clerk to give public notice that the erection of a building,
which was to be one story high, and 18x30 feet, comfortably finished off in the then
prevailing style, would be sold at public vendue, on the 6th day of March succeeding.
The erection of the building was bid oif by A. Gridley, Esq., for $339.75. The build-
ing was erected according to the contract, located on the west side of the public square,
and accepted by the Court in December of the same year. The Jail was built about the
same time, by Mr. William Dimmitt, at a cost of $321. So the Court House was not
very much ahead; in fact, the Jail was the more substantial building of the two, as
there seemed to be more anxiety about the stay of the prisoners than about that of the
Court.
At the December term, 1832, and at the February term, 1833, the County Com-
missioners' Court granted deeds to the following-named gentlemen, who had bought
town lots in Bloomington at the public sale of said lots on the 4th of July, 1831-
The record of the sale appears not to be obtainable ; but the following are believed to be
substantially the names of the purchasers: James Latta, Martin Scott, A. Gridley,
Nathan Low, William R. Roberson, John Maxwell, Ebenezer Rhodes, Cheney Thomas,
Solomon Dodge, Caleb Kimler, Jesse Frankerberger, Jesse Havens, Frederick Trimmer,
M. L. Covell, John W. Daw.>on, David Wheeler, Alvin Barnett, Jonathan Cheney,
Joseph B. Harbert, Eli Frankerberger, Hezekiah M. Harbert, Richard Gross, William
Harbert, Samuel Durley, Orman Roberson, Baily Kimler, Baily H. Coffey, Lewis
Soward, John W. Harbert, Isaac Baker and Absalom Funk. The sale is said to have
been quite lively and the bidding spirited — the lot on which the McLean County Bank
now stands, bringing the highest price — $52.
At the March term, 1833, a petition was presented signed by Samuel Hoblitt and
others for a road commencing at the county line of Mason and McLean County, near
Long Point, thence to Waynesville, to Napp's mill, thence over the line between Samuel
Hoblitt's and Shipley's, thence to intersect the road to be laid out in Tazewell County
by way of Orondorff's mill to Pekin. Petition granted, and Isaac Baker, Andrew
Brock and Benjamin Shipley appointed Viewers thereof.
So rapid had been the increase of population in the county that, at the same ses-
sion, the Court redivided the county into road districts as follows, which will give a very
good idea of the distribution of the population at that time, and also many of the
names of the early settlers and their location : District No. 1, to commence at the line
between the land of John Kimler and Benjamin Haines ; thence west to the west end of
the causeway near J. Toliver's land ; also on the road from Bloomington south to
the largest branch of Sugar Creek ; and also on the road from Bloomington north to the
middle of Town 24, Range 2 east, and the streets and alleys in Bloomington. John
Kimler was appointed Supervisor.
District No. 2, commencing at the west end of the causeway east of J. Toliver's,
on the county road leading to Funk's Grove, including the inhabitants near said road as
far as' the northwest corner of Isaac Hougham's fence, and those on the west side
of Blooming Grove as far south as Mr. Hinshaw's. James Toliver, Supervisor.
District No. 3, including all the inhabitants on the west side of Blooming Grove,
from Mr. Hinshaw's to Kickapoo Creek, between Seth Baker's and Omen Olney's
220 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
to labor on the road from Sugar Creek, near the north end of Section 16, south to Town
22 north, Range 2 east. J. B. Harbert appointed Supervisor.
District No. -t, to commence at Kickapoo Creek, between Seth Baker's and Omen
Olney's, thence, including all the inhabitants to work on the roads on the east side of the
grove in Town 23 north, as far as the north and west of Mr. Haines' land. William
OrondorflF appointed Supervisor.
District No. 5, the inhabitants of Funk's Grove, John Murphy's Grove, and of
William Johnson's Grove, to work that part of the road leading from Bloomington
to John Funk's, commencing at the northwest corner of Isaac Hougham's farm, thence
to Funk's Grove. John Funk appointed Supervisor.
District No. 6, all the inhabitants of that part of the big grove lying west of the
Third Principal Meridian, and thence west and south to the county line, to work on a road
intended to be opened. Samuel Hoblitt, Supervisor.
District No. 7, to be composed of all of that part of big grove lying east of the
Third Principal Meridian, including Town 21 north. Range 1 east. George Isham
appointed Supervisor.
District No. 8, commencing at Isaac Harrold's, thence westwardly so as to include
all the inhabitants living on the north side of the Vermilion, within the limits of
the county as far west as the county line crosses the south fork of the river Vermilion ;
thence up said stream, including all the inhabitants to the southeast end of the timber
called Epperd's Point, the inhabitants as before jnentioned to work on the road now
located, running from Frederick Rook's to Bloomington as far as the ten-mile post
on said road. Frederick Rook appointed Supervisor.
District No. 9, commencing at the southeast end of Indian Grove, near Martin
Darnell's, thence northeastwardly, following the said grove or creek, so as to include all
the inhabitants east of where Isaac Jordan now lives, on the north side of the Vermilion
River, and to include all the inhabitants living east of the two mentioned points.
Martin Darnell appointed Supervisor.
District No. 10, commencing at the west end of the claim or farm of Isaac Jordan,
where he now lives, on the Vermilion River, so as to include all the inhabitants on both
sides of the grove of timber on said river as far west as where Isaac Harrold now lives
on the said river. Uriah Blue appointed Supervisor.
District No. 11 shall comprehend all the road, and inhabitants to work the same,
from the ten-mile post, north of William Evans', southerly to the prairie south
of Mr. Young's, extending east to the center of Towns 24, 25 and 26 in Range 4,
and east to the junction of Mackinaw and Money Creek Timber. William Young,
Supervisor.
Di-strict No. 12, comprehending the inhabitants and roads commencing at the edge
of the prairie a little south of Mr. Young's, in Mackinaw Timber, thence southerly
through the Money Creek Timber to the center of Town 24 north, in Range 2 east, and
extending east so as to include the grove of Mr. Smith, and west to the junction
of Mackinaw and Money Creek Timber, thence southerly to the center ot Town 24
north, in Range 1 east. Jacob Spawr appointed Supervisor.
Di.strict No. 13, comprehending all the inhabitants in Painter Creek Timber
and Walnut Grove within the county to work on the roads running through their settle-
ments. William McCord, Supervisor.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY, 221
District No. 14, comprehending all that territory in the county west of the follow-
ing line, to wit : Beginning at the center of Town 24 north, in Range 1 east, northerly
to the junction of Mackinaw and Money Creek Timber. Isaac Allen appointed Super-
visor.
District No. 15, comprehending all the inhabitants in Stout's Grove within the
county, to labor on the road from Mackinawtown to Bloomington, from the west line of
the county extending to Dry Grove. Robert McClure, Supervisor.
District No. 16, comprehending all the inhabitants of Dry Grove, Harbert's Grove,
Brow«'s Grove and Mosquito Grove, if in the county, to work the road from the Third
Principal Meridian eastwardly through Dry Grove, and on toward Bloomington to the
west bank of Sugar Creek. Elijah Dixon appointed Supervisor.
District No. 17, shall comprehend all the inhabitants of Long Point and Short
Point, to near Jesse Funk's, to labor on the roads leading south from the north part of
Town 21 , running southerly to the county line. John P. Glenn appointed Supervisor.
District No. 18, comprehending Town 22 north, Range 2 east, including Jesse
Funk, and to labor on roads from north part of Town 21, to the north of Town 22, in
Range 2 east. David Noble appointed Supervisor.
District No. 19, shall comprehend the Towns 22 and 23. Range 3 east. Henry
Manning appointed Supervisor.
District No. 20, comprehending all the inhabitants in Buckles' Grove on the north
and south forks of Salt Creek, in the county, to work the road from Town 22 north,
Range 3 east, to the county line near Osburn's Grove. Silas Waters appointed Super- '
visor.
District No. 21, comprehending all the inhabitants in Old Town Timber, east of
Range 3, except south side within a mile of road from Merrifield's to Dawson's, to work
the road from Range 3 east, eastward to four miles east of John Dawson's. Jeremiah
Greenman, Supervisor.
District No. 22. All the inhabitants in Cheney's Grove to work the road from
county line east of Jonathan Cheney's ; thence westerly to within four miles of John
Dawson's. Benjamin Thomas, Supervisor.
At the same session, on application, the Court granted license to Greenbury Larison
to keep tavern in the town of Bloomington one year, for the sum of $5. The Court
granted also the petition for a road round the southwest side of Bloomington ; a petition
for a road through Big Grove ; and a petition for the alteration of a road southerly
through Randolph Grove. A tax of one-half of one per cent was levied on stock,
animals, personal property and distilleries. The Court, acting as overseers of the poor,
bound Maryann King, a poor girl of eight years, to Gervis Gaylord, as apprentice in house-
wifery until she should be eighteen years of age. This is the first instance of the kind in
the county. License was granted to Benjamin Haines to vend goods, wares and mer-
chandise.
At the June term, on request of John Recob and others, the Court set off the fol-
lowing territory into a separate election precinct, to be called Vermilion Precinct, to wit :
Comprehending all the inhabitants and territory north of a line extending from the
southeasterly part of Indian Grove, westerly to Epperd's Point on Rook's Creek ; thence
northwestwardly, including all the inhabitants on said creek and timber to the county
line, shall constitute said precinct ; and the place of holding elections shall be at Uriah
222 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Blue's, and Martin Darnell, William Popojoj and James C. M. Miller are appointed
Judges of Elections.
Edward F. Patrick and Charles Moore made application for the privilege of prov-
ing themselves Revolutionary soldiers, in order to obtain pensions. Application granted,
and their representations believed to be genuine. At the September term, the Court
executed a deed for Lots 13 and 14, to David Trimmer, being town lots in the town of
Bluomington. At the December term, William Vincent made application for the priv-
ilege of proving himself a Revolutionary soldier. Application granted, and his repre-
sentations believed to be genuine.
At the March term, 1834. an application by Charles Maltby for license to keep
a grocery in the town of Waynesville, McLean County, for one year, was granted. A
petition was presented for the location of a road, beginning at the termination of a
road leading from Shelbyville to the south boundary of this county, near Charles
McCord's ; thence, by the nearest and best route to the head of Mackinaw Timber ;
thence to the Vermilion Timber ; thence to the north boundary of the county, pursuing
the nearest and best route from the head of Mackinaw Timber in the direction of Chicago.
John W. Dawson, Daniel Crumbaugh and William McDowell, appointed Viewers.
William Durley, Esq., presented his report of the sale of Section 16, in Town 24 north,
Range 1 west, accompanied by his resignation as School Commissioner of the county ; and
and the Court thereupon appointed Jesse W. Fell, E.sq , School Commissioner in his stead.
A petition signed by M. L. Covell, Jonathan Hodge and others, for a road from
Bloomington, on the State road, through Dry Grove ; thence past Ephraim Stout's
mill, Jonathan Hodge's, to the county line, to intersect a road laid out in Tazewell
County, to the county line near Isaac Williams'. Petition granted, and Viewers ordered
to report. William Covell was granted license to keep a grocery in the town of Bloom-
ington, one year ; charge for license, $b.
John Toliday applied for the privilege of proving himself a Revolutionary soldier.
Application granted, and his proofs admitted as good and true.
A petition was received, signed by Moses Baldwin and others, for a road, beginning
at a point in the prairie north of Randolph's Grove ; thence through said grove, by way
of Gardner Randolph's, to Frederick Barnard's, in Short Point ; thence to Baker's
mill, on Kickapoo ; thence to Waynesville ; thence to meet a county road that is laid
out from Decatur, in Macon County, at the south line of McLean County. The Court
granted the petition, and appointed Jesse Sutton, Gardner Randolph and F. Barnard to
view and locate the road to Jesse Sutton's, where it may intersect a road to Waynes-
ville, and southwesterly to the county line, and established the road at forty feet in
width. Isaac Baker, Clerk of the Court, reports that the amount of sales of lots in the
town of Bloomington was $963. 92i. A petition, signed by James Weed and others,
for a road to be located from Bloomington to F. Trimmer's, Coonrod Flesher's, to
Epperd's Point, to Uriah Blue's, on the Vermilion ; thence to the county line in the
direction to Chicago. Petition granted, and Viewers appointed.
A petition, signed by Mat hew Robb and others, was presented for a view of a
road from the ford on the Mackinaw where the old Fort Clark trail crosses, known by
the name of Hugh's Ford ; thence to Samuel McClure's ; thence to intersect the State
road leading from Dry Grove U) Mackinawtown. Petition granted, and Samuel
McClure, Samuel McDaniel and Levi Danley appointed Viewers.
V
^
M
■ i
BLOOMINCTON
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. . 225
A petition signed by Alexander W. Breckenridge and others, praying for the
alteration of a county road from William Young's, on the road from Rook's Creek, to
Bloomington, by way of Benjamin Ogden's and Isaac Strowd's ; thence, along the main
leading road until intersecting the State road near Sugar Creek. Petition granted,
and George W. Wallis, Benjamin Ogden and Levi Strowd appointed Viewers, to make
report next term.
At the March term, 1835, Harrison Noble and others petition for an election
precinct, composed of Towns 21 and 22 north, Range 2 ease. The Court grant the
petition, organize the precinct under the name of Middle Precinct, order the elections to
be held at the house of Hiram Buck, and appoint David Noble, John P. Glenn and
George Hand Judges of Elections. Amount of revenue for the year 1833, besides
incidentals, reported to be $712.03.
The Court granted to George W. Wallis permission to erect, under proper
restrictions, a mill-dam and mills on the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of
Section 1 1 , in Town 25 north, Range 3 east ; and to Tebulan G. Cantrill, and to Matthew
McElhiney, each to build a dam and mill, at different points, on the waters of the
Kickapoo. The Court authorize the Sheriff to rent the Court House, under specified
restrictions, as a schooihouse, for $3 per mouth.
The duplicate for tax of the county for 1835 is reported at $1,241,422.
A novelty appears on the records of the Court at the October term, 1835, to the
effect that the " Court directs that notice be given in the IlUnois Rejyuhlican that pro-
posals will be received by said Court on the first Monday in December next for build-
ing a Court House in Bloomington, McLean County, forty feet square, of brick, and
two stories high ; and order the expense to be paid out of the County Treasury for said
notice." This is the first official recognition of the press in McLean County as a
medium of communication between the people and their public servants ; and it con-
tains the very sensible provision for paying therefor.
At the December term, 1835, the Court accepted the report of the Reviewers, and
established the road that lies between Little Kickapoo Creek and Blooming Grove,
intersecting the road leading from Blooming Grove to Randolph Grove, near James B.
Price's, at forty feet in width.
On the same day, Messrs. James Allen and Timothy B. Hoblitt presented the
plat of the town of New Castle, which was approved and certified by the County Com-
missioners. Also, Messrs. A. Gridley and M. L. Covell presented a plat of the town
of Le Roy, which the Commissioners approved and certified.
The appearance of a public newspaper in Bloomington, and the enterprise of lay-
ing out new towns in different portions of the county on the part of its citizens, mark
a new era in the material development of the county, as well as of mental development. A
great influx of immigrants, about those times, had an important influence in inspiring the
former settlers with the idea that, to secure fortunes, all they had to do was to go in.
At the same session, Mr. John W. Baddely applied for license to sell goods, wares
and merchandise at the town of Le Roy (to be), and also to keep a tavern at the same
place ; also, Mr. David Duncan and Mr. R. Post make application to vend goods, wares
and merchandise in the town of Waynesville. Messrs. Allen Withers & Co., and Messrs.
Asahel Gridley, Ortagal Covell and Calvin Carpenter make application for license to
vend goods, wares and merchandise in the county of McLean.
226 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
All tli«se indications of very rapid development, at that time, are unmistakable.
There was no lack of enterprise among early settlers in this county, whatever one may
be disposed to say of their discretion.
At the same term, the Court appointed Thomas H. Haines their attorney, to effect
a loan of $5,0(10, for a term of years, at a rate of interest not to exceed 8 per cent
per annum. This was done preparatory to making arrangements to build a Court
House.
At a special term of the County Commissioners' Court, January 20, 1836, the
Court proceeded to make ax'rangements for contracting with Leander Munsell, of Edgar
County, in said State, for building a Court House for the county of McLean; when,
after taking the subject into careful examination, and hearing the proposition of the
said Leander Munsell, a wi'itten contract was agreed upon for a brick building, 40x45
feet square, two stories high, finished in five rooms, the court-room on the lower floor,
with a gallery and all other conveniences, particularly specified in said agreement, for
the sum of $6,375, with interest on $5,375, after the completion of said job, at 8 per
cent, until paid, and to be paid on or before the expiration of twenty years ; and other
particulars specified in said article of agreement, reference thereto being had. On the
next day, the articles of agreement were signed by the contracting parties.
At the March term, 1836, of the Commissioners' Court, there were numerous
applications for license to carry on business by various parties, and petitions for new
roads and amendments to old ones — all showing great activity. There were also several
applications for writs of ad quod damnum, in reference to how much dam each applicant
might employ in order sufficiently to raise the water to run a mill. Another unmistaka-
ble evidence of rapid improvement.
On settling with the County Treasurer, the amount coming into his hands during
the previous current year was found to be $1,303.88. The Court levied the usual rate,
one-half of one per cent tax on town lots, except in Bloomington, on cattle, carriages
and other personal property.
At the June session of the Court, a plat of the town of Versailles, in McLean
County, was presented, approved and certified. A. and I. M. Richardson make appli-
cation for license to keep a grocery in said town of Versailles, and Hopkins & Beatty
apply for license to sell goods, wares and merchandise in the said town. James O.
Barnard presented the plat of the town of Wilkesborough, as laid out by him, together
with the certificate accompanying the same, which was approved and certified by the
Court.
The town of Lexington was laid off by Messrs. Gridley and Brown, and the town
of Concord by Messrs. Isaac W. Hall and Mathew Robb. The town of Hudson was
laid out the same year by a company in which Mr. John Magoun and Mr. S. P. Cox
were interested. Mount Hope Colony, consisting of Rhode Island immigrants, entered
lands and commenced, the following year, to make settlements. The Hudson company
entered 12,600 acres, and the Mount Hope company 8,000 acres. Several additions
were made to the town of Bloomington, and the immigration showed that the town and
the surrounding country were appreciated.
It is believed by those who have reflected upon the subject that the population ol
the county, in the spring of 1832, was fully two thousand. From the incidental men-
tion of names in the districting of the county as just given, it will be seen that
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUIJTY. 227
settlements had been commenced in the near vicinity of most of the groves, and some of
them were pretty well surrounded by farms. The county seemed now to be fairly set
upon its feet, and to have nothing in its way to prevent its entering upon a course of
prosperity. Though there was really no market for the agricultural productions of the
farmers outside of the county, yet the people could raise plenty to eat, and their plain
and simple manner of life did not subject them to much expense ; and the rapid ingress
of immigrants consumed a portion of their surplus productions. When an excess of
animal propensities, for the time being, ruled individuals or collections of persons, they
had now places where they could get on a bender, plenty of room to fight, and no police
to interfere ; but they had Justices to assess fines upon them, when they chose to indulge
in such little pastimes, and Constables to collect them, and a Commissioners' Court,
through which such fines, if they should happen to be paid, would reach the county
treasury, where they would do the most good. But most persons were then too busy,
and had too much good sense to indulge in such luxuries.
In 1836, the population of Bloomiogton had increased from 150, in 1833, to 450 ;
and that of the county had increased, in the same time, from 2,000 to 5,000. The town
of Lytleville came into existence, also, this year, and an addition was made to it the fol-
lowing March, by Mr. John Baldwin. Like several of its kin, born in those days, it is
still a littleville, though it has mills, churches, schools and worthy citizens.
The people came into the country on steamboats, flatboats, on horse-back, on wagons
drawn by horses, mules, oxen and even cows ; and not a few patronized the foot and
walker line.
In December, 1836, after a warm spell of weather, with occasional rain, turning
the snow to slush, there came one evening the most sudden and severe change of weather
ever known in this country. All at once, the icy breath of a northwestern storm, mov-
ing with fearful rapidity, swept over the country and almost instantly turned to ice the
falling, the running and the standing water exposed to its touch. Its force and severity
were irresistible; and tradition tells of great and intolerable suffering to man and beast
from its fearful visitation.
About these times, several men settled in Bloomington, some of them afterward
removing into the country, who, with their hands as well as with their heads and their
means, greatly helped to develop the capabilities of this county. Hon. John Moore, after-
ward in the State Legislature, Lieutenant Grovernor and State Treasurer, was, in those
early times, the " wagon-maker '' of Bloomington, and subsequently a successful farmer.
Messrs. David Trimmer, Lewis Bunn, Joshua Fell and others plied the blacksmith art.
Thomas Williams, Thomas Fell and William F. Flagg built generally, and Abraham
Brokaw, then as now, incessantly built the plow.
The Court agreed with Leander Munsell to amend a former contract for his build-
ing a Court House, so that instead of a building 40x45 feet and 26 feet high, it
shall be 422 feet square and 32 feet high, with other alterations; and for the said
alterations, the Court promised to pay the said Leander Munsell the further sum of
$1,680.
Jesse W. Fell, Esq., resigned the School Commissionership of the county and the
Court appointed Cheney Thomas, Esq., his successor.
The Court appropriated $500 out of the county funds as part of the first payment
to L. Munsell on Court House contract.
228 HISTORY OF McLean county.
At the September terin, ISi^G, tlic Court accepted the Court House as finished
accordin"- to contract with Mr. Leander Munsell, and paid him the balance of the first
payment, §1,000.
The Court estabUshed the tarifi" for license to vend goods, wares and merchandise
in Bloomington, the ensuing year, at $15 ; to keep tavern, the same, and to keep a
o^rocery, S12. In Wayne.«ville, for similar license, $12 and $10 ; in all other towns in
the county, $9 and $8, and at other places in the county, $6, irrespectively.
The closing terms of the Court for 183l), were marked by many applications for
licenses to do business of various kinds, by petitions for new roads and alterations in
former ones, and for permission to construct dams and mills in all directions, in the
county, all showing great activity and enterprise.
At the first term of the Court, for 1837, a tax of one-half of one per cent was levied
on town lots, excepting Bloomington, and on cattle and other stock, wagons, carriages and
personal property.
Mr. M. Scott, Sheriff and Collector, reported the available revenue of the county
for 183G to be $1,425.95.
At the December term, the Court examined the condition of the County Jail, and
finding it unfit for use or repair, ordered the Clerk to have notice given in the Blooming-
ton Observer that proposals will be received at the March term, for the erection of a
jail for the county.
At the June term, 1838, the Court settled with the County Collector, M. Scott,
for the revenue for 1837, amounting to $1,863.82. During this year, there continued
to be many applications for licenses to do business, petitions for roads, and for permission
to construct dams and erect mills.
The amount of the tax, one-half per cent, for the year 1838, on lands and personal
property, was $1,983.34.
The tax levied by the Court in 1839 was one-fourth of one per cent. At the
December term, 1839, the Jail which Dr. Isaac Baker had contracted to build for $290,
to be completed by September, 1840, was so near completion, and such disposition shown
to finish it up as soon as possible, that the Court accepted the same for immediate
use.
At the June term, 1840, the Court appointed Jacob Spawr Commissioner to take
the enumeration of the inhabitants of McLean County, for 1840. The taxes for the
year 1839. amounted to $2,442.75. The amount of the taxes for the year 1840, for
the county, was $3,492.78. The amount of the taxes in the county for the year 1841
was $4,(i57.10.
At the December term, 1842, the Court appointed Davis and Colton to act as
agents on behalf of the county of McLsan, to demand from and receive of the County
Commissioners' Court of Woodford County the sum of $190, their portion of interest
now due from said county of Woodford to the county of McLean on the debt of the
McLean County Court House. It will be borne in mind that Woodford County was
created in 1841, and took a portion of the territory formerly belonging to McLean
County off the northwest corner thereof; hence, the ground for this demand. It may
a.s well be mentioned here, pi^rhaps, as in any other place, that the report formerly in
circulation in reference to the peculiar form of the piece of territory in ([uestion. that it
was 80 shaped for political purposes, is erroneous ; and tiie reason for the peculiarity
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 229
must be sought in the provision that, in forming n^w counties, no county line shall be
within twelve miles of the Court House of any county seat.
The development of the material resources of the county was, during these years,
very slow ; in some respects it stood still, and even went backward. Violent changes in
financial policy, with temporary and silly expedients, and general and rash speculative
operations in real estate, had produced their inevitable results, and almost universal pros-
tration was experienced in all parts of the country, beginning earlier in the East, and
now falling upon the West with fearful effects. Credit was gone ; of money there was
little or none. No market for agricultural productions, manufactures at ruinous prices,
no adequate wages could be paid for labor, and continuous failures of business men,
from the impossibility of collections, turned to folly the wisdom of the wise, greatly
weakened the confidence of man in his fellow-men, and threatened the dissolution of the
social relations of society. Compared with those times, the present gloomy times are as
comparative prosperity. Although the state of aff"airs was improving in the East, and
something like cheerfulness and moderate prosperity returning, so great were the diffi-
culties and the expenses of getting the productions of the West into market, that there
was very little or nothing left to the producer, and as immigration had come nearly to a
stand-still, there was no home market.
That the county revenue for 1842 amounted to only $1,029.01 is a most conclu-
sive evidence of the fearful condition of the material interests of the people. City lots in
Bloomington were scarcely quotable at $5, and many of them were abandoned by East-
ern owners, rather than to pay the taxes on them.
As the territory of the county had been much reduced by the creation of sur-
rounding counties, the Court, at its March term (1843), reconstructed the county into
the following precincts :
Bloomington Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the fol-
lowing limits, to wit : Commencing at the northeast corner of Section 24, Township
24 north, Range 3 east, thence west to the northwest corner of Section 22, Township
24 north. Range 1 east; thence south to the southwest corner of Section 15, Town-
ship 23 north. Range 1 east; thence east one mile; thence south to the town line
dividing 22 and 23 north ; thence east to range line dividing Ranges 2 and 3 east ;
thence north to town line dividing Towns 23 and 24 north ; thence east to range line
dividing Ranges 3 and 4 east ; thence north to the place of beginning ; and that
elections are to be held at the town of Bloomington.
Middle Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the following
limits, to wit : Commencing at the southeast corner of Section 9, Township 21 north,
Range 3 east ; thence north to the northeast corner of Section 21, Township 22 north.
Range 3 east; thence west to the range line dividing Ranges 2 and 3 east; thence
north to the town line dividing 22 and 23 north ; thence west to the northwest corner
of Section 2, Township 22 north, Range 1 east; thence south to the county line ;
thence east to the place of beginning ; and that the place of holding elections in said
precinct be at the town of Lytleville, until otherwise altered by the Court.
Mackinaw Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the fol-
lowing limits, to wit : Commencing at the southwest corner of Township 24 north,
Range 4 east ; thence north to the north side of Money Creek ; thence down said
Money Creek to Mackinaw Creek ; thence north to the middle of Township 26 north ;
230 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
thence west to the county line of Woodford County ; thence along the county line of
Woodford County to the northwest corner of Livingston County ; thence east to the
northeast corner of Township 26 north, Range 5 east ; thence south nine miles ; thence
east six miles to the county line ; thence south three miles to the southeast corner of
Township 25 north, 6 east; thence west to the southwest corner of the southeast
quarter of Section 32, Township 25 north. Range 4 east ; thence south to the town line
dividing Towns 23 and 24 north ; thence west to the range line dividing Ranges 3 and
4 east ; thence north to the place of beginning ; and that the place of holding elections
in said precinct shall be in the town of Lexington, until otherwise altered by the Court.
St. Clairville Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the
following limits, to wit : Commencing at the southwest corner of the northeast quar-
ter of Section 8, Township 22 north, Range 4 east ; thence east to the county line ;
thence north to the northeast corner of Township 24 north, Range 6 east ; thence west
along the town line dividing Towns 24 and 25 north, to the northwest corner of the
northeast quarter of Section 5, Township 24 north. Range 4 east ; thence south to the
place of beginning ; and that the place of holding elections shall be in the town of
St. Clairville for said precinct, until otherwise altered by the Court.
Salt Creek Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the follow-
ing limits, to wit : Commencing on the county line at the southwest corner of Section
10, Township 21 north. Range 3 east ; thence east on the county line to the southeast
corner of Section 12, Township 21 north. Range 6 east ; thence north to the northeast
corner of the southeast quarter of Section 12, Township 22 north, Range 6 east ;
thence west to the range line dividing Ranges 3 and 4 east ; thence south to the south-
west corner of Section 18, Township 22 north, Range 4 east; thence west to the north-
west corner of Section 22, Township 22 north. Range 3 east; thence south to the
place of beginning ; and that the place of holding elections in said precinct shall be
at Le Roy, until otherwise altered by the Court.
Price's Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the following
limits, to wit : Commencing at the southwest corner of Section 18, Township 22
north, Range 3 east ; thence east to the range line dividing Ranges 3 and 4 east ;
thence north to the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of Section 12, Township
22 north. Range 3 east; thence east to the northeast corner of the southwest quarter
of Section 8, Township 22 north. Range 4 east ; thence north to the township line
dividing 23 and 24 north ; thence west to the range line dividing Ranges 2 and 3 east ;
thence south to the place of beginning ; and that the place of holding elections in
said precinct shall be at Price's Schoolhouse until otherwise altered by the Court.
Hudson Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the following
limits, to wit: Commencing at the southeast corner of Section 13, Township 24 north,
Range 2 east ; thence north to Money Creek ; thence down said creek to Mackinaw
Creek ; thence north to the middle of Town 26 north ; thence west to the county line
of Woodford County ; thence in a southwesterly direction along the county line ot
Woodford County to the southwest corner of Section 20, Township 25 north, Range 1
ea«t; thence east to the southeast corner of Section 21, Township 25 north, Range 1
east ; thence south to the southwest corner of Section 15, Township 23 north. Range 1
east ; thence cast to the place of beginning ; and the place of holding elections in said
precinct sliall be at Hudson, until altered by the Court.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 231
Concord Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the follow-
ing limits to wit : Commencing at the southwest corner of Section 18. Township 2.3
north, Range 1 west; thence north to county line of Woodford County ; thence east on
the county line to the northwest corner of Section 29, Township 25 north, Range 1
east ; thence east to the northeast corner of Section 28, Township 25 north. Range 1
east; thence south to the southeast corner of Section 16, Township 23 north. Range 1
east; thence west to the place of beginning; and the place of holding elections in said
precinct shall be in Concord, until otherwise altered by the Court.
Johnston's Precinct to be composed of and include the territory within the follow-
ing limits, to wit : Commencing at the southwest corner of Section 7, Township 21 north.
Range 1 west; thence east on the county line to the southeast corner of Section 10,
Township 21 north. Range 1 east ; thence north to the northeast corner of Section 22
north. Range 1 east ; thence west to the county line ; thence south to the place of begin-
ning ; and that the place of holding elections in said precinct shall be at the house of
Lee Daniel, Esq., until otherwise altered by the Court.
The Court then appointed the following-named persons to serve as Judges of Elec-
tions in the several precincts, as follows: In Bloomington Precinct, James B. Price,
Benjamin Depew and James Miller ; in Johnston's Precinct, James Murphy, Daniel
Proctor and William Hougham ; in Concord Precinct, William Gilson, Jeremiah S. Hall
and Israel D. Janes; in Hudson Precinct, James T. Gildersleeve, Samuel P. Cox and
Isaac Hinthorn ; in Mackinaw Precinct, James Vandolah, James R. Dawson and Will-
iam Popejoy; in St. Clairsville Precinct, Jeremiah Greenman, Thomas D. Gilmore and
Ezekiel Arrowsmith ; in LeRoy Precinct, William Conaway, Silas Waters and Malan
Bishop ; in Price's Precinct, William Bishop, Elias H. Wall and Jesse Adams ; in Mid-
dle Precinct, Samuel Turman, Thomas 0. Rutledge and Charles Leeper.
At the June term, 1843, the Court paid on the interest due to the bondholders of
the Court House indebtedness, through Messrs. Davis & Colton, Agents, $1,100. A
portion of it was in State Bank of Illinois bills, at 40 per cent discount. The Court
levied for the current year a tax for county purposes of one-fifth of one per cent on the
taxable property of the county. The county revenue for 1843 was $2,440.95.
At the March term of the County Commissioners' Court, 1814, a bounty ordered
to be paid for each wolf killed in the county, known as the big wolf, was $2, and $1 for
each prairie wolf, of six months old. This was the first similar bounty offered in the
county. At the June term, the Court ordered the County Treasurer to pay $40(» on
the interest due on the Court House bonds. For the current year, the Court levied a
tax of two-fifths of one per cent, for county purposes, on the taxable property in the
county. The Court let out to the best bidders, the building of a bridge across Mackinaw
Creek, near Lexington; one across Kickapoo Creek, on the road from Bloomington to
Le Roy ; and one over Big Kickapoo Creek, iu Randolph Grove, on the road from
Bloomington to the south line of the county — the three bridges to cost $527.
At the March term, 1846, the Court awarded $50 to be paid to any person who
should pursue and apprehend any person guilty of stealing a horse within McLean
County, if apprehended outside of the county, upon his conviction. The Court levied
a tax of three-tenths per cent for county revenue ; also, that every able-bodied man
from twenty-one to fifty years of age, should work two days on the public roads for the
year 1846. The Court contracted with Mr. William F. Flagg, to build a bridge
232 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
according to specifications, across Sugar Creek, on the road leading from Bloomingt on-
to Peoria, for the sum of $2r)0, to be completed in June of the current year.
The county revenue, for the year 1844, amounted to $4,966.60. At the June
term, the Court ordered the Treasurer to pay the interest on the Court House bonds
then due, to the amount of $1,641.34. At the special July term, the Court contracted
with B. E. Dodson to build a bridge across Salt Creek, two miles east of Le Roy, on
the road leading from Bloomington to Danville, for $240. The county revenue, for
the year 1845, amounted to $3,7()6.5(i.
At the March term, 1847, the Court levied a tax, for county revenue, of three-
tenths per cent. The Court appropriated $50 for the building of a bridge on the road
leading from Bloomington to John Bishop's old place.
At a special term of the Commissioners' Court, April 29, 1848, the Court con-
tracted -with Mr. William F. Flagg to build, according to specifications, a County Jail in
Bloomington, for $2.0(i5, with a dwelling for Sheriff included, said building to be
completed by the 1st of December of the current year. The county revenue for the
year 1846, amounted to $3,897.96; and for the year 1847, the county revenue
amounted to $4,077.12.
At the March term, 1849, the Court made appropriations for building bridges in
McLean County, as follows: $15(( for the building of a bridge across the Mackinaw
at John Thompson's; $125 for repairing the bridge near Lexington across the Mack-
inaw ; $500 for building a bridge acrops the Mackinaw, on the road leading from
Bloomington to Hennepin and Ottawa; $100 for a bridge across Money Creek, on the
State road leading from Bloomington to Chicago; $150 for building a bridge across
Sugar Creek, on the road leading from Bloomington to Hennepin ; $150 for building a
bridge across the Kickapoo, on the road leading from Bloomington to Cheney's Grove ;
$1 50 for building a bridge across Sugar Creek, on the State road leading from Bloom-
ington to Springfield; $150 for building a bridge across Sugar Creek, in Johnston's
Precinct; and $150 for building a bridge across Little Kickapoo, on the road leading
from Bloomington to Le Roy.
The Court ordered that every able-bodied man, from twenty-one to fifty years of age
inclusive, shall work three days on the public roads in McLean County — the said men
being residents thereof — for the year 1849; and appropriated $75 for the building of a
bridge across the slough on the Waynesville road, near Martin L. Bishop's and Harri-
son Noble's. The records show that the actual cost of building the bridges above men-
tioned, owing to changes of conditions, jilans, and other causes, to much more than the
ap|)ropriations stated — from 25 to 100 per cent more.
At the December term, 1849, the County Commissioners' Court was succeeded by
the County Court, consisting of one Presiding Judge and two Associate Justices. At
the same term, the new Jail was accepted as far us finished, and $1,000 ordered to be
jiaid to Messrs. Flagg &; Ewing on their contract to build the said Jail and
dwelling. The county revenue tor the year 1849 amounted to $4,613.95. The
c<»unty revenue for the year 1850 and 1851 was $9,270.28. In 1852, the revenue was
$5,993.07.
in 184.'t, the Caliloriiia gold excitement was sufficiently strong to induce quite a
number ol" the citizens of McLean County t(» seek the favors of fickle Fortune in that
distant and wild country. The adventure was full of chances ; the joiu'ney was of
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 233
great length, beset with many difficulties, and not a few dangers ; and the prospect of
suddenly acquiring large amounts of the precious metal was very uncertain. But the
recent Mexican war, and the spirit of adventure natural in a new and vast country,
together with the recent several years of hard times, were sufficient to outweigh all
doubts and difficulties. Among the large number who went from this county, we
remember Messrs. G. B. Larison, Seth H. Adams, Maj. W. Packard, Daniel
Robinson, Dr. William Elder, Lyman Ferre, John H. Wickizer, John M. Lov-
ing and William H. Evans. Our recollection in the matter is, that' our fellow-citizens
brought back with them more experiences than they did gold ; and that none of them
made fortunes. Be this as it may, the influence of the golden stream that soon
began to flow East was sensibly felt, and helped to lift the gloom that pervaded the
country.
But the railroad enterprise that had begun to revive among the active and energetic
public men of the times contributed very largely to restore confidence among the citi-
zens of Illinois ; and in no county in the State more than in McLean. There was a
tradition among us that the Central Railroad, which had already an existence on paper,
if revived, would pass through this county ; so, that when the new charter was obtained
in 1850, and a strong company took hold of it, the feeling of coming prosperity and a
general appreciation of the great inducements to capital and emigrants to locate in
Illinois were no where more active than in McLean County. Within three years, the
cars were running through Bloomington on the Central and on the Chicago, Alton &
St. Louis Railroads. Real estate rose rapidly, building went on actively, business
revived, markets were brought within reach, lumber was plenty, immigration set in again,
and farmers began to venture out upon the ocean of fertile lands that everywhere sur-
rounded the island-like groves.
Though the prices of agricultural products were not high, they would, at least,
bring something, and that readily. When the farms on the prairies were comparatively
new, and the soil light and fresh from the recently-decayed turf, fine crops of excellent
wheat were raised, even white wheat of the best quality was quite common.
In procuring the charter of the Central Railroad — the father of several other roads
in the State — the people of Illinois are greatly and lastingly under obligations to the able
eff"orts of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, as well as in assisting to set it on its feet and
put it in motion. So, in reference to locating the route of the road so as to pass through
Bloomington, our citizens owe much to the efforts of Judge Davis, Gen. Gridley and
Jesse W. Fell, Esq. There was a disposition to run the road through this county some
seven or eight miles east of Bloomington, and to build up a rival business point to com-
pete with Bloomington, and possibly, in time, to change the location of the county seat.
But the eff"orts of the above-named gentlemen, assisted by others, prevented it. In
fact, it would have required a pretty strong leaning in that direction to have resisted the
ability and influence of Judge Davis, the ready talents and quick perception of Gen.
Gridley, and the shrewdness and indefatigable efforts of Jesse W. Fell, Esq., who seems
to have a universal genius for aiding all commendable enterprises. This latter gentle-
man took also a very active interest in the Chicago & Alton Railroad, which was not
very far behind the Central in penetrating the territory of the county. Any county is
fortunate in having among its citizens men of such abilities to labor in developing its
natural capabilities and securing its rights.
2M HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
A pretty good idea of the rapid improvement in the development of the material
resources of McLean County may be formed from the great increase in the county
revenue, and in the population. In 185li, the county revenue amounted to $5,993.07 ;
but, in 1853, it amounted to S15,299.38. In 184(1, the population of the county
amounted to 6,505 ; in 1850, it was 10,163, an increase of something more than one-
half, while the people were staggering under and recovering from the financial storm
and crash of the time. In 1800, the population of the county was 28,772, an increase
of something more than twice and two-thirds times that of 1850. This was the era of
railroad construction and of immigration consequent thereupon.
It may not be without interest to glance hastily at the diflPerent parts of the county
in former times. In 1850, the population of Brooks' Grrove was 135 ; of Blooming-
ton, 2,500 ; of Buckles' Grove, 755 ; of Cheney's Grove, 251 ; of Harley's Grove, 42 :
of Twin Grove, 252 ; of Stout's Grove, 839 ; of Diamond Grove, 42 ; of Dry Grove,
294; of Le Roy, 210; of Funk's Grove, 210 ; of Hudson, 336 ; of Money Creek,
377; of Randolph Grove, 1,176 ; of White Oak Grove, 252. Several of these places,
-and others not then in existence, have now grown to considerable towns, with churches,
schools, stores, offices and shops.
The county revenue for 1854 amounted to $17,486.22. The county revenue for
1855 amounted to $24,221.65.
NORMAL SCHOOL.
At the March term of the County Court, 1857, the following statement was put
upon the records :
In the matter of Appropriation for Normal University :
Whereas, By acts of Congress approved March the 2d, 1849, and September 28. 1850, aud
the various other acts amendatory thereto, the •' Swamp and Overflowed Lands " belonging to the
Government of the United States were granted to the several States in which they were respect
ively situated, under certain restrictions therein imposed, or, in lieu thereof, the proceeds aris-
ing from the sales of the same ; and
Whereas, By a further act of Congress, approved March 8, 1857, said swamp and over-
flowed lands selected under the acts aforesaid, so far as the same remain vacant and unappro-
priated, are confirmed to the several States in which they are situated ; and
Whereas, The Legislature of the State of Illinois has surrendered said lands or the pro-
ceeds arising from their sale to the counties, resjiectively, in which the same are situated, to be
applied, under the direction of the County Courts or Supervisors' Courts, to educational or such
other objects as they maj* deem proper ; and
Whereas, also, In pursuance of an act of the General Assembly of said State, a State
Normal University, endowed by a grant of the interest arising from the College and Seminary
funds, is about to be located at some suitable point that may otfer inducements thereto :
Therefore, Ordered, The County ("ourt of McLean County, do hereby appropriate $50,000 of
the first moneys received by this Court, under or by operation of the various acts above referred
to, in aid of said University ; saiil appropriation to be made ujion the following restrictions
only :
First — That the whole of said fund thus appropriated by said Court be expended in erect-
ing the necessary building or buildings for said " Noi-mal University," and to be paid over only
as needed for the ol*ject before specified, to the •' Board of Education of the State of Illinois,"
by orders signed by A. .J. Merrinian, or such other person or persons as this Court may there-
after designate.
Second — That said "Normal University" be located within the limits of the county of
McLean.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 235
At a special term of said Court, held May 1, 1857, this further action was taken :
In the matter of an Appropriation for Normal University :
Whereas, Many citizens of the county having made application to the Court for a further
appropriation out of the "Swamp-Lands Fund," for the purpose of aiding in erecting suitable
buildings for said " Normal University ; "
Therefore, Ordered, That we, the County Court of McLean County, do hereby appropriate
1^20,000 out of the first moneys received by this county from said Swamp-Lands Fund, in aid of
said University ; said appropriation to be made upon the following restrictions only :
Fii-st — That the whole of said fund thus appropriated by said county be expended in erect-
ing the necessary building or buildings for said " Normal University," and to be paid over only
as needed for the object before specified, to the " Board of Education of the State of Illinois,"
by orders signed by A. J. Merriman, or such other person or persons as this Court may hereafter
designate.
Second — That said Normal University be located within the limits of the county of
jNIcLean.
The county revenue for the year 1856 amounted to $25,110.39. At the Decem-
ber term of the County Court, the report to the Court of the result of the vote on
township organization, at the previous November election, was, that the majority in
favor of such organization was 1,323 votes. At the same term, Messrs. James Gil-
more, Sr., Hadley J. Short and Silas Waters were appointed a committee to divide the
county into townships, according to law.
Exactly how McLean County came to get the " Normal University," at the last
moment, was known, at the time, to very few persons, and it is probably not known at
present to many. At the meeting held in Peoria in May, 1857, at which the bids were
to be opened, and the University was to be located where the largest and best induce-
ments were offered, Peoria was the most formidable rival of Bloomington. As may be
seen above, McLean County had offered, in addition to individual subscriptions, $50,000
toward the erection of the buildings. It seems that Peoria had prepared about equal
inducements ; and, by an ungentlemanly betrayal of confidence, the Peoria committee
had found out the amount of inducements proposed by the Bloomington committee, and
forthwith there was a stir among the Peoria men to raise additional amounts ; and they
intended to do so at any rate, even by putting in supposititious subscriptions. One of
the Bloomington men, learning the game, telegraphed the case to the writer of this
reminiscence. The circumstances were immediately communicated to A. J. Merriman,
Esq., County Judge, and, as the time would not admit of calling together the Asso-
ciate Justices of the county to take action. Judge Merriman, at his own personal risk,
had himself called to hold a special term of the County Court. He assembled himself
together, accordingly, and subscribed the additional $20,000. Meantime, the Bloom-
ington men managed to have the decision put off, at Peoria, until afternoon ; and, when
the proposals were finally announced from the different localities, the solid $70,000 of
McLean County came down upon the astonished conspirators and carried off the prize.
Of course, the transaction would have involved Judge Merriman in severe financial
embarrassment had his Associates repudiated his action ; but no such unpleasant con-
sequences resulted. This will do for an illustration of the spirit of the citizens of
McLean County, and of their confidence in each other ; and it will help to explain why
McLean County has not allowed itself to be rivaled, in private and in public enterprises,
by its sister-counties.
236 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
DIVISION OF COUNTY.
At the March term of the Court, the Committee on Division of the County into
Townships reported, and their report, afterward slightly changed as to names, was sub-
Btantially abopted by the Supervisors' Court, and is as follows, to wit :
Town No. 1. Sections from 1 to 12 inclusive, in Township 21, and all of Town-
ship 22 north, of Range 1 west of the Third Principal Meridian, and named Mount
Hope.
Town No. 2. All of Township 23 north, of Range 1 west of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Allen.
Town No. 3. All of Township 24, and the southwest half of Sections 25, 26, 27,.
28, 29 and 30, together with all of Sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, in Township 25
north, of Range 1 west of the Third Principal Meridian, and named Danvers.
Town No. 4. Sections from 1 to 12, inclusive, in Township 21, and all of Town-
ship 22 north, of Range 1 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and named Funk's
Grove.
Town No. 5. All of Township 23 north, of Range 1 east of the Third Principal
Meridian, and named Dale.
Town No. 6. All of Township 24 north, of Range 1 east of the Third Principal
Meridian, and named Dry Grove.
Town No. 7. All of Township 25 north, of Range 1 east of the Third Principal
Meridian, which lies in the said county, and named White Oak.
Town No. 8. Sections from 1 to 12, inclusive of Township 21 and all of Township
22 north, of Range 2 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and named Randolph.
Town No. 9. All of Township 23 north, of Range 2 east of the Third Principal
Meridian, and named Bloomington.
Town No. 10 All of Township 24 north, of Range 2 east of the Third Principal
Meridian, and named Normal.
Town No. 1 1 . All of Township 25 north, of Range 2 east of the Third Principal
Meridian, and named Hudson.
Town No. 12. Sections from 1 to 12, inclusive of Township 21, and all of Town-
ship 22 north, of Range 2 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and named Downs.
Town No. 13. All of Township 23 north of Range 3 east of the Third Principal
Meridian, and named Old Town.
Town No. 14. All of Township 24 north, of Range 3 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Towanda.
Town No. 15. All of Township 25 north, of Range 3 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Money Creek.
Town No. 16. All of Township 26 north, of Range 3 east together with the
ea.st half of Township 26 north, of Range 2 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and
named Gridlcy.
Town No. 17. Sections from 1 to 12 inclusive, in Township 21, and all of Town-
ship 22 north, of Range 4 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and named Empire.
Town No. 18. All of Township 23 north, of Range 4 east of the Third Prin-
cijial Meridian, and named Padua.
Town No. 1 9. All of Tijwiiship 24 north, of Range 4 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Blue Mound.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 237
Town No. 20. All of Township 25 north, of Range 4 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Lexington.
Town No. 21. All of Township 26 north, of Range 4 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Chenoa.
Town No. 22. Sections from 1 to 12 inclusive, in Township 21, and all of
Township 22 north, of Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and named
West.
Town No. 2.3. All of Township 23 north, of Range 5 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Arrowsrnith.
Town No. 24. All of Township 24 north, of Range 3 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Martin.
Town No. 25. All of Township 25 north, of Range 5 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Lawndale.
Town No. 26. All of Township 26 north, of Range 5 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Yates.
Town No. 27. Sections from 1 to 12 inclusive of Township 21, together with all
of Township 22 north, of Range 6 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and named
Belleflower.
Town No. 28. All of Township 23 north, of Range 6 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Cheney's Grove.
Town No. 29. All of Township 24 north, of Range 6 east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, and named Anchor.
Town No. 30. All that portion of Township 25 north, of Range 6 east of the
Third Principal Meridian, belonging to McLean County, and named Cropsey.
supervisors' court.
In accordance with an act of the Legislature of Illinois, of April 1, 1851, and
-with the vote of the citizens of the county, on the previous November, the Supervisors'
Court of McLean County met at the Court House in Bloomington, on May 17, 1858,
and, after organizing, assumed the transaction of the county business.
On May 20, it was resolved by the Court that the surplus, if there should be any,
arising out of the proceeds of the sales of the swamp-lands granted to the county, after
the appropriation, previously made by the County Court, of $70,000 toward the build-
of the State Normal University, should have been paid, together with all incidental
expenses, be equally divided, geographically, among all the townships and fractional
townships, for the purpose of maintaining common schools, to be controlled in the same
manner as moneys arising from the sixteenth section, appropriated to each township by
the General Government. It may not be improper to remark that as the sales of the
baid swamp-lands amounted to about $130,000, there was, eventually, quite a handsome
•sum distributed to the townships for said purposes.
In the mean time, as may well be supposed, the county was gradually filling up
with active and industrious immigrants. New farms were opened on all the prairies, and
the face of the country was generally assuming a cheerful and cultivated appearance.
People were no longer afraid to sail out into the grassy sea before them, and cast anchor
on a forty, an eighty, or a quarter-section of the finest lands in any country. Occa-
.sionally, a town would be born at some railroad station, or be christened, at least ; and,
238 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
quite frequently, the christening occurred before the birth, and sometimes the birth
never came.
In 185-4, the town of Towanda was laid out on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis
Railroad, about ten miles northeast of Bloomington ; and the hard times of 1857 laid
it out again. It still lies out on the prairie, a town of vast possibilities. In 1855,
Heyworth took a name, and assumed to have a " local habitation " as well, on the line
of the Central Eailroad, not for from the southern line of the county, about thirteen
miles from Bloomington. It has been a prosperous experiment from the start, growing
in its growth and strengthening in its strength, gradually and securely, until it has
become a nice town, with good prospects, as it has some excellent citizens and is sur-
rounded by a magnificent country.
In the same year, the town of McLean was laid out, on the line of the Chicago
it Alton Railroad, where it still stood, at the latest reports, about twelve miles southwest
uf Bloomington, well toward the southwest corner of the county. It*has prospered mod-
erately, and is quite a business place. The only insuperable diflBculty in its way to
becoming a large town is its proximity to Shirley, on the same road and in the same
direction. Though the surrounding country is very fine, it is not of suflBcient breadth
to sustain two large towns so near each other. In 1856, the town of Saybrook, at
Cheney's Grove, sprang into existence, and, by 1870, it had become so large a town
that the La Fayette, Bloomington & Mississippi Railroad was constructed to connect
New York and Bloomington with it. It is a good point, and has many very worthy
citizens. Several other prospective towns are now in their cradles, on the routes of the
different railroads in the county. Holder, Ellsworth and Arrowsmith, on the La Fayette
& Bloomington Railroad, are good grain-stations, and Downs Station, on the Indian-
apolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad, eight miles east of Bloomington, and Stanford,
twelve miles west, on the Jacksonville Branch of the Chicago & Alton road, are doing
well. Other towns will receive due attention in the appropriate places in this work.
During these years, new roads were laid out, old ones changed and improved, and
bridges and culverts of a permanent character, too numerous to notice individually,
were constructed over the creeks and sloughs in all parts of the county. Settlements
were made very rapidly in the eastern part of the county, where the splendid soil, the
low prices and the constantly-increasing facilities aff"orded by incoming railroads held
out special inducements.
At the May term of the Supervisors' Court, the Committee on Public Buildings
visited the new County Jail, and reported that they " found it to be one of the best
and most substantial buildings of the kind they ever saw, and fully believed said Jail
would answer the purposes for which it was designed." The Jail and dwelling for the
Sheriff" had been recently built, under contract with the County Court, at an expense of
$12,000. They are still in use for the purposes of their construction. The county
revenue for 1857 was $30,453.15.
At the March term of the Court, A. J. Merriman, Agent of the County Court,
reported that the sales of the swamp-lands, to date, amounted to $55,224.90. The
amount of the bills presented to the Court for keeping the poor during the current year
was, in round numbers, $1,100.
At the September term, 1859, the Court, upon the report and recommendation of
a Special Committee on Poor-farm, resolved to purchase the farm of John G. Myers,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 239
lying about four miles south of Bloomington, and consisting of 220 acres, at $25 per
acre, amounting to $5,500; and appropriated $],000 for the erection of additional
buildings, appointing a committee to superintend the same. These arrangements have
since been carried out, the whole purchase and buildings paid for, and the Poor-farm,
one of the best of its kind in the country, has since been running harmoniously and
efficiently accomplishing its intended purpose. The expense of keeping the poor for
the current year, 1859, is reported at $4,784.45.
At the February term, 1860, Mr. David Simmons filed with the Court an approved
bond, and took charge of the County Poor-farm.
VOLUNTEERS.
At a called session of the Court on April 17, 1861, on the report and recommenda-
tion of a special committee, the Court appropriated, for the benefit of volunteers who
had already gone, or who might thereafter go, into the United States service, the sum
of $10,000, and appointed Messrs. Isaac Funk, Allen Withers aud John E. McClun a
committee to superintend the distribution of the same.
On May 30, the above committee reported as follows : " They entered upon the
discharge of the duties assigned them immediately on being notified of their appoint-
ment, and found the whole county in a state of most intense excitement. The procla-
mation of the President of the United States calling for volunteers had aroused our
whole population. Party differences were forgotten, and one sentiment alone seemed to
pervade the minds of the people ; and that was, that our Grovernment should be sus-
tained, and that McLean County, if need be, would pour out her blood freely to attain
that object." The subsequent action of the people of the county, on many trying-
occasions, proved the above statement to be literally true. The committee reported
that they had already expended lor the specified object in their appointment $4,076.72.
At the September term, same year, the Court adopted a resolution that, as Peter
Folsome, Esq., acting for the county, procured from the General Government the amount
of money to which the county is entitled on account of swamp-lands sold by the Gov-
ernment, he be authorized to settle with the Government as may seem fit, so the
amount paid to the School Treasurers of the diifererit towns does not fall below the sum
of $11,040. The arrangement was made and the money distributed.
At the July term, 1862, the Court passed a resolution that, for the purpose of aid-
ing in the enlistment of volunteers for the service of the United States in McLean
County, there be assessed upon said county a tax of $22,500, and that the sum of $50
be paid out of said sum to each volunteer who may have enlisted in said service in said
county, under the late call of the President of the United States, or who may enlist in
the same prior to the first day of September next. On motion, Messrs. Reeder, Thomas
and Funk were appointed a committee to negotiate the loan and disburse the fund pro-
vided for in said report.
At the next session, August 15, the Court passed another similar resolution, to
raise $37,500 more, under Hke restrictions, and for the same purpose as the one above
stated, to encourage volunteers to enlist in the service under another call by the Presi-
dent, and its distribution was intrusted to the same committee, making $70,000 in the
three appropriations of the Court for similar purposes. In the resolution was a pro-
vision for raising the funds on better terms, by resolving that the $60,000 be charged
240 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
upon the tax-lists of said county for the years 1862, 1863 and 1864. At the succeed-
ing September term, the committee on distribution reported that they had negotiated
loans to the amount of $55,775, and had paid the said bounty of S50 each to 939 vol-
unteers, amounting to §46,950, and, after paying some necessary expenses, there
remained in their hands 88,756.40.
At the February term, 1863, the committee to pay bounty to volunteers reported
satisfactorily, giving the amount received from the special war tax as $11,348.41, and
the amount by them paid on county bonds as $11,105.23.
MORE BOUNTIES.
At the December term of the Court, 1 863, the following gentlemen were appointed
a committee to take into consideration the propriety of paying a bounty to volunteers in
the army, to meet the new call for 300,000 more men, Messrs. Striugfield, Funk,
Thomas, Bishop, Kellogg, McMahan, Coman, Phillips and Johnston. On the next
day, the 23d, the committee reported ; and their report, after being amended, was
adopted by the Court, and reads as follows :
Section 1. That we have examined said matter, and believe it expedient to pay such
bounty, and, therefore, recommend the adoption of the following resolutions :
Sec. 2. Resolved, That this county will pay a bounty of one hundred and fifty dollars to
each volunteer from this county who may regularly enlist in the army of the United States for
the term of three years, or during the war, up to the fifth day of January next, and the sum of
fifty dollars to each volunteer from this county who has so enlisted in said army since the first
day of September, A. D. 18b2, up to this date.
(Section 3 omitted.)
Sec. 4. Resolved, That William Thomas, Isaac Funk and Samuel .J. Reeder be and they
are hereby appointed a War Fund Committee, to raise the sum of money required to pay such
bounty, and that they be authorized and instructed to pay the same to all such persons as may
be entitled to receive as above, as soon as they shall be satisfied that said volunteers have been
regularly mustered into the service of the United States. That, in case any such volunteer has
died since such enlistment, said bounty be paid to his widow or children, if any, and if not, then
to his father or mother, if living ; and that said Committee be authorized to charge only for their
necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
Sec. o. That said Committee, in order to raise money to pay said bounty to volunteers a.s
aforesaid, be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to borrow such sum or sums of
money, from time to time, as may be necessary to meet the object of this appropriation, and that
the Clerk of the County Court of this county issue and deliver to said Committee county orders
or warrants in such sums and at such times as said Committee may direct and require for
si^id purpose, not to exceed in all the sum of forty-five thousand dollars, all payable out of the
revenue of the year A. D. 18f35, and each bearing ten per cent interest, payable annually, from
its date. That said order be countersigned by said committee, and sealed with the seal of said
County Court, and express on their face that they are payable out of the revenue of the
year 18G5.
(Section 6 omitted.)
Sec 7. Resolved, That, in order to raise money to pay said orders or warrants, there
shall be levied on the Collector's books or roll for the year 18(35, on all the taxable property of
this county, as a special war fund tax, a sufficient amount of tax to pay all the said orders or
warrants issued in accordance with these resolutions, with the interest thereon. That said tax,
when collected, be paid by the collectors thereof to the Committee named and appointed in this
report, or their successors, and shall then be by said Committee paid on the said orders or war-
rants as herein directed.
BLOOJV^'NGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 243
Mr. Thomas offered the following resolution :
Resolved, That it is the intention of this Board, as an act of justice, to pay a bounty of
fifty dollars to each person from this county who has enlisted in the United States service for the
term of three years since the beginning of this war, and who has not heretofore received a
bounty from this county, and that they intend to make payment as soon as, in their judgment,
the pecuniary condition of the county will permit.
Resolution adopted.
Mr. Springer offered the following resolution :
Resolved, That the War Fund Committee be and they are hereby authorized to pay the
bounty offered by this Board to the wives or families of volunteers entitled to the same, in cases
where such volunteers cannot now be paid in person by the Committee, upon receiving from
said wives or families a receipt, order or power of attorney from said soldier authorizing said
Committee to pay such bounty to said wife or family.
At the March term, 1864, of the County Court, the Clerk reported that he had
issued and delivered to the War Fund Committee orders or warrants to the amount of
$203.70. At the June term, the Committee on Distribution of the Bounty Fund
reported, with the names of the recipients thereof, that they had paid out in bounties,
according to instructions, the sum of $31,273.07.
At the September term of the Supervisors' Court, on the 13th, a resolution was
adopted pledging the county to pay a bounty of $150 to each of the volunteers who had
enlisted since the 8th inst., or might hereafter enlist, and $50 to each volunteer who had
enlisted from the 9th day of March to the 8th day of September of the year 1864.
The special war tax of McLean County for 1863 was $28,660.23.
At the December term, 1864, the Commissioner for the sale of swamp-lands, A. J.
Merriman reported the receipts to amount to $97,251.31, and that the subscription of
$70,000 to the State Board of Education had been paid.
At the January term, 1865, the Board of Supervisors passed another resolution,
offering a bounty of $300 to each volunteer who should enlist under the last call of the
President for 300,000 men in order to prevent the disgrace of a draft in the county. We
speak of these resolutions of the Board of Supervisors to show the spirit of McLean
County, and that its citizens are ever ready to meet any demand upon their patriotism,
and to rise to the occasion, whatever it may be, on all subjects.
On January 31, 1865, the Board of Supervisors passed most honorable resolutions
in reference to the recent death of Hon. Isaac Funk, for years a very active and efficient
member of the Board, and also resolutions of sympathy with the family on the death of
Mrs. Funk, which occurred on the same day as that of her husband.
At the September term, 1865, on the 11th thereof, the Court received communi-
cations from Col. Bloomfield and Col. McNulta to surrender to its care the colors of the
Twenty-sixth and of the Ninety-fourth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, which they had
respectively commanded. The communications were received and referred to special
■committee. At the same term, the war fund tax of the county amounted to $50,150.15
for the current year. Mr. William Thomas, agent of the war fund, reported that bonds
to pay bounties to soldiers had been issued to the amount of $189,400.
At the December term, the Clerk reported the amount of property taxed in the
county to be $8,443,165, and the amount of tax levied for the current year was $370,-
767.87.
244 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The total war expenses of the county up to June 9, 1866, are reported to be $411,-
124.93.
The amount of wai- fund taxes for 1862, 1863, 1864 and 1865 was $240,275.93.
The amount of bonds for bounties redeemed in cash by the county up to June 9,
1864, was $208,103.39.
The amount of tax levied in McLean County in 1866 was $395,953.54.
The valuation of property for the year 1867 in McLean County amounted to
$9,627,990, and the amount of tax levied thereon for the same year was $407,133.99.
At the March term of the Board of Supervisors, 1868, the report of the cost of
ten iron bridges recently erected in the county was $27,095.50.
The contract for the erection of the soldiers' monument in Franklin Square was
taken at $15,000.
COURT HOUSE.
At the term of the Supervisors' Court for McLean County, March 3, 1868, Mr.
O. M. Colman, Chairman of the Special Committee on new Court House, submitted the
following Report :
To THE Honorable Board of Supervisors of McLean County.
Gentlemen : Your Committee appointed at the December term of your Court, to whom was
referred the matter of building a Court House for the county, beg leave to submit the following
report, to wit :
Having considered the pressing need of a Court House for the better accommodation of the
public offices of the county, and the greater security of the public records, and also the general
public feeling in favur of the erection of such a building, connected with the encouraging tinan-
cial condition of our county, entirely out of debt, we would recommend the erection of a good,
substantial fire-proof building, according to plans and specifications herewith submitted.
We have visited and examined some of the best buildings in the State, and have also been
in consultation with a number of the most eminent architects in the Northwest, for the purpose
of ascertaining the style, size and expense of building best suited to the present and future wants
of the people of the county.
• From among several beautiful designs that have been submitted for our adoption, we have
selected that of Messrs. Cochran & Piquenard, of Chicago.
Your Committee would recommend the public square, in the city of Bloomington, as the site
of such building.
For carrying into effect the foregoing provisions, your committee would recommend the
appointment of a Board of Commissioners to be styled Court House Commissioners; said Board
to consist of five persona, whose duties shall be the employment of an Architect and Superintend-
ent ; the advertising for all bids ; the awarding of all contracts, and the general supervision of
the erection of said Court House ; said Board to keep a complete and full account of all expend-
itures on the same, and report them and the progress of the work at each meeting of the
Board.
The committee woiild also recommend the issuing of County Bonds for the above purpose in
accordance with an act of the last Legislature providing therefor.
All of which is respectfully submitted,
O. M. COLMAN, Chairman.
On motion of .Mr. Sutherland, the Report was received, and made the special order for
Wednesday afternoon.
Wepnesuay, March 4.
The Special Order: The Report of the ('ourt House Committee was called up and the same
was read by the Clerk.
Mr Sutherland moved to strike out the word five, before the word Commissioners, and
insert " three."
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 245
Mr. Weedman moved to amend the amendment by inserting "seven."
Pending the question, Judge Scott, on invitation, addressed the Board on the main question,
and after remarks from Messrs. Sears, Bishop and others, the question was put on the amend-
ment to the amendment, which was decided in the negative. The vote was then taken on the
amendment, which was also decided in the negative.
Mr. Mahan then presented the following resolution, ami oifered it as an amendment to the
Report, viz.:
Resolved, That the question of building a Court House and issuing bonds in accordance with
the designs, specifications, and bids, as set forth in the report of the Court House Committee, be
submitted to the legal voters of McLean County, at their annual town meeting to be held in
April next.
The Chair decided the resolution out of order, on the ground that there was no law for sub-
mitting the building of a Court House to a vote of the people. Mr. Colman moved the previous
question, which was sustained ; and the main question was put. Whereupon Mr. Mahan called
for the ayes and nays, which resulted in the adoption of the report by 14 ayes and 13 nays.
Those voting aye are as follows: Messrs. Bishop, Cuvelt, Colman, Elliott, Elijah Horr,
Marquis, Newton, Rnwell, George W. Stubblefield, Sears, Weaver, Weedman, Warford and Chair-
man Ives — 14.
Those voting nay are as follows: Messrs. Cox, Ewins, Josiah Horr, Karr, Langstatf, Mahan,
John Stubblefield, Sutherland, Sailer, Jacob Smith, Shelton Smith, Vandolah and Wiley — 13.
Absent — Messrs. Lewis, Mitchell and Terpenning.
The Board selected the following Supervisors to act as Court House Commissioners :
0. M. Colman, Elijah Horr, Richard Rowell, Nathan L. Sears and John Stubblefield.
We have given the proceedings in full, by the Board, in passing the resolution upon
the question of building a Court House, for several reasons. It was an important meas-
ure, considering the great expense, and the very heavy burdens to which the people bad
recently been subjected. There had been much discussion, and considerable feeling on
the subject among the people, and the policy of erecting so expensive a building was
questioned by many. The vote of the Board, as has been seen, was very close. But
the result shows how ably the matter had been managed by a few resolute spirits ; and
the history of the enterprise has shown that the movement was all right.
But the best of it is to come yet. Keeping in mind the divided state of feeling at
the time, that a County Court House, with its surroundings, costing $420,000, should be
completed according to contract, in a very unfavorable year for building, and entirely
paid for, without a growl from any quarter, nor a single imputation of swindle by any-
body, we believe to be an occurrence without a parallel in the history of similar trans-
actions. Look at Chicago, for instance, a city claiming to have a population twenty
times that of Bloomington, quarreling for two years or more over the building of a
Court House, like dogs and cats. Scarcely a week passes but the papers of that city
denounce their incomplete, would-be Court House as an abortion, and the builders of it
as swindlers. Yet, according to the population of Cook County compared with that of
McLean County, its Court House, at a cost of more than $•4,000,000, should be com-
plete, and the finest in the Union. We might refer to other counties^ but such " com-
parisons are odious." We are too happy in the fortunate results in our own county to make
invidious comparisons with others. The whole subject may be justly regarded as a happy
illustration of the spirit, the enterprise, and the magnanimity of the citizens of McLean
County. They invite emulation, but they acknowledge no superiors in these respects.
The resolution authorizing the erection of a new Court House passed the Board of
Supervisors in March. In April, the old Court House was torn down, and as soon as
246 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
the almost incessant rains would permit, the erection of a new one was commenced, and
the mao-nificent structure, without a flaw, was pushed to completion. The amount of
county orders issued in McLean County from September, 1867, to September, 1868,
was §137,679.90.
The valuation of the property in McLean County, for county purposes, for the year
1868, was S10,2H5,918 ; and the amount of taxes levied for all purposes, the same yeari
was §441,876.93.
For the year 1869, the valuation of property in McLean County, for the purpose
of taxation, was §10,703,695 ; and the amount of taxes levied for the same year was
§578,805.41.
At the December term, the Board of Supervisors ordered the issue of County
Bonds to the La Fayette. Bloomington & Mississippi Railroad Company, to pay a pre-
vious subscription to the stock of that Company, amounting to §20,000.
The valuation of property in McLean County as listed and assessed for 1873,
amounted to §42,026,374 ; and the total amount of all taxes charged, §677,314.70.
The total amount of taxation levied in McLean County for the year 1874 w;is
§676,226.84.
But it is not our purpose here to give anything like a financial history of McLean
County. A few disconnected items only are given, to indicate, in some degree, the
extent of the material developments that have taken place in the county. When we
commenced this hasty sketch, the county was almost uninhabited, and for some years
the county revenue was about §1,000, more or less. The contract price for erecting the
fii'st Court House was three hundred and some odd dollars, and town lots in Blooming-
ton were, for some years, nominally worth §5 a piece.
The county is now thickly settled in many parts, and land is worth from §25 to
§50 per acre. In short, a county that has recently expended half a million of dollars
in war expenses, and another half a million in the erection of public buildings, bridges,
and other permanent improvements, besides heavy annual expenses paid, and yet is not
in debt a single dollar ; whose valuation of property for taxation purposes gDes up
into millions, and whose population can annually carry taxes amounting to more than
half a million dollars, is an illustration of material development of which its citizens
may well be proud.
REVIEW.
Thus have we taken a hasty glance at the material development of McLean County.
In 1821, it was exclusively the home of the Indian, of the dwellers in prairie and
grove, and of the fowls of the air. No echo responded to the blows of the woodman's
ax ; no waving fields of ripening grain swayed in the morning breezes ; no glad shout
of children just let loose from school ; no shout of harvest-home ; no grand and solemn
organ's peal ; no sweet and joyous tones of prayer and song, were borne upon the wings
of the wind to listening ears and responsive hearts. It was oppressive stillness all, save the
howl of the wolf, the scream of the eagle, or the still fiercer war-whoop of the red savages.
The changes in fifty-eight years are very striking. McLean County, now the
largest in the State, with a population of seventy thousand civilized inhabitants, preseuta
very diff'erent features from those which prevailed at the former period. The following
list (jf nativities, from the Census of 1870, will give a tolerably correct idea of the rela-
tive portions of the constituents in the composition of the present population :
HISTOR"i' OF McLEAN COUNTY. 247
Born in the State of Illinois, 22,964; in Ohio, 7,580 ; in New York, 2,598 ; in
Pennsylvania, 2,713 ; in Indiana, 2,215 ; in Kentucky, 2,296 ; in British America,
420 ; in England and Wales, 952 ; in Ireland, 2,949 ; in Scotland, 230 ; in Germany,
2,839 ; in France, 207 ; in Sweden and Norway, 50 ; in Switzerland, 153 ; in Bohemia,
1 ; in Holland, 41 ; and in Denmark, 24.
The surface of McLean County is now cut by nine distinct railroads. Across the
extreme southeast corner, runs the Chicago & Paducah Railroad, with Osman
Station on it within the county. Farther north, in the same corner of the county, runs
the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield road, in a northeasterly direction, cutting West Town-
ship in the southeast corner, and Belleflower Township centrally, having on its line Belle-
flower Station. Still farther north, and running in the same direction, is a narrow-gauge
road, now under construction from Le Roy to Saybrook, and cutting Empire, West and
Cheney's Grove Townships, with prospective stations on it. In the extreme northern
part of the county, running directly east and west, and cutting Gridley, Chenoa and
Yates Townships, is the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw road, with Weston, Chenoa, Mead-
ows and Gridley Stations on it. Running diagonally through the county from southwest
to northeast, is the Chicago & Alton road, cutting Mount Hope, Funk's Grove, Dale,
Bloomington, Normal, Towanda, Money Creek, Lexington and Chenoa Townships, and
having on its line McLean, Funk's Grove, Shirley, Bloomington, Normal, Towanda,
Lexington and Chenoa Stations. Running nearly north and south through the county,
is the Central Railroad, cutting Hudson, Normal, Bloomington and Randolph Town-
ships, and having on its line Hudson, Normal, Bloomington, Randolph and Heyworth
Stations. Running east and west from Bloomington to the eastern line of the county,
is the La Fayette, Bloomington, Toledo, Wabash & Western road, cutting Blooming-
ton, Old Town, Padua, Arrowsmith and Cheney's Grove Townships, and having on its
line Bloomington, Holder, Ellsworth, Arrowsmith and Saybrook Stations. Running
diagonally across the county, northwest and southeast, cutting Empire, narrowly miss-
ing West, then Downs, Old Town, Bloomington, Dale, Dry Grove and Danvers Town-
ships, is the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western road, having on its line Le Roy,
Downs, Bloomington, Twin Grove and Danvers Stations. Running west from Bloom-
ington to the western line of the county, is the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago &
Alton road, cutting Bloomington, Dale and Allen Townships, and having on its line
Bloomington, Co veil and Stanford Stations.
An inspection of the county map will show that these railroads, with their twenty-
five stations, are admirably located to accommodate all parts of the countj. They leave
only five townships without railroad stations. A road, of which therr? has been some
talk, running southeast and northwest, between Lexington and Saybrook, if properly
located, would accommodate four of those townships — Blue Mound, Lawndale, Martin
and Cropsey — with stations, leaving only one small fractional township — White Oak —
without a station, and there are already two stations, one on each side of it, only about
three miles distant from its limits.
Such a body of land, thus cut up by railroads, and dotted all over with stations,
embracing a charming variety of prairie and grove, covered with cultivated farms, with
comfortable homes, and thousands of domestic animals, is not to be surpassed in any country.
In addition, it must be borne in mind that the county seat, Bloomington, has a population
of over twenty thousand people, with one of the largest churches in the State and numerous
248 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
smaller ones ; with the shops and station-buildings of the Chicago & Alton Railroad,
covering forty acres; with the &nest pa uI-/or Court House in the State; with the Wes-
leyan University, accomuiodating several hundred students, and several very fine public
schoolhouses within its limits, and the State Normal University, and the Soldiers'
Orphans' Home, both stately buildings, in its near vicinity, and surrounded by several
large towns and numerous small ones, and a magnificent country, dotted all over with
churches, schoolhouses and mills — when one takes all these things into consideration,
the changes that have come over the face of McLean County within the memory of
many of its citizens are indeed wonderful, and they may well be the source of honest
pride and self-complacency to those who have had an active hand in bringing them
about. Other changes, too numerous to be mentioned, only heighten the wonder, and
induce a hearty thankfulness in the beholder.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
In early times in McLean County, there were only two distinctions in political
sentiments — Jacksonism and Whiggism. Jacksonism, or Democracy, seemed to be
the raw material of politics, and Whiggism the manufactured article ; and the raw
material seems to have been more prevalent than the manufactured article. Many of
the citizens then cared very little for education, and for current news and general
information. They seemed to take their politics as they did their measles — in the
natural way. Tradition was the chief source of their political preferences, and they were
born into their political party as into their church.
In 1832, there were seven Whig votes in Bloomington Precinct, and Gen. Grridley
cast one of them. A family tradition says that when, in 1828, Mr. John Dawson,
then living twelve miles east of Bloomington, was about to start to go and vote in the
fall election at Mackinawtown, then the county seat, Mrs. Dawson, who was for Jackson,
persuaded her husband that it was going to rain, and not to expose himself to a
two or three days' ride over the rough roads for the sake of casting a single vote for
men that did not know him, nor would ever thank him for it ; and that, in the evening,
when it was too late for Mr. Dawson to make the trip, with a mischievous smile, the old
lady said she had gained one vote for Jackson by preventing an Adams vote being cast.
Gen. Gridley claims that the instrumentality of the Bloomington Observer turned
a portion of the raw material of politics into the manufactured article, in its day, that
being the first newspaper published in Bloomington, and that McLean remained a Whig
county from that time. Be that as it may, it was a pretty close race in the county for
quite a number of years — the result, either way, depending more, in many instances,
upon personal influence than upon party majority.
For many years. Gen. Meritt L. Covell, a very clever gentleman, by the way,
seemed to be the leading spirit and the embodiment of Democracy in McLean County.
He was an active and able manager, and kept the politics of the county a good deal
mixed for years. In 1840, the political whirlwind that carried Gen. Harrison into
the Presidency passed over the country, and the Whigs elected Gen. Gridley to the
State Legislature. In 1834 and 183G, the Democrats elected Hon. William L. May to
Congress in this, then. Third District ; and in 1838 and 1840, the Whigs elected Hon.
John T. Stuart, carrying the district, in 1838, by a majority of seventeen votes. From
that time on, the Whigs were able, generally, by good management, to carry this county
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUIJTY. 249
in general and in local elections, the majority being from fifty to a hundred votes. Some-
times the majority was very small, and occasionally a Whig candidate was beaten.
This state of things continued for several years, the Whig majorities gradually increas-
ing as the feeling became more and more antagonistic among the people on the subject
of slavery. In those days, Illinois was always Democratic, and continued to be so,
though with decreasing majorities ; but McLean stood always true to the Whig party.
In 1855, in the county election, there was no opposition to the Whig ticket. In 1852,
the nomination of Gen. Scott by the Whigs, for the Presidency, was not popular in
McLean County ; but the Whig vote was out at the polls, yet with the expectation of
being beaten.
In 1854, came the times to try men's political souls. The compromises between
the two parties in Congress that year, in which it was agreed not to introduce any more
discussion on the slavery question, and to ignore the subject, gave dissatisfaction to
many people of both parties. Their attachment to party began to loosen, and there was
iineasiness on all sides. The feeling that there was approaching a breaking of political
ranks, and rallying on new issues and under new leaders, began to pervade the people
of McLean County. Properly speaking, the people of this county have never been
political Abolitionists. They were never in favor of disturbing the constitutional rights
of the people of the South, nor of clandestinely assisting their slaves to escape. They
were opposed to the violent and premature commotion that occasionally broke out on
the subject, hoping that some peaceful and legal way out of the difficulty might be
found.
But when the direct question of introducing slavery into the more northern and
free Territories, either by law, by indifference, or by violence, the people of this county
protested against such introduction.
In 1856, came the issue between allowing or preventing slavery in Nebraska, Kan-
sas, and indefinitely west ; and through the dodge of so many behind what they were
pleased to call Knownothiugism, Americanism, or Fillmoreism, that political abortion,
James Buchanan, was elected to the Presidency. His stolidity and cowardice, or some-
thing worse than either, assisted greatly to bring on the crisis of 1860. But through
all the changes and turmoil, the people of McLean County stood firmly by the Repub-
lican party after it succeeded the Whig party, by larger and larger majorities. In proof
of this statement, we need only to mention a few facts.
The first Repubhcan State Convention ever held, took place in Bloomington. The
first paper to run up the name of Mr. Lincoln for President was the Bloomington Pom-
tagraph. The citizens of McLean County did more to bring him before the people as
a candidate, and to secure his nomination at Chicago, than those of any other county in
the country. Conclusive evidence on these points is easily procurable. Messrs. Jesse
W. and Kersey H. Fell were the prime movers in getting Mr. Lincoln into the field,
and Judge David Davis did more to secure his nomination than any other living man.
In 1848, McLean County gave Gren. Taylor a moderate majority. In 1852, it
gave Gen. Scott a respectable majority, though there was no enthusiasm on the subject.
In 1856, it gave John C. Fremont a majority of 420. In 1860, it gave Abraham
Lincoln a majority of 985. In 1864, it gave Mr. Lincoln a majority of 1,419. In
1868, it gave U. S. Grant a majority of 2,037. In 1872, it gave Grant a majority of
2,510. In 1876, it gave Rutherford B. Hayes a majority of 1,953.
250 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
For several years past, owinir to difference in financial sentiments, and to per-
sonal influences, and inevitable disaffection at censurable uses of power and opportuni-
ties, the local issues have been somewhat mixed. But whenever there are straight
issues and harmony in the party, McLean County is decidedly Republican.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
An Act to Incorporate the McLean Counti/ Agricultural Society :
Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General
A*sembly, That John E. McClun, Kdvvard H. Didlakc, William H. Allen, Isaac Funk, Edwin
Poston and Samuel Lander, and such persons as are or may hereafter become members of the McLean
County Agricultural Society, from and after the passage of this act, shall be and they are-
hereby constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and style aforesaid, and by that
name they and their successors shall have succession, and shall, in law, be capable of contract-
ing and being contracted with, of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, prosecuting
and defending, in all manner of actions in law or in equity, in all courts and places whatever where
legal proceedings are had ; and by that name and style be capable, in law, of purchasing and
receiving, by gift or otherwise, holding and conveying real estate, for the benefit of said corpo-
ration : Provided, That said corporation shall not, at any one time, hold real estate more than,
the amount of 160 acres.
Sec. 2. Said corporation shall have power to loan money belonging to the same, and take
promissory notes or other evidences for the money so loaned, which may be collected in their
corporate name aforesaid, in all courts and places whatever where judicial proceedings are
had ; and, in their corporate name, shall have power to sue for and collect all gratuitous sub-
scriptions that are or may hereafter be made to said corporation.
Sec. 3. A meeting of the members of this corporation shall be held on the first Mondaj^
in March, 1853, and forever thereafter on said day annually, for the purpose of making such
by-laws as may be necessary for the better government and regulation of the association, and
also for the purpose of electing a President, two Vice Presidents, a Secretary and Treasurer,
who shall respectively hold their office for one year and until their successors are elected ; and
the said officers so elected be a standing Board of Directors, with full power and authority to do
all acts and deeds necessary to promote the interest of the association, and to carry into etlect
the provisions and objects of this act.
Sec. 4. The Treasurer shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give bond to said
corporation, to Vje kept by the Secretary of the same, with sufficient security for the faithful per-
formance of his duties.
Sec. 5. This act to take effect from and after its passage.
Approved February 12, 1853.
AN amendment to FOREGOING CHARTER.
An Act to amerid an Act entitled ''An Act tf) Incorporate the McLean County Agricultural
Society," approved February 12, 1853 :
Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in General Assem-
bly, That the third section of the act to which this is an amendment be so amended that a meet-
ing of the members of said corporation, for the purpose therein mentioned, shall be annually
held on the Fair Grounds of said Society, at 1 o'clock P. M., on the second day of the Annual
Fair thereof.
This act to take effect and be in force from and after the first day of September next.
Approved February 13, 1801.
GENERAL LAWS.
An act piLssed Fel>ruary 15, 1857, appropriating $100 to each County Agricult-
ural Society, for the years 1857 and 1858, payable June 1, by State Treasurer, to the
Treasurer or fiscal agent of each County Agricultural Society.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 251
February 21, 1861, said law revived, to be continued in force until otherwise pro-
vided by law. .
BY-LAWS
of the McLean County Agricultural Society, revised and adopted March 5, 1866.
CONSTITUTION.
Section 1. The Acts of Incorporation of this Society shall be the Constitution of the same.
OBJECT.
Sec. 2. The object of this Society shall be the promotion of the improvement of science
and art of agriculture, of stock, domestic manufactures, mechanic arts and horticulture.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
Sec 3. The President shall appoint an Advisory Committee of not less than four nor
more than seven, who, together with the Board of Control, shall transact all business of the
Society.
ADDITIONAL MEETINGS.
Sec. 4. There shall, in addition to the regular meetings of the Society, be one held of
the Board and Advisory Committee on the first Monday of November, annually.
DUTIES OF PRESIDENT.
Sec. 5. The duty of the President shall be to preside at the meetings of the Board or of
the stockholders, have power to call special meetings of either, and perform all duties pertain-
ing or usual to like offices, and in his absence one of the Vice Presidents shall perform said
duties.
duties of the secretary.
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep in a book provided for that purpose,
a true account of the doings of the Board at their meetings or those of the stockholders, keep
a correct list of stockholders ; draw all orders or drafts on the Treasurer and keep an account
of the same ; advertise by public notice in the newspapers of the county, the time of holding
•^he meetings of the Society and such other duties usually devolving on such officer or directed
by the Board.
duties OF THE TREASURER.
Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to receive all moneys due or belonging to
the Society, and disburse the same upon the order of the Secretary ; keep a correct account of
all receipts and disbursements, and make report of the same at each annual meeting, or at
such time as the Board may direct.
DUTIES OF THE BOARD.
Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of the Board, together with the Advisory Committee, to
exercise a general supervision over all the interests of the Society; shall appoint all committees
necessary for carrying out successfully, the objects of the Society ; they shall specify the arti-
cles for which premiums shall be awarded ; determine kind and value of the same ; fix the
time of holding the annual fair, and do such acts as they may believe for the beat interests of
the Society.
QUORUM.
Sec. 9. A quorum of the Board and Advisory Committee shall consist of five members,
and that of the stockholders, fifteen.
time OF FAIR.
Sec. 10. The annual fair shall be held between the 1st day of September and the 15th
day of October, each year.
appointing COMMITTEES.
Sec. 11. Appointing of Superintendents, Awarding Committees, and affixing premium-
lists, shall be made at the regular meeting of the Board held on the first Monday of November
of each year, or at an adjourned meeting for that purpose.
252 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
RULES AND REOrLATIONS.
Sec. 12. General rules and regulations shall be made at the regular meeting held in
November, or at an adjourned meeting as above (Sec. 11), for the government of ihe following
fair, which shall be published together with the premium-list.
AWARDING COMiMITTEE.
Sec. 1;1 There shall be not less than three nor more than seven, of an Asvarding Com-
mittee for each lot of stock or articles, none of whom shall act as such in any lot or articles in
which he is an exhibitor. In case of disagreement of the Awarding Committee or failure to
serve, the Board or Superintendents of respective departments shall appoint others.
IN THE RING.
Sec. 14. At the time the Awarding Committee are examining the stock, or other articles,
no persons are permitted in the ring, except the Board, Superintendents and grooms. One of
the Board, or Advisory Committee, or Superintendent of Department, shall accompany the Award-
ing Committee on examination of each class, and see that there is no violation of the rules of the
Society.
PREMIUM BADGE.
Sec. 15. A blue ribbon shall be attached to the stock or article which has been awarded
the first premium, and red to that of the second premium.
GROWING CROPS.
Sec. 16. Entriesof growing crops to be made as follows: Wheat and oats must be entered
on or before the first day of .July : and corn on or before the last day of the fair in each year.
Persons entering wheat or oats or corn for exhibition are required to have the ground surveyed
and produce accurately measured by two disinterested persons and their certificates of the same
handed in to the Secretary ; for wheat and oats by the November meeting, and corn by December
25th following. All entries or returns must be accompanied with statement of the mode and
manner of culture.
DISCRETIONARY PREMIUMS.
Sec. 17. No discretionary premiums shall be awarded except by the Board, or on their
order.
SUPERINTENDENT OF GROUNDS.
Sec. 18. The Board shall appoint a Superintendent of Grounds, whose duty it shall be to
superintend the general arrangement, assign stalls and locate stock and other articles to be
exhibited, and exercise a general oversight over same, and see that the articles and stock are
placed where designated for them.
MARSHALS.
Sec. 19 There may be also appointed one or more Marshals, whose duty it shall be to
superintend the exhibition of stock, and such other duties as may be directed by the President,
or officer presiding.
MARCH MEETING.
Sec 20. It is understood that on the first Monday of March shall be a regular meeting of
the Society.
REPEALING CLAUSE.
Sec. 21. All by-laws contrary to the foregoing are hereby repealed.
amendmp:nts.
Sec. 22. All propositions for amendments to these By-laws shall be made in writing at a
regular meeting of the Board or Society, and lie over until next regular meeting, when they may be
adopted by a two-thirds vote of those present ; or the propositions may be amended and be adopted
in like manner.
The foregoing By-laws were adopted unanimously by the regular meeting held at Engine-
house No. 2 (agreeable to public notice), March 5, 1866.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 253
Sec. 2i. That the premiums awarded at any annual fair, if not called for before the 1st
day of November following, shall be considered donated to the Society; discretionary and other
premiums awarded at other times than at the time of the fair, within thirty days thereafter.
Adopted November 5, 186G.
.1. A. WILLSON, Secretari/.
TRANSACTIONS OP THE SOCIETY.
It will be seen by Section Third of the Act of Incorporation that the Society
was necessarily organized in March, 1853. Tradition says that the beginnings of the
Society were humble and quite limited in the number of its attendants, and in the magni-
tude of its operations, all of which is quite credible, and almost necessarily true from
the nature of the enterprise and its early date. Tradition saith furthermore that Time's
busy fingers, and the licking tongues of a fire have rendered the records of the proceed-
ings of the Society for several years intangible — )ion sunt.
The new records of the Society commence with the annual meeting, March
5, 1866, held in Bloomington, William L. Bosworth in the chair and J. H. Loehr,
Secretary.
A committee consisting of Cyrus Jones and W. R. Duncan was appointed to audit
the books of J. E. McClun, Treasurer. Books reported correct, and balance in Treas-
urer's hands, $473.98.
The President appointed a committee, consisting of A. J. Barnes and J. 0. Davis,
to examine the condition of the fair grounds, who reported that they had been damaged
to the amount of $50.
O. Barnard reported on one-fourth acre of potatoes, seventy-seven and a half
bushels. Premium allowed — $4.
The Board of the previous year having closed its business, R. H. Holder occupied
the chair, and Jesse A. Willson acted as Secretary. The retiring Secretary, John H.
Loehr, presented the minutes of the meeting, electing officers for the current year, as
follows: At a meeting of the McLean County Agricultural Society, held at their fair
grounds on the 13th day of September, 1865, the following-named persons were elected
officers for the ensuing year: R. H. Holder, President; George Funk, Vice Presi-
dent; James Kennedy, Vice President; J. E. McClun, Treasurer; Jesse A. Willson,
Secretary.
On motion, the thanks of the Society were tendered President Bosworth for his
untiring effijrts in behalf of the Society.
The President then appointed the following Advisory Committee for the current
year : William P. Withers, George Parke, H. Spencer, Cyrus Jones, J. F. Humphreys,
W. R. Duncan and George W. Parke.
On motion, the President was directed to appoint delegates to the State Agricult-
ural Society. Thereupon the following-named gentlemen were appointed such dele-
gates: James Kennedy, Jesse A. Willson and William L. Bdswoi-th.
On motion, it was agreed as the sense of the meeting, that the premiums for the
next fair shall be paid in plate or money, at the option of the exhibitor.
At a subsequent meeting of the Board and Advisory Committee, March 13, it was
agreed to hold the next annual fair on September 4, 5, 6 and 7, with Monday, the 3d,
as a preparation day. The day was principally spent in reviewing and arranging the
premium-Hst for the next fair.
2rj4 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
m'lean county agricultural society.
Fair Grounds. September 5, 18G6. — The Society met at the fair grounds on the
second day of the annual fair, whereupon George Parke and James Allen, Jr., were
appointed tellers, and the following officers were then duly elected to serve the ensuing
year: R. H. Holder, President; William L. Bosworth, Vice President; James Ken-
nedy, Vice President ; Ralph E. Bnjwn, Treasurer ; John T. Didlake, Secretary.
The Board borrowed from John Geltmacher $1,000 for one year, with which to
pay for improvements on the fair grounds.
Pursuant to adjournment, the Society met at the (^ourt House in Bloomington,
October 13, 1866. On motion, it was ordered that T. P. Bryan and J. P. Shough
have duplicate stock issued to them for shares lost or destroyed.
On motion, a committee, consisting of Samuel Lander, George Hinshaw, A. J.
Barnes, R. H. Holder and Jesse A. Willson, were appointed a committee to draw up
an amendment to the charter, especially in regard to Section Third.
On motion, the President, R. H. Holder, was appointed to negotiate for additional
grounds south of the present grounds, and report to the next meeting.
Pursuant to adjournment, the Society met at the Court House, November 5,
1866. The President reported the proposal of Mr. J. Y. Calhoun to sell the Society
the ground south of the fair grounds and north of Washington street, supposed to be
from eight to ten acres, for the sum of $165 per acre. The proposal was accepted, and
the Board directed to purchase the same, and contract to pay therefor in three equal
annual payments.
The Board then held a meeting, at which the Secretary reported having issued
orders from March 5 to November 5, 1866, in detail, all amounting to $5,025.23. Of
this sum, $1,720.45 were paid in premiums, and there remained uncalled for $148 of
the premiums of the current year.
On motion, it was directed that diplomas be awarded as discretionary premiums on
articles where appropriate.
The President reported the following Advisory Committee, Marshals and Super-
intendent of Grounds:
Advisory Committee — J. A. Willson, W. R. Duncan, A. J. Barnes, Cyrus Jones,
W. W. Taylor, William H. Mann and George Parke.
Marshals — Leonard Bosworth, Nelson Nichols, Harvey Karr.
Superintendent of Grounds — John 0. Davis.
On motion, the Board rejected the proposition of J. Y. Calhoun to open a street
along the east side of their grounds. Adjourned. John T. Didlake, Secretary.
March 4, 1867. — Society met at Engine-house No. 2.
On motion, the fair grounds were put under the care of the President, who
appointed William B. Young as Assistant JMarshal.
At the meeting of the Board on the next day, it was agreed that the next fair
should be held on the 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th of September next, with Monday the 2d,
for making general arrangements. On the next day, it was resolved by the Society that
the fire company as a body should not be allowed on the grounds.
June 22, 1867. — At a special meeting of the Society, it was resolved that the
Society ratify the purchase of the land situated on the south side of the fair grounds,,
and known as the Catholic Grounds.
I
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 255
On motion, it was resolved that the Society issue sufficient stock to pay for the
recent purchase of land, and sell the same on the fair grounds at public sale, to the
highest bidder for cash, on Monday, September 2, at 2 o'clock P. M.
Fair Grounds, September 4, 1867. — The Society met this day, and Duncan Funk
and James Allen, Jr., were appointed tellers, and the following-named officers were duly
elected to serve the ensuing year ; W. L. Bosworth, President ; A. J. Barnes, Vice
President ; John O. Davis, Vice President ; Ralph E. Brown, Treasurer ; John T.
Didlake, Secretary.
At a meeting of the Board, October 14, 1867, the Secretary was authorized to
issue orders for discretionary premiums to the amount of |51.
On motion, A. J. Barnes was appointed a committee to examine hedges entered for
premiums, and report at the November meeting.
On motion, the Treasurer was authorized to borrow $5,000 for one year, to pay
premiums and claims against the Society.
At the annual meeting of the Society, November 4, the Treasurer made his report
showing an indebtedness of $3,500.
On motion of W. R. Duncan, the thanks of the Society were tendered President
Holder and his associates in office, for their untiring efforts in behalf of the Society.
The President appointed the following persons as Advisory Committee : John E.
McClun, E. Horr, Nelson Jones, W. H. Mann, James K. Orondorff and John Kelley.
Adjourned. John T. Didlake, Secretary.
At the meeting of the Society, January 20, 1868, it was resolved that the Treas-
urer pay the Secretary $150 per annum as compensation for his services. At the meet-
ino- of the Board the next day. the 21st, it was resolved that the Society hold their
next annual fair commencing on Tuesday, September 8, and continue four days, with
Monday, the 7th, as preparation day.
On the 22d, the Society elected W. L. Bosworth, Cyrus Jones and A. J. Barnes,
delegates to the State fair.
Fair Grounds, September 8, 1868. — On the 2d day of the annual fair, J. E.
McClun and Samuel Lander were appointed tellers, and the following-named officers
were elected to serve the ensuing year : W. S. Bosworth, President ; Elijah Horr,
James K. Orondorff, Vice Presidents ; R. E. Brown, Treasurer ; John T. Didlake,
Secretary.
On motion, resolved that both political parties be allowed the use of the Grounds
under control of the Society, during the present campaign.
At a meeting of the Society, October 3, it was resolved " That the officers of this
Society be authorized to borrow sufficient money to pay present indebtedness, and to
make the necessary improvements for the next annual fair, and if necessary, to mortgage
the grounds to secure payment."
On motion, resolved that if the sum of $5,000 can be raised by private sub-
scription, we make an effort to get the State fair for the next two years. For
that purpose, J. E. McClun, C. Toms, J. W. Fell, Elijah Horr and John Kelley
were appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions.
At the annual meeting of the Board, Noveaaber 2, the Secretary was directed to
issue a duplicate certificate of stock, $200, to Isaac M. Pearson, the original having
been lost.
256 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The President appointed the following Advisory Committee : George Hinshaw,
John O. Davis, R. E. Strimple, John Kelley, Nelson Jones, William M. Loehr and L.
D. Haines.
Adjourned. John T. Didlake, Secretary.
January 11, 1869. — The Board resolved to send E. Horr and Cyrus Jones, as del-
egates to represent this Society before the State Board, at Springfield.
The Societv resolved, at its meetins on the 13th, to hold the next annual fair on
the 14th, loth, 16th and 17th of September next.
Resolved, that the Secretary shall receive $150 as compensation for the ensuing year.
Fair Grounds, September 15, 1869. — The Society met on the second day of the
annual fair, to elect officers. John Kelley was appointed teller, and the following-
named officers were duly elected for the ensuing year : William L. Bosworth, Pres-
ident ; Elijah Horr and James Boulware, Vice Presidents ; Ralph E. Brown, Treas-
urer ; Daniel Holder, Corresponding Secretary ; John T. Didlake, Secretary.
February 7, 1870. — Board met at call of the President, and, on motion, it was
resolved that the next annual fair commence on Tuesday, September 13, and continue
four days. The President appointed the following persons to serve the following year
as Advisory Committee: George W. Funk, R. E. Strimple, Nelson Jones, John Kel-
ley, James K. Orondorff, L. W. Betts and William M. Loehr.
On motion, Messrs. Funk, Horr and Kelley were selected as delegates to the next
State Fair at Decatur.
At the annual meeting of the stockholders, March, 1870, the Treasurer made his
annual report, showing a balance on hand of $1,372.25.
Fair Grounds, September 14, 1870. — At the annual fair of the Society, on the
second day, George Parke and G. W. Funk were appointed tellers, and the following
officers were elected for the ensuing year: W. L. Bosworth, President; E. Horr and
John Kelley, Vice Presidents ; W. M. Loehr, Treasurer ; John T. Didlake, Secretary.
November 7, 1870. — Premium on corn — five acres — awarded to John English.
November 26, 1870. — At the present meeting of the Board, the Treasurer made his
annual report as follows: Total amount of money on hand and receipts of the year,
87.574.67, of which the sale of tickets amounted to S4,759. The amount of pre-
miums paid, $2,356.50 ; and after paying the expenses, there remained on hand,
$3,438.99.
The President announced the following persons as the Advisory Committee for the
ensuing year: Nelson Jones, Duncan Funk, George Parke, James Boulware, Ellis
Dillon, 0. M. Coleman and Isaac Lash. Adjourned. John T. Didlake, Secretary.
Court House, February 7, 1871. — The Board fixed on September 12, to commence
the next annual fair, to continue five days.
February 14, 1871. — Board resolved to offer premiums for Alderney cattle, and
make premiums same as crosses. The Treasurer was authorized to issue original stock
to L. W. Betts, and certificate to George P. Davis.
Board met June 10, 1871, at fair grounds; and after looking around, resolved to
have built, fifty additional pens for sheep and swine. Being convinced that the dining-
hall was insufficient, the Chair appointed Messrs. Boulware, Funk, Kelley, Dillon,
Parke, and Secretary Didlake to be a committee to present plans and estimates for
building a new one near the same ])lacc, at the next meeting.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 257
At a meeting of the Board, June 17, on motion, the President and Secretary were
appointed a committee to have dining-hall built and other improvements made.
At the annual meeting of the Society, at the fair, September 13, 1871, J. E.
McClun and Greorge W. Funk were appointed tellers, and the following officers were
elected for the ensuing year: John Kelley, President; James Kennedy and F. M.
Funk, Vice Presidents ; W. C. Watkins, Treasurer ; Daniel Holder, Corresponding
Secretary, and John T. Didlake, Secretary.
Court House, November 6, 1871. — At the annual meeting of the Board, the Sec-
retary reported having issued orders on the treasury to the amount of $6,070,18, the
amount paid for premiums at the fair, for the current year, being $3,709. On motion,
the premium of $20, for the best five acres of corn, and $10 for the best one-fourth acre
of potatoes, were awarded to Jesse Brainard. Adjourned. John T. Didlake, Secretary.
(^ourt House, January 9, 1872. — On motion, the Board fixed on Tuesday, Sep-
tember 10 next, to commence the next annual fiir, and continue four days.
Fair Grrounds, September 11, 1872. — On the second day of the fair, the annual
meeting of the stockholders was held on the grounds, and J. W. Funk and J. E.
McClun being appointed tellers, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
W. L. Bosworth, President ; Isaac Vanordstrand and J. L. Leckley, Vice Presidents ;
W. C. Watkins, Treasurer; John T. Didlake, Secretary.
At the meeting of the Board, December 16, the Secretary reported having issued
orders on the treasury to the amount of $5,319.27, of which $2,856 were paid for
premiums awarded at the fair of 1872. Adjourned. John T. Didlake, Secretary.
Court House, January 14, 1873. — Board met pursuant to call, and the following-
named persons were appointed as Advisory Committee: Daniel Holder, J. K. Orondorff,
J. L. Shorthose and Isaac Lash. The President and the Secretary were authorized to
execute a note to D. M. Funk, for $2,190, and give security on real estate of the
Society. On motion, the 9th. 10th, 11th and 12th of September were fixed upon as
the time for holding the next annual fair.
Fair Grounds, September 10, 1873. — At the annual meeting of the Board, on the
second day of the fair, F. M. Funk and Dr.W. A. Elder being appointed tellers, the fol-
lowing officers were elected for the ensuing year : W. L. Bosworth, President ; J. 0.
Davis, William Karr, Vice Presidents; E. B. Steere, Treasurer; John T. Didlake,
Secretary.
At the annual meeting of the Executive Board, the private premium offered by
Messrs. E. W. and A. M. Bakewell, for the best five acres of corn was awarded to
Abram Harrison. On motion, the President was allowed $150, and W. C. Watkins,
Treasurer, $100, for services rendered to the Society. The Secretary then made his
annual report, showing that he had issued orders on the treasury to the amount of
$-1,413.36, of which sum $2,513 had been paid in premiums at the fair.
The President then appointed the following persons as Advisory Committee for the
year : D. M. Funk, George P. Davis, Isaac Dillon. Daniel Holder, E. Horr, Isaac Lash
and James K. Orondorif. Adjourned. J. T. Didlake, Secretary.
Court House, January 27, 187-4. — Board met and adopted a resolution instructing
the President to borrow $6,158.23, and to execute notes for the same, giving real estate
security owned by the Society for the said amount, to pay off" the indebtedness of the
Society.
258 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
January 31, 1874. — On motion, the time for holding the next annual fair was fixed
for September 8, 9, 10 and 11. At the meeting of the Board, February U, the follow-
ing premiums were agreed upon : Stallion trotting in harness, best two in three, first
premium, S50 ; second premium, $25. Gelding or mare trotting in harness, best two
in three, first premium, $30 ; second, $20.
At the annual meeting of the stockholders, on the .second day of the annual fair,
September 9, 1874, Samuel Lander and D. M. Funk being appointed tellers, the fol-
lowing persons were elected for the current year: W. L. Bosworth, President; G. A.
Ross, J. A. Ewins,Vice Presidents ; Daniel Holder, Treasurer ; J. T. Didlake, Secretary.
On motion, the premium on flaxseed, ofiered by Waddle & Moore, was awarded
to Edward Wilson ; and premium on five acres best corn, $10, to Joshua Sells. The
Secretary was instructed to issue checks, as follows : To Ira Merchant, for surveying,
$14; to W. L. Bosworth, services as President, $150 ; to B. B. Steere, for official
services, $50 ; to D. M. Funk, to apply on note, $1,000.
The Treasurer made his annual report, showing orders issued on treasury to be
$4,9H6.95, of which sum $2,619.65 were paid for premiums. The President appointed
the following persons as Advisory Committee for the ensuing year: D. M. Funk, Daniel
Holder, George P. Davis, W. M. Smith, F. M. Jones, W. H. Oglevee and E. Horr.
Adjourned. J. T. Didlake, Secretary.
Board met at Court House January 12, 1875. Appointed J. Brewster, Treasurer,
to fill vacancy, and John Peck, Superintendent of Grounds. January 19, Board fixed
upon the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of September as the time of holding the annual fair
for 1875. Messrs. Funk and Davis appointed Committee on Finance. Trials of speed
to take place every day except Thursday ; gate fees, 50 cents, single.
Fair Grounds, September 8. — At the close of the polls, the Judges of the election for
officers, Thomas F. Mitchell, D. M. Funk and George P. Davis, declared the following
persons elected : W. L. Bosworth, President ; G. A. Ross, John A. Ewins, Vice Presi-
dents ; J. Brewster, Treasurer ; John T. Didlake, Secretary.
From the Treasurer's books we get the following item : Total amount of receipts
for the current year, $7,139.63 ; amount paid in premiums, $3,682.63. Adjourned.
J. T. Didlake, Secretary.
Court House, January 15, 1876. — Board met pursuant to adjournment. John
Peck was appointed Superintendent of Grounds.
On motion of Mr. Funk, a class was introduced for thorough-bred draught-horses, with
same premiums as other classes of horses. The time for holding the annual fair was
agreed upon — September 5, (!, 7 and 8.
Fair Grounds, September (5, 1876. — At the closing of the polls for the election of
officers, the Judges, Messrs. D. M. Funk, George P. Davis and Nelson Jones, declared
the following persons elected : T. D. Hartsen, President ; G. A. Ross, John A. Ewins,
Vice I'residents ; J. Brewster, Treasurer ; J. T. Didlake, Secretary.
At the annual meeting of the Board, November 6, the President and the Secre-
tary were instructed to execute a note, payable to D. M. Funk, for $8,300, for five
years, and to give security on the real estate of the Society, in order to borrow money
sufficient to pay off the entire indebtedness of the association.
From the Treasurer's books we learn that the receipts for the current year, it being
very rainy and disagreeable at the fair, were $3,3()9.39 ; the disbursements were
./Jr^cMj^u^
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 261
65,609.76, and the amount paid in premiums was $2,999.31. Adjourned. J. T. Did-
lake, Secretary.
Court House, January 9, 1877. — Board met pursuant to notice. The President
appointed as Advisory Committee W. M. Smith, F. M. Funk, E. Horr, John Stubble-
field, James Boulware and Isaac Lash. The time for holding the fair was fixed on
September -4, 5, () and 7. Messrs. Funk, Horr and Ross appointed Committee on Speed.
John Peck was appointed Superintendent of Grounds, B. F. Funk, Chief Marshal, and
the Treasurer, to solicit private premiums for ladies' equestrianship. Gate fees as last
year.
Fair Grounds, September 5, 1877. — After closing the polls, the Judges of the
election of officers for the current year declared the following-named persons elected :
President, T. D. Hartsen ; Vice Presidents, F. M. Funk, John O. Davis ; Treasurer,
Jabez Brewster ; Secretary, J. T. Didlake.
At the annual meeting of the Executive Board, the Treasurer presented his report,
showing the total receipts to have been $6,390.64:, of which sum 85,038.2-4 was for
tickets at the fair — the largest ever realized. The disbursements were $6,0-13.48, of
which sum $3,168.19 was paid in premiums, leaving on hand §347.16.
The President appointed as Advisory Committee, William Karr, Isaac Lash, 0.
Barnard ; I. G. Lane, EHas Brock, Ellis Dillon and Nelson Jones.
At the meeting of the Board, December 11, the time of holding the next fair was
fixed for September 3, 4, 5 and 6, 1878, J. L. Keckley was appointed Superintendent
of Grounds, and B. F. Funk, Chief Marshal, and Mr. Dillon appointed as delegate to
the State Agricultural Board at Springfield. Premium on speed and gate fees as usual.
Grounds leased to J. L. Peck for the season at $300. President's and Secretary's salary
fixed at $50 each for coming year. On motion, separate classes and premiums were
made out for Norman and Clyde draught-horses — the one to be classed as imported and
fidl-blood Norman horses, and the other as imported and full-blood Clyde, English draught
and Belgian horses. Adjourned. J. T. Didlake, Secretary.
x\t the annual meeting of the Board, March 4, 1878, the Secretary made hia
report for 1877, showing amount of orders issued on treasury to be $5,238.65;
amount of premiums ofi"ered, $3,637; amount paid, 83,216.25.
On motion, it was resolved as the sense of the meeting that every species of gambling
should be excluded from the grounds of the Society.
The polls being closed at an election held on the fair grounds, September 4, 1878,
the Judges, W. M. Loehr and Isaac Lash, declared the following persons to be elected
as officers of the Board for the ensuing year : President, T. D. Hartsen ; Vice Presi-
dents, B. F. Funk, John 0. Davis ; Treasurer, J. Brewster ; Secretary, J. T. Didlake.
The Treasurer made his report for the year 1878, showing the total receipts to
have been $5,296.90, and the premiums paid, $1,676.80. Adjourned. J. T. Didlake,
Secretary.
Court House, January 14, 1879. — Board met at call, and the President appointed
as Advisory Committee Elias Brock, John Stubblefield, I. G. Lane, Isaiah Dillon,
George Tryner. James Rayburn and Samuel H. Lewis.
At the meeting of the Board, January 17, 1879, the gate fees were fixed substan-
tially as last year, and the time of holding the next fair to be on the 23d, 24th, 25th
and 26th of September, 1879. Adjourned. J. T. Didlake, Secretary.
262 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
INFLUENCES.
We have thus given the form of the McLean County Agricultural Society, and a
hasty sketch of its skeleton history, as well as some idea of the persons who have taken
leading parts in its operations ; but its inner life and its influences, its purposes and its
claims ujion public recognition and patronage, have scarcely been noticed. Like other
institutions, the Society has been obliged to battle on its way, and to struggle, from
small beginnings, up to its present proportions, until it is now one of the few leading
associations of its kind in the State ; and it is pushing its rivals hard for the foremost
rank. In some features it has already taken the lead. Other counties have done nobly.
Some of them took prominent positions earlier in the field, but they have been obliged
to struggle manfully to retain their relative positions. In stock-raising, Morgan County
has been a noble rival. Logan County has taken the lead in corn-raising, and Greene
County in some kinds of fruit ; but in general cultivation and productions, they can
scarcely compete with McLean.
This Society now owns about fifty acres of beautiful grounds in the immediate
vicinity of the city, with good and convenient buildings and outstructures, a fine new
circus for trial of speed, all well inclosed and nicely arranged for the purposes of its
existence. These grounds and fixtures, even at the present nominal values of property,
cannot be worth less than $25,000. But as a financial speculation, the Society has
not been a success — that was not its motive ; it had in view a nobler purpose, and well has it
already accomplished much of that intended purpose. Several of its members have
already come to the front in the State, and even in the West, in their particular departments.
Many very fine cattle, sheep and swine have been imported directly from Scotland
and England, and splendid horses from those countries and Normandy, Belgium and
France, as well. Even while writing these lines, the crow and the cackle of imported
fowls are within hearing. Many of the members of this Society, and others under its
influence, have taken high premiums on fine stock of their own raising, in State Fairs
in this State, and in neighboring States.
The Dillons and the Stubblefields of this county have been for some time, and they
still are, importing direct from Europe as fine horses, of their kind — monsters in their
proportions — as can be found anywhere. Their stock has been purchased and raised in
every direction, and tney have thus been instrumental in improving the stock of horses
all over the country.
Mr. W. R. Duncan and Ryburn Brothers, of this county, have been prominent in
introducing and cultivating the finest breeds of foreign animals, especially of cattle, and
the best crosses. Their stock is spread all over the country, and the influence has been
incalculable. The Brothers Shorthose have taken many State premiums on their stock.
The Rayburns and Stewarts and Karrs and Funks have been very successful in this line,
as well as many others.
The influence of the Society has been felt, also, in other cultures, as grains, fruits of
several varieties, vegetabl(;s, .^niall fruits, fowls, domestic manufactures and flowers. It
has also contributed to the encouragement of excellence in several kinds ol manufactures,
as of carriages, wagons, plows, cultivators, and various implements and conveniences of
agricultural and domestic pursuit.^. Some of these articles, the products of McLean
County industry and enterprise, as well as chairs and stoves, are favorably known far
and wide in the country.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 263
But the influences of this Society have been indirectly beneficial, also. The fre-
quent meetings on a common subject, and the free interchange of views and sentiments,
free from all political and theological biases, are always beneficial to those who partici-
pate in them. Then the great annual gatherings of the people at the fair tend to pro-
mote social and friendly relations among themselves. They break the monotony, to
some extent, inevitable to rural pursuits, and cultivate kindly feelings between the res-
idents in the country and those of the city. In short, we cannot enumerate, in special-
ties, all the beneficial influences of the McLean County Agricultural Society. They
are as numerous as human relations, and as precious as human interests.
HORTICULTURE.
Horticulture, in its broadest sense, is another branch of industry in which McLean
County acknowledges no rival in the State, scarcely one in the West. In early times,
Mr. Nelson Buck was the standard nurseryman in Bloomington, who carried on the
business here, in a small way, adapted to the demand for several years ; but a certain
widow lady opened another nursery in Pontiac, and he emigrated in that direction.
Mr. Buck was a man of many good qualities ; but his most prominent characteristic
was eccentricity. However, the people were under obligation to him for introducing
thus early among them much very tolerable fruit.
Since his day, there have been several candidates for public favor in the same line.
The Fell Brothers have always been active friends of tree and fruit culture. Blooming-
ton is largely indebted to Mr. Jesse W. Fell for its surnames, Evergreen City and Grove
City. But the latter appellation is now the more appropriate one, as evergreens are not
now so generally cultivated in this vicinity. Mr. Fell did also quite a business, for those
early times, in fruit-tree raising. He has since created quite a paradise in Normal, sur-
sounding his pleasant residence there with the finest assemblage of shrubbery in the
country, and filled it with fruit enough to tempt Eve to forfeit more paradises than
Mohammed ever claimed to have visited. Mr. Kersey H. Fell has more recently culti-
vated successfully an excellent and quite extensive grapery. The people ought to be
thankful to these gentlemen, and some of their relations, for their example in cultivating
nature, and developing the capabilities of our soil in good time.
The Messrs. Wills have also done a very good work for the locality in the same
line. Mr. C. Bell has had quite a grapery, for several years, in the immediate vicinity.
Everybody knows Dr. Schroeder, and his great and successful efforts to promote the culti-
vation of fruit-trees and of grapes, and of his own wealth. Mr. Lange, over on South
Hill, raises some of the finest grapes in the country. Many others have done well in
this line, and their labors have been worthy of imitation. Mr. James Robinson & Son,
and Mr. Ballard have done much for floriculture, and to cultivate in the community a
love for the beautiful children of nature — the flowers, the innocent, the lovely flowers.
Their efforts have been appreciated by the community.
But the horticulturist of McLean County, Mr. F. K. Phoenix, did not make his
appearance among us until 1852. He then purchased ten acres of land, just north of
the city, where the Wesleyan University buildings now stand, and commenced opera-
tions— experimenting upon soil and climate and the adaptations thereto of the different
varieties of fruit and shade trees, of vegetables, plants and flowers. He gradually
extended the area and the magnitude of his operations as means and demands increased,
264 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
and as experience and results gave him more assurance, until he worked, in a few years,
into an extensive and prosperous business.
It would require a book alone to name and describe all the flowering plants and
their varieties rnltivated by Mr. Phoenix. He has an acre under glass, and therein and
in the exttMi.sive surroundings may be found represented all the families of hardy and
hot-house plants that are cultivated elsewhere.
As the business prospered and the demands increased, Mr. Phoenix extended his
operations so as to embrace seven hundred acres of surface, and, as one may readily
suppose, the business assumed gigantic proportions. During the busy season, in fall and
spring, he has employed daily as many as three hundred hands ; and the daily shipment
of a car- load of trees in bulk, was a regular business; and this represented only about
one-tenth of the actual sales — immense quantities of the productions being delivered in
boxes and packages.
Some conception of the magnitude of these operations may be formed from the
fact that they have amounted annually from $275,000 to $300,000, involving the deliv-
ery of several thousand dollars worth daily during the busy season. The principal points
to which these shipments have been made are Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, and
occasionally Cincinnati — Kansas City being a very prominent point.
During these years, Mr. Phoenix has let many of his trees go to fruitage, as tests
and illusti-ations of their qualities and adaptations to soil and climate, the result being
the production of much excellent fruit. Like all other kinds of business, this particu-
lar branch has, of course, its incidental and periodical experiences. Mr. Phoenix lost,
in one season, by the severe frosts, $50,000 worth of sprouts, young trees and plants,
the loss being especially severe in incipient pear-trees.
As one may well suppose, Mr. Phoenix has severely felt the inevitable embarrass-
ments resulting from the derangements and partial suspension of business consequent
upon the financial storm that has swept over the country, and the money dry-rot that
has followed, carrying many a prosperous man to destitution and involving unspeakable
suffering. But he is still struggling on and hoping, under shortened sails.
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
McLean is an educational county. Tradition has handed down to these later times
the name of Delilah Mullen as that of the first school-teacher in McLean County.
She is spoken of as a good teacher and a good woman, though her discipline is said not
to have been as npplicahle as that of her successor, Mr. Green Hickory. She taught
the little hopefuls in the house of Mr. John Dawson, and afterward in the first school-
house in the county. It was built by Mr. Dawson in 1828, and was constructed of
logs and covered by a roof.
Mr. William H. Hodge and Mr. Amasa C. Washburn — the latter still living — were
model teachers in those days. What the boys did not get in lessons, at school, they got
in larruping., at home. The parents frequently took a hand in such matters, and it was
not seldom that the scholars got marks as higli as their shoulders on deportment. Vigor
rather than consideration seemed to be the characteristic in the administration of discipline.
For quite a number of years, the schools in the county were supported by the tuition
paid by the scholars for the privilege of attendance. The schools were generally kept
open for only a few months in the year.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 265
The first official transaction on the subject of education in the county seems, from
the records, to have been the appointment, by the Commissioners' Court, of Messrs.
WilHam H. Hodge, John Hendrix and William Orondorfi" as Trustees of school lands
in Township 23 north. Range 2 east ; Ephraim Stout, Robert Drain and Isaac Sample,
in Town 24 north, Range 1 west; John Moore, Gardner Randolph and Elijah Hedrick,
in Town 22 north, Range 2 east ; James Murphy, Andrew Biggs and Samuel Murphey,
in Town 22 north. Range 1 east; Walter McPhearson, Benjamin Day and John Glenn,
Esq., in Town 21 north, Range 1 east; William Conaway, James Merrifield and Officer
Rutledge, in Town 22 north. Range 4 east.
The Court also appointed James Latta Commissioner of the school sections num-
bered 16 in the county. The appointments were made at the December term, 1831.
It seems now to be a great misfortune that such appointments were not delayed
twenty or thirty years, and the school lands entirely neglected for that length of time ;
for these lands, in those early times, brought prices so insignificant that the amounts of
their sales did the people very little good, and lands were so abundant and so cheap that
the sale of the sixteenth school sections was scarcely an accommodation to those who
wished to make purchases for actual occupation, and the sale of them to speculators
tended rather to retard than to hasten the settlement of the country.
The first report of the sale of school lands in the county was made to the Com-
missioners' Court at the March term, 1834, by William Durley, Esq., County Commis-
sioner of School Lands. It was for Township 24 north, Range 1 west. Among the
early teachers in the county were : Miss Charlotte Wheeler, Mr. John Greenman and
his daughter Lydia, in 1831. In 1835, Rev. Lemuel Foster erected a seminary build-
ing on South Main street, in which he taught for several years, and Rev. George W.
Minier, for some years, had a school in the same building. This was the first seminary-
building in the county, and it was standing but a few years since.
Gradually, schools were started at different points in the country, and the people
became more and more active and interested in the subject. But in 1854, 1855 and
1856, there was a general awakening in reference to common schools and to education
generally. The 2mill tax went into operation, which distributed a respectable sum
annually to the counties, which was to be exclusively employed in the support of com-
mon schools. This gave a new impetus to the movement and greatly encouraged the
people to enter actively into its promotion.
In 1853, the first Teachers' State Convention was held here, in Bloomington. It
is not too much to say that this Convention was set in motion by a few active individ-
uals who were residents of Bloomington. Especially may we refer to those who had
been active in starting the Wesleyan University in this city, an institution which, like
most similar enterprises in a new country, passed through many and trying experiences
in its early existence. It has now become a very successful institution, but it will be
more particularly noticed in another part of this work.
That same convention discussed several subjects of great educational interest,
and put on its feet the movement that has resulted in having a State Superintendent
of Schools, a Normal State University and the whole machinery that is now operating
one of the most magnificent systems of common schools in existence ; and the people
of McLean County have maintained their consistency of character for energy and
enterprising liberality in securing in their midst the location of the said Normal
266 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
University, by subscribing more largely to its cost of erection than those of any other
county in the State — $140,000 — one-half by the county and one-half by individuals.
There is also the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. Although the county did not officially
subscribe to the funds of that institution, yet such was the liberality of citizens of
McLean County, especially of Judge David Davis, that it was located in our midst.
Many hundreds of soldiers' orphans have been there educated, and no pen can tell
the amount of good that may eventually result from its erection and maintenance.
It is a monument of gratitude, nobly merited by the fathers of those children.
The County Superintendent's reports for several years furnish the following
general statistics, showing the condition of the common schools of the county, number
of scholars, etc. In looking over these statements it should be remembered that
Bloomington, containing fully one- third of the population in these latter years, has
city schools distinct from those of the county in general :
In 1865, the number of school districts in the county was 215 ; number of schools,
220 ; number of persons between six and twenty-one years of age, 11,693 ; number
of scholars in attendance, 10,337 ; number of teachers, 337 ; number of schoolhouses,
195; amount of State tax, $13,683; received from special school tax, $42,546;
total amount expended, $65,606 ; amount of principal of township fund, $88,834.
In 1866, the number of school districts was 255 ; the number of schools, 225 ; num-
ber of persons between six and twenty-one years of age, 14,390 ; number of scholars in
attendance, 10,716; number of teachers, 376 ; number of schoolhouses, 216; amount
of State tax, $15,456; received from special school tax, $77,160; total amount
expended, $108,974; amount of principal of township funds, $100,944.
In 1874, the number of persons between six and twenty-one years of age was
19,113 ; the number of pupils in schools, 14,299 ; the whole number of school districts,
253 ; number of schoolhouses, 258 ; number of teachers, 493 ; the principal of the
township funds, $157,541.55.
The Township Treasurer's reports show that the amount received from the
County Superintendent was $21,621.75; received interest on township funds to the
amount of $14,356.13 ; received from special district taxes, $153,158.72. The amount
paid teachers was $120,700.81 ; paid for new schoolhouses, $4,343.31 ; paid for repairs
and improvements, $9,332.77 ; paid for school furniture, $2,743.08 ; for fuel and
incidental expenses, paid $17,835.56 ; paid interest on bonds, $18,071.53; other items
make the whole amount paid out during the current year, $196,818.96.
Similar statistics for the previous year, 1873, areas follows: Number of school
districts, 252 ; number of pupils in school, 13,786 ; number of persons between twenty-one
and six years of age, 18,879 ; the whole amount expended for school purposes, $234,-
141.88; principal of township funds, $155,015.93 ; received from State, $22,397.29.
It seems to be a great pity that the school lands in this county, and in the State
generally, should have been sacrificed as they were in early times. In this county, many
of the school .scsctions were sold as low as $1.25 ; and even as late as in 1848 and 1849,
they sold at from $1.25 to $1.50 per acre. The very prices at which they sold, prove con-
clusively that there was no demand for them such as to justify their sale. The six-
teenth section in this township, lying in the center of Blooming Grove, was sold in
1834, while timber-land was still plenty. It was sold for four dollars and some cents
to thirteen dollars and some cents per acre ; and a large portion of the fund arising from
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 267
the sale has since been lost through the failure of the State Bank. Some of the same
lands have since sold for two hundred dollars per acre. Had their sale been delayed
until a proper time, the result would have been a handsome and permanent income for
the support of the public schools in the township.
It will be seen by the statistics given above, that the expenses of running the pub-
lic schools in this county are really assuming a respectable amount. Recent inquiry at
the proper sources of information shows that the amount of money annually expended
in McLean County on education is $350,000 — more than one-third of a million dollars,
saying nothing about the expenses of books, board of students and the like. Probably
not a parallel case can be found in the country.
We claim that this airay of facts puts McLean County in the lead among her sis-
ter-counties on education as well as in other matters. This proud position she still pro-
poses to maintain, not from love of invidious comparisons, but because her citizens see
their best interests to be promoted by favoring every enterprise that has a tendency to
make virtue and intelligence universal. Therefore she A'ould say to her neighbors, do
jour best and we will do better if we can.
MILITARY HISTORY.
The first military experiences of the citizens of McLean County occurred in the
Black Hawk war, which broke out in 1832. It is not the intention to give the causes in
full that brought about this war, nor the history of the war itself, but to speak as briefly as
may be of the scenes in which the volunteers from this county were engaged. It seems
that Black Hawk had figured extensively in the war of 1812, and always on the British
side ; so there could be expected, on his part, no very good feeling toward the Ameri-
cans fixed in his breast after the war was over. In 1830 and 1831, most of the Endians,
and the Sacs and the Foxes with the test, and Black Hawk, too, had passed to the west
side of the Mississippi, and had agreed, by treaties with the United States Government, to
remain on that side of the river. It is said that Keokuk, the principal chief of the Sacs
and Foxes insisted on remaining faithful to their agreements. But from various motives,
good or bad. Black Hawk determined to return to the old scenes of his former exploits
in Northern Illinois. Accordingly, he inspired the fiery spirits of his people with his
•own sentiments, and, in the spring of 1832, came over the Mississippi with six or
seven hundred warriors, and was joined by some fragments of other tribes. Upon his
appearing on Rock River and showing hostile intentions, the Governor of Illinois called
for volunteers to repel their invasion of surrendered territory.
Of the mounted volunteers, McLean County furnished one company. Gen. Meritt
L. Covel beijg Captain, and Gen. Asahel Gridley, Lieutenant. They joined other com-
panies from Tazewell, Peoria and Fulton Counties, and mustered, early in May, about
two hundred and seventy -five strong, under command of Maj. Stillman, at Dixon. There
seemed to be considerable dissatisfaction, as usual on such occasions among the volun-
teers, at the tardiness of the movements of the regular troops under the command of
Gen. Atkinson, who were moving up Rock River, and with whom they were to act in
concert.
These men had volunteered their services for thirty days to drive the redskins out
of the country, and they wanted to get about it and return to their own homes. This
feeling was so strong among the men that Maj. Stillman and Gov. Reynolds reluctantly
268 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
consented to make a reconnoitering excursion to hunt Indians, who were known to be
somewhere about at uo great distance. They started out accordingly on the 13th of
May. and were quite successful in finding the Indians, or being found by them — a point
that has not yet been settled even unto the present day. The various versions of the
movements of the hostile parties on the following day are considerably confused ; but
the members of the company from IMcLeau do not hesitate to say that they were
actively engaged in the battle of Stillman's Run, and that the scenes at the close of the
battle were considerably nearer Dixon than the opening ones. Some accounts say that
only about forty Indians were actually engaged in the fight, while others say that there
were more than forty and four hundred. Be this as it may, those who were engaged
in it agree that there were enough.
In reference to this unfortunate affair, we find the following remark in the History
of lUinois, by Stuve : •' Perhaps no better material for an army could be found than
Maj. Stillman and his men, and their defeat was not the lack of bravery, but the want
of experience and discipline. No body of men, under similar circumstances, would
have acted more efficiently ; yet for years afterward they were made the subject of
thoughtless merriment and ridicule, as undeserving as their expedition was disastrous."
Probably this presentation of the case is, in a few words, judicious and conclusive.
Military history furnishes many instances of incomprehensible panics that have at times
taken possession of even regular soldiers; and of those, too, who on previous and on sub-
sequent occasions gave examples of splendid qualities as reliable and brave men. It is
certain that the Illinois volunteers afterward, in this same war, showed themselves to
be fully equal to the emergency, and were among the foremost of those who acted
efficiently in driving Black Hawk and his murderous gang out of the State.
After this rout of the volunteers at Stillman's Run, the Indians immediately
spread over the country, and indulged in the most execrable and wanton murder, even
making themselves merry over their innocent and defenseless victims — women and
children — as their screams filled the air with unavailing cries for help, amid the smoke
and flames of their dwellings. Terror took possession of the minds of the people in all
the northern part of the State, as the infuriated brutes busied themselves in their work
of destruction, and the danger was undoubtedly greatly magnified ; and an efficient
re-enforcement of fresh volunteers and I'egular troops, not very long afterward, drove the
hostile gang into the Mississippi River.
There can be no reasonable doubt that the Indians had been cheated and crowded
by the white men of the time; but the circumstances before this war, and the manner
in which it was carried on by Black Hawk, show conclusively that the motive on his
part was revenge, pure and simple. They had bargained away their country on this side
of the Mississippi, and had left it. There was no possible chance for them to recover
it. nor to hold it for any length of time should they succeed in getting temporary
possession of it. In plain language, the motive of the war was revenge ; and dearly
did they pay for the madness of their conduct.
One thing quite remarkable in reference to this comparatively insignificant war is
the number of men taking an active part in it who became afterward very distinguished
in public life, both civil and military. Gen. Scott commanded the regular troops,
though he did not arrive in time to take any active part in the fighting. He was
Commander-in-Chief of the American army, afterward, fur many years, and a candidate
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 269>
for the Presidency. Gen. Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame, was a young
Lieutenant at that time in the regular army. Col. Zachary Taylor commanded the-
regular troops actually engaged in the Black Hawk war, afterward the distinguished
commander in the Mexican war, and subsequently President of the United States.
Hon. John T. Stuart, of Springfield, who has been repeatedly in Congress, and ought
to have been in the Senate, was a private among the volunteers in that war. Capt.
Harney, of the re<iular army, was afterward a distinguished General in the Mexican war.
Edward Baker, Esq., then a private among the volunteers, became a distinguished
orator, a member of Congress, then United States Senator, and was killed only too soon
to prevent his becoming a distinguished commander in the recent war. Lieut. Albert
Sidney Johnson, then of the regular army, was a man of splendid abilities, who, for-
tunately for the Union army, was killed at the battle of Shiloh, his loss being felt by
the Confederate army to be almost irreparable. Lieut. Jefferson Davis, then of the
regular army, did good service as a Colonel in the Mexican war, afterward a United
States Senator, and President of that figment called the Southern Confederacy.
But last and greatest of them all was Abraham Lincoln, at first a private and after-
ward a Captain in the Black Hawk war. What he afterward became needs not to be
told in these pages. These coincidences are certainly very remarkable.
Among those who went on this expedition in the first company from McLean
County, were Capt. M. L. Covel, First Lieut. Asahel Gridley, Second Lieut. Moses
Baldwin, First Sergt. Bailey H. Coffey, Fourth Sergt. David Simmons, and William
McCullough, Thomas 0. Rutledge, Michael Gates, James Phillips, James K. Orondorff^
Isaac Murphey, Samuel Durley, Clement Oatraan, James Paul, Reuben Windham, John
Vittito, Jesse Vandolah, Mr. Harris, George Wiley, Benjamin Conger and Joseph Dra-
per, who was wounded at the fight at Stillman's Run. At the expiration of the
thirty days for which they enlisted, the McLean County men returned home. Capt.
Robert McClure, of Stout's Grove, raised another company ; but tradition says that
they did only guard duty in ranging over several counties to prevent the India,ns from
committing depredations upon the people.
The citizens of McLean County were so fortunate as to win no laurels in the Mor-
mon war of 1841 and 1842.
WAR WITH MEXICO.
As the leading men of the nation were at the time very much divided in their sen-
timents as to the sufficiency of the causes that brought on the war with Mexico, their
discussion seems not to be called for in this sketch. The magnificent territory of Texas
was, of course, the prize which Mexico wished to retain, and which the United States
had no objection to take in. Moved by such desires, it was quite easy for the parties
to find a pretext for the contest. The question of boundary was a sufficient one.
Although Mexico could have no rational expectation of ever recovering Texas, it cut
her to the heart to see so large a portion of her former territory annexed irrevocably to
her already too powerful neighbor.
As it was not necessary to raise a large force, each county was called on for but few
men. In June, 1846, a company of 100 men volunteered in McLean County.
This company went to Springfield on the 9th of June; but from some misunder-
standing about the time for which they were to enlist, about half the company refused
to be sworn in, and returned home, and the company was filled up from another county.
■270 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Dr. J. Elkin, at that time a practicing physician in the county, was Captain ; James
Withers was First Lieutenant, and William Duncan, Second Lieutenant. Benjamin
Wyatt was Orderly Sergeant, and John W. Lander and Shorty Dukestine Sergeants.
The following names comprise those who were mustered into the Fourth Regiment of
Illinois Volunteers, as Company B, from McLean County :
Andrew Hodge, Andrew Mason, Henry Lash, William Lash, James A. Parke,
Preston Riemer, John Misner, John Ogden, Anderson Young, Isaac Brown, John Jones,
-James Depew, John Cranmer, Isaac N. Savage, William Baldwin, Mason Baker, Thomas
Johnson, John Johnson, William Van Horn, William Tophouse, John Crumbeau, Will-
iam Little, Robert Mclntyre, Andrew Newton, James Jenkins, John Walker, Eggman
Walker, John Cranmer, George Perry, Thomas Owens, Joseph Bozarth, John Good,
William Broomfield, James Miller, Allen Palmer, Ichabod Dodson, Julius Caesar Surrel,
William Harbert, Hardon Escue, Peter Withers, Ezra Ball, Sr., Ezra Ball, Jr., John
S. Johnson, Joseph Glympse.
The Fourth Regiment was under the command of that splendid specimen of a
man, an orator, an officer and a gentleman, Edward D. Baker. He was very ably sup-
ported by a strong and most reliable man in the person of Lieut. Col. John Moore, of
this county, who was afterward Lieutenant Governor of the State, and for eight years
State Trea.surer of Illinois. The worth of these two men was appreciated by the regi-
ment and by the people. The State voted Lieut. Col. Moore a splendid sword in
acknowledgment of his eminent services. The sword is still among the family treas-
ures, and has been admired by many of his fellow-citizens.
The regiment went first to Matamoras on its way to join Gen. Taylor, but was
ordered to join Gen. Scott, which it did at Vera Cruz. It was engaged in the siege of
that strongly-fortified place, and in the storming of Cerro Gordo. The time of its
enlistment expired soon after, and it then returned home. Mr. Andrew Hodge and
Mr. John Misner died of sickness before being under fire. The two instances above
mentioned were the only ones in which the company from this county was engaged in
severe fighting. They represent Cerro Gordo as a very strong place and difficult of
approach. If it had been as bravely defended as it was stormed, the result might have
been different. Yet the Mexicans fought as bravely as could be expected of men who
were facing an enemy that all experience told them they could not defeat.
The Americans suffered more from the climate than from the valor of the enemy
until they arrived ujton the elevated plateau of the central part of the country. Yet
it mu.st be admitted that in several instances, in their strongholds, the Mexicans fought
bravely. Nearly all the commanding officers from Illinois were strong men, and won
much honor to themselves and to the State.
THE CIVIL WAR.
When that fearful calamity, the civil war for the rending in twain this magnificent
country, this glorious union of States, burst upon the public with the vibrations of the
cannon thundering upon Fort Sumter, in the air, it did not find McLean County unj)re-
pared to meet the terrible rosponsil)ilities resting upon the friends of union and of
human liberty. This county had given in the previous November election, the largest
majority for the Republican ticket, with Mr. Lincoln at its head, that it had ever given
any party on any subject. McLean County was justly regarded as the political center
H [STORY OF McLean COUNTY. 271
of Illinois. Here in Bloomington, the Republican party was born in Major's Hall, on
Front street. Mr. Lincoln's name first appeared in the columns of a public newspaper
in this city as a candidate for the Presidency. The citizens of McLean County had
done more to place him before the American people than those of any other county,
East or West. Therefore, much was expected from her and nobly did she respond.
Whatever differences of political sentiments might have before divided her citizens,
when the one question of the hour arose — union or disunion — there was but one
response, "The Union must and shall be preserved." When the ninety-days volun-
teers were called for, more than men enough answered immediately, and they went on
answering as long as they were called for.
A little calculation will show whether the people of McLean County were worthy
of the great confidence which was reposed in them. The census of 1860 puts the
population of the county at 28,772, but as the war continued for some time we will
call it 30,000. Suppose one-half of the population to be female and one-half to be
children and aged persons, and we have 7,500 left. Well, McLean County sent over
4,000 men into the Union armies, showing quite evidently that the county sent more
than one-half of her able-bodied men into the field. Scarcely could more be expected
from any people.
The first company raised in the county, early in the summer of 1861, under the
call of the President for 75,000 men for ninety days, was that of Captain Harvey.
They mustered in at Springfield a full company, and joined the Eighth Illinois Regi-
ment. Quite a number of the boys shed tears at the disappointment in not getting
into the service — there were too many of them. They spent most of their time at
Cairo, and when at the expiration of their time the Eighth Illinois was re-organized,
nearly all of Capt. Harvey's company re-enlisted and remained with him in the Eighth.
The company sufiered severely at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and Capt. Harvey,
already acting Lieutenant Colonel, was killed.
Under the call of the President for 300,000 men, in the summer of 1861,
when the light began to break upon the people of the Northern States as to
the kind of a job they had on their hands, the Thirty-Third Regiment of Illinois Vol-
unteers was raised. This regiment was largely made up of Normal students from all
parts of the State, with a large element, of McLean County boys in its composition.
Company A was made up of men from all parts of the State. As Normal students,
most of them had been under voluntary drill for some time. They became the first
company ready to make up the Thirty-Third, and the rallying center for other com-
panies. Prof. L. H. Potter, of the Normal University, was chosen Captain.
Company C was a McLean County company, with Dr. E. R. Roe for Captain.
But, being promoted to Major on the organization of the regiment. Dr. Roe was succeeded
by Captain Daniel B. Robinson, who resigned, and went into another regiment as
Lieutenant Colonel. Lieutenant John L. Burnham was promoted to Captain and
resigned. First Lieutenant Henry M. Kellogg became Captain, and was killed at
Vicksburg. First Lieutenant Edward J. Lewis became Captain, and was mustered out
with the regiment. Lieutenant George H. Fifer died from wounds. Lieutenants
Amandus L. Bush and George W. Jones were mustered out with the regiment.
Company G was mostly composed of McLean County men, with Prof Ira Moore,
of the Normal, for Captain, who resigned in 1864. First Lieutenant George P. Ela
272 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
resigned, and First Lieutenant John T. Russell became Captain, and mustered out with
the regiment. Lieutenant William Elbert resigned, and Lieutenant Russell Puntenney
mustered out with the regiment.
THE DEATHS.
The deaths of twenty-five members of this company occurred, as by the records of
the company, and it is known that several others died soon after their discharge, from
disease contracted in the service. The list of names is: Wilham M. Jones, Narcisso
Livernois, David Irish, Andrew J. Boyd, Samuel B. Oswalt, Samuel J. Fogle, Alex-
ander \V. Wood, William Turnipseed, Warner A. Blue, William H. Sizemore, Levcn
A. Moore, Isaac W. Shiner, Chapman Shores, David H. Mitchell, William D. Shoup,
William H. Hawkins, Peter D. Jones, John H. Childers, Charles S. Shinn, Francia
(^uvillier, James Stevenson, John Riley, William P. Lanphier, Isaac Oswalt, William
Trimmer, Charles S. Smith.
FIELD AND STAFF.
Colonel, Charles E. Hovey ; Lieutenant Colonel, William R. Lockwood ; Major,
Edward E. Roe ; Surgeon, George E. Rex ; Assistant Surgeons, N. W. Abbott,
H. T. Antis, P]dwin May, H. L. Wallace, Oliver Rex ; Adjutants, F. M. Crandal, E.
A. Gove, Duncan J. Ingraham ; Quartermasters, Simeon Wright, Richard B. Fulks ;
Chaplains, Herman J. Eddy, N. P. Coltrin.
Col. Hovey was promoted to Brigadier General, Maj. Roe became Lieutenant
Colonel, and Capt. Potter became Major.
This regiment passed through a variety of experinces. It was organized at Camp
Butler August 29, 1861, and, on the 19th of September, went on the cars to St. Louis.
A part of the regiment was soon sent out to guard bridges on the railroad leading south-
west, where they had their first experiences of the enemy, a few being wounded, and a
considerable number taken prisoners. Their first battle was at Fredericktown, soon
after, in which they did excellent service, and in which Jeff Thompson and Col. Lowe
were badly whipped with heavy loss, and Col. Lowe was killed. On the 1st of March,
the regiment went southward with Geu. Steele, and joined the main army in Arkansas.
In July, it assisted to defeat Rusk's heavy force at the battle of Cache Bayou. The
rest of the summer was spent at Helena. Early in 1863, the regiment went to Vicks-
burg, and participated in the battles at Port Gibson, Champion Hills, Black River
Bridge, and in the terrible assault on Vicksburg May 22. In the siege, Col. Roe was
wounded, and Capt. Kellogg was killed.
The regiment was present at the memorable surrender of Vicksburg. Soon after, it
participated in the capture of Jackson, and went thence to New Orleans. It participated
in Banks' expedition up the Teche, and, in November, went down the Texas coast, was
engaged in the fight at Matagorda Bay, and a part of the Thirty-third was the first ta
enter the deserted fort and raise the national flag on its walls. In January, 18G4, the regi-
ment re-enlisted in the veteran service. In the following spring, it was sent to Brashear
City, and was a long time employed as bridge and station guards. Early in 18G5, the
Thirty-third was ordered to join the Mobile (ixpedition. Just as it was starting on its way,
it met with the terrible railroad accident that resulted in the death of eleven men, and the
injury of seventy others. The regiment participated in the taking of Spanish Fort, Fort
Blakely, and the surrender of Mobile. It went thence to Montgomery, marched tO'
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 278
Selma ; thence it went to Meridian, Miss., and thence to Vicksburg, about the middle of
August. It beat about to various points until the middle of November, when the order
came to be mustered out. The regiment reached Camp Butler on the 30th of the month,
and early in December it was paid otf and discharged.
NINETY-FOURTH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS.
In the summer of 1862, the call for 600,000 men aroused the people of McLean
County to a more earnest determination tlian ever before to meet every demand upon
their devotion to the defease of the Union. 3Ien of position and of means, took hold
of the matter ; public and private liberality were not wanting, and it was determined to
raise an entire regiment complete of McLean County men.
In less than ten days, 1 ,200 men responded, and two companies were obliged to
join other regiments. The idea of a solid regiment of men, most of whom were per-
sonally acquainted with each other, was very popular ; and had the movement been taken
at its flood, probably two regiments could have been raised in a few days. The pride of
McLean was up, and such enthusiasm to enter the service is not often seen twice in a
life-time.
After the organization of the companies was complete, a meeting was held on the
14th of August, in Bloomington. and the " McLean County Regiment," the Ninety-
Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was completed. The result was as follows: Colonel,
W. W. Orme ; Lieutenant Colonel, John McNulta ; Major, R. G. Laughlin ; Adjutant,
Hudson Burr; Quartermaster, M. L. Moore; Chaplain, Robert E. Guthrie; Surgeon,
Joseph C. Ross; Assistant Surgeon, A. E. Stewart; Sergeant-Major, Henry C. Provost;
Quartermaster Sergeant, R. S. Mclntyre ; Commissary Sergeant, Carlton Goring ; Hos-
pital Steward, H. W. Boyd; Wagonmaster, Charles W. Lander. Company A — Captain,
A. T. Briscoe; First Lieutenant, Guy A. Carlton; Second Lieutenant, A. S. Lawrence.
Company B — Captain, J. C. McFarland ; First Lieutenant, Patrick Gorman ; Second
Lieutenant, W. W. Elder. Company C — Captain, John FrankUn ; First Lieutenant,
G. B. Okesou ; Second Lieutenant, James A. Elder. Company D — Captain, G. W.
Brown; First Lieutenant, Timothy Owens; Second Lieutenant, William Vangundy.
Company E — Captain, John L. Routt; First Lieutenant, W. H. Wright; Second Lieu-
tenant, J. B. Hopkins. Company F — Captain, A. W. Walden ; First Lieutenant,
Joseph Denison; Second Lieutenant, J. W. Beatty. Company G — Captain, Aaron
Buckles; First Lieutenant, Peter Vanatta; Second Lieutenant, M. B. Ferguson. Com-
pany H — Captain, J. P. Orme; First Lieutenant, L. S. Johnson; Second Lieutenant,
H. C. Steere. Company I — Captain, W. H. Mann; First Lieutenant, Osborn Barnard;
Second Lieutenant, S. P. Howell. Company K — Captain, J. M. Burch ; First Lieu-
tenant, George Hayes ; Second Lieutenant, W. J. Bowlby.
As the regiment was permitted to rendezvous at Bloomington, the men were dis-
missed until August 25 ; and on re-assembling on that day, they went on board the cars
for St. Louis, amidst great excitement in the assembled multitude.
The regiment tarried at Benton Barracks until the 10th of September ; then it
shipped for RoUa, and on the 16th set out on a hot, thirsty march for Springfield, Mo.,
arriving on the 24th, where it remained a few weeks, fortifying that town, and practicing
battalion drill. Here the I'egiment was brigaded in Gen. Herron's Division, Gen. Blunt
and Gen. Totten commanding the two other divisions in the Southwest.
274 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Toward the last of November, Gen. Blunt moved to the front as far as Can&
Hill, Ark., and found himself almost in the presence of Gen. Hindman, with greatly
superior forces. There were some slight collisions between them, but no decisive actions.
Meantime, Hindman had been busy gathering up men in all directions, and was about
ready to surround, with his 80,000 men, the little force of Gen. Blunt, when the latter
got wind of the movements and sent to Gen. Herron for help. Blunt managed to avoid
being taken in by his enemy for the time being; and on receiving the message December 3,
Gen. Herrou immediately broke camp, and moved to his relief, the Second Division fol-
lowing closely behind. On the 7th, Gen. Herron's Division, after a forced march of
120 miles, was about ten miles southwest of Fayetteville, Ark., and half way between
that place and Cane Hill.
Hindman, heai'ing of the approaching re-enforcements, very shrewdly allowed the
Union cavalry, which was in advance, to pass through his lines, and then brought
around his main force, leaving enough to keep Blunt busy upon the road leading from
Fayetteville, and located his men very advantageously at Prairie Grove, on Illinois
Creek. He undoubtedly intended, and with excellent prospects of accomplishing his
purposes, to cut to pieces their re-enforcements, and then to make a short job of Blunt's
little army. But he lost the precious opportunity by not immediately assuming the
aggressive, instead of putting himself upon the defensive. A part of the First Arkan-
sas Cavalry, forming the advance guard of Herron's Division, having been driven back
and scattered by the enemy, in the forenoon of the 7th of December, came rushing
past the infantry in a decidedly demoralized condition.
Gen. Herron's forces numbered between four thousand and five thousand men,
being composed of six regiments of infantry and four batteries. But not in the least
expecting to meet five times their number in almost immediate action, without waiting
for the Second Division to arrive, the men prepared for any contingency, by ridding
themselves of their knapsacks, and forming a line across the road. Crossing Illinois
Creek, the cavalry of the enemy falling back, our army found themselves in front of
Hindman's main force, posted on high ground about a mile from the creek, soon after
noon. In front of their position was an open field, with a border of timber on the
creek sufiicient to allow the Union regiments, under at least partial cover, to fall into
line of battle as fast as they came up. When it is taken into consideration, that this
little army was excessively fatigued by a forced march of three days and nights, com-
posed, mostly, of men who had never seen a battle, and faced by a vastly superior force
in a strong position, and well acquainted with the surroundings, the only wonder is, that
it was not utterly defeated and taken captive. Why this did not occur, as everything
indicated that it must, may be discovered by closely watching the progress of the battle,
which lasted from 2 o'clock until dark. We have been thus particular in stating the
circumstances in general, that the reader may have a better chance to appreciate the
conduct of the McLean County Ilegiment — the Ninety-fourth — in this, the first and
the severest trial of its metal. While the artillery was vigorously shelling the enemy's
position, the Ninety-fourth holding the extreme left, advanced and exchanged volleys
with the enemy. This firing of artillery and musketry went on for about an hour,
with scarcely any change of position on either side, the Confederate army being in the
edge of the woods on the brow of the hill, and the Union forces lying on the opposite
side of the field, at the foot of the hill.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 275>
About 3 o'clock commenced an inexplicable movement by the Nineteenth Iowa
and Twentieth Wisconsin, occupying a position toward the right. These two reg-
iments advanced into the field, swinging toward the left ; and the Twentieth Wis-
consin struck a battery on the bluff, and, driving away the gunners, shot the artillery
horses. But the blunder was dearly attoned for. An overwhelming concentration of
fire upon them broke their ranks and drove them from the field. The utter rout of these
two regiments left a gap in the Union line, cutting the Ninety-fourth with Foust's Bat-
tery ofi" from the rest of the army, with the road to their rear laying in the gap.
Seeing this opening, the enemy repeatedly sent heavy masses of men forward to
take possession of the opening and overwhelm the small remaining forces. But all their
efforts were in vain. Every time they left their cover, a withering fire of musketry and
grape drove them back with severe loss. But the situation was becoming critical. Am-
munition was giving out — cartridges were handed from man to man — all but two of the
guns of Foust's battery had withdrawn from want of ammunition, and still the battle
raged all along the line.
Under such circumstances, if the Ninety-fourth had committed a single error, with
an enemy ten to one in their front, eager and confident of victory; had it wavered for
a moment and taken fright at the fearful odds against it, all would have been lost ;
the little army would have been destroyed or scattered ; Blunt would have fallen an.
easy prey, and the Union forces would have been driven back into Missouri with heavy
losses.
But the fearful results of the rashness, in dashing so small a force against such an
army, were not experienced. Just as night was approaching, the joyful rattle of Union
musketry was heard away toward the setting sun on the right, and the shout. Blunt !
Blunt ! ran through the whole line, from right to left, and the scene was changed. As
soon as the roar of battle was heard, Gen. Blunt had burst through the thin guards
left behind by Hindman, and hurried to the rescue. He came in good time. The
decisive moment had arrived, and it looked desperate to the boys in blue. This blow,
struck so opportunely, carried confusion into the enemy's ranks. A part of the forces
that were pressing the Ninety-fourth so severely, were withdrawn to meet this new
movement, and the boys were able to maintain their ground, still fighting till darkness
ended the contest.
Gen. McNulta endeared himself to the regiment by his intrepid conduct during
that eventful day, and he was nobly seconded by Maj. Laughlin. Every member of
the regiment seemed to have done his duty promptly and well. They bivouacked upon
the battle-field that night, expecting to renew the contest in the morning. But
when the morning came, they were equally astonished to find that the enemy had fled,
and that, of their own numbers, only one had been killed and twenty-six wounded.
That a regiment should come out of such a battle with so light a loss looks like a par-
adox. But it can be readily explained.
It will be recollected that the Ninety-fourth changed its position but slightly during
the battle, and was not, therefore, exposed to fire while in motion. Again, the enemy
was posted on a bluff of considerable elevation, and the Ninety-fourth was located near
the foot of the hill, on the opposite side of the field; consequently, in firing down hill,
the enemy had almost uniformly overshot. But the best joke was, that the Ninety-
fourth had been carefully drilled in firing while lying down. To hit a man thus lying
27(5 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
head to is almost impossible in the smoke and confusion of a battle. It will also be
borne in mind that the enemy came out into the field in masses, and were thus exposed
to a fire which no volunteer troops can be brought to stand, and before which even reg-
ular troops would not last long.
The regiment went on the expedition which took Van Buren, about the last of
December ; was in Fayetteville in January, 1863, and after splashing around in the mud
and slush for a couple of months, it returned to Lake Spring. During these marches,
from exposure, a very fatal pneumonia, in February, took seventeen men out of the
regiment. In June, the Ninety-fourth was called to Vicksburg, as that place could not
be taken without its assistance. In that memorable siege, the regiment lost only one
man killed and five wounded, though it was employed in active service and was present
at the surrender of that place. During the summer, the regiment was around gener-
ally, and in October, it was sent down fooling around in Texas, where there was noth-
ing to do worthy of such a body of men. In July, 1864, they returned to New
Orleans. Went to Mobile in August, arriving just in time to witness the surrender of
Fort Gaines. Took a hand in the siege of Fort Morgan, and having been deprived of
vegetables for a long time, the men suifered from scurvy, and were greatly relieved by
a supply of vegetables taken down to them from old McLean by Lieut. Osborne Barnard.
The regiment had considerable experience on the tramp^ building bridges and cor-
duroy roads ; was at the siege and taking of Spanish Fort. The last severe service of
the regiment was in clambering over all obstructions of a warlike character at mid-
niglit, and taking possession of Fort Alexis. Mobile surrendered two days afterward,
April 11, and thus virtually ended the war. On the 18th of June, the regiment took
another apparently aimless trip down to the coast of Texas, and remained at Galveston
awhile. Thence, in July, it moved on Camp Butler ; took that place on the 2d of
August, and arrived in Bloomington on the 9th, having traveled 8,000 miles, been in
nine encounters with the enemy, served in six States, never been defeated nor repulsed,
and having seen the object of its mission accomplished.
CHANGES.
Col. W. W. Orme was promoted to Brigadier General in November, 1862; Lieut.
Col. McNulta became Colonel; Maj. Laughlin became Lieutenant Colonel ; Capt. Briscoe
was promoted to Major; Capt. McFarland became Major; Capt. Routt, Assistant Quar-
termaster; Adjt. Burr, Adjutant General; Capt. J. P. Orme, shot by accident; Capt.
Burch, Provost Marshal ; Lieuts, Okeson, Owen, Denison, Vanatta, Moore, Howell and
Hays became Captains. Seven deaths occurred in action, and forty-five were wounded.
The Ninety-Fourth served three years, and everywhere did honor to itself and to McLean
County. One hundred and fifty-seven died from various causes, 164 were discharged,
149 were recruits, and 26 were neither Allied, discharged, mustered out, nor did they
die in the service.
TWENTY-SIXTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
Company K, of the Twenty-sixth Illinois, was recruited in Bloomington, and
organized in December, 1861, Ira J. Bloomficld, Captain; Allen H. Dillon, First Lieu-
tenant, and John B. Bruner, Second Lieutenant. The company joined its regiment at
Hannibal, Mo., February 6, 1862. It participated in the battles and skirmishes attend-
ing the capture of New Madrid, Point }*leasant, Riddle's Point and Island No. 10.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 279
The company with its regiment, in the summer, went down the Mississippi, then up the
Tennessee, and fought all over Northern Mississippi and Western Tennessee — at Farm-
ington, Corinth, luka. Holly Springs, Collierville, and around generally. In 1863, it
was at the siege of Vicksburg and Jackson ; thence it marched to Memphis, and went
with Sherman to Chattanooga, and suifered severely at the battle of Mission Ridge, one
third of the men and officers of the regiment being killed or wounded. They were then
hurried up to the relief of Knoxville ; thence to Marysville and to Scott3boro, Ala. In
these marches, the men sufiFei-ed severely for the want of clothes and shoes.
In 1864, the company figured in all the terrible and exciting scenes around Atlanta,
(xa., thence in the grand march to the sea ; soon after it appeared in South Carolina, then
in North Carolina ; was at the capitulation of Johnston, and moved thence through Rich-
mond to Washington ; participated in the grand review of Gen. Sherman,' tarried
awhile at Crystal Springs, D. C, and mustered out at Louisville July 20, 1865.
Capt. Bloomfield was promoted, in the mean time, to Lieutenant Colonel, and then
to Colonel ; and Lieutenant Bruner to Captain, and then to Major. Out of the com-
pany there were killed Second Lieut. Thomas E. Ludwig, Melville R. Haynie, Martin
Hanley, August Oker, Daniel Allison, Benjamin C. Hill, John D. Weaver and Edwin
S. Loveland. Died of disease, Robertson Grant, Mark F. Onion, William R. Beers,
William R. Cheney, John McKay and Timothy Crane.
FIRST ILLINOIS CAVALRY.
By admitting thirty men from Putnam County, Company A of the First Illinois
Cavalry, was formed at Bloomington, and mustered into the United States service July
5, 1861, with John McNulta, Captain; George F. Jannatt, First Lieutenant; and J.
B. Dent, from Putnam County, Second Lieutenant. The company soon passed over
into Missouri, and was ordered to report to Col. U. S. Grant, commanding at Mexico.
Capt. IMcNulta's company was employed to break up the organizations of rebels
around the country, and tci employ home-guards and friendly citizens to drive the enemy
out of the vicinity, and operate against an organizing force under Gen. Harris, in which
they were successful.
The company was then ordered to move on to Lexington via Jefi'erson City, with
the rest of the regiment, and there relieved a small garrison of men besieged by a greatly
superior force of the enemy. Soon after, the news came that the enemy, under Gen.
Price, was approaching with overwhelming numbers. Thegarrison at Lexington, under
command of Col. Mulligan, could muster only 2,300 efficient men, and the approaching
enemy numbered 25,000. From the 12th to the 20th of September, this little army did
everything that brave men could do to repel the enemy, fighting continually and losing
heavily, till it was compelled on that day to surrender, though just in the act of making
one more effijrt at resistance.
The company was re-organized at Benton Barracks, and employed in the spring
and early summer of 1862 in fighting small parties of the rebels in Southwest Missouri
until July 17, when it was mustered out, and returned to Bloomington bearing the flag
which the ladies had presented to it, having in its folds the marks of more than three
hundred musket-balls. The reception of the company was enthusiastic. Capt. Mc-
Nulta had received a wound in the breast, but was soon ready to enter the Ninety-fourth
Illinois Regiment.
280 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
EIGHTH REGIMENT.
McLean County furnished Company K in the Eighth Regiment of three months'
volunteers, who re-enlisted at the expiration of their time — Col. Oglesby's regiment.
Company officers : Captain, William H. Harvey ; First Lieutenant, Price Keith; Second
Lieutenant. Abram Vandenburg.
The regiment was organized April 25, and spent its three months at Cairo. On
July 25, it re-organized for three years. It remained at Cairo till October, then at
Bird's Point, Mo., with occasionjil excursions, till February 2, 1862, thence it went up
the Tennessee, drove the enemy back from Fort Henry on the 5th, and on the 11th
was in the advance in attacking Fort Donelson. On the 15th it had a very severe
engagement with the enemy who were trying to cut their way out of the fort, and sus-
tained their assaults for more than three hours, losing 57 men killed and 191 wounded.
10 missing.
In March the regiment went to Pittsburg Landing, and lost in the terrible battles
on the 6th and 7th of April in succession, its acting commander, Capt. Ashmore, and
Capt. Harvey, killed instantly. The regiment did splendid service, losing 26 men
killed, 95 wounded and 11 missing. The Eighth spent the rest of 1862 in Tennessee,
in hard service, and in May, 1863, at the battle near Raymond, its splendid charge on
the center of the enemy saved the day. It was at Champion Hill, at Jackson, Big
Black River and at Vicksburg, distinguishing itself on several occasions. It was in
nearly all the hard fights in Northern Mississippi and Tennessee in the latter part of
1863 and in 1864. January 1, 1865, it started for New Orleans, having previously vet-
eranized, and went thence to Mobile. It had the usual experiences of a hard-fighting
regiment among the forts around Mobile Bay, losing 10 men killed and 54 wounded in
a triumphant charge on the works at Blakely. In May, 1865, the Eighth returned
to New Orleans and was up the Red River and at Marshall, Texas, until fall. In May,
1866, it was discharged at Springfield.
TWENTIETH REGIMENT.
McLean County furnished Company C in the Twentieth Regiment, with John 0.
Pullen, Captain ; John W. Champion, First Lieutenant, and Andrew J. Taylor, Second
Lieutenant. The Twentieth was mustered into service June 13, 1861, at Joliet, for
three years. (Some stay longer.) It was at St. Louis Arsenal, at Bird's Point, Cape
Girardeau and Frodericktown, having a victorious brush with Jeff Thompson. In
1862, it was at Fort Henry, in the three-days fight at Donelson. The regiment was in
the battle at Shiloh, in April, and at Britton's Lane, in September. It was mostly in
Northern Mississippi and Tennessee. Mtistered out July 16, 1865, at Louisville, Ky.
TWENTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.
McLean County furnished Company B to the Twenty-fourth. Captain, George
Heinrichs; First Lieiitenant, Julius Fritsch ; Second Lieutenant, Otto W. Block. The
regiment was mustered into service July 8, 1861, at Chicago. It spent the summer in
Missouri, and the next winter and summer in Kentucky and Tennessee. It was in the
battle at Perry ville, October 8, 1862, losing 25 killed, 77 wounded, 8 prisoners and 2
missing. It was employed variously the next year in Kentucky, and mustered out July
31, 1865, at Louisville. The Perryvillc battle was its only severe experience.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 281
THIRTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
McLean County furnished Companies B and H and part of I to the Thirty-ninth.
Company B — Captain, Isaiah W. Wilmeth ; First Lieutenant, David F. Sellards ; Sec-
ond Lieutenant, James Haldeman. Company H — Captain, Gasper S. F. Dericks ;
First Lieutenant, Charles J. Wilder ; Second Lieutenant, Charles Flickinger. Com-
pany I — Captain, Hiram M. Phillips; First Lieutenant, Emory L. Waller; Second
Lieutenant, Albert W. Fellows.
This regiment was called the " Yates Phalanx," and was much favored by the Gov-
ernor. Under command of Col. Austin Light, it reported at Camp Benton, St. Louis,
about the middle of October, 1861, and was soon ordered to Williamsport, Md. For
several months, the Thirty-ninth was employed on guard duty on the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, having occasional collisions with the enemy, and suffering, in the winter, very
severely from exposure and want of quarters. In March, it took a hand in the brilliant
fight at Winchester, and went down the Shenandoah Valley, and was afterward at Har-
rison's Landing and at the second battle of Malvern Hill.
The Thirty-ninth was in North and South Carolina in 1863, in active service, and
was the first to mount the walls at the capture of Fort Wagner. It re-enlisted, met a
splendid reception in Chicago, 450 strong, in January, 1864, and recruited to 7.^0. It
was in Gen. Butler's disastrous expedition up the James River, in May, 1864, and was
at one time completely surrounded by the enemy, but cut its way out, with a loss of
nearly two hundred men killed, wounded or missing. On the 2d of June, it was again
in battle near the same place, and lost forty men, Lieut. Albert W. Fellows being killed
and Lieut. Al. C. Sweetzer shot through both legs, losing one by amputation. On the
16th, 17th and 18th of June, the regiment fought day and night with Longstreet's
Corps, near Petersburg, losing thirty-five men, Captain 0. F. Rudd being one of
them.
On the 16th of August, the Thirty-ninth was in the charge upon the works of the
enemy at Deep Run, and lost 104 men — Capt. L. A. Baker, Capt. Chauncy Wilhams,
and Lieuts. Frane, Lemons, Warner, Knapp and Butterfield being among them. On
the 13th of October, it was in the charge upon the enemy's works on the Darlington
road, seven miles from Richmond. Of the 250 men who went into the charge, 60 fell
— Capt. Heritage and Lieuts. C. J. Wilder and N. E. Davis among them, leaving First
Lieut. James Hann'um, one Adjutant and one Second Lieutenant the only oflBcers re-
maining. During the winter, the regiment was again recruited, and participated in the fear-
ful charge on Fort Gregg, the 2d day of April, 1865. Surrounding the fort was a ditch
six feet deep and twelve feet wide. Over this ditch, digging holes in the sides with
swords and bayonets, so as to climb up and get over the parapet, and over slippery
ground, did the 1 hirty-ninth mount, and engage in a desperate hand-to-hand fight for
half an hour, before the fort and entire garrison were captured. It was the first regi-
ment across the ditch and the first to plant its fiag on the parapet, losing sixteen killed
and forty-five wounded out of the 150 "^lo went into the charge. Seven out of nine of
its color-guard were shot down.
For its gallantry on this occasion, Maj. Gen. Gibbons, at the grand review of the
corps, placed upon its regimental staff a magnificent brazen eagle, which had been cast
for that purpose. The regiment was engaged in the pursuit and heading-off of Lee's
army and was present at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. This
282 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
regiment gave the Eastern people a splendid specimen of Illinois material for soldiers, and
probably went through more suffering and fierce encounters with the enemy than any
other one in which McLean County was represented. It was mustered out at Norfolk,
Va., December (i, 18G5.
SIXTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
Company H represented McLean County in the Sixty-second Regiment. Captain,
Samuel Sherman ; First Lieutenant, John Foley ; Second Lieutenant, Robert B. Wil-
son. This regiment — Colonel, James M. True — was organized April 10, 1862. It
figured in Tennessee and in Arkansas, having but little experience with the enemy. Vet-
eranized in 186-1, and was mustered out at Little Rock, March 6, 1866.
SIXTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
Company D — Captain, John W. Champion ; First Lieutenant, James Isaminger ;
Second Lieutenant, Benjamin M. Tabler — was contributed by McLean County to the
Sixty-third Regiment — Colonel, Francis Mora. It was mustered in at Camp Dubois,
April 10, 1862. Went to Cairo, then to Kentucky and Tennessee. It was at Vicks-
burg, in May, 1863, and at the battle of Mission Ridge, in November. In 1864, it was
in Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, at Atlanta, and went down to the sea at Savan-
nah. It was in the busy scenes in the Carolinas ; lost tweuty-tive men by an explosion
at Columbia, S. C, and five men at Little Lynch's Creek. It was at Richmond May
10, and at the grand review at Washington, 2-lth May, 1865. Mustered out at Camp
Butler, July 13, 1865.
SIXTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
Company F — Captain, John W. Morris ; First Lieutenant, John R. Larrimore ;
Second Lieutenant, Lewis Ijams ; and Company Gr, Captain, James P. Moore; First
Lieutenant, Harvey C. De Mott ; Second Lieutenant, John H. Stout — were contributed
by McLean County to the Sixty-eighth — Colonel, Elias Stuart, and George W. Lackey,
Major. As this was a three-months regiment, the Adjutant General's Report gives no
history. It was mustered in July 16, 1862, and mustered out September 26, 1862.
SEVENTIETH REGIMENT.
McLean County contributed Company H — Captain, James 0. Donald, First Lieu-
tenant, John A. Robinson ; Second Lieutenant, Albert Braxton, to the Seventieth Regi-
ment— Colonel, 0. T. Reeves; Major, Joseph H. Scibird. The regiment was mustered
in July 23, 1862, and, as the Adjutant General's Report gives no date of mustering-
out, it is supposed to be still in the service, though it was a three-months regiment.
EIGHTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
Company E — Captain, Robert Sender; First Lieutenant, Rudolph Mueller; Second
Lieutenant, John Brech Celler — wa*, in part, contributed by McLean County — Colonel,
Frederic Hecker. It was mustered in October 23, 1862. The regiment started for
Wa.shington City November 3, and was in Gen. Burnside's second movement against
Fredi-ricksburg, in January, 1863. It was engaged in the battle at Chancellorsville,
losing 155 men, killed, wounded and missing. It was again heavily engaged at Gettys-
burg, losing 112 men, killed, wounded and missing. In September, 1863, it was trans-
ferred to the Department of the Cumberland, and was in the movements at Lookout
Mountain. It was mustered out June 0, 1865, at Washington City.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 283
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH REGIMENT.
McLean County contributed Company F, Captains, N. Bishop, Nicholas Gresch-
wind, William P. Gardner ; First Lieutenants, John B. Tutt, Samuel R. Rig?;s, John
A. Cochran ; Second Lieutenants, Edward E. Pratt, Jonathan C. Stansbury, John P.
Lewis. These gentlemen were all, except one, from Cheney's Grove. The regiment
was mustered in September 20, 1862, land mustered out June 7, 1865. The Adjutant
General's Report gives no further history.
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT.
Company A — Captain, Samuel B. Kinsey; First Lieutenant, Harrison W. Wood,
Second Lieutenant, Dennis Kenyon — was made up in McLean County — Colonel, Risdon
M. Moore. The regiment was mustered in Sept. 19, at Camp Butler, and went to Memphis
in November, and remained there a year. In December, it pursued Forrest, and lost three
men killed. In February, 1863, it lost, in a skirmish, two killed and live wounded. It
was up Red River, and assisted in the capture of Fort De Russey. In 1864, it was
down in Louisiana, and skirmished its way back to Memphis. In the fall, it was all
over Missouri, and back again in Tennessee, in December, chasing Hood. In January,
1865, it was again in New Orleans; and in March and April, at Spanish Fort and at
Blakely, helping to capture those places. Thence it returned to Camp Butler, and was
mustered out August 5, 1865.
SCATTERINGS.
Besides the regiments and companies noticed heretofore, I&cLean County furnished
many men who enlisted in other regiments and in other States — some in Eastern regi-
ments. We will gather up a few of these scatterings : James A. Landon, from Le Roy,
Captain Company B in the One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois Infantry. Joseph
Pitman, Blue Mound, Captain Company G ; Troy Moore, Blue Mound, Captain Com-
pany E ; Alexander H. Brown, Belleflower, Second Lieutenant, and Jesse D. De Witt,
Bloomington, First Lieutenant, Company C ; William Harness, Lexington, and Albert
W. Collins, Mount Hope, Second Lieutenants, De Witt C. Mears, Chenoa, First Lieu-
tenant, and Isaac P. Strayer, Bloomington, Captain, Company B, and John H. Nale,
Blue Mound, Major, in the One Hundred and Fifty-second Illinois Infantry. Captains
John H. Stout and Clarence D. Perry; First Lieutenant Augustus W. Rodgers ; and
Albert L. Piatt, Second Lieutenant, Company A, Bloomington ; Captain William B.
Lawrence, Bloomington ; First Lieutenant William Weaver, Oldtown ; and Second
Lieutenant William Van Gundy, Padua, Company B, in the One Hundred and Fiftieth
Illinois Regiment — George W. Kuner, Oldtown, Colonel ; Major Isaiah W. Wilmeth,
Bloomington ; Robert W. McMahon, Chenoa, Surgeon ; and Henry Kuhlman, Second
Lieutenant, Bloomington, Company G, of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois
Infantry.
Colonel George W. Lackey ; Adjutant John W. Morris ; Chaplain John C.
Hanna ; First Lieutenant Marmontell B. Geter, Company B, all of Bloomington. Sec-
ond Lieutenant, Company D, James Palmer, Mount Hope ; Captain Paphiras B.
Keyes, and Jonah S. Scovel, First Lieutenant, Company I; James P. Moore, Captain,
and, First Lieutenant Clarence D. Perry, Company K, all from Bloomington, of the
One Hundred and Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry. Henry W. Boyd, First Assistant Sur-
geon, One Hundred and Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry.
284 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Second Lieutenant John P. McKnight, Chenoa, Company G, One Hundred and
Twenty-ninth Illinois Infantry. Allen Ellsworth, Bloomington, First Lieutenant Com-
pany I, One Hundred and Eighteenth Illinois Infantry.
CAVALRY.
We have already spoken of the First Cavalry Regiment. Of the officers of that
regiment, Bloomington furnished, of Company A, John McNulta, Captain, afterward
Colonel of Ninety-fourth Illinois Infantry; First Lieutenant, George P. Tannati,
afterward killed in Virginia ; and Second Lieutenant, James B. Dent, afterward Major
of the Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry.
Lieut. Col. Harvey Hogg, of the Second Cavalry Regiment, was from Bloom-
ington, and was killed in the battle of Bolivar, Tenn., August 30, 1862. Col. Hogg
was as brave a man as ever fell in defense of the rights of the human race. If it
wer§ admissible to speak of the faults of the noble dead, one could say that his bravery
bordered upon temerity. In private life, he was a model gentleman in manners and
sentiments.
THIRD CAVALRY.
Bloomington furnished the following officers of Company I in the Third Illinois
Cavalry: Captains, James NicoUs and Samuel F. DollofF; First Lieutenants, Samuel F.
Dolloif and John Duncan; Second Lieutenants, Edward 0. Rowley, John Paul and
Francis Cullum.
The Third Cavalry was organized at Camp Butler in August, 1861, by Col. E. A.
Carr. It operated in Missouri until the next summer, on guard duty, then went over
into Arkansas and returned in December, and six of the companies went down to
Vicksburg. It had lost, in an all-day engagement on the 7th of March, ten men killed
and forty wounded. One Captain and five men were drowned in crossing the White
River May 25. On the 7th of June, Capt. Sparks, with sixty-six men, cut his way
through a greatly superior number of the enemy, losing four wounded and four prisoners.
The regiment did good service in Tennessee, around and below Vicksburg, participating
in several engagements. Mustered out October 13, 1865.
FOURTH CAVALRY.
Bloomington furnished to the Fourth Cavalry Regiment Lieut. Col. William
McCuUough, Surgeon Hiram C. Luce, Chaplain Alfred Eddy, First Lieut. Ruthveu
W. Pike, and "^econd Lieut. David Quigg, of Company L, aad Le Roy sent Capt.
John M. Longstreth and Second Lieut. Robert D. Taylor, of the same company.
Colonel McCullough was killed in battle near Coffeeville, Miss., December 6, 1862,
beirig suddenly set upon by a greatly superior force. It is perhaps enough to say
that he left no braver man behind him. Mild and gentlemanly by nature, when
aroused he was a terror to evil-doers, and a stranger to personal fear. The regiment waK
afterward re-organized and consolidated.
FIFTH CAVALRY.
McLean County furnished the following officers to the Fifth Cavalry : To Company
C — Captains, William P. Withers, Francis A. Wheelock and Clarendon W. Wheelock ;
First Lieutenants, James Depew and Alcinous Y. Davidson ; Second Lieutenants,
James A. Lawrence, Thaddeus B. Packard and Joseph Smith ; and to Company D,
Alonzo Gr. Payne, Captain.
HISTORY' OF McLean county. ■ 285
The Fifth Regiment was mustered into service in November, 1861, Hall Wilson'
'Colonel. In February, 1862, it passed over into Missouri, and soon moved on to Doni-
phan, capturing a camp of the enemy, killing three and taking seven prisoners. In
June, it started for the Missis.sippi, and arrived at Helena July 13. On October 22, the
enemy attacked one of their forage trains, killing one, wounding six, and capturing
seventy-eight men and a Lieutenant. For the next year, sometimes single, sometimes
with other regiments, the Fifth was employed in the active scenes then passing all over
Mississippi, centering on Vicksburg. In 1865, it was in active and efficient service in
Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas. Louisiana and Tennessee, having several sharp and success-
ful encounters with the enemy. It was mustered out October 27, 1865.
Besides these contributions, there are several cases of individuals who have served
in other regiments. Samuel II. Bush, of Chenoa, was First Lieutenant in Co. D
of the Eleventh Cavalry. Henry M. Stahl, of Bloomington, was Adjutant in the
Twelfth. John A. Edwards, of Bloomington, was First Lieutenant of Company -C in
the Fourteenth. Lewis J. Ijams, of Bloomington, was Captain of Co. L in the
Sixteenth.
EIGHTH MISSOURI INFANTRY.
McLean County furnished to the Eighth Missouri Infantry Company D, Capt.
Giles A. Smith ; First Lieutenant, John White ; Second Lieutenant, Frederick Clapp.
After Capt. Smith was promoted, Capt. Potts was killed at Arkansas Post, and John
D. Coles was promoted from the ranks to Captain and Ostron to First Lieutenant, Mr.
White having gone as Captain to another company and Mr. Clapp resigned. The reg-
iment was mustered in on the 13th of June, 1861, at St. Louis Arsenal. It remained
in Missouri the rest of 1861 ; spent the winter of 1862, in Kentucky, and in the sum-
mer of that year it was at Fort Henry, Donelson and Shiloh, taking an active part in
them all. It was also at the siege of Corinth, and, in 1863, was at Vicksburg, with al'
that that implies ; afterward, at Memphis, Chattanooga and at Mission Ridge. The regi-
ment spent the winter of 1864 in Alabama. In the spring, it was again in Memphis,
and moved with the army down into Georgia and was in action on the way in the sev-
eral battles as far as x\tlanta. On the 13th of June, the time of its enlistment having
expired, the company returned home, but the regiment being veteranized went on down
to the sea and around through the Carolinas to Washington, with Sherman's army.
Capt. Smith was promoted to Colonel May 8, 1862 ; to Brigadier General in
the winter of 1863, and Brevet Major General in 1864, at Atlanta, Ga., for his gal-
lant conduct in battle in front of that city. It has been the fortune of but very
few men to win the hearts of his soldiers, the esteem of his fellow-officers and the
confidence of his superiors, so rapidly and so meritoriously as did Gen. Smith. On sev-
eral occasions, he showed that Illinois had in her volunteer service no better officer of
his rank than Gen. Giles A. Smith. He never failed in duty, never disappointed
expectation, and often surpassed both.
We have thus endeavored to give a sketch of the part that McLean County took
in the great civil war that swept like a besom of destruction over this otherwise happy
land. We trust that even this imperfect representation is sufficient to prove that the
county is not to be surpassed, whenever it undertakes anything in earnest, neither in
zeal nor in liberality. When the painful duty of sending thousands of its citizens into
danger and many of them to certain death, presented itself, there was no hesitation.
it
286 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Means were immediately provided to assist those who needed help, and bounty was
piled upon bounty to relieve the families of those who, of limited means, had gone to
the front.
Nor did the gratitude of its citizens stop at assisting the living. They have con-
tributed liberally toward educating the orphans of those who had fallen in the field of
battle, or by the scarcely less destructive diseases incident to such a state of things,
and have cared for their widows and their families ; but they have remembered the
dead, also, and each succeeding year has witnessed the immense gathering of the people
on Decoration Day to strew with flowers the graves of their dead, and publicly recog-
nize the debt of gratitude so dearly earned, and suitably commend their patriotism to
the rising generation as worthy of their respect and of their imitation, should occasion
call upon them for a similar exhibition of it.
That these noble lessons may not be forgotten and as a lasting memento of its
gratitude, the county has erected a fitting monument, consecrated to the memory of its
fallen but not forgotten" citizen soldiers. On the 17th of June, 1869, the monu-
ment was appropriately consecrated, in the presence of an immense assemblage of the
people of the county. We give below a poem read on the occasion, and extracts from
an address delivered from the same stand, and thus close our remarks upon the military
history of McLean County.
fPoem by Dr. A. E. Stewart, of Randolph, read at the Dedication of the McLean County Soldiers' Honoment.J
0 marble shaft, lift up your head
Beneath this summer sky ;
The record of our patriot dead
Hold up to every eye !
Hold proudly up in sun and rain
The honored names of those
Seven hundred sons of old McLean
Whose fate your sculpture shows.
Tell how they rallied at her call
When War's wild bugle blew
That piercing blast, at Sumter's fall.
That thrilled the country through.
yay how from shop and field they came,
From anvil, plow and plane,
From ease and wealth and friends and home.
Her honor to maintain.
Remind us how, for weary years,
They bore our banner high,
Revived our hopes, dispelleil our fears.
And brought us victory !
How, as we watched their gallant course.
Our bosoms thrilled with pride ;
For us they fought, for us they bled,
For M.v, alas, they died.
«
Some died upon the battle-field.
Struck down by shot and shell,
At Shiloh, Vicksburg, Wilderness,
Where not ? Our heroes fell.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 28T
Of slow disease in hospitals,
Some yieltleil up iheir breath ;
Some lived to reach their homes and friends.
Then died — a blessed death !
And some the ocean swallowed up
Beneath its angry waves ;
And some, from rebel prison-pens,
Went down to nameless graves !
Some in the first fierce combat fell —
The struggle just begun —
And some, just as the nation's cheers
Proclaimed the victory won.
All died as brave men love to die —
Their faces towai-d the foe ;
No craven's name is sculptured there !
Our rolls no traitor show !
Battling in Freedom's holy cause,
Each patriot hero fell,
And left us to posterity
Their gallant deeds to tell.
0 not to ancient Greece and Rome,
Need we for heroes turn,
Nor sound the praise of those who fell
At Boyne or Bannockburn !
Our heroes were our brothers, sons,
Our lives were twined with theirs,
And private griefs are gathered round
Each name that record bears.
0 marble shaft ! long may you lift
Your sculptured story high ;
Long may your tapering beauty lure
The passing stranger's eye.
Yet future years shall see you fall
Despite your sacred trust ;
Your solid base and column strong
Shall molder into dust.
Yet shall our heroes' honored names
Still find a resting-place
Where sun, nor rain, nor Time itself
The record shall erase !
We ask no leaf from History's tome,
We crave no sculptor's arts ;
With Memory's hand we've graven them
On the altars of our hearts !
SPEECH OF HON. L. WELDON AT THE DEDICATION OF TBE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT,
JUNE 17, 1869.
"Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: Grateful in our recollectious, we
have assembled to dedicate with appropriate ceremony this mouument to the heroic
288 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
dead. This silent yet impressive memorial admonishes us as to the sacrifices which
have been made that freedom might live, that social and political order might be main-
tained, that the blessings of a free government might descend to our children. Stand-
ing as I do between the living and the dead, and remembering what the dead have
done, and realizing what the living will do, I may be permitted to exclaim, ' The lines
have fallen to us in pleasant places ! Yea, we have a goodly heritage ! ' Connected
with this day are historic associations which cheer the heart of the patriot, and endear
to him the memory of that Revolutionary virtue which made Bunker Hill one of the
brightest spots in the landscape of human liberty.
" How shall I speak to you to-day of the heroic past ? Human imagination is too
limited in the range of beauty, human genius too meager in the resources of its intelli-
gence, to do justice to the memory of the men whose patriotic virtues are intended to
be commemorated by this oifering. They fell in the bloom of their youth, and in the
'vigor of their manhood ; but as the poet has said :
" ' Whether on the gallows high,
Or in the battle's van,
The fittest place for man to die
Is where he dies for man.'
" This cold and classic pile honors the dead. Its durability of form will carry down
to coming generations the names and memories of these fearless champions of liberty.
And while you and I have reared this solid granite, this noble and imposing structure,
we can and may rear to their memory and to our glory a monument higher and nobler
.than can be built with quarried stone and chiseled marble. It may be well to say —
" 'On fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards in solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.'
" This is pure poetry — it is a thought worthy of the genius of American literature,
and as a production of the head, it is unsurpassed in its resources of patriotic conception.
But, my fellow-citizens, the heart of gratitude and the hand of substantial charity are
to perform the crowning acts of patriotic benefiction. There are of the living camped
around and about us, the orphan, unconscious, it may be, of its desolation ; the widow
in the helplessness of woe ; the aged parent, the staff of whose declining years has been
taken as a sacrifice — these call to us by the memory of fathers, husbands and sons, to
be grateful to them as we enjoy the full fruition of liberty consecrated by the blood
and preserved by the valor of their kindred.
*******
" The struggle in which these heroes have fidlen has no parallel in the history of man-
kind. Its issues involve the destinv of free institutions throughout the world. It was
not a contest between nation and nation to extend the area of their empire, or to settle
by an appeal to arms some question of international differences, but it was the long-
delayed struggle between freedom and slavery, between popular institutions founded
upon broad and liberal- views of men's rights, and a circumscribed and selfish policy of
caste and aristocracy. Philosophically understood, the war was inevitable. The great
battles of history have decided the fate of empires. The maps, not only of our own
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 289
country, but of all civilized lands, are made and unmade by the terrible art of war. Not
only are limitations to territory established by the Grod of battles, but limitations to
laws, customs and constitutions.
" Victor Hugo asks : Was it possible that Napoleon should win the battle ? We
answer, No. Why ? Because of Wellington ? Because of Bluchor ? No ! Because
of God. Waterloo is not a battle ; it is a change of front of the universe. So, I
inquire, was it possible that secession should win the battle? I answer, No. Why?
Because of Lincoln ? Because of Grant ? No ! Because of God. Lee's surrender
was not the surrender of a battle ; it was a change of front of the universe.
" The cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night had become the guardian of free-
dom ; the sea was passed ; the world gazed upon the scene, and the Goddess of Liberty,
moved by the ecstatic inspiration of Miriam, shouted, ' Sing ye to the Lord, for He
hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.'
'' To such shrines as this, my fellow- citizens, you and I should often come to teach
us the lesson of patriotic devotion and moral heroism, and to impress upon us our obli-
gation to transmit to those who in their turn follow us, that liberty and those institu-
tions of republican equality purchased and preserved by these sacrifices. The cheer-
fulness with which the American volunteer rushed to the rescue of imperiled freedom,
is among the most gratifying indications of the past.
*******
'' The thundering of Sumter was heard in the crowded streets of the East, upon the
broad prairies of the West, and reverberating onward, it fired up the patriotic heart of the
bold adventurer on the shores of the Pacific, and, with one accord, there came from the
cities, plains and mountains of our Northlands, an army of heroes, such as before was
never marshaled by the proudest conqueror of ancient or modern times. It was a long,
bloody and sometimes even a doubtful contest. ' It is an easy matter to be a patriot in
the piping time of peace, in the sunny hour of prosperity.' But, when war, discord and
rebellion present their horrid forms to strike the liberty of a hundred years, it is then
that the patriot shines in his devotion to his country. It is then that he rises in che
majestic sublimity of the great sacrifice which he is ready and willing to lay upon the
altar of that country. Patriotism " is an enlargement, an exaltation of all the tender-
est, strongest sympathies of kindred and home. In all centuries and climes, it has lived
and has defied chains and dungeons and racks to crush it. It has strewed the earth
with monuments, and has shed undying luster on a thousand fields on which it has bat-
tled.' I have Said, fellow-citizens, that the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places-
A little over four years since, the cloud of civil war hung heavily in the zenith and hori-
zon of man's hope. It had rained drops of tears and blood. To-day that cloud is dis-
pelled, and the sun of our glory now beams with renewed brightness, and its rays will
carry joy throughout the world whenever man is to be raised up to the dignity of his
creation, and whenever tyranny is to be destroyed. This is not intended to commemo-
rate a mere military encounter between hostile armies ; it has a higher and nobler mission
to perform. It speaks to us of individual and national suffering, of domestic privations,
of weary marches, of sieges, camps, battle-fields and death ; and rising in the heroic form
of the American volunteer, it is historic of the final and glorious triumph of constitu-
tional liberty through the patriotic devotion of the citizen soldiery. * * * *
290 HISTORY OF McLEAN CODNTY.
" The hurricane, as it sweeps from the mountain-top ; the gentle zephyr, as it mur-
murs in the green valleys ; the sun, as it rises to gladden the landscape ; the blooming
prairie ; the deep solitude of the wild woods, the placid lake, the mighty river and the
thunder of the cataract, proclaim, as the voice of Grod, the freedom and independence of
our country. ' Fallen, but not forgotten.' No ; so long as liberty is loved, as valor is
admired, as purity and nobleness of purpose are cherished, as slavery is revolting and
freedom is lovely and fascinating, it may be said of these heroes, • Fallen, but not for-
gotten.' The county of McLean may be proud of the part it bore in wreathing around
the brow of Illinois the chaplet of immortal and unfading glory. Our sons mingled in
the strife from the Susquehanna to the Rio Grande, and have left upon the record of
their country's history a fame that will last as long as liberty is loved and oppression
hated. What citizen or son of McLean will fail to cherish with grateful recollection
the memory of Col. McCullough, with his bold and defiant heroism ; Col. Hogg, with his
proud and chivalric bearing, worthy of a knight ; Gen. Orme, with his brave and saga-
cious comprehension of duty — be who sought the field, not because he loved the
clang of arms, but went forth to battle because he loved his country and her liberty
better than his life. I refer to these names, not because I wish to draw a distinction
between them and the rest of this immortal throng, but they happened to be my inti-
mate and personal friends. I mean no disparagement to those who have distinguished
themselves when I say that the private soldier, above all others, is most worthy of our
gratitude and respect. His devotion to his country is unalloyed ; if he perishes in the
deadly charge, his name is lost to the fame of written history — he lives only in the grate-
ful recollection of his kindred and friends. * * * This monument may
crumble, its inscription may become obliterated, its stony foundation may be moved in
the countless ages which are to follow ; but, my fellow-citizens, the traditions of liberty,
the lessons of patriotism, the splendid achievements of valor with which these men have
impressed their age, will be felt in the preservation of freedom until time shall be no more.
" ' How many ages hence shall this
Their lofty scene be acted o'er,
In States unborn, and by ancients yet unknown ?'
" Mr. Webster, in the dedication of the monument at Bunker Hill, looking upon
the imposing structure, as its bold summit pierced the clouds, said : ' A duty has
been performed ! A work of gratitude and patriotism has been completed.' So it
may be said of this. Upon the cold marble are carved in letters of enduring praise the
names of the dead soldiers, and to this record of honest fame the child can point as a
legacy more precious than a patricaony of gold and silver. My friends, there rests
upon us a fearful responsibility. Into our hands for the time being, as the family of
freedom, is intrusted the jewel of liberty. If we fail in our experiment of republican
government, the hand upon the dial of time is set back at least a century. For the sake
of the living, the memory of the dead, and that free institutions may be transmitted to
our children, this temple of freedom, this form of national liberty, must be preserved.
Let us be grateful in acts of charity and kindness to the soldier's orphan and widow ;
let us remember how the dead have suffered that the living, in their political develop-
ment, might be the pride and ornament of history ; let us cherish memorials like this as
landmarks of freedom, union and liberty. With all its faults, the government for which
these heroes have died is the best yet established in the history of the race-
*******
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 291
" The success of the Federal arms in the suppression of the rebellion cannot be over-
estimated. The triumph of our adversaries would have been the death-knell of liberty
throughout the world. The fair valley of the Mississippi, richer than the Land of Prom-
ise, when the sun stood in Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, would have
become the comnaon battle-field of warring States, nations and hostile people. The
Flag of the Union — the flag whose glittering stars and bright folds had been gazed
upon by Washington, as he led the soldiers of the Republic — would have been driven
from every sea ; national literature would have been destroyed ; the cherished memories
coming up from the battle-fields of the Revolution would have been forgotten ; ruin
and anarchy would have prevailed, and the rights of the people would have depended
upon the caprice of some bold adventurer, whose empire of dominion would have been
reared upon the broken fragments of our free institutions. But how different the
result because of the patriotic death and final triumph of these heroes — ' fallen but not
forgotten.'
" My friends, I would be untrue to my conviction of duty, and, I believe, to your
sense of justice and propriety, did I fail to refer to the great and good man who,
through the fearful storm, guided our destiny as a people. The war for independence
and national existence had its chieftain, who, in the resources of his grandness and
greatness, was above and beyond all others ; so, too, has the second war of inde-
pendence given birth to a champion worthy of the praise of all history. If civilization
should sweep westward to new scenes of triumph beyond our own country — if old and
now desolate fields should be renewed in their pristine beauty ; if the fox should look
out from the windows of the American capitol ; if our glory shall live only in history,
in poetry and song — yet, amid all this desolation, the patriot in every land, the states-
man of progress and the lover of true liberty throughout the world, whether he be a
' castled lord or a cabined slave,' will worship at the shrine of Abraham Lincoln. How
splendid, how pure his character ; how noble and yet how unostentatious in the perform-
ance of the great work which has made him one of the most resplendent of all the
heroes of liberty. Let us indulge the hope that the citizens of our country, in time to
come, will imitate the example which these soldiers have left in their lives and by their
deaths ; and that the character of Abraham Lincoln, in its outlines of moral, social
and political development, may become the standard of American statesmanship.
While we bring our offerings to the memory of the dead, we should not forget what
the hving have done in this great work.
* * * * * * *
" The women of ancient civilization gave the jewels of their hands to save the lib-
erty of their country ; the women of our day have given the jewels of their hearts to
save the liberty of their fathers. This work, as a mere specimen of art, is compliment-
ary to the head and the hand that executed it ; and as a work of the heart of the peo-
ple, in the name of liberty, of justice, of humanity ; in the name of the sacred cause
in which these men died ; in the name of the uprisen of liberty and the down-trodden
of tyranny, upon this, the anniversary of one of the great battles of the Revolution, I
now freely offer this consecrated tomb — these ashes of the honored dead.
* ^c * * * * *
" May the sword be beaten into a plowshare, and the spear into a pruning-hook, and
may our children dedicate monuments to the victories of peace rather than the triumphs
'2U'i
IIIMTdKV <ll' M.il.KAN (KMINTV
nt' wiir Mftv ilHiir lioi'iinn lie ('liiiin(MiiMn ul' |iliiliiHii|iliy, mI' iirl, uri'l ul fiiiriiil imil 'if
iMiirnI iKliniii (Vttiy W(t, In lJir< n\Ml oC niitiutml iiliiUnilinipy, oIwii'ihIi tJii< iitiion nl
Mix Hliili>n, iIik jiinr I'l^lilH ul' till, iiinl 1I10 iiilc^fiil y III' rovoliiliuiiiiry liltot'ly, iin our lii^lioNl
|iitl|i|i'iil liiti<ii<nl , mill iin wi« lliifrni' In llin iwili^lil ni' tUo ^riiv<<, iiiiiy our vininn li<<
c<iiIIkIii«iii'iI liy It IVi'it, iinili'ij imhI liii|i|i,y iK'npIo, niKt liiinin^i'iicoiiN wholly M|iri!ii(iiii^ i.liu
iliiitiliiliiii III' (lii'lr •<iti|ili'ii I'mni llii< liikcn In ilio t^iiH', rnnii ocniin Ui iiiioiiti.
" ' A iiiiIhm III liilii'n, II iiiilnii of IhimIo,
(\ imiImii III' Hiiili'i iiiiM«< I'ltn Mtivni' 1
A iiiiliiii III' litMirif), imiiliiii III' IihiiiIh,
AihI IIi« lliti; III' IliK lliiliiii rot'*<v(<r nii<l c^vii,
\iii| lliK lliifj III llii' liiiliiii riii'«<vMr,' "
IMtMT III'' II' Ml DIM
Till iiMiiii'i' III iIh' |iiihi nllii'ON in Mi'lii'iin (!iiiiiily iiro iin rnllnwN AiinwHiiiiili,
Iti'llt'lliiwi'i, IIJiHiMiliigliin, i 'JHMiiiii, Ciivi'll, hiitivi'Ki, hurl, Duwiin, I'IIInwihIIi, l'!ni|iiro
Hliilliiti, Oiti'ilit, Url*ll<\y, lit'iHJiix, llnywiirlii, Jiiijijir, IIihIniiii, KiimiIoi', I<i< Kny, lii<x
lii^iitii, IMi'liKiiti, MkihIiiwfi, Nnniiiil, Oiik < Jt'iivii, OMnitiii, I'lulim, l{iiiiilul|ili, Miiyiiriink,
Hi'linii, Sliirlny, HIihiIiimI, 'I'mumiiiIh, WcmIuu.
I'lllllKMIK'.H.
'riin n'li(',niii« pi'iil mii'iil i|i'Vi'lii|ii i| ilfmir III MM I'liiJy <iMy 111 iMrlinin ('niiiilv, iiikI
IIh iMilliviilliiti liiiM iilwiiyn Iikkm n oluii'itiiliM'iNlli' nl' IIm ti(<(i|ilo, Wiliiiii tin li(iiui(iiiiicr«
iiiiiV III' liiiiinl ri<|iri<Mi<nlitlivi'F) III' iiriirly till llii< ili'tinniiiiiiliniiM knmvn in flii< <!|iiiHtiiiti
Cliiiii li A ' nil HM'i ill'' Wi'ffi, iIh' IMt'llitiiliHlH woro liorn iiiirly nml m'livi'ly n'pn'Hcnltiil
liy pliiiii liiii r.iMiliiiin mill |j;itni<i'iilly I'lliiiciil |ii't*i(oli<<t'n. TIik Itiipli'^ln iiml iIh' I'lCHJiylt'-
rlmiH woi'o iiInii iii<ilvi<ly ri<pri<NitiiliMl In iliix cniinly in omly liiiii'N, 'IMiim'o Inivo iilwiiyn
jiiinii pKiipIo lioro III' I'lpincnpiil priilitri'ni'nN, Ninrn iIh' I'lmnlrv wim ni'llli-il, Inil llnv wm"-
Mliipi'il wiili iiiliiM' iliMiiiiiiiiiiiliuiiM until nniro ioimmiI liiinvi,
'ri'iiilllliin liil'iinnFi UN lliiii ilio IIcnI Mi'itnun pri>iii<lii<i| in IVIclii'iiii Cniiniv wmm iuIiIii'mnimI
III II l<>w IVioiiiIn p:iillii<i'i<il In^KlinM' liy l(i>v, JinnoH Hlrin^>ll<<l<l, m llir Inniilili' iiImhIi' nf
Mr .Inliii lli'iiiliu, iii'iii Itliiiiniin)/ (linvo, hiiiiIIii>iimI ul' Itliiiitnin^Hnn, in lli<< I'lill nl' IK'Jit.
Ml', Slrin^/.lli'lil wi»N I'lnni Konlnrky, mnl wiim mi iinclr ..J INIi Sdinf^^lliM, ilir nM fin
lli'iiimi hiill living in Hmnlulpli Hov, li)lii*ni'/,i<i' KIhhIom, nl' l{iiptir<l Hi<nliini<ntM pi'i'iinluul
In Movi'i'iil pliit'OM, wlii'i'i'Vi'i" II lii'ininfj, imiiiIiI Iio liml, mm i-mly iiw in IH'J-I |{i>v. I'l'vlon
Mili'lii'll r>it|lliMl in SiiiiiI'n (iiuvo in IHTt, mnl lliiiri> inliiiiliiriul llio ()iiinlii<rliiiiil I'ii'm
livli'iimi Cliiirt'li
III iliiino liiiyn i<mni< iilnn Knv, .Immm l<iillii, piiMii'liin^ iil Mlminiin); (]riivi< mnl
linilinil liliiilll \vlii<l'i*\'i<r llii> pniplit wuiiM HmIimi , ImiI Ihi NtMilllH iml lu liiiv<< piciit'lirii
I'li^illiU'ly I'm' II li'W yoiu'N, Mr. I<iillii wiiHi|iiitiHt |ii<iiiiiiii'iil nmn lunnnf ilii> MtilioiliHlN,
iind 1)0 liiiiK It liviOy inlonml in Mi<i<iilm' iilliiiiM, iiciMipyinf^ N(>v<<I'iiI pimilintiM ul' nmpun-
Hll.iliiv
I'luin IS'.Ililu IS;IU. \{o\H. NVillimn Mci', S \, Kulun mn, Sioplim M.«}|(tN_ m,,! Mr.
Sln<plii<rit l)ii(l oliiir^o ul' llio MolliuiliMl (*liuri<lti<M in iIiIh viiMiiily. || in niiiil (hut Hov.
IM. ('riNNoy proiu<hi<il ilic Hi'mI Horniuii in liluuiiiinfjun pinpiM', in IHItt, Moi^Hrit, Hnyitl,
Hall. CliiiHu mill llmioy wi>ri< Mm Niii'ooHmirM,
III ISill, llii> lil'Nl rmnp nioolilix in lliiN I'unnlv wun lu'M in l{iiiiili>l|>li (irovc llmt
ulil iipimtlo ul' MolliuiliNin iinii ul' ooooiilrii* plaiiinuMM ul' Npouoli, U(<v. i'utur (\ir(wri^lil,
IIIHTOKV (»K Viol, KAN rOJIflTV, 20JJ
])r>-n\ilitnf, (imhihI^'I liy Hcv, Mr. I<iil(fi imkI otlK-iM, Mi. l/iiflu w<ih hImo m rruifi oC miidi
dir'-'^tricMH of H[i(i<'(li iiii'l iii'.c.tiHUivnWy iri)i(l«i m pfiint llmf. wii)4 ho i(i«iviltilily ii[i|ili('.al(l<'. mm
iKil (,o f(c |i(ir(i'M(l(irly K''"'*'!y"'K '" •''' vi'^I.Mrm.
In l)i(!«;rrib«ir, IHJJ2, It'sv. (!(ilvifi W. iJiilihif.l. c.utinUi I'looiiiirij^ton, (ind, (»i f.lio
nti<'(;i;c4ht^ ./(iriiuiry, rKf.(if)li«li<r'l u l'rc«|>yf.<!ri(Mi (!lini(!li Kc wfi« niiiuuuuU'il l\ni y^•^tt
flillf»wifi}/ l>y l{.<;v. M('U<v»;/li, wlio i^i K|<((k<!n of hm u rriftii oC j/n-iif. Ififirnin^, In tln' I'lill
of IH.'»;», Ilov, li(!fnu<;l I'VmUt (irrivcl in l'.l((Ofriiri^(.»»(i, Fid WJm filso (i l'r<Kl<yl.<)ri)iri j
HfMJ Ih; hdih. (I «i!fniriHry of liuirtiirijr Ik^h! in l'loofriiri;/l<in i\if i'ufi, in I.Im! (ionnt.y
TImw) w«!r«) »li«; <'(irly })cy\nn'iiiyn of >»«!V»r(tl cIimk Ik^h now rxUutl in J.lii« (lil.y. 'I l"y
lutV'-. xinfio (iroKp«rr<'»l, iirxl fin; iri(iril»/r»liij; of Kornn of lli(;rri i» (j(ii»<i hirj/H, ()lli<ir
cliiinilioH liav«! Hifi/!«i l»«!«)ri i>ritiiu\'/.i;<l )u;rt), of wliiili (he (/jil-lioJicM nri' tlio iiio«f,
riiirrx'TouH,
Tli'i new M'-flio'linf, (/Imih'.Ii in I Ik cUy i» on*! oi' i\i<' finc»l. in llni HtdU-, HcnUfi^ ft
riiJfri<;roijH (in<l inoHf, nrHp«'(!(.fil»l<! rjon^^nij^fitioii, lidvirij/ a Vi;ry lfirj<<) nrnJ <ix<!«ill«!fit' orj/dfi,
wll lifin'll<;<l, )i y;oo(l clioir, (iii'l iitxl-cla^n iipi/oinlHu^nt.H ir* (ill iIh uniiitif<'im;iiln, wifli an
«'X«;i;ll«!nl. mnn (iri'l fin ';lo')ii<'n>. Kpiuikcr for |()iHt,or. 'I'lic (Iiidiolic, (Ilinrc.li, nof. y<f. com
fi\<:t/f, \h an irnrn«rnM<^ liuiMinj/ iiri'l (i(;(;ornifioi|fi(.»w ii ffiij|t,iMiiJirionK *',onj/r''j/iit.iofi, Wlinn
<!onij)l(!f.o in fill ilH fifipointnii-.nl.H, il, will (><! ouc, hi' f.li« i\nt',Ht (in'l hr^i'Ht (;)niro.\u;H in tho
Wimt. 'riiirri! ar*! oMwir liirj^n (iri'l wrllfifM-nili!*! clinrr'.li<-H in f,li<; cif.y, an<l in th*; <;<mitlry,
wliiuli will rf.ci-'tv)' ijno af.Ujnfion in anoffinr pjirt of t,lii>i work
'riiijro fin? in the ronnty Jihoiif. on«; Imri'lr';*! cdurrlM-w, fnrniKliinj/ mIiohI, l.liirl.y fivo
rli'iiiHand nU.iht'^n^ — wlii<',li tn nof, liir from (.Ik; ni<;nilM;rHliip,
'lUK I'KKKH
Mfl<'!firi (Jounty i» now fin<l it lia» »!V<;r ]t(;<'.u a noWKpfij^nr county In I H/»<), (icri,
Ori'llcy, Hon, .lfim<;K Allen ;in'l .I'hjw! W. Fell, Kn<\,fMiU-:r(;(l tiil^t arrflnj/'wnnnM »o Mart ft
prin»inj< otti';'-, in Ifloorninj/ton, For iIiIm purpose, lUcy piirclia*«!<l in l'liilii<l/lplii(i, for
c>irly f,iHM'« in si new rtounfry, a v«',ry j^oo'l prinf.in^ cxffihlinlirn'jnt, ami «liipp<<l i» for
liloomin^Jon liavinj/; Hot.nrcd tht; (WirviccH of Mr. William Hill, «in excellent. prin(.<:r
aii'l n ^oo'l man, K»ill livinj^ in the eity, U» piibliKli it. Tlie, re«nlt of tliefw^ nrranj/e,rne,nf.«
wa« that on the Hth of .Jfinnary, IH,'}7, the firHt niunher of the /{/ooMi'ii'/fon (Jhnf/nu/r
awl Mcljt'.'in (Jimnf// Aihin;til.f>-^UMiu; e.noij(<h to «wamp (iny ordiruiry C4fU('Ai^U-~iUiu\(i
'\\m Jipj)efiranee in the, town of |{loomin^l/;n. The t/;Wn Miirvive^J the nSutck itui\ n»> i\u\
the, pjipe.r,
'Che, ( fhn*'/n^fT wan of ^ood Ki//?, a vt^ry neat find we||.(^;rwJiie,U!/| pap<?r, Jt wfi« piih-
liKhe'l fihout two ycsirn tm'J a half, Mr, Mill havinj/ in tfie mean time HiHpo«e<| of hi«
intere.Ht therein an'i left,-- it heinj/; cdiU-A \>y Mr. Fell, » Vfry r/fwly writer, (iHninU;<l hy
Mr. VVellK (yolt/>n find others owfi»i'infilly, At the, en'l of tlnit time, t\ii; paper not heinj/
a finarieial nn<U'A;nn^ Jt« [rtjblieation wa« «iiMpe,nded.
In the »nmmer of IHif;, Mr. Kii«f«?ll Mite.hell earn/; U> HloouiUi'/Uiti and «tftrte/j
the [.iihlieatjon of the Mt;li«;<i.n (Jimtiif/ Ujui'ihIi't^ which «iirvive/| until th'! ffill of lH4f},
when it fell into the, \\\um\p, of it» indorn^rr, Mr (/- I'. Merriman Th'teiipon, Mr Mer
rimtin immediately c<>win<;u<.'(l the, pnhlir^ation of the, W/n/rm Whhf In l^fi't, he
Wild the, olhe,<! to ,VIex«rx JohnHon At Underwood, In iJecemher, IH**!^ MeK«r«. »le(»wv
W. Kell and (]. \'. M'irriman hoii;4ht the office?, and one, year thereof t.<;r Mr. Me.rriman
bought Mr, K«ir» inf,«re»t thwrdrr— it« narn« having bwm chttngf,d U) that of Inidl'ujf.nmr^
294 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
and, upon again becoming sole proprietor of the- paper, he again changed its name
to Pantagraph, the name which it sustains even unto the present day.
In June, 185-4, Mr. Merriman commenced the publication of the Daily Pantagraph,
as well as continuing the Weekly ; and, one year thereafter, instead of discontinuing the
Daily, as has been published in the county, he published also a TVi- Weekly edition —
which no other person has ever done in Bloomington. Here is what the Chicago Jour-
nal said of it on the reception of the first number of the Daily :
Bloomington Daily Pantagraph. — '' Tiny and neat as a new pin comes to us its
first number, with every assurance of success that can be gathered from the evidence of
enterprise and skillful managemeht, of which its columns possess a rich endowment. If
Bloomington does as much for its first daily, as its first daily, if well supported, can
do in return, we shall soon see your sheet enlarged. We do not see how it can be
otherwise improved, friend Merriman."
In October, 1855, Mr. Jacob Morris being associated with Mr. ]Merriman, the Panta-
graph o&ce was completely destroyed in the great fire that occurred in Bloomington at that
period. Since then it has passed through the hands of Mr. William E. Foote, Messrs.
Carpenter & Steele, Messrs. Scibird & Waters, into the possession of its present propri-
tor, Mr. W. 0. Davis. The paper has now a large circulation, and the Pantagraph
office is a valuable piece of property, being conducted with much ability and prudence.
The paper has always been an unhesitating advocate of the men and of the measures of
the Whig party, during its time, and of its successor, the Republican party.
The Deader. — The publication of the Weekly Leader was commenced in the fall
of 1868, by Messrs. Scibird and Waters. In 1870, the publication of a daily edition
was commenced, and the Leader office passing into the hands of a company the same
year, the paper soon obtained a large daily and a good weekly circulation, and did a
very fine job printing business. In 1874, it passed into the hands of its present pub-
lisher, M. F. Leland. It has constantly been an advocate of the men and measures of
the Republican party.
Democratic Papers. — There have been several efforts to establish a Democratic
paper in Bloomington, but none of them have been permanently successful. Either
from want of ability and adaptation on one side, or from want of patronage on the other
side, or from both causes, no Democratic paper has stood on a sure footing in McLean
County.
About 18-18 and 18-19, Mr. James Shoaff, under the supervision of Mr. Joseph
Duncan, published a Democratic paper here. It passed into other hands and ceased.
About 1854 to 1856, Col. Sam Pike published the daily and weekly Democratic Flag,
the hottest paper of the kind that has ever appeared in Bloomington. But the old
Colonel used to say — and he had tried it many times — that he could make more in
starting and selling out papers than in running them ; so the Flag passed into feebler
hands, and that, too, ceased. About 1859 and 1860, Mr. H. P. Merriman and Capt.
Orme published a Democratic paper ; and having a good job office, they did quite
well for some time. But it would not last.
In 1868, S. S. Parke, Esq., started the weekly, and afterward also the daily,
Democrat. It seemed to be doing well for awhile ; but that, too, would not last ; so it
ceased. From some cause, or causes, the want of skill and industry in the cultiva-
tors, or the uncongeniality of the soil, or the character of the seed, Democratic paper«
\N
BLOOMINGTON
^^^-^^wrl^
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 297
have not taken root and prospered in McLean County. Several other efforts have been
made to establish papers here, as well in the English as in the German language ; but
they have been too numerous and too ephemeral to be individually noticed.
The Little Watchma7i, a Sunday-school paper, had quite a circulation, and flour-
ished for awhile. The Alumni Journal, by the students of the Wesleyan University,
has been published several years. The Banner of Holiness, a religious paper, and
which is said to have quite a circulation, has been published here since 1872. There
is also the Democratic News, published in the city, which has not yet gone the way of
its predecessors. The Sunday Ei/e is now published in Bloomington, and it is
a success. Nor has the press neglected other points in the county. The Times
has been published at Chenoa for ten or twelve years. Its existence for so many years
makes it evident that it has been well conducted and liberally patronized for so small a
place. In Lexington,' Saybrook and Le Roy papers have also been published undei
various names and with varied fortunes. Upon the whole, it may be said that the
press has been respectably conducted in McLean County, and with fair success.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS.
McLean County is a Sunday-school county. Below we give a few facts showing
that such is the case. There are, in round numbers, varying but slightly from exactness,
175 Sunday schools in the county, of which 125 are open all the year. Teachers
and officers, 2,000 ; scholars, 13,000. There have been, during the current year,
222,000 papers distributed, and there are 14,000 volumes in the libraries, and there
have been expended, during the year, nearly $6,000 in promoting the interests of these
schools.
These schools are not merely allowed to exist, as if upon probation, but they are
encouraged in every way by many of our best citizens, and no pains are spared to make
the exercises pleasant and profitable to the scholars who attend them. At the proper
season, re-unions and excursions are greatly enjoyed by the young folks and by the
older as well. The frequent meetings promote acquaintance and friendliness among
teachers and scholars and attachment to the objects sought to be accomplished.
The officers of the McLean Sunday-School Association are : President, F. J.
Fitzwilliam ; Secretary, A. Aron ; Treasurer, T. J. Willever, all of Bloomington.
Executive Committee — William Bone, Chairman ; J. S. Roush, Prof H. C. DeMotte,
J. W. Compton, Rev. J. E. Kumler, all of Bloomington; C. C. Rowell, Danvers ; L.
P. Scroggin, Lexington, and Prof M. L. Seymour, Normal. Vice Presidents — J. N.
King, J. L. Arbogast and S. H. Jennings, Saybrook ; R. A. Warlow, Ira Abbott,
Danvers ; J. R. Mason, Andrew Forbes, V. W. Thompkins, Bloomington ; James
Scott, Thaddeus Crostwait, Belleflower ; R. Gr. Jordan, Chenoa ; J. C. Arnold, Potosi ;
Byron Covey, W. M. Morris, LeRoy ; William B. Anthony, Shirley ; Gr. P. Brown, J.
Langstaff, G. W. Kirker, Lexington ; J. A. Moats, Towanda ; J. H. Ritchie, Arrow-
smith ; J. C. Bascom, McLean; R. M. Brown, Normal; George Fogle, Holder; H.
M. Ham, Ellsworth ; 0. C. Rutledge, Heyworth ; Daniel Bishop, Towanda ; A. J.
McWilliams, Oak Grove.
CONCLUSION.
We have thus rapidly sketched some of the features of the history of McLean
County. It was organized in 1831 from territory previously embraced in Tazewell
G
298 HISTORY OF McLean county.
County. It is one of the most picturesque and beautiful bodies of land in the West,
because its scenery is made up of rolling prairie interspersed with forest groves of ever-
varying size and form. It is one of the wealthiest counties in the State, because it is
the largest; because the character of its soil aud of its climate is such as to be
adapted to'^the production of a great variety of the necessaries and luxuries of life, and
because it has one of the most industrious and intelligent set of people in any county
to develop its capabilities.
Its facilities for transportation and for travel are scarcely rivaled anywhere ; as
from every nook and corner of its territory some railroad is easily accessible, and its
surface is cut by a multiplicity of good, common roads, and its numerous small streams
spanned by many excellent bridges. It is one of the healthiest counties in the country,
because its surface is elevated and rolling, and its many streams are rivulets of clear,
running water. While its gentle swells are excellent grain lands, its broad vales and
sweeping lowlands furnish rich pasturage in summer, and grateful food in winter for
multitudinous flocks and herds.
It has several public institutions, large and flourishing, many public and private
buildings that would be an honor and an ornament to any county. Its churches and its
schoolhouses are in every locality ; and many of its business houses would be models of
their kind in large cities. On the subject of education, leaving out the great city of
Chicago, it is undoubtedly the first county in the State, as on that subject alone more
than S4U0,000 are annually expended within its limits. Its religious teachers are every-
where and always at work.
In the late civil war, this county sent into the field more than four thousand vol-
unteers— constituting more than one-half of the population liable to do military duty ;
and thousands upon tens of thousands of dollars were privately and publicly poured out
annually upon them like water, to encourage those men to do their duty, and to make
them and their families comfortable. In this respect, McLean County acknowledges
itself to be second to no county in the State.
In less than sixty years, the territory of the county has been changed from a wild
and luxuriant waste, marked only by the paths of roaming savages, into a highly-cultivated
section of the civilized world, furnishing all the necessities and many of the refinements
and amenities of polished society. Its territory now contains more thousands of inhab-
itants than it has been years in acquiring them ; and for integrity of character, for
industry in their callings, and for ability and success in their enterprises, we commend
those inhabitants to the good graces of all people.
Note. — The compiler of these pages takes this opportunity to return his hearty
thanks to all who have assisted him in gathering the materials ; and were it not that it
might appear invidious, he would take pleasure in thanking several of them individually.
He will also remark that the name of Hon. L. H. Kerrick should appear in the list ot
Representatives in the State Legislature. It was omitted by an oversight in the report
from Springfield.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 299
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP.
BY CAPTAIN J. H. BURNHAM.
The territorry now included in the township of Bloomington is a part of our
common county, and as such entitled to its share in the interest attaching to the
general history of our State and nation ; but when we take it upon ourselves to learn
the history of the six miles square called Bloomington, we find it almost impossible to
divest general history from the local interest of the tract of land under consideration.
It would be pleasant to go back to the time when all the country, north of the Ohio,
was a French possession ; to glance at its first American baptism, in the year 1778,
when Gen. Clarke with his Virginians captured the whole region from the British, who
had taken it all from the French in 176.3 ; to learn something of its early history as a
portion of Virginia after Gen. Clarke returned from his expedition, at which time the
whole tract was a dependency of Virginia, called Illinois County ; to look at the same
country years later, when it was called the Northwest Territory, and to follow its
fortunes as the Territory of Indiana, then as the Territory of Illinois from 1809 down
to 1818, when the State of Illinois entered upon its independent career. In all these
varying changes, the little spot of land we are now examining had a territorial share,
but was peopled only by wild and savage Indians, who may have been intelligent enough
to know the French from the English, but who were not citizens of whatever power for the
time being was in possession of the land. It was not till 1822 that the territory now
known as McLean County possessed a single white inhabitant; and when, in that year,
the families of John Hendrix and John W. Dawson made a selection of sites for
homes, they were the first permanent settlers in the county, and were also the first in
Bloomington Township, of which we now propose^to give an historical sketch. We
have a right to suppose that long previous to the date we have mentioned important
events transpired here, in which white people took important parts. It was here iu
this very region that Gen Hopkins' army was embarrassed in 1813, in his fruitless
expedition from the Wabash toward the fort which was then standing at Peoria. It is
probable that many a party of French and friendly Indians have camped in our old
woods when on their way from Lake Michigan to Cahokia and Kaskaskia. Possibly
the early Indian traders and hunters may have built trading-stations and occupied them
for long periods, at points where our first settlers found partial clearings in the original
forests. But perhaps it is not best to indulge ourselves in much speculation or supposi-
tion on these topics, as we shall find our path obscure enough, following as we go the
best authenticated records that are now available.
BLOOMING GROVE, IN FAYETTE COUNTY.
We find that the first white men who made marks which have in any manner
entered into history were the Government land surveyors, who commenced the work of
dividing and subdividing the fertile acres of McLean County in the year 1821. The
final survey was not completed until October, 1823, when Blooming Grove Township
was surveyed by P. M. Hamtramack.
Our township has been situated in allegiance to many different counties. In 1817,
Illinois being then a Territory, the county of Crawford was in power here. In 1819,
300 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
a year after the State of Illinois had been admitted into the Union, Clark County had
jurisdiction, while, in 1821, Fayette County was organized, extending northeast as far
as the Illinois River, and to Fayette our first settlers owed allegiance. As under-
stood at the time, Fayette reached to tha Wisconsin line. This was the meaning of the
act incorporating Fayette County, but as, by a previous law, Pike County included all
north of the Illinois River, Fayette County could not enforce its claim to its most north-
ern territory.
All this region of country now known as McLean County, east of the Third Prin-
cipal Meridian, was situated in the county of Fayette, and thus remained until the
development of the country several years later rendered it absolutely necessary that this
immense tract should be subdivided into several counties. We will attempt to give the
names of only a few of the tirst settlers of this township, mentioning some of the most
prominent, but may, through inadvertence, omit others equally deserving. In 1822,
John Hendrix and John W. Dawson, with their families, settled in the southern por-
tion of Blooming Grove. There was with them in the same year a single man of the
name of Segur, who, however, did not stay long in the settlement, he having sold his
claim in 1823 to Mr. William Orendorff. Mr. Dawson remained four years, when he
removed to near the site of the old Indian town in Old Town Timber. During these
four years, while his family lived at the Grove, there were no less than fifteen different
families who made their homes here, so that Blooming Grove very soon became a well-
settled community. Mr. Hendrix is entitled to the honor of being the first settler, as
Mr. Dawson's family did not arrive till after Mr. H. had been here some weeks. Of
the family of John W. Dawson, who came in 1822, we will here remark that two are
now living in the city of Bloomington, having moved from Old Town many years ago.
The oldest is Mrs. William Paist, whose first husband was Maj. Owen Cheney. She
was about eight years old when her father moved to the Indian town. She was a great
favorite with the Indian squaws, who often carried her to their homes, keeping her for
days at a time, where the little girl was greatly pleased and interested. Mrs. P. does
not even yet appear aged — scarcely elderly. She takes a great interest in society, and
it seems hardly possible that this active lady has seen the full growth and development
of Blooming Grove, of Bloomington City and of McLean County. Her brother,
John Dawson, is the next oldest pioneer now living in our city.
Mr. John Hendrix is deserving of mention, having been a consistent, devoted Chris-
tian, who planted early good seed that has borne many fold. He has been honored by
having the railroad station on the Central in the Orendorff" neighborhood named after
him, as well as the post office, and the true spelling of the name should be Hendrix, it
being named for this good old pioneer. The first, sermon in Blooming Grove was
preached at the house of Mr. Hendrix, by Rev. James Stringfield, in 1823. Mr. Hen-
drix labored in the settlement as a true Christian should, and very few who have lived
in this county have left such a noble record. Men like Mr. Hendrix and Mr. Dawson
should always be held in grateful recollection by our people, both of them having been
men of great worth. With their two families, t^iey accomplished a great deal of good
in forming and molding the tone of society during the first two or three years of the
infant settlement. They labored in every manner possible to induce the best class of
emigrants to settle as neighbors and used all the skill they possessed to persuade unde-
sirable persons to move on or look further for more congenial neighborhoods. The
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 301
strict, almost Puritanic, ways of the religious Mr. Hendrix naturally had the effect of
impressing new-comers who were reckless and irreligious, with an aversion to his society,
and would as naturally attract pious men, like Rev. E. Rhodes, who came in 1823 or
1824, and the influence of all these early settlers was of lasting value.
The influence of a few of the early pioneers in determining the class of settlers who
were attracted to cast their lot in the same community, has often been referred to, but
we find that in the case of Blooming Grove a great deal was accomplished in this direc-
tion, in the first two or three years of its development, and in this manner we account
for the fact that at the time of the location here of the county seat, there was no settle-
ment of equal power and influence anywhere between Vandalia and the Wisconsin line.
In the year 1823, William Orendorft' and wife arrived, with Mr. Thomas Orendorff",
then a young man of twenty-three. In 1824, Mr. Goodheart and W. H. Hodge settled at
the Grove, and about the same time Mr. William Walker and family, and enough others
to bring the whole number of families up to about fifteen by the end of the year 1824.
There were no exceptions to the general good character attributed to all of the first
families, thus giving illustration to the old saying in regard to " birds of a feather."
Our sketch, imperfect as it is, must not omit all mention of the Rhodes family.
Ebenezer Rhodes came to the Grove in April, 1824. He was the first minister who
settled at Blooming Grove, having been ordained in the Separate Baptists, before com-
ing to Blooming Grove. Mr. Rhodes organized a small church at his own house, con-
sisting at first of eight persons. This church held meetings at the house of John
Benson and that of Josiah Brown, at Dry Grove. There had been occasional preaching
before his arrival, but from this time forward he kept up regular ministrations. He
appears to have been a natural missionary, and labored in all the young settlements within
thirty or forty miles. No doubt he was induced to settle here by the presence of such
men as John Hendrix, and the prospect that Blooming Grove would be the first settle-
ment able to maintain a church and school ; and we thus see the good efiect of the high
character of the pioneers of 1822, who attracted men like Mr. Rhodes, who in turn
exerted a similar influence upon later arrivals. In addition to his service as pastor, Mr.
Rhodes was a man of mechanical knowledge — could make spinning-wheels, seats and chairs,
and, as early as the first year of his arrival, set up a hand-mill for grinding corn, and in
the next year built one that was run by horse-power.
It would be pleasant to follow this good man in his various enterprises, but space
forbids. He was the father of Capt. John H. S. Rhodes and Jeremiah Rhodes, both
of whom came here in 1 824, and who were among the best of our pioneers. The latter
is still living, a hearty old gentleman, a connecting link between the past and the pres-
ent. He remembers well the condition of the country in those early days. When his
father arrived, the Kickapoo Indians were plentiful in this neighborhood. Their chief,
Ma-Shee-na, ordered the Rhodes family and others to the south side of the Sangamon
River, declaring that he had never signed the treaty which gave the whites por^ession
of Blooming (then called Keg) Grove. It appears that the old chief was sick at the
time the treaty was signed, but had sent his son to treat with the whites and sign the
articles. Ma-Shee-na threatened to burn the houses of the families here, but finally
compromised by allowing them to remain until fall. When one regards the treacherous
nature of the Indians, it looks as if the pioneers of 1824 ran a great risk in remaining,
under the circumstances ; but the chief appears to have been a pretty good sort of an
302 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Indian, worthy of the confidence reposed in him, and, in the end, the settlers either com-
pletely won his good-will or, as is quite probable, so increased in numbers as to overawe
the whole tribe. It has been a matter of some surprise to us that the name of this Indian
chief, which we spell as pronounced, Ma-Shee-na, has not been preserved in this settle-
ment. So far as we know, there is not in this nei2;hborhood a sino'le Indian name, with
the exception of Kickapoo, which is the name of the creek that flows through
Blooming Grove.
The Kickapoos, a few Delawares, and some Pottawatomies were very plenty from
1822 to 1829, and were generally very kind and friendly. The settlers became
acquainted with them, knew their names, and in some cases formed friendships as perma-
nent and kindly as many existing between the whites themselves. When the Indians
left they were missed, and their absence as much regretted by some, as if they had been
old friends. Most of them left before the end of 1829, though as late as the summer of
1832, there were enough in this region within qne hundred miles of the Grove, to
cause grave apprehensions, this being the year of the Black Hawk war.
Very few Indian traditions have been preserved, owing, probably, to the fact that
the aborigines found by our early settlers were of a roving class, who came here from
the eastern part of the State, taking fhe places of other Indians who had preceded them.
Had our pioneers fallen in with Indians whose ancestors long resided here, we should
probably be able to gather some interesting Indian legends. The Grove was known as
Keg Grove until 1824, and, in fact, the old name clung to it at a much later period. It
is said that what are now called Sulphur Springs — formerly known as Hinshaw's Springs
— formed a common camping-place for hunters and travelers long before the first set-
tlers arrived. It was usual for parties to travel from the Wabash River to the fort at
what is now Peoria, or from Chicago to St. Louis. In either case, these springs were a
convenient stopping-place.
Tradition asserts that at one time a party of white men hid a keg of rum at this
point, probably intending to return for it in a short time. It was found by some Kiek-
apoo Indians, who, no doubt, then possessed the richest '-bonanza" of their whole lives.
The remarkable " find " was reported to the Indians all through this region, who named
this locality " Keg Grove."
The " first families " of our ancestors were not of the class who had any fancy for
a name which suggested drunken Indians, rum, whisky or anything of the kind, and
they believed it for the interest of the infant settlement that it should be rechristened,
and to Mrs. William OrendorfF is generally ascribed the credit of suggesting the name of
Blooming Grove, which proved a very suitable and acceptable name. This was about
the year 1824.
The first white female child born in McLean County was Elizabeth Ann Hendrix,
daughter of John Hendrix, born May 3, 1823. The first death occurred in the family
of Thomas Orendorff, it being one of his children, who died in 1825. Mr. 0. laid out
a family buryiog-ground at that time, which has become an established cemetery — the
oldest in the county. The first white male child born in this county (now living) is
John Lewis Orendorft", sou of Mr. Orendorft', who was born January 30, 1825. The
first school was taught by Miss Delila Mullen, in the house of John W. Dawson, in
1823, and it consisted at first of only five pupils. About the year 1825, a log school-
house was built, the first in this county. The site is on what is now the Oliver Oren-
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 303
dorflF farm. In the course of a few years, there was another schoolhouse, on the west
side of the Grrove.
In the year 1824, a class of Methodists was organized at the house of John Hen-
drix, and it was kept up until the year 1838.
The first blacksmitli at the Grove was the Rev. Mr. See, who lived in the Price
neighborhood, and was here as early as 1826. He did little jobs of such work, though
he was a Methodist minister and a farmer.
Thomas Orendorif was born August 14, 1800, at Spartansburg, S. C. He came to
Illinois in 1817, when this was a Territory, having been present at the birth of the
new State, as well as a prominent actor in its subsequent development. He lived in
several diff"erent places, having moved from Sangamon County, 111., to Keg, now Bloom-
ing Grove, on the 2d day of May, 1823. Thomas Orendorff was then a single
man, and made his home with his brother William, who accompanied him. He made
a claim near the Mason farm, about three miles south of the city of Bloomington.
October 5, 1824, he married Mary Malinda Walker, daughter of William Walker,
one of our most prominent pioneers. This was the first wedding in Blooming Grove.
The first in the county was the marriage of John Taylor ta Temperance Stringfield, at
Randolph's Grove in June, 1824. Rev. E. Rhodes married this couple, and at the
close of the ceremony published a notice of the intended marriage of the young couple
at Blooming Grove. He also posted written notices of their intention, and when
the time arrived performed the ceremony. The newly-married pair moved into a cabin
on Mr. OrendorflP's claim, where they made their home for a number of years, until Mr.
Orendorfi^, in his anxiety to be near the open prairie, convenient to a good stock-range,
moved to what was then called Little Grove, nearly a mile east of Blooming Grove, five
miles southeast of our city, where, with his venerable wife, he is still living, both being
in comparatively good health. It is rare, indeed, that we can find a couple who have been
married fifty-five years, and when we take into account the severe pioneer life they have
led, their good fortune seems almost wonderful.
In Prof Duis' "Good Old Times in McLean County," we read: "When Thomas
and William OrendorflF settled in McLean County, the old chief of the Kickapoos ( Mr.
O. now thinks these Indians were Delawares) came with Machina (afterward their
chief) and ordered them to leave. But the old chief spoke English in such a poor
manner that Thomas Orendorft' told him to keep still and let Machina talk. Then
Machina drew himself up and said in his heavy voice : ' Too much come back, white
man, t' other side Sangamon.' Mr. Orendorff told Machina that the latter had sold the
land to the whites ; but Machina denied it, and the discussion waxed warm, and the
chiefs went away, feeling very much insulted. Mr. OrendorfiF's friends considered his
life very much in danger, and he was advised by Judge Latham, the Indian agent, to leave
the county ; but he attended to his business and was not molested. At one time, an
Indian called Turkey came to Mr. Orendorfi", and gave him warning that Machina
would kill him ; but no attempt was made to put such a threat into execution." Mr.
Orendorff still remembers many incidents in relation to the Indians. He says at one
time he was talking with Machina about killing people. " You wouldn't kill a white
man would you ?" said Mr. 0. " No," says the Indian, " I go hell and damnation,"
indicating that he knew the penalty as taught by the missionaries. Mr. Orendorff" 's
memory, as also that of his wife, is now somewhat defective ; and when we consider
304 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
their early, anxious experiences with the Indians, their pioneer life, and their old age,
we only wonder at their being still alive and as comfortable as we now find them.
Mr. Orendorif was always one of the leading men of the infant settlement.
Whea the plan? for a new county were fully matured, he was selected with Rev. James
Latta, to go to Vandalia to secure from the Legislature an act of incorporation. These
county projects were very numerous at that time, one of the principal matters before
the Legislature being the proper consideration of the many county and county-seat
projects presented from the newly-settled parts of the State. Our committee urged
their claims so successfully that the bill for the incorporation of McLean County was
passed by the house in the forenoon and by the Senate in the afternoon of the same
day.
Mr. Orendorff has held several ofiices, having been the first Coroner of Tazewell
County in 1827, when by virtue of his ofiice he took the place of the County Assessor
who had failed to (jualify, and he assessed the immense territory, making a trip on
horse-back to the settlements toward Ottawa and Hennepin, on the Illinois River. He
was appointed Assessor and Treasurer for McLean County at its organization, and often
acted in prominent positions.
We cannot help regarding Mr. Orendorff with a feeling of veneration akin to rev-
erence. Here is a man who came to Illinois when it was a Territory ; who has witnessed
the full development of our wonderful State ; who was one of the principal organizers
of McLean County ; who has seen the full growth of our city ; who represents the
pioneers of Blooming Grove, being with his wife among the last now living.
Bloomington should take delight in honoring these noble people, and should be proud
to acknowledge its appreciation of their life-long services.
This couple are the parents of eleven children. John Berry Orendorfi", the oldest
who lives on the farm adjoining his father's, is one of the best known of the large con-
nection of Orendorffs. The others are all well known and all highly respected in their
several homes, which are in a number of difiierent States.
Esquire William OrendorfF's name will frequently appear in this history, as he was
one of the leading men of this settlement, in fact, of Central Illinois. He transacted
most of the public business of this precinct for several years. His children were four-
teen in number, of whom three are living in this county. Oliver H. P. and John
Lewis live in Blooming Grove, and are among the best known and most popular of our
citizens. They have a brother at Cheney's Grove.
The early settlers found here an abundance of game, consisting of deer, turkeys,
wolves and the smaller birds and animals. The immense prairies formed most admira-
ble pastures for deer, while the groves were the skulking-places of the large wolves that
were very plenty. Some of the pioneers were mighty hunters, while in every family a
gun was kept ready for the valuable game that might at any hour come within easy reach.
The venison of those early days was a very convenient substitute for the meat-markets
of modern times, and though not quite so sure to be found when wanted, was, in many
instances, almost as indispensable.
Deerskins, counskins and wolf-robes were important articles of commerce, and in
the first stores kept a few years later by Allin, Covell and Gridley, these valuables wera
the leading staples, forming, with beeswax and honey, the most common payment
from many a farmer who in after years sold his hogs and cattle by the hundred,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 305
though at the time we are now alluding to, from 1822 to 1827, there was no reliable
market for these articles nearer than Vandalia, or the trading-points on the Wabash in
Indiana.
A full statement of the trials and difficulties encountered by our pioneers cannot
be given in this place, as we are simply chronicling events ; but we might mention a
few of the obstacles which they suffered from more than any others. The want of
good markets, or, in fact, of any market at all, has been mentioned. The prairie fires
were for years dreaded more than almost anything else. In early times, these fires
would come rolling before the wind in the fall and spring, often sweeping away fences,
farms or grain stacks, and causing severe losses. The settlers generally shared with
each other after such disasters, dividing crops with those who had been unfortunate, or
turning out day or night to fight fires, without the formality of an invitation.
But the saddest trouble of all was the malarial sickness of the early times.
Nearly every family was afflicted, disease and death being faced by all who ventured ta
remain in this country in the early days when the prairie sod was being broken and
subdued. After the prairie land was mostly improved, which brings us down as late as
1855, the health of the settlements grew better, and for the last twenty-five years there
has been comparatively little malarial disease.
During the period that elapsed from 1822 to 1827, Fayette County had jurisdic-
tion over all the territory now within the present limits of McLean County, and on
north as far as the Illinois River. Vandalia, the county seat, was over one hundred
miles distant. Blooming G-rove could exert but little influence in so large a district,
and its inhabitants urged the formation of a new county. For many years, the only
official in all this region was Mr. William Orendorff, who was commissioned in 1825, by
Gov. Coles, Justice of the Peace of Fayette County. His jurisdiction extended almost
indefinitely toward Wisconsin. The distance to Vandalia was so great that very few of
the settlers ever visited the county seat, unless it was on business of the utmost impor-
tance. There was one important State election while our pioneers were residents of
Fayette County — that of 1 824.
At this election, there was great excitement on the slavery question. On its
result depended the calling of a convention which would make the introduction of
slavery possible, and by a close vote it was decided in favor of freedom. The sentiment
of Blooming Grove was unanimously for freedom. The canvass of 1824, in the older
settled portions of the State, was exceedingly bitter and animated ; but, in the natural
course of events, people in a neighborhood which had only been settled two years could
have had few opportunities for being acquainted with the politics of the State of which
they had so recently become citizens.
The population of Illinois increased from 55,000, in 1820, to 157,445 in 1830, an
addition in ten years of 200 per cent. Population was then most dense on the Ohio
Biver and along the Mississippi in Southern Illinois. All of Northern, Western, and
a portion of Central Illinois, was in the possession of the Indians, of whom those in
the northern part were hostile, or in a quasi-hostile condition. When our pioneers
arrived here, the Indians intimated plainly that they preferred to have no white men
north of the Sangamon River. North of the Illinois River, the settlers did not dare
to locate; and, from 1820 to 1830, the region of Central Illinois was almost debatable
ground, only occupied by the most daring and hardy pioneers.
306 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
These pioneers flocked in rapidly, and took up the most desirable locations along
the edge of the timber, holding every inch of ground once occupied, going forward
with improvements and making homes for themselves and their families, giving this
settlement, in the course of the few years during which we have watched its development,
the name of being one of the best regulated of any in the State, and of possessing a
remarkably enterprising population.
Fayette County was evidently too large to be convenient, and, in 1826, it was
divided, Vermilion County having been erected in that year, including the territory
now under consideration. No wonder that this division was called for. when Vandalia,
the county seat of Fayette County, was distant over one hundred miles. No wonder
that the first couple married on the Mackinaw dispensed with a license, and in its stead
posted notices of their intention and called on a Justice to perform the ceremony with-
out the authority of the too great county of Fayette ! Blooming Grove, for one year
was in Vermilion County, though very little county business was transacted during that
year by citizens living in this locality. •
Blooming Grove contained about six thousand acres of the very finest timber to be
found in the West. Nearly every acre was covered with tall, heavy trees, while the soil
was of unrivaled fertility. It has been remarked, frequently, that nowhere in this State
is there to be found such a large body of rich timber-land, as the general character
•of the soil, which is covered with a natural growth of trees, is not of the best for farm-
ing purposes. The sudden development of this beautiful grove is shown by the fact
that, in 1827, it was the happy home of no less than twenty families of industrious,
well-behaved settlers, most of whom were surrounded by all the actual comforts, even if
they lacked most of the luxuries, of life.
These families formed at Blooming Grove a very important settlement, and began
to be restive under the jurisdiction of Fayette County. In 1826, Vermilion County was
formed, and its territory seemed to include the eastern part of what is now McLean. Our
settlers, however, had little to do with either Fayette or Vermilion County, and it is
difficult to state the exact condition of afi"airs during this year. The records of the
State Department at Springfield show that the most of the territory of McLean County
was included in Vermilion County in the year 1826 ; but we find from a careful inspec-
tion of the official records of Fayette County that during the year 1826 this portion of
McLean was recognized as being within the limits of Fayette. The old settlers state
that their being included in Vermilion was some kind of a " fraud," and that they never
were properly citizens of the latter county. It is an historical fact that Fayette claimed
jurisdiction here down to the time of the organization of Tazewell County in 1827, and
also that our citizens recognized the demand, and hence we do not see much force
in Vermilion's " technical " claim. It appears that at the March term of the Fayette
County Commissioners' Court in 1826, it was "ordered that all that part of the county
north of Township Seventeen ( 17) shall compose an election district, to be known by the
name of the Orendorfl" Precinct, and the election therein to be held at the house of
William Orendorfl", in said precinct ; and further, that William Orendorfl", John Benson
and James Latta be appointed Judges of Election of the same precinct." An election
was held on the 7th of August, 1826, and, on September 4, at the County Court, the
proper fees were allowed these judges, and also to the clerks of the election — William
JSee and William H. Hodge " in State paper at two for one." William Orendorfl" was
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 307
allowed his fees for returning the election to the county seat at Vandalia — 125 miles —
at the rate of 10 cents per mile, also " in State paper at two for one." The records of
this county do not show that our settlement had any county business until 1825, when
Joseph B. Harbert was appointed Road Supervisor, and these few entries which we have
given are all the items of business that appeared to be of any interest to the inhabitants
of Blooming Grove, who were so far removed from the county seat. It is interesting to
note how large a district was comprised within the " OrendorfF Precinct " organized by
the above-mentioned order of Fayette County. It included the northern portion of the
present county of Macon, most of DeWitt, Piatt, McLean, and, in fact, a strip of
coiintry of the same width from east to west in Fayette County, and extending north as
far as the Illinois River, or to the Wisconsin line, in Fayette County, was generally
understood at that time to include all the territory between its southern boundary and
the northern line of the State. It would be of great interest could we give the list of
voters who attended this first election, but the papers have been lost or mislaid.
The records show that James AUin was one of the Fayette County Commissioners
from 1822 to 1825, and judging from the frequency with which his name appears, he
must have been a valuable member. He thus acquired influence and position, and
when ho moved to Blooming Grove at a later date, he was, of course, well known to our
leading citizens. The books of the Circuit Clerk's office at Vandalia do not show that
a single case of either criminal or civil action ever appeared there from this settlement,
neither do the records give any evidence of the recording of deeds or mortgages. As
the land-sales had not then taken place, there could, of course, be no use for such
records. There are a few records of marriages, the last one being that of Jacob Spawr
to Eliza Ann Trimmer, who were " published," no license having been asked for, and they
were married by WiUiam Orendorff December 30, 1826. Blooming Grove, it appears,
became known at the county seat in rather a vague and indefinite manner, but was too
remote to receive much attention, 125 miles being too far even for those pioneer days.
Fayette County was destined to be subdivided, and in its division our territory was to
undergo several important changes of jurisdiction.
In the year 1827, the county of Tazewell was organized, and the career of Blooming
Grove while under its control will form our next chapter.
BLOOMING GROVE IN TAZEWELL COUNTY.
When the new county of Tazewell was organized, in 1827, Blooming Grove was
its most important settlement. We find its inhabitants had now no cause of complaint,
as they were among the most influential of the leading citizens. The records of Taze-
well County show that its first County Commissioners' Court was held April 10, 1827,
at the house of Mr. William Orendorff". This Court consisted of James Latta, of
Blooming Grove ; Benjamin Briggs and George Hittle,^from other parts of the county.
Of the new county's first officials, John Benson was Treasurer ; Thomas Orendorff^,
Coroner ; and W. H. Hodge, Sheriff" — all of Blooming Grove. The next meeting of
the Court was held at the house of Ephraim Stout, at Stout's Grove, and the first piece
of probate business transacted in the new county related to one of the residents of
Blooming Grove — Mrs. Benjamin Cox.
Among the pioneers of Blooming Grove, we find no one more worthy of men-
tion than Mrs. Benjamin Cox. Her husband had come here in 1825, had purchased
308 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
of John W. Dawson an improved claim with a log cabin ; had returned to Ohio
for his family and died within a few weeks after his return. His widow, the mother of
eight children, determined on emigrating, and with this large family braved the dangers
of the long road, and arrived at Blooming Grove, September 23, 1826. When we consider
the difficulties which the stoutest men encountered at that day, the bravery of this lady
entitles her to the front rank among our pioneers. April 25, 1827, we find from the
Tazewell records, Mrs. Felina Cox, widow of Benjamin Cox, was appointed guardian of
Aurelius, Benjamin, Nancy and David Cox, with William Orendorff and William Walker
as securities in the sum of $1,800. Mrs. Cox came here when Indians were plenty;
when only the bravest men had courage to penetrate into this wilderness, and she
deserves to be mentioned among the heroines ot Illinois.
The first blacksmith on the south side of Blooming Grove was a man of the name
of Dow, who came in 1829. The neighbors turned out and built him a shop, rejoicing
at now being able to obtain blacksmithing near their homes. Mr. Dow only remained
a short time. The first stock of goods was kept by Mr. Black, in 1828 or 1829, at the
house of Mr. William Orendorff. The first shoemaker seems to have been Mr. Will-
iam Orendorff", who frequently made and mended shoes for his neighbors, who would
gather corn or do some other farm work for him in payment. The first blacksmith and
carpenter work was accomplished in the same manner by the more ingenious of our
pioneers, as during those early times, the mother of invention, " necessity," was ever
present to stimulate all to deeds and works the actors hardly supposed themselves capa-
ble of performing. In fact, this statement is true even in these times, when our states-
men, our generals and our capitalists arise from the most humble surroundings, brought
to perfection by necessity, or in other words, by the genius of our free institutions.
Mr. William Orendorff" was made Justice of the Peace in Tazewell County, and
filled the office for many years. Judging from the early records he married a large
number of young couples. He married the first couple that wedded in this region after
Tazewell was organized, Abram Hobbs to Elizabeth Evans, June 25, 1827; Miss Evans
was a daughter of the William Evans who afterward settled in what is now the city of
Bloomington. The same year, he married Amos Lundy to Susannah Copes, August 16,
and the next year, on the 1st of January, 1828, John Kimler to Mary Cox. The lat-
ter were residents of Blooming Grove, as were John Cox and Elizabeth Walker, who
were married March 18, 1828. October 23, 1828, James Hodge was married to Minerva
J. See. All these wei'e married by Mr. Orendorff", who seems to have carried on a lively
business. Blooming Grove was gay with weddings in those times — as James Benson
married Polly Hinshaw, November 16, 1828; while January 1, 1829, Henry Miller married
Temperance Evans, daughter of William Evans. This last was a real Bloomington
wedding, the first, probably, that ever occurred within the present limits of the city of
Bloomington. The bride of that day, now Mrs. Jane Whitcomb, is still living at Old
Town, in this county. Three more weddings took place in the year 1829 — Richard
Grass to Elizabeth Maxwell, William Maxwell to Mrs. Elizabeth Hobbs, and James
Walker to Jane Brock. Within a little over two years, we thus find there were eight
or nine marriages of Blooming Grove couples, indicating a degree of enterprise that
has not been surpassed by any of the later inhabitants.
June 25, 1827, it was ordered that a new voting precinct, to be called Blooming
Grove, be formed of all that part of the county, east of Range 3, and north of Town
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUUTY. 309
22. This voting precinct was therefore thirty-six miles from east to west, and extended
from the south line of Bloomington Township, to the northern line of Tazewell County
on the north. The first election was held at the house of John Benson, and the first
Judges of Election were E. Rhodes, Henry Vansickle and William Orendorff. This
immense territory was erected into a road district, and Joseph B. Harbord was made
Road Supervisor.
The first grand jurors from Blooming Grrove Precinct were William Orendorflf,
John H. S. Rhodes, William Walker, L. Hurst, Peter McCullough and William Gil-
ston, whose names were drawn August 7, 1827. From this time until the year 1831,
when the new county of McLean was organized, the residents of Blooming Grove trans-
acted county business at Mackinaw, the county seat of Tazewell, only about twenty
miles away, and the transition from the far-away county seat at Vandalia was found most
convenient and agreeable. There was, in those days, but little business to be attended
to, but it was promptly despatched. We find that the first road in this region was laid
out in 1827, from "the upper point of Kickapoo and Salt Creek, to the northeast corner
of Blooming Grove, thence to the Dry Grove, thence to Mackinaw to the east end of
Main street." This was the first legal road in Bloomington.
One of the great difficulties of the pioneers, was the want of mills for making flour
and meal. Most of the streams of this region are liable to go dry in summer, and were
always a poor dependence ; but at this early time, very few good mills had been erected
in this vicinity. It was no uncommon thing for teams to go to mill all the way to
Attica, on the Wabash, in Indiana, distant 120 miles, or to Perryville, 110 miles.
They often went to the Sangamon, over 50 miles, to the Kankakee, 70 miles, and to
Green's mill, on the Fox River, above Ottawa, over 60 miles. When Whistler's mill
was built on the Mackinaw, in Tazewell County, it was considered quite a convenience,
although over 20 miles from Blooming Grove. Various were the expedients for dis-
pensing with these long trips. One of them was pounding corn in a piece of hard
wood, hollowed out on the principle of the pestle and mortar, and another was the horse-
mill. These mills were erected in nearly every settlement ; one being made here, a hand-
mill, by Ebenezer Rhodes, in 1824, and one in the winter of 1830, a horse-mill, by
Isaac Baker. The mill-stones were common "nigger-head" stones, from the surface of
the prairie, held in a frame in such a manner, that a horse traveling in a circle would
set them in motion. After the wheat was ground, the flour was separated from the
bran by sifting it through a bottom of two cloths, by which the flour was separated. It was
rather a wasteful method, and very slow, but it generally happened that the flour thus
obtained made good bread. Possibly our modern '' new process " flour, from the best Kan-
sas wheat, tastes less sweet to our palates thar> did the home-made article of fifty years
ago. Crushing corn, however, was the principal work of these mills. Small water-
mills were constructed, wherever there was an opportunity ; mostly, however, at a later
day. There was even one on Sugar Creek, near the present city of Bloomington, built
by Samuel Lander, which did good service foi several years, but later than the time of
which we are now speaking. It stood but a short distance below the old* Pekin road,
and the old dam is still to be seen. A mill was built on the Kickapoo, and several on
the Mackinaw, but the settlers, in 1829, longed for a reliable steam-mill that would
never go dry. All these difficulties were met, however, by a cheerfulness peculiar to
these pioneers. They were almost surrounded by Indians, of whose friendship they
310 HISTORY OF McLean county.
were never sure, being, in fact, in one of the frontier counties of the State, Woodford
not yet being organized, the territory of Tazewell extending to the Illinois River,
north of which was the disputed ground, where, in 1831 and 1832, Black Hawk's
bands roamed and massacred at will, and the public mind was in constant alarm from
rumors of anticipated outbreaks. There were also bold and venturesome settlers scat-
tered along the groves and creeks of Woodford, at this time citizens of Tazewell, and
also a few in the Vermilion timber, in what is at the present time in Livingston County,
but who were, at this date, included in the county of Tazewell. We shall see, in a
short time, that at a later period Blooming Grove and its neighbors raised a company
nf rangers for sixty days' service on the frontier of McLean, who, under Capt. J. H.
S. Rhodes, performed good service from the head of Mackinaw to the Vermilion, besides
hearing of more impoitant work in the Black Hawk war.
Our settlers were occupied in not only securing an education for their children, in
clearing and fencing farms, raising food and obtaining clothing, but they were compelled
to think of their defense against a common enemy, and we need not wonder that their
lives were anxious and laborious. We are surprised that they found time to participate
in the Presidential elections of 1824 and 1828, which took place during this period.
Tradition informs us that the voters were generally Jacksonians — even as late as 1832, only
six in the county having voted for Jackson's opponent. In 1824, the State gave two
electoral votes for Jackson, and one for Adams, and the indignation of citizens in this
part of the State knew no bounds when the election of Adams was proclaimed. In 1828, the
vote was for Jackson, with little opposition except on State and minor officers. Elections in
those days were diflferent from what we have seen in later years. People voted for men, and
not as much for measures. Party lines hardly existed, or if they did, the State was so
strongly Democratic that opposition was confined to a choice of candidates. Nomina-
tions were not made by conventions until in later times. Men became candidates and
ran for office on their merits, and the result, perhaps, was about the same as now,
though the means for accomplishing it might differ. To vote against a candidate par-
took of the nature of a personal affront, and many of the contests were peculiarly
bitter and aggravating. Offices were sought for with as much avidity as at present.
In the formation of new counties men saw opportunities for new offices as tempting,
no doubt, for their honors as we have seen them in later times for their emoluments.
The center of population and influence was in the OrendorfF neighborhood, about
fuur miles southeast of our city, where, at William Walker's house, Mr. Allin opened a
store late in 1829, where there was, as early as 1824, a log schoolhouse, and where, from
indications, it was thought, as early as in 1826, quite a village might one day be built.
Blooming Grove was, in 1827, well settled as a farming neighborhood. It was surrounded
on all sides by a belt of farms, some of them quite large, all of them valued highly by
their owners. These owners had most of them built comfortable log houses, had con-
structed many miles of rail fences, and had broken and cultivated a large area of prairie-
land. They were employed, as were all the pioneers of the day, in subduing nature, but
with it all they were social and happy, having a care for the morals and education of
their growing families, and making for the times one of the pleasantest settlements in the
new and growing State. There was in the neighborhood more than the usual amount of
warm hearted friendship and neighborly affection. All were equal in social state and
dignity. Fashion was not then the inexorable goddess we are accustomed to meet in
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 311
these modern — perhaps we may add — these degenerate days. Our pioneers were proud
to be attired in home-spun, woven by the busy housewife of the period, while such a
thing as a carriage or buggy was unknown in Blooming Grove. Husbands went to
church on foot; their wives rode the horses, carrying with them such of the children as
were too young to make their way by walking. If the good wife was clad in a calico of
durable texture and fast color she was as happy as the fine ladies of to-day robed in vel-
vets and sealskins. The religion of the times favored a very rigid and severe adherence
to plain and unadorned attire, making, as it would almost look to us, rather a virtue of a
necessity, although a few years later, when the rapid accumulation of wealth rendered
display a matter of easy accomplishment, we shall find large numbers of the pioneers,
from motives of principle, refraining as carefully from any vain show or unnecessary orna-
ment as they did in the primitive times of which we are now writing.
For neighbors, the Blooming Grove farmers had the settlers in Randolph's Grove,
Dry and Twin Groves and Funk's Grove, voting in the same precinct with most of them
at first, while they knew all the inhabitants along the Mackinaw, from its head to far
below the old town of Mackinaw, in Tazewell County, with which county, it must be
remembered, they were attached until a year after the period we are now discussing. The
families at Cheney's Grove were also neighbors and friends, while people living: in Macon
and Sangamon Counties were alnjost as well known as those " around the Grove." Young
women then thought nothing of a walk of five or six miles to make calls, while for visit-
ing, a ride of thirty miles over the prairie was as easy as one could wish.
The early pioneers, those who came previous to October, 1829, could not obtain
a legal title to their farms, as the General Government did not offer the land here for
sale until October, 1829. Before this time all the land was held by "claims." The
settlers had an agreement among themselves by which they allowed a man to "claim"
about as much timber-land as he might need, generally not over 160 acres, upon which
he might build his cabin and make his other improvements ; and woe unto the speculator
or new-comer who should attempt to " claim" land already occupied by a bona-fide settler.
Blooming Grove was nearly all taken by these claimants before the land came into market,
and some of the prairie adjoining was, of course, taken in the same manner. These
claims were bought and sold, the purchaser coming into possession of the improvements
together with whatever rights were considered as appertaining thereto. Many quarrels
ensued from this state of affairs, though we do not find that Blooming Grove was the
scene of any difficulties of much note.
When the land-sales came off in October, 1 829, at Vandalia, there was a gathering
of pioneers from the townships offered for sale, at which no speculator was allowed to
purchase until all settlers had made their selections ; rather a high-handed proceeding,
as it would now appear, but one which was justified by the condition of the infant
settlements.
The records at our Court House show that John Hendrix entered the first tract
of land in the Grove, October 9, 1826 ; but as he purchased the adjoining eighty on
the 9th day of October, 1829, at which time the land all came into market, there is
almost a certainty that the first record is an error, and that he bought both pieces at the
same time in 1829.
A tract of eighty acres was entered on the 9th of October, 1829, in the names of
Seth and Isaac Baker. On the next day, October 10, it appears that no less than
312 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
eighteen of the pioneers of Blooming Grrove entered their farms, indicating that a jolly
crowd went from here to Vandalia at that time. Within a short time after this, it
appears, nearly the whole settlement secured their homes.
Many of our pioneers borrowed money at the exorbitant rate of twenty-five per
cent interest, in order to secure their farms. There was at that time no usury law in
the State. There were very few capitalists, money being very scarce indeed. Some of
the early settlers found it impossible to hold and pay for their farms at these rates,
although they paid such a low price for the land.
Quite a number of our pioneers borrowed money for their farms of Dr. R. H. Peebles,
of Vandalia, and his name appears frequently on our early records. He was regarded
as a man of wealth, having loaned money over a large area. We have stated that this
region was taken oft' from Fayette County, in 1826, and included in Vermilion County
for a time. In 1827, Tazewell County was formed, as we have mentioned, and, in
1829, its boundaries were re-arranged, and the eastern portion of Tazewell, including
Blooming Grove, was contained, nominally, within the limits of Vermilion from 1829
to 1831, but attached to Tazewell for county purposes. In the records of the County
Commissioners' proceedings at Pekin, this district is often spoken of as the " attached "
portion of Tazewell County. County lines were understood to be in a formative condi-
tion, and it was entirely uncertain where they would eventually be permanently estab-
lished, and hence one can realize that there was great interest felt in all schemes for the
formation of new counties. The territory under consideration was " in the market," so
to speak — ready for any project that might promise to benefit the interests of Blooming
Grove. For several years, there was quite a conflict between the interests of a portion
of the people living in what was then the " attached " portion of Tazewell and those in
the western part of the same county. The latter were not by any means united in their
interests, as Pekin was aspiring to become a county seat, while Mackinaw was striving
to retain the prize then held.
One of the last acts of the Tazewell County Court affecting the interests of
Blooming Grove Precinct was at the June term of 1830, when Judges of Election
were appointed. They were John Benson, John Hendrix and John Cox. The election
was ordered to be held at the house of William Evans. This being the year during
which the project was carried out for the formation of a new county, and, having taken
place after Mr. James Allin had opened his store at this point, it is altogether probable
that Mr. Allin favored the holding of this election at the house of Mr. Evans, in order
to enlighten the inhabitants of the Grove as to the eligibility of this locality as a site for
the county seat, although the mere fact of his store being here might have been the
main element of " centrality " that entered into the case. At all events, it is quite cer-
tain that this election at the house of Mr. Evans was the first public meeting of any
kind that was ever held in the city of Bloomington.
We are now approaching the time when the new county of McLean was organized,
and it is possible some of the; actors may have been interested in the manufacture of new
offices, as much as others were in the location of new county seats, and the combination
of these inducements no doubt contributed to the formation of the county of McLean,
as well as to the location of its capital, which was to grow into the thriving city of
Bloomington. It will, of course, be remembered that Blooming Grove was in Fayette
County until 1827, when tlie northern portion of Fayette was organized into the county
M
/T/r&nnv
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 315
of Tazewell, on the plea that the increase of settlement rendered it impossible to hold
this region as a dependency — one hundred miles from the county seat at Vandalia.
The new county, Tazewell, had its capital at Mackinawtown, only twenty miles distant,
and hence our settlers had not the excuse of inaccessibility, as before. Other reasons,
however, existed for the organization of a new county, a careful examination of which
will show good cause why a new county should be authorized. Tazewell County, as it
then existed, stretched from the Illinois River to the present line of Iroquois County,
or in that neighborhood, on the east, and to the Illinois River on the west and north, an
immense territory, now occupied by about seven or eight counties. This district was
lapidly filling with industrious settlers, and it was seen that new counties must be
carved out of this territory at no distant day. The problem for those interested here
at Blooming Grove was, to detach sufl&cient timber-land from Tazewell to form a
good county. Prairie was then reckoned as so much waste — little better than a desert.
After considerable scheming, a petition was taken to Vandalia by Thomas OrendoriF and
Mr. James Latta, who secured from the Legislature a law for the formation of a new
county, to be called McLean, which was detached from Tazewell at the session of 1830
and 1831.
The name McLean was given in honor of John McLean, who had been a Repre-
sentative in Congress, and was greatly respected. He had also been twice a member of
the United States Senate, and died in that office in 1830 ; and his death being a recent
event, it was natural that a new county should be named for the magnanimous, noble
man, who never had an enemy in his life. The law provided that a Commission should
meet in the new county and proceed to locate its county seat, which was accomplished,
as we shall briefly relate ; but we will first take a view of what was evident to those who
were actors in the events of the times.
We should also mention that by this time there were a number of families along
the Mackinaw, a good many at White Oak and Stout's Grove, while Dry and Twin
Groves, Randolph's Grove, Old Town Timber, Buckles', Cheney's, and in fact all the
groves were peopled with settlers ; and in some places there was still left good tim-
ber-land unclaimed, which, in a short time, as was well understood, would be as fully
occupied with families as were the other tracts of timber in the county. In all this dis-
trict the only trading-place was the store of James Allin, removed from the house of
William Walker to what is now Bloomington, and situated at what is now the southeast
corner of Grove and East streets. Of course, Mr. Allin did not supply all the goods
that were used, as Mackinawtown contained stores, while many goods were purchased
at Springfield, at Peoria, and at towns on the Wabash and other places. But it was
foreseen that the new county seat would be a place of considerable importance, even to
supply the trade already existing, while with the increase of settlement expected, busi-
ness would become at some future time, extensive enough to sustain considerable of a
town.
Mr. James Allin had opened his store at his new location in 1830, and made a
purchase of land where the city of Bloomington now stands. Before the law organizing
McLean County was passed, Mr. Allin formed his plans to secure the county seat,
though we cannot say just how much mention he made of his designs. The famous
deep snow came in the winter of 1830 and 1831, and was the means of preventing the
assembling of the county seat Commission on the " second Monday of February, or in five
316 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
days thereafter ; '' but as soon as possible, as they say in their report, they made their
selection of the site for the permanent county seat of McLean County.
A location was shown the Commission in the OrendoriF neighborhood. At this
time, in fact from 1823, William and Thomas Orendorff were the most substantial set-
tlers, or very nearly so, were very influential, and they were men who could, no doubt^
have secured the county seat near them, in what was then the oldest and best settled
part of the Grove, had they made the attempt. Mr. William Orendorff remarked that
he would not have his farm cut up by a little town, and made no effort, though impor-
tuned by some of his neighbors. Mr. James Allin was always grateful to Mr. Oren-
dorff for the stand he took. It was agreed by all parties that the name of the new
county seat should be Bloomington, and it was thus named in the act incorporating
McLean County.
Mrs. William Orendorff, a lady of more than ordinary talent, better educated than
the majority of the early settlers, and, withal, a person of fine personal appearance, ap-
pears to be entitled to the honor of changing the name of Keg Grove to Blooming
Grove, in 1824. From this, the transition to Bloomington seemed very natural and
proper, and the name met with very general approval all over the county.
The county seat of Monroe County, Ind., was named Bloomington April 10, 1818,
over twelve years before our town was laid out ; so we cannot claim to have originated
the name. There are now no less than thirteen Bloomingtons in as many different
States, but our city is much the largest and most important of all.
A post office was established here, named Blooming Grove, with Rev. William
See, Postmaster, on the 29th of January, 1829. Mr. See was the Methodist minister
of this circuit for several years. He lived in this settlement much of the time after
1824, though in 1831, at the time of the location of Bloomington, he was living in
Randolph Grove. Mr. See improved the Price farm on the east side of the Grove, and
here the first post office was kept for a little over one year.
During the years between 1822 and 1831, all of Blooming Grove was either bought
or "claimed" by settlers, and it was occupied by a class of hard-working, intelligent
farmers, who were bent on clearing their land, making good homes for their families, with
little thought of the glorious future in store for their settlement. Let us take a clear,
unobstructed view of the condition of Blooming Grove Settlement as it existed in
1830, before McLean County was organized, when Bloomington had no existence, and
in so doing we shall prepare our way for a better understanding of what followed. We
have seen that the whole grove was occupied at the date we have selected. We find
there were fifty families of whom we have learned the names, and it is likely there may
have been a few others. The names of the heads of families are John Hendrix, Rev.
E. Rhodes, Jeremiah Rhodes, William Orendorff", Thomas Orendorff, Rev. James Latta,
Henry Little, John H. S. Rhodes, William Goodheart, William H. Hodge, William Liud-
ley, Mrs. Benjamin Cox, David Simmons, John Benson, James Benson, George
Hinshaw, Sr., William Chatham, Moses Dunlap, William Waldron, Anthony Alberry,
William Thomas, John Canady, James Canady, Oman Olncy, Joseph Walker, Sr.,
William Michaels, John Lindley, Joseph Bailey Harbord, Achilles Deatherage, William
Walker, Timothy M. Gates, William Lucas, John Cox, Dr. Isaac Baker, Maj. Seth
Baker, H. M. Harbord, Parr Rathbone, John Mullen, Michael Allington, Nathan Low,
John Benson, Jr. and Benjamin Depew.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 317
Of single young men living in Blooming Grove in 1830 and 1831, we have the^
names of David Cox, Aaron Rhodes, Samuel Rhodes, Joseph Walker, Jr., Wilson
Lindley, Cheney Thomas, Solomon Walker, Hiram Harbord, Moses Baker, Elliott Baker,
William T. T. Benson, Jesse Benson, William Olney, Sylvanus Olney, Franklin Grates,
Timothy Gates, William Canady, John Walker, Johnson Lucas, John D. Baker, James
Rhodes, James K. OrendorfF.
It is possible some of the above may have been rather young to be called men at
the time indicated ; while it is likely there were a number of young men living in the
settlement whose names are not mentioned in the foregoing list.
The following heads of families were living within what are now the city limits of
Bloomington before the town was laid out, in 1830, while it is probable a few others —
among them Dr. Baker and Rev. Mr. Latta — should also be included in this list ; but we
have placed them in the list of those living in the Grove. In the whole settlement, there
were fifty families: Henry Miller, James Tolliver, James Allin, John Greenman, Will-
iam Evans, John Maxwell, John Kimler and James Mason lived in what is now the
city of Bloomington.
Of young men then living in what is now the city of Bloomington, we find Will-
iam Dimmitt, William Evans, Jr., Frank Evans, William Durley, Merritt L. Covell, W.
H. Allen, William Greenman, Esek Greenman, Samuel Durley, John Durley and Sam-
uel Evans.
A few of the latter were hardly grown men. The Guthries were not living here
till just after the sale of lots, in 1831, after which time, we find them in Bloomington
settlement, though living at first in what is now Major's Grove. Adam Guthrie and
his brother Robert E. were among the most active of our early residents.
We have taken a great deal of pains to ascertain the names of all heads of fami-
lies who were here in 1830 and 1831, before the sale of lots, and believe we have
obtained nearly a full list. Of the names given as single men we do not feel quite as certain,
though it probably includes the most of those living here at the time. We have men-
tioned but few of those who were boys at that day, though it is evident there were a large
number of children in the fifty families here at Blooming Grove. It is probable that
the population of the settlement on the 4th of July, 1831, was between two hundred
and fifty and three hundred — indicating a solid basis for the new town of Bloomington,
which was about to start upon its career of fame and prosperity. By this time, many of the
farmers at the Grove were in quite comfortable circumstances, and their growing ability
to purchase comforts and luxuries for their families formed a much better basis for the
establishment of a town than was dreamed of by the most of the pioneers of the day.
AVe have thus sketched, briefly, the outline of the early history of Blooming
Grove, and have tried to make it perfectly clear that it was a thrifty, well-ordered, sub-
stantial farming neighborhood, of itself almost sufficiently important to found and build
a village of considerable future importance ; while its location was such that the sur-
rounding settlements were tributary to Blooming Grove, as a natural center. Taking
this view of the matter, we see satisfactory reasons for the locating here of the county
seat of the new county, and can proceed from this point with the history of Blooming-
ton, remarking that Blooming Grove, as a part of the precinct, afterward township, of
Bloomington, has an equal interest in whatever we relate of historical events after the
years 1830 and 1831.
318 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
JAMES ALLIN.
While we cannot pretend, in a work of this kind, to give much personal history,
we will mention that the Hon. James Allin was born January 13, 1788, in North Car-
olina. After several emigrations, he found himself, in 1821, at Vandalia, then the
county seat of Fayette County, which included a portion of the territory now in
McLean County. Mr. AUin was one of those far-seeing, shrewd business men, who
plainly saw that the rapid increase of population in the new State of Illinois would
result in the formation of new counties and the location of new towns, and he early
conceived the idea of being interested in some one or more of the future towns or cities
of Central Illinois.
In November, 1829, he came to Blooming Grove with a stock of goods which he
commenced selling at the house of William Walker, near Mr. OrendoriF's, in the south part
of the Grove. During the following winter and spring, he was forming plans for future
action. He learned before coming here from Vandalia that schemes were being matured
for the formation of a new county from the eastern part of Tazewell, and on his arrival,
he was of great assistance to the Orendorffs, Mr. W. H. Hodge. Mr. James Latta and
others, who were in the movement.
Mr. William Lindley, who is now living on the south side of Blooming Grove, states
that early in 1830 Mr. Allin offered to buy his claim, which covered Mr. Lindley's pres-
ent farm, stating that he wished to start a town. Mr. L. told him his land was too flat
and wet for that purpose, but if he would come with him to the north side of the
Grove, he would show him the best town site in the country. Mr. Allin came, and
they found that Mr. William Evans, who had a "claim" on 160 acres, wished to sell, and
a bargain was soon arranged. This Mr. Evans was not related to the other William Evans
who built the first house in Bloomington. He soon moved away to Missouri, or some-
where else, and disappeared from our history. Mr. Allin built a house, which is still
standing as a part of the family residence of Dr. Stipp, where he opened a store in one
end of the building in March, 1830 ; and during this year he went forward with his
plans for the formation of the county and the location of the county seat. David Sim-
mons came here in November, 1830, and at that time Mr. Allin told him there would
be a town where we now see Bloomington. The Legislature had not passed the act for
the incorporation of McLean County ; but Mr. Allin was confident of the outcome of
the plans which were being matured. During the following session of the Legislature,
Mr. Thomas Orendorff" and Rev. James Latta went to Vandalia with a petition for a
new county. Before they started, Mr. Allin rendered them valuable assistance by sug-
gestions as to how they should operate for the passage of the bill for the new county.
He had lived several years at the capital, and understood how these matters were man-
aged in legislative halls. When the act passed, it named three men to locate the county
seat, who were the parties Mr. Allin desired ; and when they met here they approved
of the site, and reported in favor of locating the county scat " at the north side of
the Blooming Grove."
Mr. James Allin donated twenty-two and one-half acres of land, to be divided into
lots and sold for the benefit of McLean County. Of course he owned land adjoining
that would be advanced in value, and he also intended to go on with his store and gen-
eral business. In advancing his own interests he also benefited the public, and he has
always justly taken rank as a benefactor of the community, having been very popular to
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 319
the day of his death. Mr. Allin was a far-seeing, shrewd business man, and was, in
fact, a model speculator. He selected the prettiest location for a town that could possi-
bly be found in the county. Blooming Grove and the prairie were adjoining each
other; his donated land, or the " original town," was just on the northern edge of the
grove, bounded by North, East and West streets, with Front street on its southern bor-
der. Three streets, Main, Center and Madison, ran through from north to south;
while Front, Washington and Jefferson crossed from east to west. Front street was
near the edge of the timber, a few noble trees of which are standing to-day in the front,
yards of the residences owned by Dr. Stipp, Mrs. W. H. Hanna, Gen. Gridley and
Absalom Funk. The Court House square is in the center of the " original town," as
Mr. Allin's donation is called. It is a remarkable fact that in Dr. Stipp's front yard,
the place where trade was first carried on in Bloomington, where our early pioneers
must have often tied their horses to young trees which are now of moderate size, may
still be seen the nearest approach to our virgin forest of any to be found near the heart
of the city, and that here the natural sod or turf has never been disturbed by the march
of improvement, as is proved by the annual blooming of the little " Spring Beauty,"
which is found nowhere else in the vicinity except in Gen. Gridley's grounds.
With the noble trees of Blooming Grove in its rear, and the rolling prairie in the
front on the north, the "original town" was a remarkable tract of land. From the
square, the natural surface fell off in every direction, giving the best of drainage, while
for quite a distance outside of the town the ground still continued to slope nicely, form-
ing the best natural grades that could possibly be desired.
Mr. Allin had noticed that the roads of that day, which were many of them on the
lines of the old Indian trails — the most natural modes of communication to be found in
a new country — all centered at Bloomington. He remarked that the route from Chicago
to St. Louis, here crossed the road from Columbus, Ohio, to Iowa and the West. Prob-
ably, he was thinking of the day when railroads would traverse these lines, and Bloom-
ington be the railroad center it has since become through efforts inaugurated partly by
Mr. Allin himself within two or three years of the founding of the new town. Inas-
much as railroads were at that date pushing on through Pennsylvania and Maryland,
and the people already began to talk of turning the great national road, then building
through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, into a railroad to be built and owned by the Govern-
ment, it is highly probable, indeed almost certain, that Mr. Allin had formed plans for
railroad lines that should have their crossings, if not their termini, here. We find that
during the Internal Improvement craze in 1836, only five years after the location of
Bloomington, railroads were projected fi'om Chicago to Alton, from Cairo to Galena,
which have since been constructed and passed through here ; while there was still another
projected road to run from Bloomington to Pekin ; and, as Mr. Allin was one of the
best thinkers of this part of the country, he may have thought of these lines when he
first conceived of the location of the county seat at the north side of Blooming Grove.
In all the vicissitudes through which the new town passed, Mr. Allin never lost
his faith in Bloomington. He seemed aware of the possibilities of the town, and was
buoyed by an undoubting faith in its future destiny. He was assisted by such men as
Messrs. Gridley, Fell and Davis, men of deep, broad views, who are entitled to rank
with the foremost thinkers of the West — who are referred to as men of the greatest
foresight ; but of these men, he was, at least, the peer, their equal in enterprise and
320 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
activity, and their superior in faith and hope. In the mind of Mr. James Allin.
Bloomington was to grow into one of the prettiest and most thriving cities of the State ;
and no temporary discouragement could shake his belief in its glorious future.
To show that Mr. Allin's early efforts have been appreciated by those who have
reaped some of the rewards of his labors, we will refer to June 30, 1854, at the open-
ing of the Pike House. This hotel was then thought to be a most magnificent struct-
ure, and which, built of wood, on the exact site of the present Phoenix Hotel, costing
$25,000, was really a creditable institution. There was a gathering of our leading cit-
izens on this occasion, when Mr. James Allin gave this toast : " My favorite daughter
— Bloomington — a puny child and the object of intense parental solicitude, now spring-
ing up into a blooming and vigorous womanhood ; the idol of her father and the belle
of the commonwealth."
In response to this, Mr. William Wallace gave, " The venerable founder of Bloom-
ington— James Allin — a man never appalled by difiiculty, and who never lost sight of
the splendid future of our flourishing city in the dark hour of her trial." We are
thus enabled to perceive that Mr. Allin was appreciated fully by those who lived and
labored with him in the great work of founding and building the city.
He left no scheme untried that promised to benefit Bloomington, and in most of
his projects he received the active and efficient aid of A. Gridley, Jesse W. Fell, J.
E. McClun, M. L. Covell, David Davis, and others, who soon became citizens of
Bloomington. There was built up a public spirit — a sort of buoyant hopefulness and
cheerfulness — that is characteristic of Bloomington, and a willingness to work for one
common object, that has been the means of securing our city many very important
advantages, among which may be mentioned the railroad-shops, five railroads, and the
Normal and Soldiers' Home in our sister-town of Normal, all of which were the direct
outgrowth of the far-sighted, harmonious working of our leading prominent citizens of
the past and present. Long may their successors follow in the footsteps of their illus-
trious predecessors, ever showing a vigorous harmony in laboring for the public good.
Mr. Allin's efforts ceased not until late in life when he gently passed over the dark river
May 5, 18(39. He attended an Old Settlers' meeting in 1866, at which time the Bloom-
ington Fantagrapli, then edited by the author of this sketch, spoke of him as follows :
'' Mr. Allin's health is poor, and he has never recovered from a fall on the ice
which severely injured him about four years ago. He walks on crutches, and was
assisted up-stairs by two men. He was complimented by the speakers as the man
whose superior foresight pointed out Bloomington as the site of a future city when all
around was an uncultivated wilderness. According to what Gov. Moore and Mr. Grid-
ley said, Mr. Allin in his younger days was very much such a man as we occasionally
hear of now in frontier places. He used every honorable endeavor to induce emigrants
to locate in this county. If they wished to settle in the new town, Mr. Allen would
sell them lots at a low price if they had money, and would sell them at a lower figure
if they had a little money, or would give lots outright if they had no money, always
stipulating that improvements should be made.
"It was such unremitting care and exertions, which, in the course of a few years
gave this settlement a start that made it out of the question for any neighboring town
to compete with it, and made it eventually a point to be aimed at by railroads which
have now made Bloomington one of the thriftiest and best business places in the State.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 321
" It must have been a proud day to Mr. AUin to meet so many old friends and
neighbors, not one of whom bears the slightest grudge against him, and to listen to such
eloquent and appreciative tributes to his life-long public spirit. With all his opportuni-
ties for building up a large fortune, Mr. Allin's valuable lands slipped from his hold in
one way and another, to parties who could not or would not pay much for their lots,
until, when property came to be really valuable, he had little left to sell. He, however?
acquired a comfortable competency, so that his old age is pleasantly passing in the midst
of a community he took such pride in drawing together. A more grasping man would
have so hesitated to sell property that settlers would have been driven away ; and a less
honorable man, if he had made more money, would have had fewer friends in his old
age. Bloomington owes a debt to Mr. Allin which it can never repay."
WARS AND RUMORS OP WARS.
The pioneers of Blooming Grove could muster about fifteen able-bodied men as
early as 1826, and formed the nucleus of a military company, ever ready for service
against the Indians, and for mutual protection if needed. The Indians were friendly,
but scarcely trusted, hence wisdom and prudence required constant watchfulness. The
danger arose from the fact that the Winnebago Indians, in the northern part of Illinois,
were treacherous and hostile, and might at any time embroil the friendly Kickapoos and
Delawares of Central Illinois. In 1827 occurred what is called the Winnebago war,
when the company at Blooming Grove, under Capt. J. H. S. Rhodes, came out. with
other troops that responded to the call of Gov. Reynolds, and, to the number of fifteen,
went as far as Peoria ; but the diflBculty was adjusted without their aid. The Black Hawk
war and its many incidents will be treated more at length in other portions of this
work.
During the years 1844, 1845 and 1846, the people of Illinois were greatly
enraged by the actions of the Mormons, who, to the number of 15,000, occupied
Nauvoo, making that the largest city in the State, controlled it by their elders,
and, for quite a period, kept the whole of Hancock County under the power of their
own government. The Governor twice called out troops to quell the disturbances, and,
at one time, the Mormons displayed such powers of resistance that the residents of
Bloomington began to make plans for volunteering to assist the State ; but, fortunately,
there was no call for many troops from this side of the Illinois River.
But when President Polk, in May, 1846, issued a proclamation calling for volun-
teers for the Mexican war, which was then raging, fixing the quota of Illinois at four
regiments, the patriotism and warlike spirit of Bloomington were at once aroused. Vol-
unteer? flocked here from all quarters, and, with those who enlisted from this village, took
a prominent part in the events of the Mexican war. Their exploits will be found given
more at length in the history of McLean County, where Bloomington's share will
be included in the county's record. The war for the Union will be mentioned but
briefly in this work, it being more recent than the events this book was intended to
describe.
THE FRONTIER SERVICE.
We have stated that the early settlers of Blooming Grove found Kickapoo Indians
here, who, under their chief, Ma-shee-na, were always friendly to the whites. Though
at first they used some threatening language, they never committed any disturbance.
322 HISTORY OF MoLEAN COUNTY.
As late as 1831, these Indians had mostly left, though they appeared occasionally,
traversing the country in all directions. One family seems to have been living in
Bloomington after the location of the county seat.
McLean was a frontier county up to 1840, as the settlement of the State was pro-
gressing from the south toward the north, where the Winnebago Indians and others
were less friendly than those in this region. The streams flowing to the Illinois in what
is now Woodford and Marshall County, had a few settlers, while portions of Livingston,
included in McLean till 1887, were beginning to have a few pioneers along the groves
and bodies of timber skirting the Vermilion River, Rook's Creek and other streams.
Not a single settler' was ever killed by Indians in McLean County, so far as we have
been able to learn, a fact that is quite remarkable when we consider the ordinary fatality
of the frontier settlements through the United States.
But while our settlers were thus fortunate, they did not pass unheeded the calls
from others less happily situated. When the Black Hawk war broke out in 1832,
Bloomington and the surrounding country sent a whole company of volunteers, under
command of Capt. Men-itt L. Covell. A. Gridley was First Lieutenant, M. Baldwin,
Second Lieutenant, and there were in all fifty-six men. Each man furnished his own
horse, gun, clothing and accouterments. These troops took part in what was known as
Stillman's defeat, above Dixon, in what is at present Ogle County. But one man was
killed from this company — Joseph Draper. A full report of all that happened on this
expedition is published elsewhere in this work, and we will be content with a statement
of facts in relation to the Indian troubles which have not been before presented to the
public, but which have been gathered recently from survivors, and are here given for
the first time.
When the troops from Tazewell and McLean Counties had returned to Ottawa and
were there building a fort for the protection of the settlers, supplies arrived from Pekin
and points on the Illinois River. Word was received that the people at Bloomington
were talking of building a fort, and that there was general alarm along the Mackinaw
and through the whole region from which the troops had enlisted. It was thought that
the Kickapoos might have been tampered with by emissaries from Black Hawk, whose
great success on the Rock River had, of course, emboldened him greatly. And no
wonder that our volunteers were excited. They had left home, a short time before,
fiilly persuaded that their own wives and little ones were sale ; and now to learn that
there was danger in their rear, they were tremendously agitated. All the best horses
and guns of the settlements, with the most resolute warriors, were thus absent from the
point of danger, and the case looked desperate. Rumor, perhaps, slightly exaggerated
the trouble ; but, even at this time, with a full knowledge of the actual risk from the
treacherous Indian nature, it looks as if these men had the best of reasons for their
actions. Thirteen of them, headed by David Simmons, who is now living in Blooming-
ton, determined to return home and guard the settleis, although their time of enlist-
ment had not expired, and they ran the risk of being called deserters. Besides Mr.
Simmons, we have the names of Bailey Coffee, Clem. Oatman, Isaac Murphy and James
K. Orendorff. On the second day after their start from Ottawa, they arrived at Bloom-
ington, where they were met by the whole population and received with a perfect ovation
of gratitude and thankfulness. Those men afterward all received honorable discharges,
their action having been considered right and jiroper, even if a little unmilitary. In a
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 323
few days, the balance of the company returned from Ottawa, and, in the mean time,
authority had been given for raising a company of rangers for service on the frontiers of
McLean County for sixty days. A fort was built near the east end of Mackinaw Timber,
at Mr. Henline's, where the settlers living in what is now Lawndale, Lexington and
Money Creek were in the habit of assembling for safety. The company of rangers made
this fort their headquarters, and patrolled the region north, [ndian Grove, Rook's Creek,
Vermilion Timber, and all places where the inhabitants were unprotected. Capt. John
H. S. Rhodes was the commander, though Capt. Covell is given by some authorities as
the chief officer. Volunteers also turned out who were not attached to the company,
and Capt. Covell, fresh from Indian warfare, may have taken his turn at this service
without having been mustered. A short time after this, a whole battalion was made up
in this region for military drill, and of this regiment Capt. Covell was made Colonel,
and he was after that made a General of militia. Owen Cheney was a Major in this
regiment, and A. Gridley, Adjutant. Gridley was, at a later day, chosen Brigadier
General of militia, and his title has properly followed him to this day.
The company of rangers did good service in guarding the frontier from Ottawa to
the Mackinaw, though even at the time, opinions of the best informed were divided as
to the real danger to be apprehended from the Indians. Probably, in this case, the thorough
preparations made by our energetic frontier soldiers prevented a general massacre, and
thus advanced the public interests and kept the settlements from suffering and distress.
Even as it was, quite a large number abandoned their homes, preferring to be on the
safe side of a doubtful question, some of whom never returned to the county. There
were about fifty men in this company, most of whom were raised in Bloomington, Stout's
Grove, and Old Town Timber.
By the latter end of summer, all danger of Indian troubles had vanished, as Black
Hawk was captured, his bands broken up, and peace restored to our frontier — never to
be disturbed by hostile Indians, though of wars and rumors of wars our pen must again
make mention.
BLOOMINGTON IN 1831.
Bloomington has the name of being the best built city in Illinois, and it boasts a
society as cultivated, as agreeable and as brilliant as any in the West. In the matter of
buildings — business blocks, especially — it is undeniably the superior of anything in the
State outside of Chicago ; but as to its social charms the question may not be so suscep-
tible of demonstration. We who live here can at least make our claims, leaving others
to settle their accuracy. We are content to reside in Bloomington, resting well satisfied
with our surroundings, which, we may remark, are such as foster the social ideas we have
mentioned. We can see that there are sound philosophical reasons for our boasts in the
matter of good society. We know that it is reasonable to indulge these feelings, when
we consider that Bloomington, for fifty years has absorbed good society from the East)
the North and the South. We can see here representatives of the best society of at
least twenty different States — the cultivated sons and daughters of a dozen European
nations. These have made their homes here, bringing with them manners and cus-
toms as various as their differing nationalities. How natural that there should grow
up a social system culled from the best of the different standards ? How easy to
form thus a model for future generations ? Here we find the courtly Southerner — the
careful Easterner, and the thrifty New Yorker, meeting in one social family, and the
324 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
result would naturally be what we claim — a new society more pleasant than either, with
the best social ethics of all, mingled in one common fountain from which flow the ele-
ments of the best society in the land. Fifty years of this mingling process may be too
short to perfectly illustrate its capabilities; but in the course of time there can be no
doubt Bloomiugton will be able to exhibit its best effects. Our " best society " is even
now undergoing the transformation which is to make it in the future one of the most
enjoyable communities in the land. Our space is altogether too limited to illustrate
further what we have hinted at ; but the careful reader will perceive before we are through
that we indicate a great variety of sources from which may proceed this cosmopolitan
good society to which we have made reference.
On the 4th day of July of 1831, there was at Bloomington an auction sale of the
town lots which had been donated to the county, when William Orendorff acted as auc-
tioneer. This sale was quite satisfactory, and from its proceeds the first county build-
ings were erected. We will assume that Bloomington's baptism occurred at that date.
On the 4th day of July, 1881, we shall call Bloomington just fifty years old, and we
hereby make a motion in favor of holding a grand celebration''_[on that fiftieth anniver-
sary. How the assembled multitude, July 4, 1831, would have stared could they have
seen at that early day, what we gaze at daily unmoved — the elegant Court House that
now gi-aces the public square ? Suppose Mr. Allin had been able on that occasion to
visit our Court House dome and view its present surroundings, what a sight would meet
his wondering eyes? Or, suppose one of us could then have stood where we should
obtain a full view of the sights that were visible, what surprise and delight we should
manifest? We should have seen, as before stated, the beautiful town site, smooth and
free from buildings, as staked off by Dr. Baker, into lots, blocks and streets, covered
with waving grass and dotted with beautiful prairie flowers of many hues, all in the full
beauty of the early summer. To the south, in front, would be the bright, green wall of
tall waving trees — Blooming Grove — the finest piece of timber in Central Illinois,
slightly marred and cut by the axes of the first settlers — Evans, Allin, Dimmitt, ToUi-
ver and Maxwell — whose cabins could some of them be seen from the town site ; while
Mr. Allin's store and residence combined, which still stands as a part of the dwelling of
Dr. Stipp, would be the most prominent object in the foreground. We should hear the
bystanders all talking of the new county of McLean — of its new county seat — and
wondering what the future might have in store for their adopted homes — or, possibly
remarking upon the influx of emigrants that were stopping in their rich and promising
district. We learn that emigration was pouring into McLean with the most wonderful
rapidity, and that this stream increased until the year 183fi. From all we can now
ascertain, it appears that in 1831 the population of McLean must have been nearly two
thousand. At the election the previous year, 385 votes were polled in its territory, and
in 1835, the county contained 5,000 people. A short time after the sale of lots in
1831, there were about one dozen families residing within the present city limits of
Filoomington, which, added to those we have before mentioned as being established in
the town.ship of Bloomington — but living in Blooming Grove — made a population of
perhaps three hundred persons.
Those who were living in the present city limits of Bloomington during the year
1831 are the following: Rev. James Latta, Dr. David Wheeler, Dr. Isaac Baker,
William Evans, Henry Miller, David Trimmer, Solomon Dodge, James Allin, John
H [STORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 325
Kimler, Mr. Grreenman, James ToUiver, John Maxwell, and in the fall, Benjamin Haines.
These were all heads of families, and there may have been a very few more at Little
(now Major's) Grrove. We should also include the families of A. Deatherage and Robert
Guthrie, living there. In addition, of single men, there were William McKisson, Will-
iam Dimmitt, William Evans, Jr., Samuel, William and John Durley, A. C. Wash-
burne, A. Gridley and Merritt L. Covel. This indicates a population of about eighty
within the present city limits during the first year of the existence of the new town,
and we find it well started on its forward career.
From the first, as will be seen by what is now well known of the character of the
early pioneers, Bloomington was fortunate enough to possess a good class of residents.
There were very few of the temporary ''floating," "moving," irresponsible emigrants
so often found in new towns. Nearly every one who arrived came to stay, a statement
that speaks well for the young village. Bloomington has continued an attractive place
for strangers down to the present time, and is well spoken of all over the State. No
doubt the city owes much of its past and present prosperity to the fact of always having
possessed a good reputation, an illustration showing that a good name is better than
riches. In the year 1831, very little could be said of the business of Bloomington.
There was a beginning here, little more. The new county of McLean had been organ-
ized,"1ts machinery set in motion ; the town of Bloomington had been platted, lots sold,
a few houses built, and several families established ; but there was little that could be
called a town. The future contained great possibilities for the new place, even if the
present witnessed the realization of but very little.
Of the early settlers, we will mention a few, though we regret that our space will
not permit notice of others equally worthy. Mr. William Evans came to this county
in 1825, and settled southeast of Bloomington. The great hurricane of June 27, 1827,
broke down his timber and appeared to have ruined his corn crop. Mr. William Oren-
dorff gave him five acres of young corn, which, with the unexpected good yield of his
own, made Mr. Evans a fair crop, and enabled him to harvest 100 bushels of corn,
this being what he had agreed to give Cheney Thomas for his ''claim" to a tract of
land where the city of Bloomington is now built. In 1828, Mr. Evans built his log
cabin, on a piece of ground between Grove and Olive streets, near the present residence
of J. S. Roush. He afterward built a good house at the same location, and here he
spent his days in peace and happiness, made wealthy by the advance in the value of his
farm. He died in 1868, at the age of ninety-two years. Mr. Evans was a man of
good habits, one of the best men of the good old times. He was the first settler in the
territory now known as the city of Bloomington.
Mr. William Dimmitt owned a tract adjoining Mr. Evans, and was one of the
pioneers of Bloomington. Though several houses were built before his improvements
were made, he became one of the best known of our old residents, his career covering
fifty-two years at one place. His death is very recent, and we will quote from the
Pantagraph of January 21, 1879, an article in regard to this pioneer:
" Mr. William Dimmitt, one of the pioneers of Blooming Grove, settled at the north
edge of the grove in 1827, on the very land where he died, February 19, 1879, having
made his home here four years before the town of Bloomington was established. He
was born in Virginia, and moved, when a boy, to Alleghany Co., Maryland, in 1797.
His father was English, his mother American born. In 1825, Mr. Dimmitt removed
326 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
to Illinois ; remained the first summer at Danville, and came to McLean County in
1826. He made a claim at the west end of Old Town Timber, in 1826 ; but when
the hurricane of June 27, 1827, leveled the best part of his trees to the ground, he
became discouraged, abandoned the place, and made arrangements to move to another
location. Mr. William Evans had purchased (^of Cheney Thomas, according to some
accounts ) a claim where the city of Bloomington stands, including, in part, what is now
the territory running from the cemetery north as far as Dr. Wakefield's. Mr. Dimmitt
bought a claim in 1828, next adjoining this on the east, being, in part, land lying
between the Illinois Central Railroad and Mr. Evans'. He became a farmer, though,
as he was not married until 1833, he had no house on his land for some years. Dur-
ing the first few years he worked, as did the pioneers, at whatever was to be done, but
could make little headway until the year 1829, when he went to the lead-mines at Elizabeth,
Jo Daviess Co., 111., where he was remarkably fortunate, and returned with 8600 — a
large sum of money for those times. The lead-mines, then, were to an early settler
what California has been in later days. It was where Isaac Funk sold the cattle of this
region, and where he and others took droves of hogs for the miners. With this sum of
money Mr. Dimmitt was able to pay for his farm — 130 acres — and he was at once in
good circumstances. His land became quite valuable, as soon as the county seat was
located at Bloomington, a few months after the Deep Snow of 1831, but he never was in
any hurry to accept of the offers of that early time. In 1848, he made an addition to
the city, followed by others, until, in all, he has made six additions. He always kept
track of the advance in the value of real estate, rarely selling before it was prudent or
wise, and has been considered one of our wealthy citizens. His homestead has never
been sold or transferred since it was patented to Mr. Dimmitt by the United States Gov-
ernment, and it is the only tract in Bloomington of which this can be said. Mr. Dim-
mitt went with the Bloomington volunteers to the Black Hawk war in 1832, and on
the expiration of the thirty-days service, the last of which was performed at Ottawa,
in building a log fort for the protection of the settlers, he came home to Bloomington.
He enlisted in the company raised immediately after his return for frontier service in
McLean County, served the sixty days of its enlistment, going to Vermilion River, in
what is now Livingston County, to Rook's Creek and Indian Grove, it being then all a
part of McLean, and spent a good deal of time near the east end of Mackinaw timber,
where, at Mr. Henline's, there was a rough fort for the safety of the pioneers in that
neighborhood.
" Bloomington's oldest pioneer has thus passed away, and his mantle has fallen upon
the one that next arrived in our corporation, though we are just now unable to state who it
may be. Mr. Dimmitt has enjoyed that distinction since the death of Mr. Evans, sev-
eral years ago. He was always a good citizen, quiet in his manner, never ostentatious,
and has acted well his part in life.
" He married Mary Ervine forty-six years ago; and together with his wife, saw as
much of real pioneer life as any of our early settlers. During the whole of this long
and eventful life, death has not once entered his family, as all the children are now living
still in this or neighboring States. He leaves a widow and a large circle of children,
grandchildren, connections and friends to mourn his loss.*'
W. H. Hodge was the first school-teacher in the village, living at the time two
miles south, on his farm. The schoolhouse stood near the crossing of Main and Olive
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 327
streets. Mr. Hodge was an active citizen, having held several of the most important
offices in this and Tazewell County at different times. Amasa C. Washburne arrived
in 1831, and opened a school here in December of that year, in a building near the
corner of Main and Olive streets. Mr. W. was one of the most consistent and active
Christians of the place ; a Presbyterian ; was the first Secretary of the McLean County
Bible Society, in 1834, and always an earnest worker in the cause of his Master. He
was one of eight members who, in 1832, organized the first Presbyterian Church. The
first Methodist sermon preached in Bloomington is often stated to have been at the
house of John Canady, October 9, 1831 ; but as this house was outside of the village, it
will be necessary to state it was in Blooming G-rove, if we follow out the division of
territory we have hitherto given. We have seen that the first Methodist sermon in
Blooming Grove was delivered by Rev. James Stringfield, in 1823. Probably scores
of sermons were preached in the Grove by Methodist circuit-riders, between 1823 and
1831. There may have been a (thurch organized, though we can find no record of one
till 1832. In 1838, Blooming Grove and Bloomington were united in one circuit, from
which the inference is plain that a church organization existed previously at each place.
It appears that between the time of the location of the county seat, in the early
part of the year 1831, and the time of the sale, July 4, there was a gradual gathering-
together of people who intended to cast their lot in the new town, and after that
event, before the end of the year, there were quite a number of new-comers. There
was one blacksmith here the first year, David Trimmer, and one wheelwright, Henry
Miller, who was a son-in-law of William Evans. Mr. Miller also made and repaired
spinning-wheels ; he had the first turning-lathe, though this last was as late as 1835.
The first store has already been mentioned as having been James Allin's, in what is
now Dr. Stipp's residence. Here, at the place designated in the act organizing McLean
County, in one end of the house, the first Circuit Court was held by Judge S. D. Lock-
wood. Mr. Allin had, shortly after, a store on the northeast corner of Main and Front
streets. Gen. Gridley's store was on the opposite corner, where is now the McLean
County Bank. There was soon a business house on each of the other corners, and
hence this locality became the center of trade and influence. It was many years before
any other part of the city was of any importance in a commercial point of view, and
this will be known as the historic center of Bloomington. It is also the geographical
center, as the first charter specifies that Bloomington shall extend three-quarters of a.
mile north, south, east and west of the northwest corner of Front and Main streets.
The city limits have been extended several times since ; but these extensions have been
made irregularly, or, rather, unequally on the different sides, so that this corner is not,
strictly, the geographical center of the Bloomington of to-day. On the northeast corner
of Front and Main was built the first brick store in this city. It was erected in 1839.
by James Miller, and is still a very fair structure.
Dr. Baker and Dr. Wheeler are mentioned as physicians in 1831. They were
assisted in this line of business, in 1832, by Dr. John Anderson, and soon after. Dr.
Haines was added to the number.
Rev. James Latta, who had lived at the Grove for several years, became a resident
of Bloomington during the year 1 831 . He commenced, in the fall of this year, to fence and
improve prairie, over half a mile from the edge of the Grove, which was then thought a reck-
less distance from the base of supplies. This is now known as the Durley Addition.
328 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
October 8, 1831, Ashael Gridley, then a young man twenty-one years old, arrived in
Bloomington and commenced the careerof activity which has rendered his name a household
word all over Central Illinois. He commenced improvements in the fell of this year, at the
corner of Main and Front streets, where his fine bank building now stands. The lots
at the corners of these streets were the choice ones of the new town. Mr. Gridley paid
S51 for his lot, which had been bid ofi'by someone at the July sale for $60. His home
at this time (he being unmarried) was with the family of James Allin. Here, we
may assume, commenced an active acquaintance and friendship between the two active
men, who, for the next thirty years or more, took such a prominent part in the fortunes
of this thriving young town, as well as in those of the whole county. From the very first
year of its existence, he has been one of the foremost in all enterprises that promised
the good of Bloomington. Being of an active, sanguine temperament, quick to per-
ceive, he has generally been a leader in all undertakings — giving liberally of his means,
arguing with the doubtful, pushing forward the slow and timid, carrying every one
onward with his magnetic enthusiasm until success should crown the effort. Blooming-
ton owes this gentleman a debt of gratitude that should be remembered to its latest
generations. Our history mentions his labors in several of the city's undertakings, but
there have been hundreds of instances illustrating what we have mentioned, that live
only in the recollections of his associates, of which we have simply gathered a very few
of the most prominent.
Gen. Gridley has been fortunate in his business ventures and now possesses a hand-
some estate. Some of it is on Front street, the scene of his early labors, quite a portion in
large farms in Central Illinois, and more of it is in various moneyed investments. He is
now the oldest pioneer who has lived consecutively in the city of Bloomington since the
year of its first settlement. He was in mercantile business here until after 1840, when
he studied law and at once entered upon a large practice. In the good times following
the building of the Illinois Central, he dealt largely in real estate ; while at about the
same time, in 1853, he started the McLean County Bank, of which he was President
and afterward sole owner for years, though he has now taken his son Edward into the
firm. Banking has been his leading business for the last twenty-six years, though his
activity has been so great that he has been interested in an almost infinite number of
other enterprises. He is now in his seventieth year, and is in good health. He is the
oldest resident of the city, having lived here continuously for forty-eight years.
There were several residents of the town, in the year 1831, who did not remain
long, whose names have not been preserved. Drs. Baker and Wheeler, and Robert
Guthrie, will be mentioned elsewhere, as will Mcrritt L. Covell, at this time a young
man who soon entered upon an active career. William, Samuel and John Durley
arrived during the year 1831 or 1832, and became active citizens of the town, and their
family name is preserved in the fine public hall built a few years ago by Judge Davis,
and also in the name of the addition known as " The Durley." The Durley farm
was for years thought to be just a little too far north and east to ever become a part of
the city. John Maxwell and James Tolliver lived in the southwest part of the city,
where their land is in part now known as the Tolliver Addition to the city of Blooming-
ton. John Greenman lived in the part of the city now covered in part by the Masons Addi-
tion ; and John Kimler's farm was southeast, and was in part the present Judge McClun
farm, just within the city limits.
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 329
It seems that Bloomington was officially known by that name as early as in May,
1831, before the sale of lots. We have already shown that the town was named in the
act incorporating McLean County, about six months before the sale of lots, and a
month or more before the Commissioners located the county seat " at the north edge
of the Blooming Grove." Soon after the location was made, steps were taken to have
the name of the post office changed from Blooming Grrove to Bloomington, which
occurred in May, 1831, when James Allin was appointed Postmaster, and the office
was opened in his store. The existence of the town properly dates from the location of
the county seat, though it was named on paper some time previously. Its first exist-
ence having been on paper only, we have thought best, in this history, to assume that
the town (now city) of Bloomington entered fairly upon its career July 4, 1831, at
which time the public sale of lots occurred, after which Bloomington had not only a
name, but also a definite location.
James Allin made the first addition to Bloomington in August, 1831. It was by
the sale of lots in this addition that Mr. Allin realized some return for the donation of
twenty-two and one-hali acres which he made to the county. This addition consists in
part of the property lying south of Fourth street.
By the end of the year 1831, public attention had become attracted to the new
town, which had no competitor nearer than the old town of Mackinaw, and it became
evident that here was to grow up a village of some importance, though at this early
day no one knew whether the boundaries of the new county of McLean were to remain
as first established, or what was to be the future of the settlement. From the very
first, however, Mr. James Allin, assisted by such men as the Orendorffs, A. Gridley,
James Latta, W. H. Hodge, John Benson, and many others, kept vigilant watch over
the young county, and in the end proved themselves able to preserve its boundaries in
such shape that Bloomington continued its chief central town, until, in the course of
a few years, it was so well established as to fear nothing.
The period from 1831 to 1836 was one of great prosperity for Central Illinois.
Settlers were pouring in rapidly from the Eastern and Southern States, There was a
large emigration from Kentucky and Tennessee, made up mostly of those who desired to
rear their families away from the blighting and deadening influences of slavery. Illinois
was learning that the result of the contest on the question of slavery a few years before
was more favorable than the most enthusiastic advocates of freedom had predicted.
Ohio and Indiana, however, furnished the most liberal share of the new-comers to Bloom-
ington and McLean County, though there were a few genuine Y^ankees, and quite a num-
ber of those known as " York State Yankees." The sudden influx of settlers created a
home demand for the products of the country and stimulated the trade of our merchants,
so that up to 1836, the time of the great financial crash, the times continued to grow bet-
ter and better, until the mania for land speculation became prevalent, followed by the
general smash and crash of 1837, of which the full effect for evil was not realiaed for
several years. It would appear that the times then grew worse for five or six years,
until, in 184:2, there was terrible distress. We who have passed through the flush times
from 1863 to 1873, and who have seen, since the latter date, five years of constantly
accelerating financial stringency, can form some idea of the condition of afi"airs here
thirty to forty years ago. We must bear in mind that we now have railroads and a
home market, while in those days there were no markets nearer than Chicago and St.
330 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Louis; and when we add to this the fact of our possession of a currency that is abso-
lutely perfect, and compare it with no currency at all, we shall begin to realize the con-
dition of our early settlers^. The financial question is treated to some extent elsewhere
in this book, and we shall, therefore, omit further mention of it in this connection.
From 1831 to 1836, the growth of Bloomington was rapid, yet at the latter date
there were only 450 inhabitants, showing it was still quite a small village. We learn
that as late as 1840 there were not over six or eight stores, though improvements were
going on slowly all the time. We must remember that down to this date there were
few who had attempted to settle on the prairie ; the groves were still the only desirable
locations. Farming as we have since seen it was hardly thought of, and, as a matter of
course, there was less business in proportion for merchants than we see at the present
time. The habits of the people were simple. The increase in wealth had not yet
brought about general extravagance, and the careful habits of the early settlers continued
with gradual change down to the discovery of gold in California. From 1849 to 1855,
there was a most wonderful development of the county, and consequent growth of the
town ; but all this was unfelt at the time, we are studying, and we can still consider it
a portion of the good old times of McLean County.
It has been a matter of surprise that the people of the present day take so little inter-
est in the improvements that have been made in farming implements and farming pro-
cesses. It was not till after 1842 that plows had been made that would do good work
on the black, fine, prairie soils of this country. Plows were made of cast-iron before
1835 ; but such could only be used on gravelly or sandy soils. They would not " scour "
or keep free from clogging when tried here ; and, for many years, farmers and manu-
facturers were studying how to make a plow that would " scour " in prairie soil. Vari-
ous styles of wooden plows, also iron and wood combined, were tried and abandoned,
until in the end the cast-steel plow of the present day was brought partly to perfection,
and added vastly to the capabilities of our agriculturists. Wheat was laboriously reaped
by hand with a sickle, or cut with a cradle ; threshed by hand or horse power ; win-
nowed by hand ; and, when ready for market, could not be sold except for home con-
sumption. The seed-drill, the harvester, the mowing-machine, the steam-thresher, were
things of the future. Corn was planted by hand and cultivated by " single shovel "
horse-plows as rude as the plows that prepared the grounds for planting. Thus, plant-
ing corn by hand, tilling it .slowly and laboriously, our great staple was cultivated with
difficulty: and, when raised, it could only be marketed in the shape of beef or pork ;
hogs and cattle were driven to Cincinnati, Chicago, Galena or St. Louis, and the long
journey rendered it advisable to fatten stock with some qualifications for speed, or, rather,
ability to travel with little loss of flesh. The fine breeds of hogs and cattle for which
McLean County is now famed, would then have been worthless for driving. This
region was pre-eminently a stock country. The large herds of swine were nearly wild,
running at large in the groves, fattening partially on nuts and acorns, finished ofi^ late
in the fall with as little corn as might answer the purpose ; not made too fat, for fear of
injury in driving to market. Immense herds of cattle roamed at will over the prairies,
often obtaining their entire living during the winter by browsing on what they could
find in the woods or " timber " as it must be called in this region. This prairie was
owned by the Government until after the mania for land speculation from 1834 to
1836, when much of that near the timber was purchased ; but owners of cattle
BLOOMING^ON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 333
seldom troubled themselves to buy more than enough for their cultivation on a small
scale.
It will readily be seen that under this state of aiFairs, farmers realized but little for
their labor, which they expended upon the cultivated portion of their lands, and that
the profit was chiefly in stock-raising, which, by the way, was not very profitable, as
prices of pork and beef were very low. After these articles had been sent to market
under all the difficulties described, there was generally a small return for the producer.
Hence it will be realized that merchants and mechanics, living in the towns and villages,
could have received but a small remuneration from an agricultural people so situated, and
no great growth could have been looke » for in a town which, like Bloomington, was not
a primary market for agricultural products. Bloomington was a pleasant residence, was
the capital of a fine county, and possessed a good trade with the surrounding country,
and was growing with its growth, but it only contained a population of 1,611 as late as
1851, and not till the advent of railroads did the place put on the airs of an important
city.
In common with other historians, we find it difficult to chronicle events in their
exact order, and must follow the thread wherever it leads — leaving the reader to do a
portion of the weaving. We have brought our narrative down to about the year 1837,
and, perhaps, a reference to the items contained in a copy of the Bloomington Observer,
dated November 17, 1838, Vol. 2, No. 35 — which is before us — may be of interest, as
being from the oldest copy of the journal that can be obtained.
Its editor was Jesse W. Fell, and the office was on the corner of Madison and Grrove
streets. Its advertisements, as a rule, were put up neatly, and denote typographical
ability. Nothing larger than two-line black-faced primer is to be found.
The law firm of Davis & Colton was composed of David Davis and Wells Colton.
They ofiiered " to attend to all professional business confided to their care in the counties
of Peoria. McLean, Macon, Tazewell, Putnam and Livingston." They would have their
hands full to-day over so much territory, surely.
Dr. John F. Henry " has returned home " (where from is not stated), " and ofi'ers
his professional services to his friends."
Covel & Weed wanted 10,000 pounds of dried hides at liberal prices.
The annual commencement of "Illinois Seminary" was held on September 19.
" Illinois Seminary " still stands, but is deserted and sorry-looking, near the C. & A.
shops.
The estate of John Kimler, deceased, was in the hands of Coifey & Cox, admin-
istrators, for sale or settlement.
Mormons, in covered wagons, with property worth $3,000, were en route for Mis-
souri.
The death of Thomas H. Haines, M. D., occurred " on the 3rd instant, in the
37th year of his age, and was extensively felt and most deeply deplored in the com-
munity."
William P. Brown was Postmaster. Mail matter arrived and departed by stage
every other day in the week.
W. H. McFall gave notice that the next Legislature would be petitioned to form
a new county by slicing off a portion of McLean, Macon and Champaign Counties,
We presume the new county thus formed was DeWitt.
334 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Seth Baker, President, published a village ordinance notifying that " each able-
bodied white male resident in the incorporated town of Bloomington, between the ages
of twenty-one and fifty years, shall be required to do and perform four days labor in the
year 1838."
The Central Railroad was building south, and had reached Peru. It was manj
years before it was able to cross the Illinois River.
Benjamin Walker offered $100 reward for two dark -brown horses that had beer*
stolen from the stable of James AUin, Esq., in Bloomington.
The stage ran through from Danville to Pekin in " less than three days." The
fare one way was $10. " No disappointments unless the roads be impassable." Imagine
a stage on a road in Illinois in a winter like that of 1877-78 !
0. Covel was the only insurance agent.
James Allin, J. W. Fell and A. Gridley offered property in Decatur worth $600
to $1,000, to any one who would start a saw-mill there.
Edgar Conklin was a land agent at the town of Le Roy.
Armstrong & Palmer, S. Baker & Co., Covel & Weed and James Allin were the
leading dry goods merchants.
The " Bloomington Hotel " was advertised for rent by A. Grridley. The building
was one of the " finest." It contained thirty beds. As an inducement, the advertise-
ment went on to say, '' Bloomington is the flourishing county seat of one of the first
counties on the line of the stage route from Danville to Pekin." This hotel was after-
ward known as the American House, and was moved away a few years since to make
room for the fine buildings erected by Stevenson Bros, and Gen. Gridley, on East Front
street.
The county of Livingston was taken off of McLean in 1837, and entered upon
its independent career; and Woodford was organized in 1840, partly from McLean and
the rest from Tazewell County. These changes took but little business from Bloom-
ington, however, as the territory named was very sparsely settled at the time of their
organization.
Previous to 1840, several of the most prominent and deserving of our present
citizens, with others who are now dead, became residents of Bloomington ; but, for the
period of time since the first sale of lots, we cannot take space to mention more than a
few of the best known, and must, from the circumstances of the case, be excused for
leaving out names equally worthy with those we mention. The field is altogether too
large for the thorough cultivation it in truth deserves. Among those who arrived at
this time, some of whom, perhaps, settled on farms in the neighborhood, were Jesse W.
Fell, James B. Price, George Price, John Price, Dr. John F. Henry, Bailey H. Coffee,.
Ortugal Covel, William Gillespie, Wells Colton, Joshua H. Harlan, Welcome P. Brown,.
Andrew Dodd, G. B. Larrison, George S. Markley, John Magoun, John E. McClun,
Peter Withers, J. C. Harbord, E. Platte, David Davis, William T. Major, Dr. L. S.
Major, Dr. John M. Major, James Depew, W. H. Temple, Hon. James Miller, Thomas
Williams, William Thomas, Samuel Lander, K. H. Fell, Andrew M. Scoggin, Abra-
ham Brokaw, William F. Flagg, John W. Billings, John T. Gunnell, William 0. Viney,
James T. Walton, Joshua R. Fell, Henry Richardson, Jonathan Glimpse, George
Dietrich, Lewis Bunn, William G. Thompson, Allan Withers, Joel Depew, M. H.
Hawks, W. C. Hobbs, James Depew, and others. Col. McCollough, Dr. S. W. Noble,
HISTORY OFMcLEAN COUNTY. 335
S. D. Baker, Chastine Major, A. Stansberry, and several other prominent citizens, lived
in various towns in McLean County in early days, and afterward moved into Blooming-
ington. Their names will properly appear in the diiferent township histories.
Mr. Jesse W. Fell arrived in Bloomington in 1832. He was the first lawyer in
Bloomington who had a regular diploma, though there were others who practiced law
at about the same time.
Mr. Fell was one of the most active and enterprising of the active men of the
new town. With Mr. James Allin and Mr. Glridley he readily associated, and the
three, in the words of one of our oldest citizens, formed a trio that could not be equaled.
In every enterprise that promised the good of our city, Mr. Fell was ever one of the
foremost, and if the full history of our city were written by a careful historian, it would
be shown that to him is due as much credit as to any citizen of the place. His name
will occur all through our history, though in 1855 he became a resident of North
Bloomington, soon after called Normal. The history of Normal will give special men-
tion of Mr. Jesse W. Fell, though during the twenty-five years of his residence there
he has taken a warm interest in Bloomington's projects, having often been one of the
most active and efficient in carrying forward our most important interests.
It was during the time that elapsed from 1830 to 184:0, that Bloomington took an
humble place in a history that has now become quite enviable. We have seen that at
its start it possessed very few advantages over other towns that were projected, and its
prospects existed mainly in the brains of a few enterprising men, who attracted around
them other men of the same character, of whom we have enumerated some of the most
energetic and most effective in building a town at this point, where men were com-
pelled to fight against the spirit of the age, against the popular ideas of the times. It
was emphatically a " town-building " age. Paper towns were located, projected, bought,
sold, wholesaled, retailed, peddled, all over the entire land. The veriest dunce in the
East could tell exactly what was required to build a town, as the newspapers were full of
the current ideas. It was demonstrated that in order to build a town there must be
timber, stone, water-power, coal and navigable waters, or the contemplated town must
speedily give up its chances. Southern Illinois was full of towns of this character, pos-
sessing nearly every qualification required. The Illinois River from its mouth to above
Ottawa, was lined with these promising towns, or paper cities.
Bloomington had barely enough timber for fuel, none for manufacturing purposes ;
had no stone, no coal, no navigation, and, worse than all, had no water to depend on for
ordinary drinking purposes. Bloomington had no chance against towns like Peru, Ottawa,
or Joliet, which were looked upon as sure to become large cities. The idea of building
a good town here was ridiculed and scouted, and the men who were engaged in the
enterprise were often more discouraged than the present generation can realize.
But we show in these pages how these men overcame all obstacles, and how, in the
present, success being achieved, it looks to those who only see the results, as if the city
of Bloomington could scarcely help growing of itself. The foundations for its success
were laid in these early years, by the cementing and forming of that splendid public
spirit of which we so often write in these pages.
During this period several churches were organized, and their houses of worship
were built ; quite a number of frame stores, and one good brick store, at the northeast
corner of Main and Front streets, and a goodly number of residences. Several of these
336 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
last are still standing, among them the Allin residence, built in 1838, by W. H. AUin,
iust west of the present Baptist Church. The town must have looked quite small, as
its total population, in 1840, did not much exceed 600. Its churches as then built
were diminutive, its residences and stores small, and there were few indications of the fine
structures which, within twenty years were to grace its streets.
Three churches were built during this period — the Methodist, Baptist and the First
Presbyterian — the latter the first brick church in Bloomington. Probably the city
had a larger proportion of professing Christians in 1840, than at any later period
of its history. The first brick Court House, built at a cost of S8,500, was erected in 18.'^6.
It was a famous building for the times, and was used until 1868.
Several additions were made to the city, town lots having been the principal
article of export, so to speak, in 1836, and from that time to 1840 they were a drug in
the market. Many of these lots were sold at the East during the era of speculation,
and, when the bubble burst, their owners allowed their investments to vanish, and the
lots were sold for taxes. The various industries dependent upon agriculture, like black-
smithing and wagon-making, were, however, well under way by the year 1840, and the
town was beginning to grow in business importance more than in wealth and population.
1840 TO 1850.
During this period, Bloomington made a .substantial advance, notwithstand-
ing the scarcity of money. At the beginning, in 1840, the whole country, East
as well as West, was in the agonies of financial distress. This city suffered the
most, perhaps, in the years 1841 and 1842, though it is likely that subsequently people
had become so accustomed to the hard times that they made fewer complaints. Lands
and town lots were almost valueless ; in many cases rich, improved farming-lands
would sell for less than SI. 25 per acre. People who did not own land felt they
were fortunate — not being obliged to pay taxes. The most valuable property was
our heavy timbered land. This, it was believed, had a real value, but wild prairie, a
few miles distant from timber, was thought to be almost worthless. A large quantity
of prairie had been entered during the flush times, from 1834 to 1836, and was now
abandoned by the speculators who were generally compelled to go into bankruptcy.
The times improved gradually, though even in 1849, when the gold excitement
broke out, money was exceedingly scarce, and large numbers left this region who felt tha^
their chances for obtaining a competency were almost infinitesimal. Still, in spite of
hard times, population increased. The great distress prevailing in the Eastern States
forced families to emigrate, and many arrived, who came simply hoping to make a bare
living, not looking for the rich rewards they ultimately obtained. We find that from
1845 to 1850, the population of Bloomington increased from 800 to 1,611, showing a
vigor that one would scarcely expect from the general condition of the country at large.
The recovery of the country from the terrible prostration which occurred in 1836 was
very gradual, but towns situated in the midst of as rich a country as there is surround-
ing Bloomington, and inhabited by people of such energy and perseverance, recovered
more rapidly than others, and by the end of this period our city — then a village — was
once more on the high road to prosperity. As early as 1848, there was a movement
toward the establishment of a college, there were .several good high schools or academies
in operation, and there was talk of starting a city government, as the town or vilhige
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTi'. 337
organization then existing was found to be almost entirely inoperative. The year 1850
appears to mark the commencement of an era of enterprise. It was at this time that
railroad-building began to revive, and among the many projects for making Bloom-
ington a railroad center, it was seen that the Illinois Central, and, perhaps, several other
railroads would reach this city in the course of the next five years. In less than three
years two railroads were in operation.
From 1842 to 1848, great numbers of the new, improved plows were introduced
plows that would " scour " or work freely in the rich prairie soil, and by the year 1850,
reapers were used to some extent, and farmers could see their way clearly. The day of
toilsome hand-labor was about to give place to the corn-planter, the mower and the
reaper, and the courage thus given to our farmers began to re-act upon the towns and
cities situated in rich agricultural districts. These causes had great influence upon the
growth and welfare of Bloomington. This city had the honor, as early as 1841 or 1842,
to manufacture improved plows — those that would " scour." They were made in large
numbers by Bunn, Ellsworth & Brokaw.
W. F. Flagg and J. W. Ewing are entitled to great credit for their reaper which
they brought to great perfection as early as 1848 and 1849. They were among the
foremost inventors of improved reapers and manufactured a large number. Mr. Flagg
soon after built his fine factory and carried on quite a large business. In reapers as
well as plows, Bloomington's manufacturers soon had an enviable reputation.
During the latter part of this decade, the ''Gold Fever," or California emigration,
took away a large number of Bloomington's most energetic and active young men, who,
with their expensive outfits, made a severe drain upon the town. Their places here
were filled, and soon the village was going ahead as well as at any time in its history.
Between 1840 and 1850, Bloomington experimented with a town or village government,
having had a Board of Trustees with some of the powers of a city government. The
result of the effort was, that public sentiment crystallized into such a condition, that
when the city charter was adopted in 1351, it found the way prepared for the steady
and reliable municipal government that has prevailed for twenty-eight years.
1850 TO 1860.
In the beginning of this decade there was an advance in prosperity, and by
the year 1852, this whole region was moved by a sudden impulse, to which all
previous improvement was slow indeed. At this time, the Illinois Central Rail-
road was building in good earnest ; its route was established ; Bloomington was a
point on its line, and became headquarters for the contractors who were making the
road, while the Chicago & Alton was commenced in the fall of the same year.
May 23, 1853, the Illinois Central cars were running from La Salle to Bloom-
ington ; and in the autumn of the same year, the other line was in operation from this
place to Springfield. Both roads were soon after extended, so that two main lines were
open, having been built rapidly, and Bloomingtonians were hardly ready to believe that
these evidences of future growth and development could be real. It was at this time
our city began to make giant strides. Houses and stores were rapidly built ; new streets
opened ; additions laid out ; money became plenty, and prosperity reigned on every side.
The growth of the county kept pace with the town, and fortunes were made in a year or
two, by the sudden rise in the value of real estate. The population of the city was
338 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
1,611 in 1850, and rose to 5,000 in 1855, 7,000 in 1858, and was about 8,000 at the
time of the Federal census in 18G0.
During this decade, Bloomington was ornamented by the beautiful residence of
Gen. Gridley, built at a cost of S40,000, in 1859; and also the Gov. Matteson house,
at the northeast corner of JeflPerson and Lee streets; the Roadnight house, northwest
corner Lee and Locust ; Col. Boyd's, Gen. Orme's, and several other fine residences.
The "old Methodist Church'" was erected in 1850. Thomas Williams was the con-
tractor. The Baptist Church was built in 1857 ; A. H. Gage, architect and contractor.
The Second Presbyterian Church and several other church-buildings date from about
this time. The elegant National Bank building was erected in 1860. The Ashley
House was built in 1857, as far as putting on the roof The enterprise stopped till
1862, when Mr. Thomas Ashley, Sr., finished the building. Those fine stores called Phoe-
nix Block, on the south side of the square, and the north half of those buildings on
the west, and three on the north side, now known as the Metropolitan Block, were all
finished previous to 1860, as also Royce Block, and a fine block on Main street, south
of the latter, burned, however, together with the Nicolls House, in a great fire in the
winter of 1862. The west side of Main street, from Front to Washington, was built up
before 1857, including the McLean County Bank, as was the large block of six fine
stores on the south side of Front street, between Main and Center. Other improve-
ments of importance also date from this period. The old Wesleyan College building,
the Fourth Ward Public School, Major's Female College, Conover's Female Seminary,
and the Normal, were all either completed or well under way before the year 1860. It
was during this period that the Chicago & Alton shops were also started (they employed
180 men in 1857), and the large manufacturing establishment of Flagg's (now the chair-
factory), with other important shops, began to give Bloomington the air of a manufact-
uring as well as that of a commercial and educational center, and it was now fairly
started on its career of usefulness and importance.
During the ten years under consideration, the population of Bloomington under-
went a remarkable change. Instead of a purely American community, as in 1850, the
year 1860 found here a large sprinkling, in all, perhaps, two thousand or more, of for-
eigners, who had come to stay. The building of the two railroads had brought hither
a large number of Irish workmen, and their presence induced the settlement of many
of the best class of Irish, men of education and means, who cast in their lot with their
countrymen, forming in the aggregate a very valuable element of the total population
of the city.
The increase of Germans was also very large, particularly in the years 1854 to
1858. They were a hard-working, well-behaved class, who. with their successors, have
now become numerous, and who, for general good-conduct, industry and good-citizen-
ship are not surpassed by any nationality in Bloomington. At the rate they are now
increasing, and allowing that they continue to accumulate money for fifty years as they have
during the past twenty, the Germans will pr(>dominate in numbers, wealth and influence.
It was between ISSH and 1858 that the great speculation occurred in town lots
and farm property, 'i'he rapid building of the town created a demand for lots that
astonished all the old residents. Even men like the old leaders, Messrs. Allin, Fell,
Gridley and Davis, could not keep their ideas up with the improvements going on all
around them.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. " 339
When the Chicago & Alton depot and machine-shops were located, in 1853, they
were so far out of town that people going there from where the Ashley House now
stands made a straight cut across the prairie most of the distance, though it was hardly
three years before the whole space was filled with houses and buildings. In the year
1856, there over two hundred buildings erected in Bloomington, very ma*y of them in
the northwestern part, and the total cost of improvements during that single year was
over a quarter of a million. During the four years from 1854 to 1858, our city made
giant strides. Several additions were laid out and large sums of money were realized
from the sale of lots.
The panic of 1857 prostrated Bloomington but temporarily, although many of its
most enterprising men were overwhelmed in ruin. The failure of the crop of winter
wheat in 1858 was felt most severely, as many of our city people were now land spec-
ulators or gentleman farmers, cultivating farms by contracts with tenants — and the
result added largely to the general distress. We shall find, however, that, in the course
of a few years, the city had recuperated, and was again growing as fast as ever before
in its history.
1860 TO 1870.
At the beginning of the time now under consideration, the business of the country
■was in a fair condition, but was threatened with overthrow and prostration by the civil
war, then scarcely believed in by most, though its effects were being felt, imperceptibly,
perhaps, but still effectually hindering improvement. In a short time the efforts of all
were directed to saving what was then possessed, with little thought of further accumu-
lation ; but the results of strife and commotion were, after all, not unfavorable to growth
and prosperity, as we find that as early as 1862 the city was well under way in its career
of prosperity. At the close of the war in 1865, buildings were springing up on every
tand. The year 1866 gave us Liberty Block, the old Post Office Block, Schroeder's
Block, and other buildings completed ; and before the year 1870, we can chronicle the
completion of some more stores on the north and several on the west side of the Public
Square, with other improvements. We also note the completion of the immense new
railroad shops, the fine new Court House, the High School, the First, Third and Fifth
Ward school-buildings, the Free Congregational Church, the fine residences of Dwight
Harwood, E,. E. Williams, Laurence Weldon, W. F. Flagg, Peter Whitmer, and others
equally well worthy of mention. The rapid growth of the city in the northern and
northeastern directions occurred at about this time. The population of the place nearly
or quite doubled in these ten years, it being about fifteen thousand, by the United
States census of 1870, while the value of buildings erected, reckoned, of course, on the
inflated basis, was over $2,000,000. In this period, we must credit the building of the
Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western, the Jacksonville branch of the Chicago & Alton,
and the commencement of the La Fayette & Bloomington Railroads, all of which con-
tributed largely to the wonderful prosperity of the thriving city. At the close of this
period, the Chicago & Alton shops were burned October 31, 1867, and, in order to
secure their rebuilding at Bloomington, the city voted $55,000 in bonds to remunerate
the company for land purchased for the enlarged shops, and the city also vacated several
streets and alleys desired. This issue of bonds could not be legal until a special act of
the Legislature was obtained. This was done, but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Palmer,
on the ground of unconstitutionality. Bloomington sent a lobby of thirty or forty
340 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
influential men to Springtield, who presented their case to the Legislature so well that the
bill was passed over the Governor's veto. These bonds have since been paid, principal and
interest, though if opposition had been made, there is no doubt the constituion would have
prevented the collection of the taxes. The securing of these shops, the passage of the
law and the *liltimate payment of this money, make a chapter of history that exhibits
the pluck and determination of Bloomington better than almost any other event since
its settlement.
The increase of wealth during the ten years from 1860 to 1870 was entirely without
precedent in the history of Bloomington. Business of all kinds prospered ; there were
few business failures, and our citizens generally believed the road to fortune was open
and plain before them, with no devious windings, no pit-flills, no danger of failure. A
different state of affairs, however, will be pictured in the next chapter.
1870 TO 1879.
When the war closed, most people looked for a sudden fall in values, and a rapid
return to the old paths of plodding industry, but, to their surprise, the career of pros-
perity lasted until the panic of 1873, and, as a consequence, Bloomington still continued
to add to its borders, to beautify its churches, its residences, and in various directions
put on the airs of a metropolitan city. Even when the panic of 1873- had demonstrated
that the country at large had received a check, Bloomington continued to build and
enlarge, to embark in enterprises, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that for a time, at
least, the city must wait for the further growth of the country in its rear. Building did
not stop till 1877, and even then could scarcely be said to be at an end. In the early
years of this decade, the elegant Wesleyan College, the beautiful Minerva Block, Roush
& Humphrey's and Oberk(jetter's fine wholesale blocks, Ives Block, the two Swan Blocks,
Davis Block, containing Durley Hall, the tasteful People's Bank, Livingston Block, the
stone front on the east side of the square, Washington Block, and many other fine
stores, were finished. The new Post Office Building, corner of Front and Center, one of
the best blocks in the city, was built in 1876, by L. Ferre. It is a building remarkably
well adapted to the purpose designed.
The many brick stores on West Chestnut street were erected during the early part
of this decade, it being evident from the building of the immense machine-shops that
there would be a permanent demand for these structures. During these ten years, the
city built over a mile of Nicolson (wooden) pavement, commenced its system of sewers
and built its Water Works and City Hall.
To this period, we credit, also, the elegant new Methodist Church, the Episcopal
Church, the large Catholic Church, and several small churches. A large number of fine
private houses date from 1870 to 1879. Among these we will mention that of Judge
David Davis, in 1871, costing over $50,0U0, and that of Dr. C. Wakefield, in 1873, cost-
ing $25,000, and several others of great value and beauty.
Population has increased from 15,000 to an honest 18,000, though we flatter our-
selves that a certain directory census taken in 1873 — under a contract giving no pay
unless there might be found 20,000 souls — is a reliable indication that our population
exceeded the desired figure by 100 at that time.
Although Bloomington merchants did some wholesaling previous to 1870, the
growth of this branch of our commerce has been wonderful in the last ten years. There
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 341
are now forty wholesale firms, employing over sixty traveling men, selling goods in six
or seven different States, who are missionaries to inform the whole world of the advan-
tages to be derived from trade with the thriving city of Bloomington.
This wholesale business and the successful enterprise of several of our manufactur-
ers, taken together, give evidence of future prosperity, when " better times " shall
arrive.
Our scene is now drawing to a close. We have pictured Bloomington feebly, but
we have tried to indicate that in its day of "small beginnings " it was a town of unusual
vigor, and contained a vast amount of " reserve power." We have seen it arise from
the crash of 1836, before the country at large had recovered, and found it well on its
way to renewed prosperity long before the croakers conceived such an outcome could
be possible. We saw Bloomington prostrate again in 1857, and before long it again
resounded with the click of the mason's trowel and echoed to the hammer of the busy
carpenter. We have traced the record of the third financial crisis, and found our city
— like the whole nation, East and West — prostrated in a degree, but not hopeless.
Unlike the previous occasions of disaster, the history of the present has the strong relief
of the brightly. dawning prosperity upon a permanent basis of financial honesty and
national good faith.
Everything is ready for the " good time coming." Bloomington has its sails all
set. It is ready for the fair wind. Its storehouses, its manufactories, its radiating rail-
roads, its energetic merchants, its cautious capitalists — all are here on the spot, capable
of carrying the name and fame of our good city to greater lengths, to higher flights
than ever known before. The generation of active young men now on the stage or
about to take their places there, are, a majority of them, born Bloomingtonians. Let
them study the proud record of the achievements of their fathers, and resolve that,
come what will, the Bloomington of the future shall at least be the equal of the Bloom-
ington of the past.
GEN. GRIDLEY's recollections.
The following statement was given by Gen. Gridley to a short-hand reporter as a
conversation, and written out by the reporter subsequently. It does not pretend to be
anything more than a slight sketch of prominent facts, given as an interview.
"I came to this county the 8th day of October, 1831. This county was organ-
ized by an act of the Legislature during their session in the winter of 1830 and 1831.
This city was laid out in June, 1831, by the then County Commissioners John Cheney,
of Cheney's Grove; Timothy D. Hoblit, of Big Grove (now in De Witt County), and
Jesse Havens, of Haven's Grove. The first sale of lots was on the 4th day of July,
1831. They were sold by the County Commissioners. The proceeds of that sale
amounted to about $300, which was used to build a Court House. The land in the
original town of Bloomington was donated by James Allin to the county for that
purpose. This county before that time was a part of Tazewell County. There were
not over ten or a dozen families in Bloomington when I came here. There were Col.
Latta, Dr. Baker, Dr. Wheeler, James Allin, David Trimmer, Robert Guthrie, William
McKisson, and there were a few others. Mr. McKisson was not married at that
time, but married shortly after. I recollect old John Dawson. When I arrived in this
county, he was residing sixteen miles east of Bloomington, on the Indian Camp. I
don't know of any Indians being there at that time. He was a man of strong good
342 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
principle, natural good sense and a thoroughly honest man, with a strong will, of great
kindness. Integrity and hospitality to strangers were the general characteristics of
the early settlers of this county, treating a stranger as well as an acquaintance with
the greatest kindness. Of the early settlers of this county, I never knew of but one
family that were inclined to be dishonest. Some of them are here now, and some of
them went away. John Dawson had early acquired a good deal of property, and was
considered quite a wealthy man, but he lost a good deal and gave security for a good
many.
"Old Dr. Baker came to McLean County in 1830 ; he was a very excellent man ;
he never practiced medicine. He was Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners
and Clerk of the Probate Court ; was Postmaster several years. He was a kind, gen-
erous-hearted man, giving information with regard to real estate and business matters
generally, within his knowledge, without compensation. He died about six years ago.
" There were no Indians around here when I came, except a few Pottawatomies,
who had their homes up in Indian Grove, in Livingston County.
"In the spring of 1832, we raised a company for the Black Hawk war. Mr. L.
Covel was the Captain and I was First Lieutenant and Baldwin was Second Lieuten-
ant. The company consisted of fifty-six mustered men, each man furnishing his own
horse and equipage. Leaving here in June, we were attached to Stillman's Battalion at
Peoria. Arrived at Dixon, on Rock River, a few days later, and there learned that
Black Hawk was about thirty miles up the river. We were to await, at Dixon, the
arrival of the main army. The volunteers in Stillman's Battalion numbered just 206
men. The men were very anxious to go and clean out the Indians, and not wait for
the regulars. So we went on and came up with the Indians, six or seven hundred
strong, a little way on the other side of what is now called Stillman's Run. I cannot
say much about the fight, but this, and that is, we got most beautifully whipped in the
fight with the Indians. We only lost one man from this county, and his name is Joseph
Draper ; he was in our company. After the fight, we returned to Dixon, thirty miles
distant, the best way we could.
" Soon after the battle, we 'were sent back to this county and mustered out of serv-
ice. Soon after this, another company was formed and mustered into the service. That
company was commanded by Capt. John H. S. Rhodes, who was killed on the I., B. &
W. Railroad, about two years ago.
FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 1837.
"The great financial crisis was in 1837, but it was beginning to be felt in 1836.
It was caused by the Government of the United States withdrawing its deposits from
the banks, and also by the wild speculations in real estate at that time, and consequently
the establishment of State banks, and wild-cat banks sprang up in every direction in
their stead.
'* The greatest number of wild-cat banks sprang up in Michigan. They started so
many in that State that they found difiiculty in getting names for them all. To give
you an idea of the number of banks at that time, if you had $1,000 in bills, there
would be in that $1,000 the bills of over two hundred different banks. The Michigan
money at that time went by the name of red-dog, as the bills were most of them printed
on red.
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 343
" The real estate speculation, which was one of the causes of our financial trouble
in 1836 and 1837, was mostly in starting up towns and speculating in town lots. Town
lots here at that time brought as high as $150 a lot. After the crash came, they would
not bring over $5 apiece. I went to Philadelphia in 1836, and sold about $20,000 or
$30,000 worth of lots, and these very same lots, after the panic, could be bought at any
price ; and the purchasers of a good many of the lots I sold at that -time, and, in fact,
the majority, never thought it worth while to pay the taxes on them. The lots here in
Allin & Gridley's Addition would not bring over $4 or $5, and the parties in the East
let them go for taxes.
" During the time of the real estate speculations, a great many towns were laid
out all over the country ; in fact, most everybody was laying out towns or wanted to.
A good many of these towns never came to anything, and then again, some of them
did well. At that time, Mr. Jesse Fell laid out Clinton, and I think he can be proud
of that town, for it is a good, thriving city. The people living around Big Grove,
De Witt County, wanted a town, and as the settlement was around the edge of the
Grove, they all wanted a town right in the center, so it would be easy of access and to
suit them all. We had a sale there and it was a very good one. I do not remember
just what the lots did bring apiece, but I think the sale amounted to $600 or $700.
As a town, it was a failure, like a good many others.
" In 1836, Gen. Bartholomew laid out a little town and called it Clarksville, not
far from Lexington ; but that town, like the one in Big Grove, was a failure. Mr.
James Brown and myself laid out Lexington, sixteen miles north of Bloomington ; that
was a good location and they have a fine town there.
" Gen. Covell and myself, about the same time, laid out LeRoy ; that is sixteen
miles east of Bloomington, and that was also a success.
THE BANKRUPTCY LAW.
" The bankruptcy law of 1840 took effect in the spring of 1841, and cost a man
about $25 to get through. Every person that had done any kind of business here
was entirely used up.
" All the bankruptcy business was done at Springfield, in the court there ; and I
had fifty-one cases in that court from this section of the country. Every man that
had been engaged in business here took the benefit of the law.
" The assignee's labors were light as the assets were small, and sometimes they
were nothing, as everybody was broken up, and book accounts were of no value" whatever.
" In those days, when we run a mill by horse-power, the horses walked on a large
round platform, and the horse kept on walking but never got any farther. Mr.
Solomon Dodge got a notion into his head that by putting a wagon heavily loaded with
stone in place of the horses, it would answer the same purpose. So he fixed up his
mill, and on a certain day he gave notice that all would be ready to start. On that
day, people flocked from far and wide to see the wonderful new motive power. W§11, he
got everything ready, and yelled out to his brother to cut the string which held the
wagon-tongue to the side of the building, and to his utter amazement the mill stood as
still as when the wagon was tied up. The adventure was a failure.
344 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
LAWYERS.
" Jesse W. Fell was the first lawyer, Welcome P. Brown was the second and Judge
David Davis was the third. George S. Markley was the fourth, and then came Albert
Dodd and myself. Albert Dodd was drowned in the Mackinaw while coming home from
a political convention in 1840. The first Court House was a small frame building, and
set in the middle of the square, in the same spot where our present magnificent Court
House now stands. It was only a one-story structure, and was built at a cost of
$3U0. The first Court was held in a part of Dr. Stipp's house. Judge Lockwood
presided. The Court was not in session over five minutes — there was no business to be
done.
" John H. Pugh, John T. Stuart and several others that have taken prominent
parts in our history, were in attendance at that Court. The new brick Court House was
built in 1836. Mr. Munsell, of Paris, Edgar County, was the contractor. Judge S-
D. Lockwood was the first Judge. Judge Treat succeeded him. Judge Logan was here
for a short time, perhaps for two terms of Court. Judge David Davis succeeded him.
The district comprised at that time about sixteen counties. After Judge Davis was
appointed on the Supreme Bench by President Lincoln, Judge John M. Scott was
elected in his place, and he was our Circuit Judge until he was elected to the Supreme
Court of this State, and he was succeeded by Judge Thomas F. Tipton, and he was
followed by Judge Otis T. Reeves, who is still our Judge for this district.
" Col. Baker practiced here, and was one of the most eloquent speakers I ever
heard. Judge Davis practiced law, before his election to the Judgeship, in partnership
with Wells Colton, who afterward moved to St. Louis and was killed there in the great
fire of 1849. He had a great deal of ability, and had an excellent legal mind, and
would have been a very prominent man in the legal profession if he had lived. Gen.
Covel came to Bloomington in May, 1831. He was Postmaster for a time, and Clerk
of the Circuit Court for many years. He went to Washington to take a position under
Polk, in about 1845, and died while there. He was an upright and honest man.
" Col. E. D. Baker was the finest speaker there was at the bar. He was truly an
eloc(uent man. While he was in partnership with me, he never examined any case or
prepared any himself, and, in the financial part, he never looked at the books, but came
to me and took it for granted that everything was all right. I remember one case that
we were very much interested in (and one of his prominent traits was his great fondness
for ladies' society), and we desired him to make a careful examination of the papers.
In the evening, we had a gathering at our house. I put the papers in my pocket, and,
during the evening, I had him come out in another room to look over the papers. He
took them, put them in his pocket without examining them, and, to my surprise, he
knew as much about them as though he had given them a careful and thorough exam-
ination ; but that was one of the peculiar characteristics of the man, and I never saw
a man that could etjual him in summing up a case.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" Abraham Lincoln was one of the first lawyers that practiced at this bar. When
Mr. Lincoln had a good case, he was invincible ; when he had a poor case, or one in
which he thought he had not justice on his side, I would rather be against him than
any man I know. When he had an idea that he was in the wrong, he could not take
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 345
the same interest, and I could win nine cases out of ten of that kind when Mr. Lincoln
was on the other side.
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS
practiced at this Court. He never amounted to much as a lawyer ; that is to say, he
never took rank with Lincoln and Baker. Douglas was District Attorney for this Dis-
trict. When he came here he always stayed with me, and always, up to the time of
his death, we were warm personal friends. As a man, he was honorable and just. As
District Attorney he was not a success, and I don't believe he convicted one case out of
ten that he was interested in.
" I was elected to the Legislature in 1840. Welcome P. Brown was my opponent.
In that memorable campaign, we got up a monster procession and went from here to
Peoria. We had a large canoe, hewn out of a tree, and put on wheels, and in it we had
twelve of the soldiers of the war of 1812. The canoe was drawn by twelve horses.
We stopped in all the towns on the way — Mackinaw, Tremont and others — and held
meetings there, and they were good ones, too. Everybody turned out. I don't know
of any of these soldiers now living. * * *
THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD.
" At the time of fixing the location of the Illinois Central Railroad, in 1851, I
was in the Senate. There I met Robert Rantoul, and, by an arrangement with him, I
secured the location of the road within five miles of the line of Town 22, Range 2 east,
which brought it to within two miles of Bloomington, and on the same line as Decatur
and Clinton. They had to build fifty miles of the road within two years from the time
they obtained the charter, and they built that fifty miles from La Salle to Bloomington.
There was a great pressure brought to bear. They first contemplated building the road
from Cairo up the Wabash, then to Galena; then again, they were worked upon by
another element to run the road by another line, taking in Peoria and Springfield ; the
strong point in favor of the last proposed route was that they would have a paying trade
much sooner than by any other line they could run. It was true they would not get so
much land, but the increase in trade, at the outside, would more than pay for the difference
in the amount of land. At the time the Illinois Central Railroad came into Blooming-
ton, we had a population of 2,500 inhabitants. The Chicago & Alton Railroad was
built from Springfield to Bloomington in 1854. The name of the road at that time
was Chicago & Mississippi Railroad.
BANKING.
"I commenced banking in Bloomington in March, 1853. The charter for the
McLean County Bank was obtained in March, 1853, and was to run twenty-five years.
My partners at the time were J. Young Seammon and J. A. Burch, but, before the end
of two years, I owned the entire stock. My deposits for the first five years were about
$200,000. The next thing in that line was a kind of broker's office, started by John
R. Smith & Co., and their place of business was where Phoenix Block now stands.
But the next regular bank that was established here was the La Fayette Bank, south-
west corner of Center and Jefferson streets, in the year 1857. In the first place, I had
Missouri State bonds, but they commenced to decline and I exchanged them for Illinois
bonds and lost $12,000. John R. Smith held on to his and lost by it. If he had
exchanged them when I did, it would have been better for him. The amount of bank
capital invested here in Bloomington now is about $800,000. After the State Bank
346 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
broke, we had wild-cat banks, and plenty of them. We had some gold and silver, but
coin did not circulate very much at that time. Out of one hundred banks, ninety of
them were wild-cat. All that many of these banks had to depend on to keep them
running was their deposits. They would take their bank-bills and place them in the
hands of brokers to pay out, and they would leave their bonds as security ; so, in
reality, they got nothing, and the brokers made all the money there was made. There
was a man by the name of Jones who owned twelve diflFerent wild-cat banks.
JESSE W. FELL.
" He came to Bloomington a year later than I did, in the year 1832. He gave
liis attention to the practice of the law about two years after he came here, after which
time he engaged largely in land operations, becoming interested in lands in the county'
of McLean, and also in the county of Cook, in the immediate neighborhood of Chicago.
If he had continued in the legal profession and used the same energy that he did in his
other public enterprises, he would have made his mark among the legal talent of the
State and country. A man of indomitable will, thorough business qualifications, fine
intellect, worthy of any trust, and whom I have known now forty years and known him
intimately, and he stands without a blemish or blot on his character as a citizen and
friend. ASHAEL GRIDLEY."
TOAVNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
From the time when Blooming Grove was a part of Fayette County, till some time
after the laying-out of the town of Bloomington, the local government was in the hands
of County Commissioners, aided slightly by what were called precinct organizations.
The voting was done by precincts, and a Justice of the Peace and a Constable voted for
in each, after the year 1827 — and these, with some other little aifairs, were attended to
at the elections — but the main business was done at the county seat by the Commission-
ers. The first precincts were formed in Fayette County in 1826. In 1831, in
McLean County, Blooming Grove Precinct was almost one-quarter as large as the
county is now. It then contained over six townships, but it was afterward made smaller.
Voting was always done in Bloomington, after 1829, even after the organization of the
village. Then when the city was formed it was the same — all State and county elections
being held under the precinct government. Under the township organization, in 1858,
and ever since, it has continued in the same manner down to the present time.
In 1857, township organization was adopted in McLean County, and the new town
governments were set in motion April 6, 1858. The new system was inaugurated by
the election of the following Board, many of whom are historic characters, whose
names often occur in our annals : Supervisor, John E. McClun ; Assistant Supervisor^
David Simons ; Collector, John L. Routt, recently Governor of Colorado ; Assessor,
W. H. Hodge. Mr. John N. Larrimore was Town Clerk, and filled the office more than
twelve years. The Justices were Z. Lawrence, S. B. Brown, M. H. Hawks, S. Johnson
and Henry S. Herr. The Constables were John W. Allin, John W. Haggard, Alexan-
der Steele, James Taffee and Norvel Dixon. This system of town government has con-
tinued with very little change, down to the present time. The township of Bloomington
now elects six members of tlie County Board of Supervisors. For the year 1879, these
are Peter Whitmer, Supervisor; Assistants, George P. Davis, Duncan M. Funk, W. T.
M. Miller, A. Brokaw and Isaac Lash. In 1850, the total population of Bloomington
Township was 1,554 ; in ]8«30, it was (1,930 ; in 1870, it was 14,590, of whom 3,898,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 347
were foreigners, and there were 235 colored persons. The township, outside of the city
limits, had, in 1870, 1,829 inhabitants.
The township is six miles square, and includes nearly every acre of what was for-
mei'ly Blooming Grove. The city of Bloomington includes only about four square miles
of Bloomington Township, and it takes in also about one square mile from the township
of Normal — hence, we find the name Bloomington applies to a large tract of land —
about thirty-seven square miles in all, but has a different meaning when used as a city,
from what it has when the township is intended to be understood ; a fact that causes
considerable trouble at our different elections.
The valuation of Bloomington Township, as equalized by the County Board in July^
1878, is $3,920,498. This is i^robably one-half of the actual value, assessments being
now made in about that proportion. This valuation includes only the city and town-
ship as found lying within the six-miles-square territorial township.
The County School Superintendent's report for 1878, shows a total of 361 children
enrolled in the public schools of this township outside of the city. Of children of
school age, under twenty-one years old, there are 761. The total expenditures for theschools
for the same period were $4,406. The township school fund amounts to $6,264. There
are nine district schools, and the schoolhouses are valued at $10,000. Thomas J. Bunn
is Township School Treasurer. Taxes are very light in the township, but very heavy
in all that portion which lies within the city corporation ; and, from all we can learn,
we believe those living outside of the city limits are very well contented with township
organization, which, while it includes also the city, allows the city Board of Education to
manage the schools, and the city government to control the police and other matters.
TOWN OR VILLAGE ORGANIZATION.
It has been impossible to learn the history of the first organization of the corpora
tion of Bloomington. The original town site, bounded by North, East, West and
Front streets, was enlarged in 1831 by an addition platted by James Allin ; and other
additions, to the number of over fifty, have been made from time to time.
As early as 1838, there was a town, or, more properly, a village organization of all
the territory included in the original town and its additions, with a Board of Trustees,
President and a Clerk. Seth Baker was President in 1838. There was an act of the
Legislature passed in 1838, relating to the government of the "town of Bloomington,"
and this act was afterward amended, with a proviso that it should be voted upon by the
people of Bloomington. This was done, and a Board of Trustees elected, who took
their offices on the 1st day of July, 1843. A full record of their proceedings was
kept by Merritt L. Covell, who was the Clerk, and from this date we find complete
records at our City Clerk's office. Bailey H. Coffey, M. H. Hawks, John Magoun,
James T. Walton and William Gillespie were the Trustees ; Matthew H. Hawks was
chosen President ; Wells Colton was made Attorney, Joshua H. Harlan, Treasurer, and
William McCullough, Constable. It appears that a " grocery license " was placed at
$25 per year, and that during the year 1843 there was only one "grocery" licensed.
This would indicate that our " city fathers " did not know how to run a town on tem-
perance principles much better than their successors.
We find there was no City Hall in those days, as, November 20, 1844, the Trustees
met at the store of A. J. Merriman ; December 24, another meeting convened at the
348 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
store of M. H. Hawks, while, May 14 of the next year, the meetings were held at the
County Court House. In the year 1845, the total amount of taxes to be collected for
the year was only S82.
In 1847, the Wcsferti Whig was the official organ. In 1848, we find the Trust-
ees were John Foster, John N. Ewing, W. G. Thompson, George W. Minier and C.
P. Merriman. The latter gentleman was chosen President, and A. J. Merriman, Clerk
and Treasurer. Mr. George W. Minier, then teacher of a seminary or select school,
now living at Minier, Tazewell Co., 111., was village President in 1848, and John
M. Scott, now Justice of the Supreme Court of this State, was the Clerk. An election
was held March 5, 1850, " for or against " incorporation as a city. There were 164
votes for the city charter, and 26 votes against. This might be taken as indicating a
small population, not over one thousand, but there must have been a light vote, as we
learn that at a census taken in 1850, by William McCuUough, the total number of
inhabitants was 1,611.
CITY ORGANIZATION.
After the varying experience of precinct and town or village governments, the
rapid growth of Bloomington required for its proper development a full and complete
city government with all its powers and capabilities, and in 1850 the change occurred.
Rev. David I. Perry was the first Mayor, and the first Aldermen were Jay N. Ward,
Bailey H. CoiFey, William Gillespie and E. Thomas. John M. Scott was City Clerk
and Attorney. The succession of Mayor and Aldermen has continued without inter-
ruption from that day to the present. Improvements were made gradually at first,
consisting of sidewalks and better streets, followed soon by fire-engines, street-lamps,
police and the numerous conveniences of a city life. The city of Bloomington pursued
at first a very conservative, economical course. Until after 1866, there was no debt.
All improvements were paid for out of current taxation. Its present debt of $120,000
is mainly in 8-per-cent bonds, two-thirds of it being the cost of the Water Works. The
school debt is managed by the government called the Board of Education, which is
independent of the City Council.
From what we can learn of the history of our city government, it appears to have
been constantly growing in the confidence and respect of the public, and its offices were
generally filled with honorable gentlemen.
The following persons were elected Mayor in the year placed opposite their names:
David I. Perry 1850
Charles P. Merriman 1851
John H. Wickizer 1852
William Wallace 1853
.John W. Evans 1854
Franklin Price 1855
Franklin Price.. 185n
A. J. Merriman 1857
A. .J. Merriman 1858
John M. Stilwell 1859
H.S. Herr 1H60
George W. Parke 18G1
George W. Parke 18G'2
A. J. Merriman 1803
Joel Depew 1864
E. H. Rood 18(i5
E. H. Rood 186()
E. H. Rood 18(i7
John M. Stilwell 1808
John M. Stilwell 1869
T. J. Bunn 1870
B. F. Funk 1871
B. F. Funk 1872
B. F. Funk 1873
B. F. Funk 1874
B. F. Funk 1875
E. B. Steere 187(J
T. J. Bunn 1877
John Reed 1878
E. B. Steere 1879
BL00MIN6T0N
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 351
The present members of the City Council are: First Ward — Nelson C. Sweeney,
term expires 1881 ; Josiah Richardson, term expires 1880. Second Ward — William
Condon, term expires 1881 ; L. Seibert, term expires 1880. Third Ward — William
W. Stevenson, term expires 1881 ; Enoch J. Moore, term expires 1880. Fourth Ward
— Peter Rockwell, term expires 1881 ; William Maddux, term expires 1880. Fifth
Ward — Daniel Hegarty, term expires 1881 ; Patrick Keating, 1880. Sixth Ward —
John W. Evans, term expires 1881 ; Frank White, term expires 1880. The following
are the present " appointed " officers of the city : Peter Rockwell, Acting Mayor ;
B. D. Lucas, Attorney ; Samuel W. Waddle, Clerk ; Charles W. Robinson, Treasurer ;
Ira Merchant, Engineer and Commissioner of Sidewalks ; Uri 0. Andrus, Street Com-
missioner ; Marion X. Chuse, Chief Engineer Fire Department and Superintendent
Water AVorks ; John Dawson, Health Commissioner ; Matt. C. Smith, Oil Inspector ;
William Clarke, City Weigher ; William Riebe, City Sexton ; Adam Gruthrie, James
B. Sargent, Assessors ; Sebastian Hohman, J. B. Chipman, Collectors ; James Stone,
Special Collector ; Elliott S. Miller, Marshal ; J. P. Butler, Captain of Night Police ;
J. E. Bentley, Sergeant of Police.
The growth of Bloomington is plainly shown by the following table :
1884, census taken by Allan Wither^ 180
Allan Withers 450
.J. E. Parke 800
William McCullough 1,611
E. B. Mitchell 5,000
.John Dawson 8,000
N. H. Pike 10,000
Holland 14,980
Holland 17,019
City Council 20,100
The city records have been kept with great care and accuracy from the time when
His Honor John M. Scott, was Clerk, in 1850, to the present, when Mr. Samuel W.
Waddle takes care of the books. As our work is more to preserve that portion of our
history which is not to be found readily accessible, we shall leave future historians most
of the mine of information that is in the city records, untouched and intact. We
might refer to the perfect organization of our City Government, every part of which,
like a portion of some machine, is adjusted accurately to its neighbor, so that its opera-
tions are performed with scarcely a jar. The annual election brings into notice a little
racket and noise, which is all the citizens generally ever hear of their municipal gov-
ernment. And yet, the doings of our city police and magistrates are of themselves of
immense importance, while the fire department, the engineering service, and the annual
expenditures on pavements, sewers, water works and streets, taken together, are of vastly
more consequence than a large majority of the matters recorded in this history ; but, as
above stated, the records of these are so perfectly preserved and so easy of access that
we have thought best to confine our labors mainly to tracing up and recording incidents
that might otherwise be forever lost.
SCHOOLS.
A sketch of the history of the schools of Bloomington is incomplete unless it
makes a reference to the great work of the past through the voluntary channels of
private schools and seminaries.
1836,
1845,
1850,
1855,
1860,
1865,
1868,
1870,
1873,
352 HISTORY OF MrLEAN COUNTY.
It seems that when there were but three or four families in Blooming Grove, a
school was started in 1823, by John W. Dawson in his own house, taught for two terms
by Miss Delilah Mullen — the first teacher in McLean County. This private school was
followed by a larger one, taught by W. H. Hodge in a schoolhouse built by subscription
in the Orcndorff neighborhood, and for many years the greater part, in most cases the
whole, of the teacher's wages in this State was paid by subscription. W. H. Hodge
taught at the Grove several winters, and there were also at different times other teachers
at the same place. He opened a school in Bloomington village in 1831 : taught two
weeks, and his term was finished by A. C. Washburne. For years after this, there was
a combination of " free schools " and " pay schools." The public money formed the
basis, and it was used under certain conditions, either in a wholly free school, or in one
where those who were able and willing paid a subscription to help the good cause along.
These free schools were comparatively unimportant, however, until a later date, the
best schooling being obtained for many years from subscription schools. Mr. A. C.
Washburne's school was kept up until 1834, when Mr. L. Foster's school became the
leading institution, sometimes called "High School," often "The Seminary." Mr.
Foster built a schoolhouse of his own, and is entitled to a high position among our early
educators. Foster's Seminary is still standing in this city. It was built on Taylor
street, second door west of Dr. Hill's residence. Rev. George W. Minier followed Mr.
F. in 1847, and he was succeeded by Dr. Finley, of Jacksonville. Prof D. Wilkins
was here in 1852, organized a Board of Trustees, and gave the institution a high-sounding
name — " The Central Illinois Female Seminary." For several years the school was
quite well attended, young ladies being here from various towns and cities in the State.
Prof Wilkins purchased the Seminary, and was teaching there as late as 1857.
Miss Parsons kept a good school about this time, for the training of young ladies ;
and there were at various dates other good private institutions of learning.
Rev. R. Conover's Bloomington Female Seminary, a Presbyterian institution, was
for a long time a power in Central Illinois. It was started on Grove street (where the
building now stands as a residence) in 1856, and continued in existence sixteen years.
It often contained as high as ninety pupils, and during its life gave instruction to over
one thousand young ladies. It was an institution of quite a high order, and would proba-
bly have been sustained permanently, but for the greater efficiency of the modern pub-
lic schools as compared with those of the past.
In 1856, William T. Major built a fine building in the north part of town, which
was used for several years as a Female Seminary of the Christian denomination, and was
a flourishing institution. AVith praiseworthy liberality this noble man afterward pre-
sented the whole building and its ample grounds to the Christian denomination, on the
sole condition of its being managed as a college. The attempt was made ; but from
some cause, probably because of the rapid increase of such institutions, the college was
not a success, and it reverted to Mr. IMajor or his heirs. It would be impossible to
mention all the worthy schools and seminaries that have done good work in Bloomin"--
ton, but we must give all of them much credit for what they have accomplished. At
present, there are several small private schools. The largest one, the Academy of St.
Joseph, taught by the Sisters of St. Dominic, under the charge of the Catholic Church,
is on a permanent basis, as are also the several schools maintained by our German
citizens.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 353
There are three of these German schools ; one at the corner of West and Front streets,
and two in the southern part of the city.
For several years previous to 1857, the public schools had gi'own to be of con-
siderable importance, but they were still in their infancy. They formed five different
school districts within the city limits, containing about three hundred pupils, and the
schools might be classed as " bad and indifferent," hardly rising to the grade of" good."
On the 8th day of April, 1857, these districts were all consolidated, and placed in
charge of the new Board of Education, and from that day the progress of our public
schools has been rapid and permanent.
The first charter to establish and regulate a system of public schools in the city of
Bloomington was granted by the Legislature of the State, February 22, 1857. This
charter called for a biennial election in the city, by the qualified electors, of a Board of
Education to consist of seven members. The charter provided for such an election to
be held on the first Monday in April, A. D. 1857.
As the result of the election, the following-named gentlemen were declared by the
City Council to constitute the first Board of the city : C. P. Merriman, B. 0. War-
riner, 0. T. Reeves, E. R. Boe, Eliel Barber, Samuel Gallagher and Henry Richardson.
The need of new schoolhouses was from the very first a matter of consideration by the
Board, and at their meeting held April 11, 1857, it was voted " to build four new
schoolhouses in different parts of the city, for the accommodation of schools, so soon as
funds sufficient can be obtained."
The first estimate of the Board to the City Council called for $10,000, with
which to erect a new school-building, and $2,000 in addition to the general school fund
to defray the expenses of maintaining the schools of the city. As a result of the
request for this estimate, the following communication was sent to the Board by the
Council :
Whereas, The Board of Education having made a report to this Council, demanding a levy
of a five-mill tax for school purposes, and it being the opinion of this Council that said levy
vyould be a burdensome and oppressive tax upon the people at the present time ; therefore,
Resolved, That it is our bounden duty to respectfully decline an order for said levy.
As a result of this, the Board of Education employed Abraham Lincoln to take
the necessary steps to procure from the Circuit Court a writ of mandamus to compel
the Council to levy the tax as required of them by Section 8 of the School Law. The
whole matter seems to have been amicably settled, however, by the Board presenting a
memorial to the Council requesting them to reconsider the action.
In the year 1858, the first permanent school-building was completed, called for
several years the High School Building. It is in the Fourth Ward, and its cost was a
little over $6,000. It was thought to be a fine structure for the times, though enlarged
considerably in 1870. The high school started in 1857, was taught for the first year in
Wilkins Seminary, by J. A. Johnson, and it opened in the new building in 1858,
taught by E. P. Clark. The next year, it was under the charge of H. M. Kellogg, who
met his death in 1864 in one of the Vicksburg battles, at which time he was Captain
of a company in the Thirty-third Regiment Illinois Volunteers. The progress of the
hio-h school has ever been onward and upward until the present time. It is now in a
fine building erected in 1868, at a cost of over $30,000. The first graduating class
consisted of two members in 1864, while that of 1877 contained over thirty. An act
854 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
of the Legislature, accepted by vote of the people in 1865, and another act passed in
1866, greatly strengthened the Board of Education, and increased the public interest.
The total enrollment of pupils in the public school in the year 1878 was 3,395.
The number of children ascertained to be in the whole city in the year 1879, under the
age of twenty -one years, was 7,187. Number of teachers in the public school, 63. Total
disbursement for schools for the year ending April 1, 1879, was $65,314. The cost
of the school-buildings, apparatus, furniture and grounds has been over ^228,000,
worth now, probably, a little more than the present outstanding school debt, which is in
the neighborhood of $100,000. The present Board of Education consists of Jacob
Jacoby, A. E. Stevenson, F. M. Funk, E. H. Bood, T. J. Bunn, J. H. Bowell and
Miss Georgiana Trotter. Miss Sarah E. Baymond is Superintendent. The first Super-
intendent was D. Wilkins, 1857 to 1859; in 1859, Gilbert Thayer; in 1860, Ira J.
Bloomfield ; 1861, no superintendent; 1862, C. P. Merriman ; 1863, J. H. Burnham ;
1864, John Monroe; 1865 to 1867, John P. Gowdy; 1867 and 1868, A. H. Thomp-
son; 1868 to 1872, S. M. Etter ; 1872 to 1874, S. D. Gaylord ; 1874 to the present
time. Miss Sarah E. Baymond.
Besides the large school edifices called respectively. First, Third, Fourth, Fifth
Ward and the High School buildings, there are several of less value in different places,
making in all provision for most of the children who need schooling. Bloomington
expends a very large sum of money for public education, and it behooves her citizens to
look well to the management of the ample fund annuallv disbursed. The city stands
upon record as being one of the first in this State to admit a lady as a member of its
Board of Education, Miss Georgiana Trotter having been elected four years ago. Miss
Baymond, the efiicient Superintendent of our city schools, was one of the first ladies in
Illinois to fill such a position. Our churches, our public schools and our higher
institutions of learning are all well worthy of the pride of our citizens.
CHURCHES THAT HAVE DISSOLVED.
There have been almost innumerable attempts made in Bloomington to establish
churches and religious societies by the different sects represented in the United States.
People have arrived here from all the regions under the sun, apparently, and, on their
arrival, have commenced looting around for the religious denomination to which they
were most attached. It would be, indeed, interesting could we furnish a lull list of the
different churches that have attempted to obtain a foot-hold. Even the Mormons have
been represented, and at one time published a weekly newspaper here, printed at the
Pantagraph office, edited by Mr. Haldeman, who has since moved to the State of Mis-
souri. This journal was an organ of the Latter-Day Saints, or sect opposed to the Salt
Lake Mormons. It is impossible to obtain a full history, even of those churches now
in existence here, and we do not pretend to anything more than a mere outline or sketch,
and shall be well satisfied if we have made a few footsteps that shall lead in the direc-
tion we should like to travel. We will take a little space for mention of churches that
have been formed and afterward given up their organizations, as these have had a share
iu the great work of Christianizing our community.
While the Presbyterian Church is the home of the large element known as the
Orthodox Congregationalists, there was a time when a flourishing church of that denomi-
nation was in existence. As early as 1842, the Congregationalists had built a church
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 355
at the northwest corner of Washington and Madison streets, and from that time to 1860,
were quite powerful in the city. In 1858, they built a new church at the northeast coi'ner
West and Washington, which, under the pastoral care of Kev. L. Taylor, was very flour-
ishing. In the hard times following, they were unable to pay a mortgage on their property,
and lost their house of worship, which was purchased in 1885 by the Episcopalians.
The Congregationalists again re-organized in 1873, worshiped in a public hall, but,
after two years' trial, again gave up the undertaking.
For several years, the Reformed Presbyterians owned a church on Front street,
where is now the residence of Mr. I. R. Krum ; but, owing to the removal from the
city of quite a large portion of their membership, and for other reasons, their organiza-
tion disappeared over ten years ago.
The Universalists had a church-building on Front street, and kept up their society
for several years, during which quite a number of our most prominent citizens were
members of the organization. Rev. F. J. Briggs was the minister in charge for some
time, and is still living in Bloomington. Many of its members went into the Free
Congregational Church, and others have become connected with different churches or
moved from the city.
For several years, the Methodists kept up an organized church called the West
Charge. They had a pleasant house of worship at the southeast corner of Washington
and West streets. After several years' trial, during a part of which time the Church
was very flourishing, it was discovered that the interests of the denomination were best
subserved by only one organization, and the building was sold, to be taken down and
moved to New Rutland, on the Illinois Central Railroad.
In the year 1868, there was a church society that worshiped in Phoenix Hall,
under the charge of Rev. Dr. Reed, a very excellent minister of the Southern Meth-
odist Church ; but the project of erecting a building was abandoned.
The first Christian Church was erected on East street, in the rear of Major's
Hall, and for a time after the present church was erected, there were two Christian
Churches in the city, both of which appeared quite powerful. About the year 1863,
however, the two became merged in the present church, and the old one was sold to
the German Lutherans, and now stands at the corner of Madison and Olive streets.
Our sketch merely hints at a few of the attempts that have been made to organize
different churches in Bloomington. In fact, we have no doubt these sectarian efforts
could be numbered by scores, and, if all were hunted up and catalogued, a very
interesting chapter would be the result. We have referred to a few in order to bring
prominently before our readers the fact that strenuous efforts have been made to culti-
vate the religious field. Of the good seed planted in the past, we are proud to record
the evidences of the proper maturing of a fair proportion.
CHURCHES.
It is impossible to give even a tolerably correct sketch of the different churches of
this city. In many cases the history of these institutions has not been preserved, and
in others there have been such changes, suspensions, consolidations, divisions and
removals that we despair of doing justice to the great subject. We give merely a few
fragments, beseeching the charity and good-will of all who have ever attempted work of
this character. The founders of Bloomington left no effort untried to affect favorably
3/>6 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
the morals and religion of this commuuity. From their little means, needed so much
for daily wants and improvements, they freely gave liberally toward building and sup-
porting churches. They were inspired with zeal in the cause of the IMaster, were aided
by the most active and self-denying ministry, and could see a promise of better days
when the town should become more fully peopled with families of wealth and culture.
Each denomination made great eiforts for supremacy. All were equally active, and at
this time we see the good results of the hard labors of the early Christians.
The pioneer of Christianity in this locality, was, of course, the Methodist Church.
Mr. John Hendrix, who came to Blooming Grove in 1822, was a consistent, devoted
Methodist, and for a long time his house was the preaching-place of the neighborhood.
It appears he invited Rev. James Stringfield, who was visiting at Randolph Grove, from
Kentucky, and this gentleman preached the first sermon in the limits of the town
of Bloomington, in 1823, at Mr. Hendrix's cabin. Some think that Rev. Jesse
Walker, the regular supply of the Peoria Circuit, should be entitled to the honor of
preaching the first sermon, he having preached at Mr. Hendrix's house in 1824. Bloom-
ing Grove was made a preaching-place, in Peoria IMission, as early as 1824, during
which year, at the house of John Hendrix, the first Methodist class was formed, which
contained about ten members. This class was the Methodist Church of Blooming
Grove, for several years. In 1831, preaching was commenced in the then new village
of Bloomington, at the schoolhouse at the corner of Olive and Main streets, where the
marble-shop now stands. Rev. William Crissey preached here in November, having
previously delivered at least one sermon in the limits of Bloomington, which was on the
9th of October, 1831. There appears to have been a class organized here in Bloom-
ington about the close of 1831, and until the year 1837, Bloomington and Blooming
Grove were two distinct charges, when, under Rev. S. W. D. Chase, they were united.
The two charges united in building a church at the southeast corner of Olive and INIain
streets, in 1836, when a plain building, 32x44 feet was built, under the charge of Rev.
Zadoc Hall. Methodism grew and prospered at this location, until the year 1851, when
the brick church, corner of Washington and East streets, was finished. This was a very
large church for the times. Thomas Williams was contractor. This was occupied by
the denomination from that date until 1875. About 1870, it bee ime apparent that this
building was altogether inadequate for the accommodation of the rapidly-increasing con-
gregation, and plans were made for the construction of the present church-building.
On September 29, 1873, the corner-stone was laid with imposing ceremonies, under the
direction of Bishop Wiley, of St. Louis. In October, 1875, the basement auditorium
was completed, and appropriate dedication exercises were conducted by prominent minis-
ters from this and other States, in the presence of an immense congregation. As an
example of Methodist liberality, $9,000 were raised by subscription in less than two
hours, at these exercises. This magnificent church-edifice, as it now stands, completed,
is one of the beauties of Bloomington ; it is a model of architectural symmetry and beauty.
The main auditorium is a spacious room, easy of access, with seating capacity for 1 ,250.
It is handsomely decorated with appropriate designs. The basement auditorium is con-
veniently arranged, neatly finished and has seating capacity for 700. In addition to
these, there are classrooms and various other aparlnients for the accommodation of the
communicants. The society has recently purchased and placed in position an immense
organ. It is the largest in the State, outside of Chicago. The total valuation of the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 357
church building and lot was estimated, three years ago, at $55,000. The total member-
ship is something over 800. Its present Pastor is Rev. Mr. McElroy.
The University Methodist Church was organized October 7, 1867. It worships
in the chapel of the University — a fine room, with capacity for 800, or with the gal-
lery, which can be used if needed, an audience of 1,500 can be accommodated. There
are about 250 church-members. Rev. J. A. Kumler is the Pastor in charge. This
Church is a great convenience to the lay population in the north part of the city, espe-
cially to the students of the college.
The German Methodist Church is well established; is situated on Center street,
between North and Market. It was organized in 1854, by Dr. J. Schmidt, of Quincy, 111.
It is one of the earliest of any of the German organizations of Bloomington. Rev. J.
H. Thomas is Pastor, and there are 110 members.
The African Methodist Church is on North Center street. It was organized in
1847, by Rev. P. H. Ward, and contains 100 members. Its first church-edifice was
built in 1848. and, in 1859, it was removed to the side of the lot and has since been
used as a parsonage. A new church was built in that year, which was considerably
enlarged in 1871. Its cost was about $3,000. Rev. C. S. Jacobs is the Pastor in charge.
The First Presbyterian Church was organized January 26, 1833, by the Rev. Cal-
vin W. Babbett. Its house of worship was not erected until about 1840, when the
division between the Old and New Schools occurred. This Church was attached to the Old
School, though it was not until 1855 that a New- School Church was formally organized.
The First Church has been the parent of Orthodox Congregationalism and Pres-
byterianism in Bloomington. At least three different churches have sprung from this
organization, though only one has become permanent. During the pastorate of the
Rev. H. R. Price, an addition was made to the old building, and its seating capacity
increased to about five hundred. When the Old and New Schools were united, a few
years ago, the First Church took the title to which it was entitled by seniority. For
many years, it was known as the Old-School Presbyterian Church of Bloomington, and
was a pioneer in deed and in truth. The Rev. J. B. Thayer is the present Pastor of
the First Church.
The First Church, as originally built, was quite small. In 1855, the rapid growth
of the city made an opening for more churches, and on the 11th of January, 1855, the
New-School or Second Presbyterian Church v/as organized, in Major's Hall, corner of
Front and East streets. This hall was at that time in the third story, since removed,
and was very large and pleasant. Rev. Alfred Eddy was the Pastor. Here, the con-
gregation worshiped until about the time the building was used by the State Normal
University, in the fall of 1857. In 1856, the Church commenced their new house of
worship, which was finished in 1857. Its total cost has been over $20,000, including
the recent addition, which has increased its seating capacity to 650. This Church has
been very fortunate in its Pastors, having had but four different ministers in the course
of the twenty -four years of its life. Originally of the New School, it has now become
the Second Presbyterian. This Church possesses a very fair proportion of the educa-
tion, talent and wealth of the city and may be called established. Its present Pastor is
the Rev. J. W. Diusmore.
The Third Presbyterian, generally called the North Church, was organized April
26, 1875. Their house of worship is on East Locust street, near Main, and is a very
358 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
comfortable and tasteful building. The value of church property, including buildings
and grounds, is nearly §10,000. The membership is between seventy and one hundred.
The Baptist is one of the pioneer churches, having been organized in 1837. About
this time, their first church- building was erected upon two lots donated by James AUin,
at the northeast corner of North and West streets ; afterward, moved to Madison between
Front and Grove, where the church used it several years. In 1857, the large building
at the corner of Madison and Jefferson, now occupied by the society, was commenced,
and so far completed as to be used in part in the year 1858. The old church on South
Madison was sold to the German Turners, who now use it as a hall. The present mem-
bership of the Baptist Church is about 550, and during its existence, over 1,600 persons
have been members. The pastors of this church have taken a leading place in the his-
tory of Bloomington, and one of them. Rev. H. J. Eddy, was Chaplain of the Thirty-
third Regiment Illinois Volunteers. The membership has always been among our best
inhabitants, and their zeal and devotion to the cause of their Master have been remark-
able. At one time this Church maintained two mission Sabbath schools, one of which,
the West Mission, has now developed into a German Baptist Church, with a settled
pastor. It is located at 1,302 West Locust street. Rev. Henry Wernicke is the Pastor;
it contains thirty-three members. The South Mission is on Boone street, between
Hardin and Fremont, and is sustained by the Baptist Church. The present Pastor of
the Baptist Church is Rev. 0. B. Stone. This Church assisted in the organization of
Mount Pisgah Baptist Church (colored), which was started in 1866. Its first Pastor
was the Rev. Thomas Reasoner. Its place of worship is on South Lee street, where it pos-
sesses a comfortable church, erected in 1869. Rev. Mr. Harrison is its present Pastor,
and there are between ninety and one hundred members.
The Christian Church, comprising the followers of Alexander Campbell, with others
of similar views, is also a pioneer, having been organized in 1839; and, like its prede-
cessors, the Baptist and Presbyterian, was organized in the old Foster Seminary on East
Olive street. Its first house of worship was built in the hard times of 1841, on East
street, in the rear of Major's Block. William T. Major was its first Pastor. About the
year 1856, the present Christian Church building, at the corner of West and Jefferson, was
erected ; and, for a time, there were two vigorous Christian Churches existing in this city.
Before the year 1864, the two churches were united; the old church was sold to
the Lutherans ; removed by them to the corner of Olive and Madison ; and the united
Christian Church has become one of the most powerful in the city. It is one of the
leading churches of this denomination in the West. It is now under charge of Dr. A. I.
Hobbs. Olive Mission, corner of South Grove and Vine streets, is in charge of this Church.
Outside of the city there are two churches of this denomination. Grassy Ridge
Christian Church, organized 1854, is near the south line of the township, under the
charge of Rev. Mr. Berry, who also has the care of the church at Shirley. The Grassy
Ridge Church has about seventy members. Blooming Grove Christian Church has a
neat building, erected in 1873, at a cost of about $1,300. It is in the Cox and Oren-
dorfi" neighborhood, the true historic center of Bloomington, at the east side of Blooming
Grove. Its members number about one hundred.
The Free Congregational Church was organized August 14, 1859. Among its
first members we find the names of Jesse W. Fell, K. H. Fell, C. Wakefield, E. Bar-
ber, Robert Thompson, W. Perry, F. K. Phoenix, H. N. Pearse. Jesse Bishop, E.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 359
M. Prince, C. P. Merriman, John L. Routt, M. Pike, O. Barnard, Francis Barnard,
William Rowley and others. These gentlemen were willing to unite in a declaration
of views which committed the new society to the platform of Liberal Christianity.
Though not strictly a Unitarian Church, it comes, perhaps, nearer to that denomination
than any other. The church-building is owned by stockholders in rather a diiferent
manner from the method which is most common. Rev. Charles Gr. Ames, of Minne-
apolis, Minn., was the first minister. He was a man of great force and power. He
has been succeeded generally by able men. Probably about four hundred people attend
this Church. The church-edifice was erected about the year 1866 ; it will seat
nearlyfive hundred persons. Its present Pastor is the Rev. J. S. Thompson.
St. Matthew's Episcopal Church was organized July 31, 1853. In 1857, a lot was
purchased at the southeast corner of Prairie and Jefferson streets, and plans were
adopted for a church, but the financial crisis of that year was the reason for abandoning
the enterprise and the lot was sold. After worshiping in difl'erent halls, the parish
purchased in 1865, the old Congregational Church, corner of West and Washington.
In July, 1874, the Vestry purchased the lot at the northwest corner of Jefferson and
Prairie streets, where, in the year 1876, the present fine structure was erected. The
building will cost when completed, about $20,000. There are about one hundred and
sixty communicants of the Church, and the congregation will number about four hun-
dred. The church is large enough to seat about six hundred persons.
The German Lutheran (Trinity) Church is at the corner of Olive and Madison.
About one hundred and twenty-five families — all of them among the most worthy and
industrious of our citizens — attend upon the ministrations of the Pastor, Rev. E.
Riedel. A day school has been connected with this Church much of the time since
its organization in 1858.
The Swedish Lutheran Church is newly established, having erected its house
of worship at 804 West Olive street, in the summer of 1877. Its Pastor is the Rev.
P. J. Brodine. The regular membership is about eighty. The Church was organized
December 8, 1872. with thirty-eight members. It joined the Augustan Synod in 1873.
The Roman Catholic Church was organized in 1855 by Father Bernard O'Hara
It was called Holy Trinity — now the Church of the Immaculate Conception. At first
it purchased and used the old M. E. Church, corner Olive and Main streets, but it very
rapidly outgrew its accommodations.
In 1869, a new building was being erected at the site of the present cathedral,
when a gust of wind, nearly equal to a tornado, leveled the structure to the earth. Its
walls were up and the roof on, and the damage was over $20,000. Undaunted, the
coneregation persevered with the work on a much more expensive plan, and now have
the satisfaction of worshiping in an elegant building, which, when finished, with its
208-feet-high spire and everything as designed by the architect, it will be one of the
most beautiful ornaments of which Bloomington can boast.
The new cathedral is a magnificent piece of architecture, in the Romanesque style.
Its dimensions are 213 feet in length and 80 feet in width. The estimated cost, when
fully completed, is about $150,000. It will be one of the finest cathedrals in all Illi-
nois. For several years back, the society has occupied the basement auditorium as a
temporary place of worship, but, within the past year, the outer walls have been com-
pleted and the roof placed in position, thus inclosing the main audience-room. This is
■360 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
-a spacious apartment, 213 feet in length, 80 feet in width, and 52 from the floor to the
ceiling. It is provided with a large octagonal chancel and two large galleries. It will
have ample seating accommodation for 2,500 persons. Father McDermott is in charge
of the Church. The total number of members of this Church, with their families, is
not far from six thousand.
The German Catholic Church was built about the year 1871. It is situated on
North Water street, which is in the southwest part of the city. W. J. Revis is
in charge. This is a growing Church. It is known as St. Mary's German Catholic
Church.
BLOOMINGTON SABBATH SCHOOLS.
At the time Bloomington was first settled, Sabbath schools were a new thing all
over the country. Like the temperance movement, it was not quite clear whether they
were to be an educational improvement mainly, or to partake of a moral as well as of a
religious character. The conservatism of the community naturally arrayed itself against
Sabbath schools, as against everything that was new and novel, and the labors of the
originators of these institutions were, at times, severe as well as unappreciated. We
have requested a statement on this subject, which was kindly furnished by that veteran
in the good cause, Mr. A. C. Washburne:
" April 8, 1832, I went to the schoolhouse (a log cabin) to attend Sabbath school,
agreeable to an appointment made by Mr. Latta, a local preacher of the Methodist order.
But few were present. A question arose as to the manner of conducting the school.
Previous to this, for a short time, a gentleman of intelligence, but not a professor of
religion, had met a few children on the Sabbath, and instructed them in reading and
singing. Some desired a school of a more decided, religious character, while others pre-
ferred the present arrangement. A meeting was appointed for Monday night to settle
this question.
" April 9. Meeting was held, agreeable to notice, and, as a result, I was appointed
Superintendent, and the entire management of the school placed in my hands.
" April 15. Commenced a Sabbath school upon strictly religious, but not secta-
rian, principles. For some months I had no assistance, and the attendance of pupils
was from twenty to thirty. At length, I obtained the assistance of two young ladies,
Misses Durley and Kimler, who did efiicient work in the school. To show the state of
society at that time, permit me to say that the employment of these ladies in the school
caused considerable low gossip in town, although they belonged to respectable families,
and were of irreproachable character.
'' I continued this school until the spring of 1833, when, about to visit the East, I
left it in charge of Mr. McGeoh, a Presbyterian clergyman, who had recently located in
Bloomington. I returned in the fall of the same year and found the school broken up,
Mr. McGeoh having died in my absence. Very soon I made arrangements to revive
the school, and have it meet at our residence, as the most convenient place for the win-
ter. With the assistance of my wife, we had what was, to me, a very interesting
school.
'' When I returned from the East, I brought out a second-hand library, and the
books were read with avidity. One bright-eyed little girl took a book, and, on return-
ing it, was asked if she had read it through. She replied, ' 0 yes ; I read it through a
heap of times.'
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 361
" In the spring of 1834, the Rev. L. Foster and wife located in Bloomington, and
I gave the school into their hands. During the summers of 1834 and 1835, 1 was away
most of the time. In the spring of 1836, I was again chosen Superintendent, and had
charge of the school for two years. During this time, the first colored family having
children of suitable age to attend school, settled in town. I invited them into the
school, which caused quite a little excitement. I could get no one to teach them,
therefore I did it myself, giving all the time to them I could spare from other duties
Prejudice against them was so high that some left the school, but I do not think it sus-
tained any great loss.
"In the spring of 1838, a Mr. Barbour was chosen Superintendent. In 1839,
the Methodists organized a denominational school, which drew large numbers from the
other, which had up to this time been called a union school, although managed mostly
by Presbyterians. From this time forward, the old organization took on a denomi-
national character, and, with slight interruptions, has been continued to the present
time — 1879 — so that the Sabbath school of the old First Presbyterian Church may right-
fully claim direct lineal descent from the first Sabbath school organized in Bloomington.
Thus, from a very small beginning it has grown, I trust, to a healthful, yet ever increas-
ing, institution for the promotion of religious knowledge.
"A. C. WASHBURNE."
From and after this time, or from 1839, all the churches began to establish their
own Sabbath schools, and the history of each individual church may be assumed to
include the history of its own Sabbath school without doing much violence to his-
tory ; hence we shall not pursue the subject.
CEMETERIES.
We have stated elsewhere that the first cemetery laid out in the township of Bloom-
ington, is the one in the Orendorff neighborhood, started in the year 1825. This is
oldest cemetery in the county.
Shortly after the town, now city, of Bloomington, was established, a cemetery was
opened on the north side of the ample grounds now known as the Bloomington Cem-
etery. Here we find that the first burial was that of Mrs. Remington, about the year
1832. This tract is included within the same inclosure with the Bloomington Cem-
etery, and contains some land owned by the city and used as a public burying-ground.
As the town grew and it became evident it would be a place of considerable size, efibrts
were made in 1856 to establish a cemetery on a larger and more appropriate scale, and
the result proves the good taste, wisdom and judgment of those interested.
The Bloomington Cemetery Association was organized April 1, 1857. David
Brier, Esq., was elected President, and L. Graves, Secretary and Treasurer, which posi-
tion the latter gentleman has ably filled and is filling to the entire satisfaction of all ;
while the former gentleman held the presidency until he removed from the city, when
Judge 0. T. Reeves was elect to that position. The Cemetery grounds are located at
the east end of Fremont street, and contain forty acres, and are sufficiently remote from
the business center and every-day life as to render the place a fitting abode of the dead.
The site chosen is a beautiful one. Its rolling ground is pleasing and is interspersed
with a natural growth of trees and shrubs, making its landscape beauty unsurpassed for
the purpose designed. It is a beautiful, secluded retreat, well adapted as a sacred spot
362 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
for the reception of the dead, where monuments to their memory are preserved and
cherished as a solace to the living. Many monuments and other valuable improvements
are being made, which add beauty to and adorn the grounds, making it really a city
of the dead.
The Catholic Cemetery is under the care of the Church. It is situated on West
Washington street, near the city limits. This Cemetery, like the other, is fast filling up
with tasteful monuments, which indicate a degree of civilization and culture greatly to
be commended.
The Jewish Cemetery was laid out in 1874. It contains one acre of ground, near
city limits, on the Springfield road. The President of the Association is M. Heilbrun,
who first proposed the idea of a cemetery.
FRANKLIN PARK.
Bloomington has reason to be proud of the beautiful square called Franklin Park,
which is in the northern part of the city. It was donated in 1856, by David Davis,
W. T. Flagg and William H. Allin, who were owners of the land included in the Dur-
ley Addition. They presented it to the city to be perpetually used as a public park.
At that time, there were no residences in its vicinity, and the idea of the public ever
obtaining any benefit from a park in that desolate region was the theme of much ridi-
cule on the part of the wits of the time. The rapid growth of the city in its northern
portion has proved the wisdom and far-sightedness of the donors of Franklin Park. In
the spring of 1858, the City Council appropriated money for planting trees, and the
work was mostly superintended by Milo Chatfield, then Alderman. The trees were
mere poles, and their wretched appearance again started the flood-gates of ridicule.
These trees have now become a beautiful forest, and the place begins to be prized by
our citizens, and will, no doubt, soon be improved with walks, drives, seats, iron fences,
statues and fountains.
It can already boast of one of the noblest ornaments of McLean County, the Sol-
diers' Monument, which was erected by vote of the people of the entire county. The
vote was taken in 1866, and the monument was dedicated June 17, 1869. In some .
parts of the county, votes were cast against the proposition, on the ground that it was
supposed the monument was to be placed in the Bloomington Cemetery, but there never
was any intention of such a location.
Tha monument was designed and built by J. S. Haldeman, of this city. The
following is a detailed sketch of its size and general appearance : The lower base is
built of Leraont limestone, thirteen feet in diameter ; the marble base on the top of
this is finished with a heavy carved molding, on which stand four octagonal disks, in
the shape of a cross. On these disks are the names of about seven hundred soldiers
that died in the service. On the top of these disks is an elaborately molded cap, with
the inscription, "McLean County's Honored Sons; Fallen, But Not Forgotten,"
engraved in large letters. On this cap, and directly over each of the four disks, stands
a statue of a soldier, representing first. Infantry, second, Cavalry, third, Zouave, fourth,
Marine. These statues surround a large octagonal disk, with heavy relief covering.
On the four corners there are flags, accoutrements, etc. Above this disk is a second
disk surrounded with a finely-carved festoon of laurel. From this disk starts the main
shaft, which is eighteen feet high, tapering gradually to the top, and surmounted with a
HISTORY OF McLEAN COJNTY. 36o
cap and a life-size figure of a colonel resting on his sword, holding in his right hand a
field-glass, and facing the south. The whole height of the monument is forty-nine feet
from the ground to the top of the colonel's head. It cost $15,000.
RAILROADS.
We have already alluded to the fact, that Bloomington was a center of the pro-
jected railroad system of the Internal Improvement scheme of 1836. The Illinois Cen-
tral, as then proposed, might pass a good way to the east, or a long distance to the west
of our city, but men like A. Gridley, Jesse W. Fell, David Davis, J, E. McClun, and
others were watching the project, determined that the line should touch Bloomington,
if they could have influence. Circumstances favored Gen Gridley, who was in the State
Senate in 1851, and he secured the line where Bloomington most wished it to be located.
Our citizens began to feel, in 1850, when legislation and the progress of railroading
made it probable the road might be built in a few years, that it was vitally important to
obtain the line. The Senatorial contest in this district, in the fall of 1850, was hotly
contested between A. Gridley and John W. Ewing — the former a Whig, and the latter
a Democrat. Both men were in favor of Bloomington's becoming a point on the road,
though the respective political parties affected to doubt the soundness of each other's
candidates. Mr. Gridley was elected from the counties of McLean, Tazewell, Logan,
Macon and DeWitt, by 249 majority. During the session of the Legislature of 1850
and 1851, the Illinois Central charter was passed. The only points located in the
charter are the termini, and a point not far from the southeast corner of Blooming-
ton Township. After a severe contest with rival routes, Mr. Gridley secured the inser-
tion of this one intermediate point, which gave Decatur, Clinton and Bloomington the
road with little further trouble.
We copy from the Western Intelligencer a letter of great interest :
Senate Chamber, February 6, 1851.
The Senate, thi.s moment, by a vote of 23 to 2, has passed the Central Railroad bill. The
only point made on the Central road, between the southern terminus of the canal and Cairo is,
that the road shall be constructed within five miles of the northeast corner of Township 21 north.
Range 2 east of the Third Principal Meridian. This provision secures the road to Bloomington,
Clinton and Decatur beyond all question, and secures the construction of the great Central road
through the three counties of McLean, DeWitt and Macon. The great difficulty has been in
determining the points to which the road should be constructed ; and inasmuch as there has
been but one point fixed in the whole State (except the termini as fixed by the act of Congress;,
I think the citizens of said counties are fortunate that by the provisions of this bill this great
road is secured to them.
By reference to the map, as the road will not go east of the northeast corner of Town 21,
Range 2 east, you will see that Bloomington is in a direct line from four miles west of said
northeast corner to La Salle, or the termination of the canal, which secures the road to Bloom-
ington.
The Legislature will adjourn on Monday, the 17th. I am also of opinion that the bill
(which some days since passed the Senate) extending the charter of the Alton & Sangamon Rail-
road Company to Bloomington, will pass the House and become a law ; in which event I am
assured by the agent of the Company, that the road will be constructed and completed in two
years. I take this earliest opportunity to advise you, and through you to advise my fellow-cit-
izens of McLean and other counties of the Eleventh Senatorial District, of the progress of the
Legislature upon the subject of railroads, well knowing their deep and abiding anxiety therein.
Trusting that my feeble efforts in their behalf may meet their approbation, I am.
Very respectfully your obedient servant, A. GRIDLEY.
364 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
"When the engineers came to locate the line of the Illinois Central, a public meet-
ino- was held, offering the right of way to the company providing a certain line was
adopted, it being almost the exact route which was afterward followed. There was a
plan to take the road about three miles east of Bloomington, but it was defeated. The
line was located as it was built and its building commenced in 1851. During the year
1852, work was goin? on along in this portion of the State, and, it being the first rail-
road ever built here, it of course attracted a great deal of attention. At one time, there
was a scheme for locating the railroad-shops here, but for the reason that the company
itself did not own land enough at this point to reap a harvest from the sale of town
lots, it preferred to build a town of its own at Wapella. The cars ran from La Salle
to Bloomington May 28, 1853. It is stated by those who were living at the time, that
no event has ever created such profound excitement as did the arrival of the first rail-
road train from La Salle on the Illinois Central Railroad. Bloomington and the sur-
rounding country turned out en masse, waiting at the depot for the new-fangled machine
that dispensed with the aid of horses. There were large numbers present who had
never seen an engine before, and to all, even those to whom it was no novelty, the event
was one of the deepest significance. Bloomington, after nearly twenty years of watch-
ing, working and waiting, had now a railroad, and was about to enter upon an active
career. To the minds of all who were present on that occasion, it was the dawning of
a new era of prosperity for our city, and the result of twenty-six years of railroad
advantages is sufficient proof that the spectators of that event were correct in their
anticipations.
About this time — 1850 to 1853 — several other railroad projects were before our
people. One was the " Peoria, Bloomington & La Fayette " and another the " Bloom-
ington & Wabash Valley." The former really became the Peoria & Logansport
through El Paso and Chenoa, after Bloomington people had been rather tricked out of
the line by the actions of Peoria. The names of the gentlemen who were mentioned
in the act of incorporation of the " Bloomington & Wabash Valley " road are given
below, and we insert as a remark of our own, that the most of these same men have
been found aiding every road that Bloomington possesses to-day: David Davis, John
Moore, Isaac Funk, John E. McClun, James Miller, Jesse W. Fell, A. Gridley, K.
H. Fell, E. H. Didlake, J. H. Robinson, R. 0. Warriner, A. Withers, John W. Ewing,
W. F. Flagg, W. H. Temple, W. H. Holmes and W. T. Major.
These two roads mentioned, however, have substantially been secured by the
Indianapolis and La Fayette routes, which have lately been built on nearly the same
lines as were projected in these early times. These years — 1850 to 1853 — were fruit-
ful in "projects" for railroads, and, in fact, fruitful in results. October 15, 1853, by
a vote of 340 to 5, the city of Bloomington voted to take stock to the amount of
$50,000 in the " Bloomington & Wabash" road, but for some reason the project failed
at that time, to be revived again under another charter at a later date. Its line has
since been occupied substantially, by the present Indianapolis & Bloomington road,
whose later history is given below.
The "Alton & Sangamon," or ••Chicago & Mississippi" Railroad, alluded to by
Gen. Gridley above, succeeded in getting its charter extended to Bloomington, and
very soon our citizen.s began to hear of the location of the Springfield & Bloomington
Railroad. Surveys were made, the line put under contract, and in due course of time
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 305
— October 16, 1853 — the cars were running from Springfield to Bloomington. For
several months, trains connected with the Illinois Central at the Junction which is now
Normal, and passengers from Springfield could reach Chicago via Bloomington and
La Salle. At that time, the line which is now the Chicago & Alton, advertised in a
Bloomington paper to take passengers to New York in " only sixty hours."
This new road came quietly, compared with the Illinois Central ; the latter had
been talked of ever since 1836, and the former was comparatively unknown to the gen-
eral public until its contractors were at work all along the line. When it arrived, ii
almost took the town by surprise. As the road reached Bloomington late in the fall, it
was not able to finish its northern end until the following summer ; and the Joliet & Bloom-
ington Extension — as it was called — was readv for use durino- the summer of 1854.
The portion nearest Bloomington was built first, and was so far along that an excursion-
train ran to Lexington on the 4th of July, 1854. The Joliet & Chicago Railroad had
been built previously, and we believe the Chicago & Alton Railroad, from Chicago to
East St. Louis, has been built under at least five different charters, each atithorizing
only a portion of the present line.
When the Illinois Central depot was located at the eastern side of town, the idea
of locating the other at or outside of the western edge was advocated by Jesse Fell and
others, and though not popular at first, it was soon thought that if the two depots
were thus situated, the town would be spread out wide and in the end might be
benefited.
By donations of land and assistance in other ways, these gentlemen also secured
the building of the railroad machine-shops in 1852 and 1853, which, in the end, have
become so highly important to the prosperity of Bloomington, which owes a debt of
gratitude to these far-seeing gentlemen. The location of the shops made Bloomington
a convenient point for the starting of the Jacksonville branch in 1867, and then the
building of this branch made it comparatively e'asy for Bloomington to obtain the
rebuilding of the machine-shops after the fire in 1867, when, but for the fact of the
junction here, we should have been compelled to pay much more than $55,000 in com-
petition with Chicago, Lincoln, Springfield and Joliet. When the Jacksonville branch
was built in 1867, Bloomington was obliged to vote $75,000 in aid, which was given,
half by the city and the balance by the township of Bloomington. Nearly three hun-
dred votes were cast against this proposition, but the majority in its favor was several
hundred, our voters seeing so plainly the advantages of the road that they did not dare
risk its loss by an adverse vote. It is almost certain that the line would have run
directly north from Delavan to Washington, had Bloomington and the towns interven-
ing voted the project down.
It had now become the ambition of Bloomington to be a great railroad center, and
it needed no argument to convince the public in 1867, that our interests would be sub-
served by building any road that might be projected. The plan for a railroad from
Pekin through Bloomington, Le Roy, Urbana and Danville, had been proposed as early
as 1836, and at about that time twelve miles were graded east from Pekin. This was a
failure, owing to the crash that involved all these enterprises before 1840, and the pro-
ject was nearly dormant until 1866, though it was revived in 1854, and again in 1856,
a meeting having been held January 24, 1856, at Mackinaw, to aid the matter, and
another a little later, on the east end of the line, which was then called the Danville &
366 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Bloomington Railroad. A charter in aid of the east and west line was obtained Feb-
ruary 11, 1857, and during the year, meetings were held at various places between
Pekin and Danville. A proposition to grant $100,000 from the proceeds of alternate
sections of McLean County's swamp-land, was voted down in this county November 5,
1857, the vote standing 1,570 opposed and 1,16G in favor. The crisis of 1857, no
doubt affected the whole project unftivorably, as we find nothing definite was
accomplished until after the beginning of 1866. During that year, a meet-
ing was held at Urbana, another, a little later, in Bloomington, and others
at Le Roy, where, August 27, 1866, an organization was effected, and the work was
pushed ahead, though Bloomington did not vote in aid of the plan until the spring of
1867, when, at a special election, a vote was taken on the question of giving $100,000
in township bonds to this line and as much to the La Fayette, Bloomington & Missis-
sippi Railroad. Both propositions were carried with less than a dozim votes opposed.
There never was any opposition to this road, or to the other. Every one saw plainly the
value of both lines; but while it was doubtful which line might be first voted upon,
there was a little danger that the jealousy existing between the special friends of each
might endanger both. Dr. E. Conkling is entitled to a good deal of credit for assisting
this enterprise, aided by such men as Judge McClun, J. W. Fell, A. Gridley and others,
who have always favored every railroad. The vote to issue bonds to the amount of
$100,000 in aid of the La Fayette, Bloomington & Mississippi Railroad, and an equal
amount to the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western, then called the Danville, Urbana,
Pekin & Bloomington Railroad, was taken at a special town meeting, June 3, 1867, and
resulted in a vote of 904 for and 6 against the former road, and 913 for and 6 against
the last-named route.
* The unanimity of this vote is sufficient proof of the state of public sentiment at
that time ; though now we are paying the cost of these improvements, some feel as if they
are too expensive. Still, were the vote taken over again to-day, there Ls no doubt a
good majority would favor the same projects that were voted on June 3, 1867.
The La Fayette, Bloomington & Mississippi Railroad, running directly east is a
favorite line. It was built between 1869 and 1872, and is the result of the energy and
" push" of A. Gridley, A. B. Ives, J. H. Cheney, J. E. McClun, 0. T. Reeves, Charles
M. Holder, and a few others. These gentlemen labored incessantly to secure the road,
and at one time its success was so doubtful that probably had either one of them ceased
his efforts, the road would not have been finished. It runs from Bloomington to La
Fayette, Ind., where it connects with the La Fayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railroad,
and affords the shortest line from Bloomington to Buffalo and Eastern points. Its
grades are easy, and it is rarely obstructed by snow. The original company is now
dissolved, and the line is operated by a Receiver. Its Treasurer is Mr. J. H. Cheney, of
this city, who represents Bloomington's interests in this line, or, rather, is the only
official of the road who is a Bloomingtonian.
The Indianapolis & Bloomington road was finished May 1, 1870, and the La
Fayette road in 1872 ; giving our city railroad routes diverging in eight different
directions, like the spokes of a wheel from the hub, and enabling our merchants to ship
goods at as favorable rates as competing cities. A retrospective story of what has been
accomplished since just after the "deep snow " in 1831 — the Commissioners located a
county seat at " the north end of the Blooming Grove" — would read like a fable, did we
%*i-««l*.
^^^ J^^^^J
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF M( LEAN COUNTY. 369
not have the evidence of men still living who have seen all these wonderful changes as
they have occurred from year to year. Blooming Grove — from having been a desolate
wilderness in 1821, unknown save to bands of predatory Indians, whose trails crossed
each other at this point, has become an educational, a moral and religious, a commercial
.and a great railroad center. In the natural course of events, more schools and colleges
"will center here ; more commercial and manufacturing enterprises will have their head-
quarters at this city, and other railroads will center here or connect with our present
roads in such a manner as to become practically Bloomington roads. During the year
1878, the Chicago & Alton Railroad has built an extension from Mexico, Mo., 162
miles, to Kansas City, which will add immensely to the business of the line, of which
Bloomington will reap many solid advantages through its machine-shops, whose capacity
"will thereby be still further developed.
In the near future, Bloomington may see a railroad running northeast, to intercept
the Illinois Central's new line at Chatsworth, a northwestern line to connect Washington
and Peoria with Bloomington, and a line to the southeast to connect with the Rantoul
narrow-gauge road. Other roads now unprojected will yet center here. May our
citizens, in the future as in the past, lend a helping hand to whatever, when well con-
sidered by our ablest citizens, promises to advance our best interests.
OUR TELEGRAPHS.
In Angust, 1853, Hon. John D. Caton, the pioneer of the Western Union Tele-
graph Lines, came to this city. He told Gen. Gridley that if Bloomington would take
■$1,000 of stock his company would give our city a telegraph office on the line then
building from Chicago to Springfield. It does not appear to have occurred to our citi-
zens that the telegraph business of the place would of itself justify the company in
keeping an office open, and so they took hold with their usual energy and subscribed the
amount. As a part of the histor}" of the telegraph, we give the list of subscribers :
C. P. Merriman,$100; W. H. Allin, $50 ; A. Gridley, §50 ; E. M. Wells, |50 ; H. H. Painter,
$50 ; George Parke, $50 ; W. F. Flagg, $bO ; J. W. Ewing, |50; J. W. Underwood & Co., $50;
Wakefield & Thompson. $50 ; Baker & Noble, $50 ; Paist & Elder, 550; K. H. Fell, §50; John
T. O'Brien, $50 ; Graves, Storey & Co., $50 ; G. B. Larrison and A. C. Washburne, $50 ; Magoun,
Miller & Co., $50 ; Ives & Curtis, $50; Wickizer, Swett and Mason, $50.
The poles were soon here, the wire was in place, and on the 24th of January, 1854,
an office was opened in Bloomington. The files of the Pantagraph show that paper's
first message, which was from the Illinois Journal office at Springfield, as follows :
Springfield, January 28, 1854.
C. P. Merriman : May the new communication by telegraph, so auspiciously opened, con-
tinue for ages. S. Francis.
Matthew L. Steele was the first telegraph operator at the Bloomington office, which
"was opened, in 1854, in what was known as Major's Block, on Front Street. He was
followed in 1866, by Arthur T. McElhiney, who is the present manager of the Bloom-
ington office, thus making a quarter of a century with only two different officials in
charge of what is a very important office. The Pantagraph and Coal Company possess
a local-line from Bloomington to Normal, to the coal-shaft, and to various points,
making nine miles of wire, upon which there are, at least, thirty private instruments
and a number of telephones.
\
370 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
There are important offices at the headquarters of the C. & A. R. R. Company, at
its shops in Bloomington, where a large force of operators constantly direct the running
of trains, while the other railroads have one or more telegraphers constantly on duty ;
so that, in all, twenty operators are employed in this city, on regular salaries, not to men-
tion those who use the wire as an incident of their daily business, as is the case with
the patrons of the Pantagraph and Coal Company's line, as well as several of the other
patrons of the different lines, who have instruments of their own.
NEWSPAPERS.
The Bloomington Observer (weekly) was the first newspaper published in Bloom-
ington or in the county, and was established January 14, 1837, by Messrs. James
Allin, Jesse W. Fell and A. Gridley,-and was edited by William Hill, afterward, for a
short time, by Mr. Fell. In 1838, the Observer espoused the side of the Whig party
in politics. The name was changed, not long afterward, to the Western Whig, and it
was conducted by Charles P. Merriman. In 1852, the name was again changed to the
Bloomington Intelligencer, the paper again passing under the management of Mr. Jesse-
Fell, who sold out in a year or two after, to Mr. Charles P. Merriman, and the sheet wa&
baptized anew as the Pantagraph. The Daily Pantagraph was started June 19,
1854. It was sold, in 1856, by him to William E. Foote, who published it until
1861, E. J. Lewis being the editor. It is now owned and published by William 0.
Davis.
This paper has become well established, being one of the best known in the West.
The peculiarity of its name has attracted much attention, many critics and scholars-
appearing to confound it with the word " pentagraph," which is thus defined by Web-
ster: " Pentagraph, see pantagraph." Under head of " pantagraph," he says, " a math-
ematical instrument for copying ; written, also, jaaw^o^ropA, and, less correctly, pen^'a-
graphy Mr. Charles P. Merriman, a fine Greek scholar, gives the following as the-
meaning of the word ; and as his explanation is satisfactory to the best classical stu-
dents, we insert it here, in hope it will thus go into permanent history, and set the ques-
tion at rest. Mr. Merriman was the originator of the word, as well as the founder of
the Pantagraph:
" ' Panta ' is the neuter accusative plural of the Greek adjunct pas, and ' graph '
is from the Greek verb grapho, here used in the imperative mode ; the name ' Panta-
graph ' — write all things — is a perpetual injunction upon its editors to dip their pen&
fearlessly into all matters of human interest."
Other journals have been established at various times and flourished for a brief
period, to give place, in turn, to others ; but none of them have survived any length of
time. Among them may be mentioned the Evening Argus, National Flag, afterward
the Illinois Statesman, Illinois Central DemocnU, Bloomington Times, Ant i- Monopolist,
McLean County Democrat, Bloomington Republican, Illinois Schoolmaster, the
Advance, and others of less repute.
The fire of editorial controversy, it may be assumed, waxed high at times, as we
find in an old number of the Intelligencer a brief item, to the effect that an article had
appeared in the Flag containing a long array of abusive epithets against the editor of
the former sheet, of which " dastardly whelp," " scoundrel," etc., were a great deal the
mildest. " This, of course, brought on a personal encounter," continues the " responsible ' '
/
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUIITY. 371
editor, but adds the gratifying fact that " we were separated before either of us
received an injury."
The history of the ups and downs of newspaper life received an addition in the sudden
demise of the Bloomington Times, which came to an untimely end at the hands of the
Ninety-fourth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, a McLean County regiment. The paper
had become obnoxious to so many of the citizens, by reason of its Southern proclivities
and expressions of sympathy for the States in rebellion, and the excitement became so
great as to lead the soldiers, abetted by prominent citizens, to destroy the office and
press, since when the paper has not been revived.
There are now two daily papers, the Moruing Pantagraph and the Evening Leader.
The WeeMy Leader was started by Scibird & Waters, November 15, 1868, and the
Daily, February 22, 1870, and is now owned by M. S. Leland, publisher. Beside
these, the city can boast several weekly papers — the Democratic News, Sunday Eye
and the Banner of Holiness. The Bloomington Journal (German) was founded by F.
A. Schmidt ; present proprietor, H. Meyer. It is a paper of much influence, as is
also the McLean County Deutsche Presse, of which John Koester is editor and pro-
prietor.
THE BLOOMINGTON LIBRARY.
The institution now known as the Bloomington Library Association is one of the
most deserving in the city. It has become endeared to the public by the great work it
has accomplished, by its valuable collection of books, and by its promise of future bene-
fit to posterity. Its early history is of much interest. The first trace discovered is a
well-written communication in the Pantagraph of May 21, 1854, signed G. L. K., urging
the formation of a library and reading-room. - Bloomington's halcyon days were in
1854. At that time, it boasted 4,000 inhabitants, 12 churches, and seats in them for
nearly the total population. Possibly, this was more of a boast than a reality, but as
our city has grown, our church accommodations have not kept pace, though in the mat-
ter of seat-room in the public schools, we have reversed the situation compared with
twenty-five years ago. But we merely wished to remark that those who were at the
helm in 1854 to 1858 planned largely for the public good. They built churches, they
reformed our public schools, they endowed or founded colleges, and they did not forget
the need of a public library. We are reaping the harvest from the good seed then sown,
and in no one department were the early laborers more faithful than in that now under
consideration. The need of a library, and the condition of public opinion in relation
thereto, stimulated ihe ladies of our city to make an effiDrt, which has resulted in the
foundation of our Bloomington Library. Among those particularly worthy of mention
are Miss Rebecca A. Rogers, now Mrs. G. W. Parke, and Miss Hannah M. Snow.
The ladies obtained quite a number of subscriptions from persons who were willing to
assist, and, on the 2d of October, 1856, a public meeting was called at Major's Hall,
for the purpose of organizing the " Ladies Library." At this meeting, which was well
attended, the ladies reported subscriptions to the amount of $417. A committee was
appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, to report at a future meeting. This com-
mittee was Rev. F. N. Ewing, Dr. W. C. Hobbs, David Davis, W. H. AlHn and John
E. McClun. After one or two preliminary meetings, the permanent organization of the
" Ladies' Library Association, of the City of Bloomington," was effected at the First Pres-
byterian Church November 13, 1856.
372 HISTORY OF M CLEAN COUNTY.
The ladies alone were eligible to oflBce during the first six or eight years. The
first ofiicers were: President, Mrs. S. B. Browu ; Vice President, Miss A. Warriner;
Secretary, Miss Caldwell ; Corresponding Secretary, Miss H. Parsons ; Treasurer, Miss
Rebecca A. Rogers ; Librarian, Miss Hannah M. Snow. The first Board of Managers
■was composed of the following ladies : Mrs. D. Davis, Mrs. F. N. Ewing, Mrs. T. Pardee,
Mrs. H. Spencer and Mrs. W. H. Allin.
On the 28th of February, 1857, the Library was opened in a room on Center street.
At the next meeting, Judge Davis oifered a room on Main street free of rent, which
ofier was very thankfully accepted. The Library remained in this room for six or seven
years, rent free, and, during all this time, it was taken care of and fostered by the
ladies with a zeal and enthusiasm that gained it a high position among the worthy
institutions of Bloomington. Its growth was gradual but sure. The catalogue from
the beginning has always exhibited a large selection of valuable books, and it has been
one of the educational institutions of our city.
In the year 1867, it was thought best to organize under an act of the Legislature,
which was obtained February 23, 1867. The Library changed its name to the " Bloom-
ington Library Association," and gentlemen were made eligible to office, but its main
features were unchanged. By the act of incorporation, the Association is able to own
real estate, manage an endowment fund, to go onward and forward in the good cause,
and take such rank and position as the public or its wealthy members may in the future
see fit to award. Probably the time will come when this Association will possess a per-
manent building of its own, and an endowment fund which will render it self-sustaining.
The first officers under the new organization were elected March 2, 1867. David
Davis was President ; E. M. Prince, Vice President ; Sarah D. Robinson, Recording-
Secretary: W. H. Stennett, Corresponding Secretary, and W. M. Hatch, Treasurer.
The Board of Managers were composed of ladies and gentlemen as follows : Mrs.
Maria Everly, B. F. Hoopes, I. J. Bloomfield and Mrs. J. A. Jackman. The Trustees
were John Magoun, George W. Parke and John M. Scott.
The Library has always been one of Bloomington's favorite institutions, and it has
now become very valuable.
The last report of the Librarian, pre>jented at the annual meeting on the 1st day
of March, 1879, shows that there are in the Library 7,-164: volumes. During the year,
books were used equal to taking out 26,000 diiferent volumes. The Reading-room has
been well patronized, giving the public access to about 150 periodicals. This evidences
the great value of the Library and Reading-room, and its managers should go forward
in the good work, trusting to the future for further additions and the permanent endow-
ment so earnestly desired. The present officers are: Dr. C. R. Parke, President; Dr.
H. Conkling, Vice President; B. F. Hoopes, Treasurer; Charles L. Capen, Corre-
sponding Secretary; Lewis E. Ijams, Recording Secretary; Mrs. H. R. Gralliner.
Librarian. The Board of Managers consists of Mrs. Charles Shackleford, Miss Sarah
E. Raymond, Messrs. Peter Folsom, S. R. Brodix and J. H. Burnham.
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.
In the year 1850, a number of the leading citizens of Bloomington began to
agitate the question of founding a university complete in all its departments. Illinois
was plainly growing in importance and no portion advancing more rapidly in all the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
373
elements of strength, nor developing more steadily its material resources, than the central
part of the State ; hence the citizens of this city were anxious and determined that
here, educational advantages should be of the first order. To accomplish this end, the
first Board of Trustees eifected an organization under the general laws of the State on
the 2d of December, A. D. 1850.
It was decided that the University should be placed under the management of the
Methodist Church. This was not done for the purpose of making it a sectarian institu-
tion, since science can never be rendered sectarian, but it was felt that the University
should be placed in careful hands and under good management, and since the Methodist
Church was then, as now, noted for its earnestness in the advancement of all the
interests of education as well as for careful management and influence, to its care the
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.
new University was confided. It was intended that its influence should be of a
Christian character, but that students of all denominations should find a home within
its halls. This idea has been faithfully carried out. In the winter of 1850 and 1851,
the school was organized under the superintendency of Rev. R. Andrus, A. M., in the
basement of the Methodist Church.
Immediate measures were taken for the erection of a suitable building, which,
after many discouragements, was completed and school opened in it in 1857. In July,
1851, at the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, Rev. John Dempster. D.D., of
Concord, N. H., was elected President. The first Annual Commencement was held on
the 7th of July, 1853, and the first class graduated.
374 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Rev. John Dempster having removed to Evanston, Rev. C. W. Sears, a former
professor in the institution, was chosen President and a part of the new building occu-
pied; but, shortly afterward, owing to the uncertain condition of State finances and the
stringency of the times, the institution was for a time closed. Its friends, however,
did not despair, and, after securing the services of Rev. Charles W. C. Munsell as
financial agent, at once set about raising the necessary funds to complete the building,
liquidate the debt and re- open the school.
The institution was re-opened by the Trustees, who elected Rev. 0. S. Munsell,
A. M., as President. In the year 1866, the Methodist Church in America celebrated
its first centennial anniversary, and including the amount of $10,000 given by the
family of Isaac Funk as the first installment for the endowment of the Isaac Funk
Professorship of Agriculture, the friends of the University subscribed over $70,000 for
endowment. The steady increase of students now made a second building necessary,
and the Trustees proceeded at once to obtain subscriptions and erect an appropriate
building, and, as a result of these labors, a fine building was erected, which is capable
of accommodating 500 students.
This structure was so far completed, that graduating exercises were held here in
June, 1872, though it was not occupied by the classes for daily recitation till the spring
of 1873. The upper portion of this building is not yet fully finished, ndr has the entire
cost of the University building been met, there being a debt upon the same which the
Board of Trustees will doubtless soon attempt to liijuidate.
The new college building is beautifully located in the northern portion of the city,
surrounded by an area of nearly ten acres of luxuriant greensward, dotted here and
there with clumps of forest and ornamental trees, making all in all a most picturesque
effect. The main building is a splendid example of architectural beauty and symmetry,
of imposing dimensions, 70x140 feet, five stories in height, and erected at a cost of nearly
$70,000. Ii is pronounced by competent authority as unsurpassed by any similar struct-
ure in this State in point of external elegance and internal convenience. It is the finest
looking building in Bloomington. The first floor is divided into eight large recitaticn-
rooms, arranged and furnished after the usual style of such apartments. The second
floor is occupied by the library, which contains a large and carefully selected list of val-
uable volumes. This apartment is also used as a recitation-room. The museum contains
a varied and interesting collection of specimens of minerals, insects, birds, reptiles, etc.
Rare and valuable additions are constantly being made to the already extensive list. The
entire eastern half of the second and third floors is occupied by Amie Chapel. This is
so arranged that it may be converted into one of the largest auditoriums in the city, by
removing a temporary partition, thus throwing open the galleries, giving a seating capac-
ity of 1.200. Regular Sabbath services are conducted in this chapel by the University
Methodist Episcopal Church. The halls of the Munsellian and Belle Lettres Literary
Societies occupy the third floors. The halls are equal in size and similarly furnished,
in a neat and appropriate manner ; their walls are hung with pictures of society mem-
bers, the Faculty, graduates, etc. The fourth floor and basement are as yet unfinished.
The old college, which stands just north of the main building, is brought into requisi-
tion as a boarding-hall for young men, with accommodations for forty. The commo-
dious old Major College building, further west, has been rented, remodeled and furnished
for a dormitory and dining-hall for the accommodation of young lady students. This
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY.
375
institution is prosperous under the care of the Women's Educational Association, which
is working in harmony with the University.
In 1873, Rev. (3. S. Munsell having resigned, Rev. Samuel Fallows, D. D., was
elected President and entered upon the discharge of his duties in January, 1874.
The Trustees now added a Law Department and elected a Law Faculty, which
entered immediately upon their duties, and, at the Annual Commencement of 1875 was
graduated the first class in the department of law.
At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees in 1874, they adopted the plans
similar to the London University of Non-resident Students and Post-Graduate Exam-
inations which had, during the year, been matured by the Faculty and were now for the
first time laid before the Board for adoption.
MAJOR COLLEGE.
The announcing of a definite course of study in both undergraduate and post-
graduate work for non-resident students, publishing of plans for examinations, and hold-
ing examinations and conferring degrees only on examinations, mark an era in the
history of the University in advance of all other universities of the West. The appre-
ciation of the plan has been shown by che increasing numbers of gentlemen eminent in
scholarship and literary reputation, who annually avail themselves of the opportunity
thus ofiiered, and, after a thorough examination, have received from the University the
highest honors known to any university on this continent. The year of 1870 was ren-
dered memorable on account of the admission of women. The question, after some dis-
•cussion, passed in the Faculty. The resolution to open the doors to ladies passed the
Board of Trustees, and was seconded by the patronizing Conferences, so that during the
376 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
first college term of the same year a large number enrolled their names and entered the-
several classes. The number has steadily increased and now many women are num-
bered among the graduates at the Annual Commencements.
LITERARY SOCIETIES.
Three literary societies have, since their first organization, been well attended, and
have each attained a good reputation for oratory and elocution. These societies, at a
cost of some $4,000, have fitted up and furnished their halls with the finest carpets and
appropriate furniture.
COURSES OF STUDY.
Two courses of study are pursued — the classical and scientific. These require after
entering the college the same length of time for completion, namely, four years.
In 1875, after the resignation of Rev. Samuel Fallows, D. D., the Board of Trust-
ees called to the chair of the presidency, Rev. W. H. H. Adams, D. D.
During the year 1874, a society was organized and chartered by the women, under
the name of the Women's Educational Association of the Wesleyan University. The
object is to aid young women striving for an education, and second, to endow a chair of
the same name in the University. The results of this organization are the opening of a
commodious hall on the Mt. Holyoke plan, and the securing of a considerable amount
for endowment. During the year 1875, a gift of §10,000 was made by Hugh Meharry,^
Esq., of Indiana, to apply on the endowment of the President's chair.
The growth of the University has been steady, and now its halls are crowded with
students, and its honors sought by numbers of the first scholars of the land, whilst the
boundless resources of Central Illinois and the growing liberality of a generous and
wealthy people afford great promise for the future that the growing wants of the Uni-
versity will receive ample aid ; and, on the broad foundation which has been wisely laid^
will be built up and sustained a university of the highest standing in all the depart-
ments of art and science.
At this time, the Illinois Wesleyan University has, in its several departments^
the following Faculty :
LITERARY DEPARTMENT.
W. H. H. Adams, D. D., President and Professor of Ethics and Metaphysics.
H. C. DeMotte, Ph. D., Vice President and Professor of Mathematics.
G. R. Crow, A. M., Professor of Latin Language and Literature.
J. B. Taylor, A. M., Professor of Natural Science and German.
Sue M. D. Fry, A. M., Professor of English Language.
R. R. Brown, A. M., Professor of Natural History and Physics.
S. Van Pelt, A. M., Professor of Elocution.
C. M. Moss, A. M., Professor of Greek and Hebrew.
COLLEGE OF L \W.
R. M. Benjamin, A. M., Dean, Elementary Law.
0. T. Reeves, LL. D., Torts and E(|uity.
O. W. Aldrich, LL. D., Contracts and Real Property.
L. Weldon, Pleadings.
A. G. Karr, LL. B., Evidence and Criminal Law.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
377
COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
F. A. Parker, Dean.
Flora M. Hunter, Piano-forte and Harmony.
Lanra B. Humphrey, Vocal Culture.
The Faculty of the University is now composed of teachers of large experience,
many of whom have occupied their chairs for a series of years, and now bring to their
work a ripe scholarship. The University, under their direction, has reached a degree
of influence and importance scarcely anticipated by its early founders and patrons.
During the year 1878, an art department was added. Mrs. Prof Moss was placed in
charge. This department, though the last added, is steadily growing in favor and
importance.
OLD WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.
Another department, that of medicine, is about to be added to the institution,
making it more thoroughly deserving the name of University. During the month of
April, 1879, a medical college was organized, of which Gen. A. Gridley was elected
President of the Board of Trustees ; President Hewitt, of Normal, Vice President ;
W. H. H. Adams, of the Wesleyan, Secretary, and Dr. T. F. Worrall, Treasurer.
This college is to be attached to the Wesleyan on a similar footing to that of the law
school. The regular term will be during the months of November, December, January
and February. The course of study will occupy two years. There is little doubt of
the success of the new institution. The following Professors were appointed April 24,
378 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
1879, and will, probably, the most of them, accept of the positions : Theory and Prac-
tice of Surgery— W. Hill, M. D. ; Theory and Practice of Medicine— W. A. Elder,
M. D. ; Anatomy— J. L. White, M. D. ; Physiology— T. F. Worrall, M. D. ; Materia
Medica and Therapeutics— J. Little, M. D. ; Obstetrics — C. T. Orner, M. D. ; Mental
And Nervous Diseases — A. T. Barnes, M. D. ; Diseases of Women and Children — R.
Wunderlich, M. D. ; Demonstrator of Anatomy — A. H. Luce, M. D. ; Chemistry — C.
Owen, A. M. ; Emeritus Professors — A. H. Luce, M. D., George W. Stipp, M. D.
TEMPERANCE.
Bloomington is entitled to the credit of being one of the first places in the West to
organize a temperance society. The town was but little over one year old when the
movement was made. Mr. A. C. Washburne, who organized the first Sabbath school
here, took the first step in the great work. With the assistance of those friendly, he
•called a public meeting November 17, 1832, at 4 in the afternoon, at the schoolhouse.
At the apjioirited hour, the small room was well filled with an interested assemblage.
One of the two physicians of the place made rather an excited speech against the move-
ment. He complimented Mr. Washburne by remarking that he had no great fear of
the weak movement now being made in itself considered ; but there was something
behind the curtain which he feared. He said the people " away down East " were
sending their agents out West and all through the country to form Sunday schools and
organize temperance societies, and these were all tied to the East as with a big, long cart-
rope, and the Eastern people thought by these means to get control of the country,
unite Church and State, and then woe to any who thought and acted difi'erent from
them ! He was glad of the opportunity to express his views. A speech of this char-
acter was not anticipated, and the temperance movement came near being strangled at
its birth, as the public generally sympathized with the objections thus eloquently set
forth. Mr. Washburne had prepared a constitution and by-laws for the McLean County
Temperance Society, and also a temperance pledge. In his quiet, unobtrusive manner,
he circulated this pledge, and obtained nine names; but there was too much excitement
to organize, and this was not accomplished until December 15, 1832. Mr. Washburne
was the first Secretary. Among the first to assist in the temperance movement were
Benjamin Depew, David Trimmer, Solomon Dodge, and their wives.
The first temperance lecture was delivered February 3, 1833, by Rev. Neal John-
son, of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His text was, " Whether, therefore, ye
eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Ten more signatures were
then obtained to the pledge, and the temperance bark was fairly launched in Blooming-
ton, as the Society soon numbered two hundred members. This Society lived and
prospered, doing a good work, until the time of the great Washing! onian movement,
about the year 1840, which took its place, bringing to the temperance cause an army of
new workers, carrying its banners higher up the walls, where they have ever waved
triumphantly. Among those who gave vigorous assistance in the latter movement,
we may mention Jesse W. and Kersey H. Fell, Dr. John F. Henry, Dr. W. C. Hobbs,
A. J. Merriman and many others.
This VVashingtonian temperance movement created great interest and accomplished
a vast amount of good. It was successful in appealing to men by moral suasion, and is
always referred to as that era of the temperance reform which has been entirely free
from all objections.
HISTOR'i' OF McLEAN COUNTY. 379
In the early part of 1842, this Washingtonian movement was at its full height ;
■and at this time there was formed a juvenile temperance society, which included nearly ail
the children in Bloomington. It appeared to the adults as if the next generation would
most certainly do away with the traffic in intoxicating drinks, inasmuch as, if the children
stood firm, there would be none who would demand these indulgences. On the 4th day
•of July, 1842, the juveniles had a celebration and picnic at the grove, where is now the
corner of Center and Wood streets, which was an occasion of great public interest.
Among the boys of that day who took part, we have the names of John L. Routt,
Robert A, Miller, John W. Allin, Charles Lander and John W. Haggard. The efi'ect
of this juvenile movement, added to the regular Washingtonian influence, lasted for
:several years, and carried the temperance bannei's high up on the walls of morality and
reform ; but, in time, these lost their novelty, and society must be acted upon in a
•diflFerent manner, though, in the interim, the cause was greatly depressed.
About the year 1848, the Sons of Temperance, a secret organization, with Dr. W.
C. Hobbs as the first Worthy Patriarch, commenced the great work which was kept up
for a good many years. Among those who took a prominent part in this, were Rev.
George W. Minier, Dr. E. Thomas, A. T. Briscoe and John M. Scott. Through the
labors of the members of this order, a large number of drunkards were reformed, and
in various directions the temperance movement was kept alive and in good hands. In
the year 1850, there was not a saloon in the city of Bloomington, showing us they
were up and doing.
We do not profess to write a full history of the temperance work of Bloomington,
as our space is too limited. The materials exist for an history of this matter that shall
be of intense interest, and of great local, we may almost say of great national, impor-
tance, as here in Bloomington have originated several highly important projects in the
good cause, whose carrying-out became of national interest. Furthermore, while these
materials of history exist, they are very difficult to obtain. The cause of temperance is
like that of the Christian religion in this respect, that it is found in a great variety of
shapes and methods ; in other words, it has taken upon itself the most remarkable forms
in the way of organizations. But unlike Christianity, which is historically traced
through the various sects and societies — the cause of temperance seems to run through
the most wonderful changes. As soon as one particular form of labor has lost its inter-
est to the public, the friends of temperance re-organize, and are found laboring in a dif-
ferent manner. Hence, we find it impossible to trace properly, in the short space allotted
us, the history of the different forms and shapes in which the friends of temperance
have been organized. We have mentioned a few of these, but we cannot dwell upon
the Temple of Honor, an Order rather higher than the last-mentioned, or trace the
history of all the various temperance societies intervening between the years 1832 and 1879.
We should mention that when the Maine Law excitement swept over the land in
1854 and 1855, it found Bloomington people ready to take hold and do their share in
the movement. Society here was stirred deeply, and every means possible was resorted
to, in order to secure what the friends of the movement believed would be to the best
interest of the cause. These efforts culminated in 1855, by the election of a full anti-
license City Council, with Franklin Price for Mayor. A strong prohibitory ordinance
was passed, and a tremendous effort to enforce it was made for several months. Saloons
were raided by the city officers ; liquors poured into the streets, and a series of legal
380 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
prosecutions eusued that were very expensive to the city, as well as vexatious and pro-
voking to all concerned. In the end, the city government adopted the license system and
adhered to it for many years. In all probability the anti-license ordinance would have beoD
sustained, and Bloomington would have remained permanently on that side of the question,
but for the immense increase in population which took place here during these days —
from 1854 to 1856 — when the newcomers were, many of them, persons who were little
in sympathy with the people who had long been living here, and who had been laboring
together in the temperance cause. About the year 1857, the order of Good Templars
was organized, and again there Wiis something of a revival of temperance eifort. During
the war, this order was allowed to disband, but before its close it again re-organized, and
from the year 1865 to 1876, it was a tremendous power in Bloomington, and it is even
yet in a good condition for future usefulness. At one time, there were several different
lodges, at least three being in operation; while at the same time, as in truth we may as
well state, was the case from the time of the organization of the first se:-ret temper-
ance lodge in 1848 — there were in existence powerful societies of a public nature, all
laboring in the same good cause.
While Bloomington people were at work in the local temperance field, they did not
forget that in this, as in the cause of Christianity, " the field is the world," and they took
part in wider enterprises. We furnish from the pen of John W. Haggard, a history of
our city's connection with the organization of the National Prohibition Party.
On the 12th of December, 1868, a mass State Convention met at Bloomington. for the pur-
pose of considering the status of the case, and, if possible, to adopt some additional and ))etter
modes of action than had heretofore been employed. This was one of the largest and most en-
thusiastic temperance conventions ever held in Illinois. After discussing the question nearly a
whole day, it was decided to go into political action, and they proceeded at once to appoint a
State Central Committee, and provide all the machinery of a modern political party.
The National Prohibition Party was first organized at Chicago, September, 1869. On the
22d of February, 1872, the second National Convention met at Columbus, Ohio, and put in nomi-
nation for President and Vice President, James Black, of Pennsylvania, and .John Rtissell, of
Michigan. The ticket received about seven thousand votes.
The third National Convention met May 17, 1876, at Cleveland, Ohio, and nominated Green
Clay Smith, of Kentucky, and Gideon T. Stewart, of Ohio. They received about thirty-five
thousand votes, notwithstanding old party lines were closely drawn, and the party lash more
vigorously plied than for many years past, whereby thousands of Prohibitionists were led to be-
lieve it their duty to vote one or the other ticket for the purpose of " saving the country."
In the fall of 1877, we had State tickets in eight or nine States, and polled about sixty
thousand votes, showing a healthy steady growth from the beginning. The same ratio of increase
will in ten years from this date give us control of the National Government and a majority of the
States.
A complete organization exists in the following States, to wit: Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri,
with several others yet to follow this year.
That Go<l will hasten the day when the licjuor traffic shall be overthrown, is the prayer of
every consistent temperance man and woman in the land.
On the 16th of March, 1874, the Woman's Temperance League was organized in.
Bloomington. Mrs. Jennie F. Willing was first President, Miss Mary Dean, Secretary,
and Mrs. M. D. Marquis, Treasurer. The above-named organization co-operating with
the Good Templars, and with all temperance bodies in Bloomington, obtained a vote of the ■
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 381
people at the city election, in April, instructing the City Council not to grant any licenses
to sell intoxicating liquors.
This action was taken by the Woman's Temperance League after careful thought
and prayerful deliberation. They marshaled their forces and managed the campaign
with great ability, even to sending delegations of representative ladies to each voting-
place in the different wards. The majority for "no license" was 159. The election
took place on the 20th of April, 1874. One half of the newly-elected Aldermen were
opposed to license, but as one-half the Council held over from the election of 1873, and
this portion were mostly in favor of license, the Council contained a majority of the
latter class. Its " prohibition '' ordinance, voted in accordance with the wish of the
people, was not such an ordinance as the real friends of temperance desired. It left
dealers at liberty to sell under the State law in quantities of one gallon. A weak effort
was made to enforce this " gallon " ordinance, and, after a few months, the city returned
to the old system of license. Even as it was, the statistics of the Police Department
show that for this year the number of arrests for drunkenness was 30 per cent less than
in the following year.
In the latter part of the summer of 1874, a call went out from Bloomington for a
meeting of the temperance women of Illinois, and the result was that in October the
State Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized here. Our ladies who were
engaged in the narrow field of Bloomington did not forget that there was a lai-ger sphere
of labor, and they assisted in organizing a more comprehensive Society. The Woman's
Temperance League here now became a sub-organization of the State Society, which
soon had a foot-hold in most of the prominent towns in this State. The Woman's
Christian Temperance Union of Bloomington is the mainspring of the Temperance
work in Bloomington, and keeps a watchful, steadfast, prayerful guard over the cause.
Its present President is Mrs. Crego ; its Vice President is Mrs. G. H. Read; Mrs
Merchant is its Secretary, and Mrs. James Winslow is Treasurer.
In 1875, this Society organized a very large number of the children of the city
into the Star Temperance Union, and, in all, nearly two thousand boys and girls have
become members. These all take the triple obligation — abjuring intoxicants and tobacco,
and refraining from profanity. The strength of this society is such that, as in 1842, it
seems as if the next generation might be a temperate people. The first President or
this Society was Mrs. Gr. H. Bead, and Dr. Sitherwood now holds that position. From
this Society there is now a uniformed company of boys, called Temperance Cadets, who
make a beautiful appearance.
In May, 1875, occurred at Bloomington a Grood Templars' Meeting of the Grand
Lodge of the World. It was an event long to be remembered. There were in attend-
ance delegates from thirty-three States of the Union, and several of the provinces of
the Canadian Dominion were represented. There were a number of delegates from
England, New Zealand, Bermuda and other foreign countries. This meeting indicates
plainly that the temperance people of Bloomington have a world-wide reputation. It
was in session on the 26th, 27th and 28th days of May.
We must repeat our observation as to the impossibility of obtaining or publishing
a full history of the different organizations of the temperance movement. We are even
in danger of overlooking the fact that among our Irish citizens there are several power-
ful temperance organizations. The Father Mathew Total Abstinence and Benevolent
382 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Society, and the St. Patrick Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society, are both strong
organizations, and are doing, perhaps, as much good as any others in our city.
We will close our sketch with a brief mention of the " Washingtonian Club,"
which was organized May 25, 1876. This Club is a very remarkable institution. Its
success in rescuing drunkards and moderate drinkers from their impending fate, has
endeared it to the hearts of our citizens. The society leaped into life and power with
wonderful rapidity. In the fall of 1876, it rented the auditorium of the old Methodist
Church, and there it holds weekly meetings, frequent social gatherings, and constantly meets
for Sabbath-afternoon lectures. It has saved hundreds of the victims of intemperance,
and has accomplished a wonderful amount of good. As far as the human eye can see,,
this organization is entitled to stand at the head of all agencies for good now in opera-
tion in Bloomington, not excepting our churches or other organizations.
From this society influences for good have radiated in all directions. Other club&
have been formed in this State, organized upon a similar basis, and under the same name.
The Bloomington club is known as the Washingtonian Club No. 1. Mr. A. B. Camp-
bell, one of its prominent members, has devoted the past two years to lecturing and
laboring throughout this State. He is a powerful speaker, and has acquired a very envi-
able name.
Our Club has increased so that it is one of the largest in the world. Its member-
ship is now 5,460. The President is Joseph 0. Pullen ; First Vice President, M.
Mclntire ; Second Vice President, J. H. Sprague ; Treasurer, G. H. Read ; Secretary,
B. W. Mason. Its Trustees are William W. Ives, Henry M. Waite, Arthur J. Means
and N. N. Winslow. Its Chaplain is R. A. Curtis. Its first President was Dr. George
S. Smith ; Vice President, Mrs. C H. Waite ; William Munger, Secretary ; Mrs.
Hattie AUin, Assistant Secretary ; John Magoun, Treasurer. Mr. Magoun gave the
organization of this Club his hearty co-operation and assistance ; and, but for his aid, it
might not have become established. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union are
entitled to much of the credit for the inauguration of this movement, over which they
have kept a watchful care ever since its organization.
In all the years that have passed since the organization of the McLean County
Temperance Society at the little log schoolhouse in 1832, the cause of temperance has
passed through most wonderful changes. Whenever a particular form of organization
has lost its charm ; when the novelty has left it, we find the movement has taken
another shape, and the great cause has on the whole gone forward and upward better
than ever before. This historical record should be an incentive to all who are now
engaged in the work. From it they can see their way clear to labor unceasingly in the
good cause — confident of final success.
NURSERIES.
As early as 1848, fruit trees were sold in Bloomington by Robert Fell, and about
the same time by Nelson Buck. There may have been something done before this on a
small scale, but it was not until after this that Bloomington became widely advertised
as a tree-growing point. Dr. Schrceder was perhaps the first to make his busines
known to the outside world, more i)articularly in the line of grapes, which were not
cultivated in this neighborhood with much success, until he made the public aware that
the climate would admit of the production of the grape. Dr. Schroeder was one of the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 383-
earliest to advertise Bloomington as a nursery town, and his circulars, advertisements
articles in newspapers, and his enthusiasm at horticultural and pomological conventions
contributed largely to make known the fact that Bloomington was the center of the
business. He deserves to be classed among the foremost in this branch of Blooming-
ton's development.
In the year 1851, Mr. F. K. Phoenix, then from Delavan, Wis., made a beginning
of the famous nurseries that have so long been a credit to his energy and an advertise-
ment to Bloomington. He saw that the completion of the two new railroads then
building would give Bloomington shipping facilities that rendered it an important point
for the business. He embarked his means and carried on his transactions on a gigantic
scale. At times he employed over two hundred men ; and during the height of his
business, from 186C to 1870, his sales were immense. He had as many as six hundred
acres under cultivation, and engaged in the sale of nursery stock, both at wholesale and
retail, including seeds, plants, trees, and everything that could be desired in this line of
business. Other nurseries were owned here by different parties, amounting, in the
aggregate, to almost as much more, and Bloomington became known all over the United
States as the "Rochester of the West." Probably no one single business has carried
the name of Bloomington to as many homes, as did that of Mr. Phoenix, advertised in
nearly all the publications of the land.
Orders were received here from all the countries where the English language i&
spoken, and often from other parts of the world. It was a heavy loss to Bloomington
and Normal, and a source of public regret, when this business began to fall off in 1873-
to 1879, and it is feared we shall never see it as flourishing again. The rapid increase
of nurseries in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, explains the changed state of affairs. The
Phoenix nurseries, Dr. H. Schroeder's, F. A. Bailer's, J. D. Robinson's, and several others.
are still engaged in the business, which is even yet one of considerable importance.
What has been stated in relation to the Phoenix nurseries, applies to Normal Township^
as they are in that town ; but from having been called the Bloomington nurseries so long,,
it seemed best to speak of them in the history of the latter corporation.
COAL.
The first blacksmith's coal used in Bloomington was teamed from Danville, Peoria,
or some distant point. No one dreamed of finding coal under our soil until scientific
geologists conceived the idea from their knowledge of the formation of the crust of the
earth, taken in connection with what science taught from the appearance of the coal-
bearing strata, at places where coal was mined on the surface, as at Danville and places
along the Illinois River. For a long time, science made but little headway in convin-
cing our citizens where to look for coal, and train-loads of the article arrived from
Duquoin from Peoria and La Salle. Lecturers on geology, among whom was Prof. C.
Wilber, for many years in charge of the museum at the Normal University, continued
to teach the public, and the newspapers aiding them, it was finally decided to bore for
coal. The first attempt was made in 1863, in a field west of the Chicago & Alton
Railroad shops, where dwelling-houses have since been constructed. The City Council
spent $2,000, and quite a sum was raised by private subscription, all under the superin-
tendence of Eliel Barber. The men who did the boring could run a machine of that
sort, but could not tell what their auger passed through. After going down over five
384 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
hundred feet, the most they could report was having passed through a black shale slate,,
and in which it could not be possible coal existed. The trouble seemed to be that their
auger mixed the coal, sand, clay and other material most inextricably, and there was no
such thing as ascertaining what was discovered. Of course our citizens were dis-
couraged by the result, and coal was still imported at enormous figures. There were
many of our people who were firmly of the opinion that coal would be found by boring
with suitable tools, and another eftbrt was made in 1866, this time entirely by private
subscription. The following is a copy of the subscription paper :
BLOOMihGTON, 111., May 28, 1866.
We, the undersigned, agree to pay on demand, to John Magoun and C. W. Holder, or order,
the sums set opposite our respective names, for the purpose of prospecting and boring for coal
in or near the city of Bloomington, said work to be commenced within ninety days from this
•date. The amount so collected and paid to John Magoun and C. W. Holder to be by them dis-
bursed for the securing of the above object. If coal is found in paying (juantities, the
company formed for mining purposes shall re-imburse the subscribers by giving them stock,
money, or coal as they elect. If coal is not found in paying quantities, the money shall be lost
by the respective subscribers.
There were many other subscribers who gave money, amounting to $1,700, of
which about SI, 200 was paid. Boring was commenced at once, near the present city
well.
November 15, 1866, when at the depth of 160 feet, the drill was lost, all attempts
to recover it having proved fruitless ; and it is an historical fact that the auger still
remains in that " bore." The money was expended ; the tools lost ; the public gener-
ally took a very desponding view of the situation ; coal continued to be shipped into
Bloomington at the rate of 20,000 tons per year, and the coal-n^iue owners at points
then supplying Bloomington were in great spirits.
But a few energetic young men, whose names deserve to be written among the
benefactors of our city, who had been watching the operations with careful attention,
conceived the idea that, with proper care on the part of those who managed the auger,
after the experience gained in the two former attempts, success would be almost certain,
and they boldly undertook the third trial, in the face of an almost despairing public senti-
ment, asking no aid from any and using their own money. Their operations were con-
ducted with great care, at an expense of $1,"^00, and the result was that coal of a good
quality was discovered, at a depth of 302 feet, on the 27th day of February, 1867.
These gentlemen were Thomas J. Bunn, Judson L. Spaulding, Dr. H. C. Luce and
James L. Ridelhuber.
History compels us to add that they never made any money out of the North
Shaft Coal Company, which they organized in June, 1867 — another reason why their
names .should be held in grateful remembrance.
Before this coal company had been long in existence, a second was formed, in 1867,
and a shaft put down near the crossing of the Chicago & Alton and the I., B. & W. R.
R.. where the McLean County Coal Company is in successful operation. Their shaft
is now 540 feet in depth, and they employ 200 men. During the past winter, this
company has furnished coal of a good quality, at the shaft, at the wonderfully low price
of SI. 50 per ton. This company is an immense advantage to Bloomington and to all the
surrounding country, and should be encouraged in every possible manner. It is one of
our most worthy enterprises, being, in fact, the employer of a larger number of men
'i:&Si--
i:s,
'A f)
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 387
than any company in the place, except one, to say nothing of the great advantages it
gives in keeping the price of coal down to such remarkably low figures.
Could our first settlers have imagined the day would ever come when coal would
bo mined under their feet, and sold at such prices, they would have had vastly more
faith in the future of this rich country, of which the worst that could then be said was
that it contained little fuel, and that on that account it would sustain but a small popu-
lation. This company raises as much as five hundred tons in twenty-four hours, on
extra occasions, though its average daily out-put is about two hundred tons. During
the year, its sales amount to over sixty thousand tons, and its pay-rolls in the winter sea-
son often exceed $10,000 per month.
WATER.
For many years after the settlement of Bloomington, no one supposed the town
■could ever obtain a supply of water for public purposes. Rival cities with a visible
supply of muddy river-water, have delighted in taunting Bloomington with its con-
dition in this respect. Various were the expedients devised and talked of for obtaining
a supply of water sufficient to meet the public demand. One engineer, eminent in his
profession, with a national reputation, proposed the most feasible scheme that was
devised, which was nothing less than a pipe all the way from the Mackinaw River to the
high ground north of Normal, where a reservoir could be made that would force the
water all over the city of Bloomington. Another project was to "impound" the water
of the low ground northeast of the city, by building a dam and thus retaining the sur-
face water in a pond that might answer all purposes, similar to the Jacksonville plan.
This would, of course, render the neighborhood of the pond unhealthy ; would be
very expensive and would not insure good drinking-water. The dry year of 1854
caused great distress for water in this part of the State, and Bloomington people were
very much exercised with fears that the location and building of their rapidly-grow-
ing city might after all, have been a serious mistake. We find that a public
meeting was called July 23, 1854, when Mr. J. W. Fell ofi'eredthe following resolutions,
w^hich were unanimously adopted after a discussion, in which the mover. Judge Davis>
Dr. Freese and others, participated.
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed, whose duty it shall be — having previously
associated with them one or more persons of pi-actical skill in hydraulics and civil engineering
— to institute an examination on the following propositions, to wit: 1st. The practicability of
■obtaining at Sugar Creek, or at any other point or points, in or near the city, an adequate sup-
ply of pure water at all seasons of the year, and for all wants of the community. 2d. The best
■method of elevating the same (should a supply be deemed advisable) to a reservoir of sufficient
capacity to be located on the public square, or at some other suitable point in the central part
of the city, whence it may be drawn off to meet the wants of the community. 3d. The proba-
ble expense attending the execution of such a system of hydraulics ; and lastly, the best mothod
■of defraying the expenses incident to such an undertaking ; and the probable length of time for
its accomplishment.
.Resolved, That in the execution of the duties intrusted to said committee, they be author-
ized to make whatever surveys and examinations may be necessary ; and that the Mayor and
City Council be respectfully requested to co-operate with them and provide the necessary means
to defray the expense attending the same.
Resolved, That said committee be requested to proceed with all practicable dispatch in the
execution of the aforesaid duties ; and that they report the result of their examinations to the
L
388 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
City Council or to a public meeting hereafter to be called by them, or both, as they in their dis-
cretion may deem most expedient.
Resolved, That we recommend our City Council to build six or more cisterns at suitable
points in Bloomington, to hold 200 or 250 barrels each : provided, the city does not adopt the
hydraulic system of obtaining water. ,
The Chair appointed the following persons as committee : Jesse W. Fell, J. W.
Ewing, F. K. Phoenix, James AUin, Sr., and William Wallace.
It will thus be seen that the question of proper water supply has long been before
the public. Tn the twenty years intervening between this public meeting and the final
solution of the problem, a great variety of projects have been discussed.
It appears that in digging the coal-shaft which was first sunk, the one northwest of
the city, a vein of water was encountered of great volume — so powerful that the first
attempt was abandoned — and a success only made after moving a few rods and procuring
very heavy pumping machinery. This discovery led the Chicago & Alton Railroad Com-
pany, in 1869, to dig in the vicinity a well which struck the same vein, and proved suf-
ficient to supply the immense amount of water needed for that large corporation. From
this time the attention of our citizens generally was turned to that point, and public
opinion finally settled on the advisability of attempting to obtain the city supply by
digging a well, and experimenting still further with that wonderful underground
reservoir.
In the summer and fall of 1874, at the end of a series of four very dry seasons,^
the City Council made the attempt. It proved remarkably successful. The water^
found at a depth of only forty feet, was sufficient to keep three powerful engines busy,
whose united efforts threw a solid six- inch stream, which removed the water as fast a&
it flowed into the well. On Christmas Day, 1874, the whole population that wished,^
examined the fountain — the well having been finished the day before. As a sample of
what had been discovered, the engines were kept at work, throwing the water in a stream
which, as it flowed off", was equal to a good-sized brook. There was but one opinion^
and that was that the fountain was large enough to justify the erection of a system of
water works; and in the summer of 1875, the stand-pipe was erected, 200 feet high,
an engine and pump placed in position at the well, two miles and a half of pipe laid in
the streets, and a full sytem of water works inaugurated, which has since been enlarged
by additional pipes and more machinery. The total cost of the whole, up to April 30,
1878, has been $86,944.83. This includes about eight miles of water-mains, the
engines and machinery, the stand-pipe, four drinking-fountains, seventy hydrants and
everything connected with the Water Department.
The water is of a medicinal nature, rather heavily charged with mineral deposits,
but is very healthy and much liked by those who have been using it for any length of
time. Its value to the city can only be reckoned by millions.
The Water Board consists of Peter Rockwell, J. W. Trotter and John W. Evans.
M. X. Chuse is Superintendent.
The present city well is on the same tract where the first coal-shaft was attempted,
which enterprise in reality demonstrated the existence of our valuable supply of water.
MANUFACTURES.
In tracing the early history of manufacturing, we shall be quite brief. We will
mention that the first machinery of which we read, appears to have been a " dog
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 389
power," used by Henry Miller, the first wheelwright, in the manufacture of spinning
wheels. He was here in 1831, and probably used this machinery near that date. He
owned the first turning-lathe in Bloomington, about the year 1835. Seth Baker
owned the first saw-mill. His machinery was propelled by oxen in a tread-mill. This
must have been about 1832 or 1833. Solomon Dodge ran the first corn-mill about this
time, also impelled by the patient ox. Perhaps we should except the " corn-cracker,"
erected by Dr. Baker in the winter of 1830 and 1831, at the time of the Deep Snow.
This mill was on his farm in Blooming Grove, and was in running order at a very late
date. There were also other "hand" corn-mills, as well as horse-mills in Blooming
Grove at a very early date, earlier than either of the above-mentioned. Rev. E. Rhodes
is said to have had a " hand corn-mill *' as early as 1824, and, by the winter of 1831
and 1832 — the year after the Deep Snow — there were several " horse-mills " at the Grove.
It would be pleasant if we were able to follow the improvements that have taken
place in the last fifty years, to return to the spinning-wheels of Blooming Grove and
exhibit them with the finest machinery in our modern looms ; to compare the home-
made hoe and wooden plow of the pioneer with the polished implements turned out
to-day by Brokaw and Walton, or to bring the old ox-cart and rude wagon into com-
parison with Ferre's phaetons and Matern's buggies. But we must pass to a hasty
examination of what we find, leaving comparisons to the reader.
The Chicago & Alton Railroad Company's shops are our most worthy manufactories,
and shall be first examined. But for these, one-fifth of Bloomington's population
would be out of business to-day. The company generally pays out each month the
sum of $30,000 to about 700 men. No wonder that Springfield offered to exchange
the State Capitol for this single manufactory ! The establishment is full and complete
— will turn out everything needed, from a locomotive of the heaviest class to a finely-
finished and elegantly-upholstered sleeping-car, while anything in use by the company,
be it a pump, an engine, a car or a wind-mill, can be repaired by the ingenious workmen
with the fine machinery of the different departments. When, in the autumn of 1853,
the first train of cars on this road entered Bloomington from the South, the enterprise
was in its infancy. There had been no less than four separate companies owning the
line from Chicago to St. Louis, and there was little to indicate the future enormous
proportions of the Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. The Illinois Central, which had
been the topic of conversation in Illinois for more than fifteen years, was looked upon
as the only railroad of importance. Bloomington had made an effort to secure what
were regarded as the remarkably valuable machine and repair shops of that company,
and had seen itself, in 1852, beaten by the insignificant town of Wapella. The atten-
teution of men like James Allin, Jesse W. Fell, A. Gridley, W. H. Allin and David
Davis — men of eagle eye and sound judgment — was at once turned to the little " Alton
& Sangamon Company," as the new line was at first called, then the " Chicago & Mis-
sissippi Railroad," and they determined to secure here the railroad-shops, hoping that in
the future it might grow into a large establishment. They took steps to this end early
in 1853, each of them making a donation to the company for this purpose, and they
stimulated others to do the same. These efforts were successful and a tract of land of
over six acres was donated to the railroad company for railroad purposes. This land
was bounded on the east by the track, on the north by the township line, on the west
by the section line, being triangular in shape. It is on this spot that the original shops
390 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
were built, but it has been greatly enlarged. On the east side of the track, the piece
of land bounded on the west by the track, on the east by Catharine street, and south by
Chestnut street, the site of the old passenger depot, was also donated, the whole having
been paid for by the gentlemen named above, with others, and deeded to the company
by W. H. Allin with full warrantee deeds, for the sum of $3. In all there were
over seven acres.
During the years 1853 and 1854, the shops needed for the little railroad company
were built, and a beginning made in the great enterprise of which we are now so proud.
These were added to from time to time, so that, in the year 1858, nearly two hundred
men were employed in the different departments. As the business of the road
increased — the different pieces of the road being consolidated into one corporation — the
shops were enlarged four times, until at the time of the fire, November 2, 1867, nearly
as many men were employed as there are now. These buildings were not well arranged,
however, and that event compelled the company to face the problem of permanent con-
struction. Plans were prepared carefully during the winter following the fire, for the
best system that could be devised, taking into account what was then needed, and con-
sidering the probable increase of business of the present road and the possible growth
from future consolidations with other railroads, and the result is seen in the splendid
shops now finished.
At the time of their construction, there were no railroad shops went of Altoona,
Penn., that surpassed these in Bloomington ; but in the last few years it is possible
they may have been equaled. The ground upon which the old shops stood at the time
of the fire was not large enough for the needs of the present establishment, and before
the new works were commenced the company obtained quite an addition, and secured
from the city the closing of streets and alleys that were in the way. The conditions of
rebuilding here in Bloomington, in preference to removing the shops to Springfield,
Joliet or Chicago, were, that the additional ground should be furnished and those streets
and alleys vacated by the city. This was agreed to by the City Council ; but before
the matter could be consummated legally, considerable time must elapse, and hence there
was doubt whether the city might be able to accomplish all that was desired. In order
to insure this, a guarantee was signed by nearly all the leading citizens of Blooming-
ton, agreeing that all should be done as desired.
The space occupied by the company for shops and tracks is equal to forty acres.
Here we find more than a dozen very large buildings, in which are carried on the
immense operations of the company. Among the principal shops we will mention :
The Car-Shop 263 by 80 feet.
Planing " 200 by 75 "
Paint " 170 by 75 "
Dry-House 63 by 19 "
Foundry 180 by 60 "
L 50 by 40 "
Blacksmith-Shop 200 by 75 "
Boiler-Shop 160 by 60 "
Machine-Shop 260 by 100 "
Machine-Shop Addition 50 by 45 "
" " " 80 by 45 "
Old Machine-Shop 270 by 40 "
Rolling-Mili (wood) 132 by 57 "
Old Roundhouse 240 feet in diameter.
New Roundhouse 240 ' '•
Storehouse 120 by 60 feet.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 391
All these buildings, except the rolling-mill and the old machine-shops, are built of
Joliet stone, have iron-trussed roofs covered with slate, and several of the largest are
two-stories high. Beside the above, there are several smaller buildings, the pattern-shop,
brass-foundry and several others. Taken all in all, it is seldom we find such a magnifi-
cent collection of manufacturing establishments as are here grouped together upon the
forty acres and more of land belonging to the company. These shops are filled with
the finest and most substantial machinery that can be found. One can form some idea
of this from the simple statement that in the blacksmith-shop there are fifty forges, and
eight steam trip-hammers, the latter weighing eight to fifteen hundred pounds. Several
of the largest and most powerful steam-engines in the West are in constant use to pro-
pel the ponderous machinery of the difierent departments. Even the pumping-engine,
which forces water from the company's magnificent well, is a large engine. These dif-
ferent structures were over two years in building, having been finished nearly as they
now stand, about the beginning of the year 1870. When the machine-shop is rebuilt
to correspond with those now in use, the appearance of the whole will be superior to
anything of the kind in the State.
Here the company are able to build locomotives and cars, or to repair the same —
doing all portions of the complicated work, and they employ some of the most ingenious
and skillful mechanics that can be found. The presence here, in Bloomington, of the
large number of intelligent mechanics, foremen and superintendents required, has a
very elevating and beneficial effect upon the city. Bloomington can boast of these
shops and of their occupants, they being the most important and valuable of anything in
the place. Their size and industry entitles the city to be classed as a manufacturing
center. Here are employed from six hundred to nine hundred men, the number vary-
ing with the condition of the company's business.
Among the company's officers who have been prominently identified with the mate-
rial development of Bloomington in the past, we may mention Hon. Hamilton Spencer,
Lessee, 1860 ; Charles Boadnight, Treasurer in 1858 ; Mr. B. Parke, Agent in 1864 ;
Asa H. Moore, Superintendent for several years ; J. A. Jackman, Superintendent of
Machinery from 1864 to 1879 ; Bufus Benifi", Superintendent of Car-shops from 1861
to 1879; Matthew L. Steele, Train-Dispatcher ; William Hughes and A. Moulton,
of the Iron Departments; 0. Vaughan, present Assistant Superintendent, and there are
many others equally deserving of mention.
It has always been the policy of the company to retain good men in any position
they are fitted for, and there are a large number of the officers and employes who have
been in service nearly twenty years. Taken as a class, the railroad employes are much
superior to the average mechanics of the country, and their presence in Bloomington in
such large numbers adds largely to the character of our population.
The Bailroad Company pays out monthly a very large sum of money, which enters
at once into circulation, giving life and reliable activity to the retail trade of Blooming-
ton and furnishing constant proof of the value of this immense establishment. The
policy of the company toward our city is quite liberal, its managers realizing that their
interests here are large enough to make the public good a matter of self-interest to the
coi'poration. Several illustrations of this good-will have been given in the past, one of
the most important being its liberality in assisting in macadamizing the street from the
392 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
freight depot to the Court House square, and also, in 1878, in assisting the city in the
pavement of Washington street.
The whole policy of the company, under the management of President Blackstone
and Manager McMullin, has been liberal, one evidence of which is seen in the share the
company is taking in the great work of underdraining the farms of Central Illinois.
This tile-drainage improvement marks a new era in the development of this country
almost equal to the invention of the harvester, and this railroad has been carrying tile
for farmers' drains at the simple cost of carriage, or at less than cost, thus being willing
to perform its share in one of the most important of our modern agricultural improve-
ments.
The Chicago & Alton Railroad Company ranks among the foremost corporations in
the country in its care of its rolling-stock, and has been one of the readiest to adopt
new improvements. Could the full history of these shops be written, as at some future
time we hope it will be, we should all be astonished at the record of valuable inventions
that would be presented. We might mention Reniff & Buttolph's Patent Ventilator,
President Blackstone's Car-coupler, and many others, but must leave this subject with
one more reference — that of the Pullman Palace-Car. In 1859, George M. Pullman
arranged berths in two cars for the use of this company, and, in 1863, he manufactured
here the first two palace cars ever made. They cost $18,000 each. It is said that the
frame-work of the first sleeping-car Pullman ever made is now lying by the side of the
railroad in Bloomington.
We might add that the total cost of these magnificent shops is in the neighborhood
of $1,000,000, and that they are owned by one of the wealthiest corporations in the
Northwest. The Chicago, Alton &St. Louis Railroad now owns or leases 876 miles of road,
having built, in the year 1878, 162 miles, giving it a completed line from Chicago to
Kansas City. The repairs of this immense road, with its several branches, being mostly
concentrated at this one point, demand an amount of labor that will be more likely to
increase than diminish.
The agricultural development of this region has received great benefit from the
railroad, the reaper and the plow — the last being an implement of more importance than
the present generation can realize possible. The railroad and the reaper are understood
by all, but the advantages of our modern self-polishing plows are imperfectly realized,
except by our old settlers. The new-comers, down to about 1845, brought plows with
them, and various styles were in use, but none of them would work well in our fine
prairie soil, and the cultivation of the land was toilsome and imperfect. It was impo.s-
sible to plow but a few rods without a stop for the purpose of clearing the implement from
the accumulation of ijoil. Cast iron, wrought iron or wood were almost alike — worthless
— and for many years our farmers despaired of ever seeing the right plow for this soil.
Lewis Bunn was one of the first blacksmiths here, and made plows as early as
the year 1833. He tried to make the best plow that could be devised. In the year
1838, he made a lot of the "Sprouse" pattern, which had a boiler-iron mold-board,
placed at such an angle, that the heavy friction of the soil would "scour" them better
than any previously in use. These plows had the handles and wood-work much like a
"shovel" plow, and did not run steady — were "jerky" and severe on a team. The
next year they were improved by a different attachment of the beam. Mr. Abraham
Brokaw made the wood-work of these plows for several years. In 1840, Mr. Bunn
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 393
anade the " Rathbone " plow — an improvement — the mold-board was still boiler-iron,
but the implement was more steady. The mold-board was ground smooth, and in
-some soils these would scour well. Oliver Ellsworth was Mr. Bunn's partner at this
time, and together they made 300 of these Rathbone plows — quite a manufacturing
business for the times.
In 1842, the firm made the " Tobey & Anderson," or "Peoria," plow, of which
the mold-board was common steel, ground, but not polished. This gave great satis-
faction— was further improved — and by the year 1844 and 1845 they were in great
demand. Farmers came long distances for these celebrated plows, and at one time the
firm rented a large pasture in which teams were kept while waiting their turns. At
this time, it was fully demonstrated that plows could be made that would work freely in
any soil, and the result was a very decided improvement in the cultivation of prairies.
Bloomington's mechanics — Bunn, Ellsworth and Brokaw — contributed largely to the
result. About the year 1859, these three men went into partnership together, and con-
tinued several years.
It was not till 1857 that these steel mold-boards were polished perfectly, and since
that date the improvements in plows have been of comparatively little importance.
About the year 1845, is the date when practicable plows first came into general use, so
as to be found upon all our farms, as near as we have been able to ascertain.
The plow-shops of Abraham Brokaw, at the corner of Main and Market, are among
the oldest in Central Illinois. Mr. B. has been in the business nearly forty years, and
has acquired a splendid reputation. He employs from twenty to forty men. John T.
Walton, who started in business in 1857, employs over twenty men in the busy season,
and makes a large variety of the different plows and cultivators required by the Western
and Southern trade. His business is carried on in the fine block fronting on Washing-
ton street, just west of the People's Bank.
There are smaller plow-shops in the city, the several repair and general shops to be
found in a town like Bloomington, with machinists, boiler-makers and other iron-work-
ers, who employ a large number of men.
There are several large wood-working establishments, of which some of the most
important are those of J. W. Evans, and the wagon and carriage factories of L. Ferre,
L. Matern, S. Hayes, and others.
One of the most important manufactories in Bloomington is Dr. C. Wakefield &
Co.'s medicine factory, as well as one of the most interesting. Dr. Wakefield spent two
years in this place as early as 1837, having been a school-teacher in the Orendorff dis-
trict. He then lived in De Witt County until 1850, when he made his home here.
His brother, Dr. Zera Wakefield, who died in 1848, had remarkable success in treating
the malarial diseases of this country, having been in demand over a large territory radi-
ating from his home in De Witt County. His remedies were so good that before his
death, in 1848, many packages were sold, and a demand grew up, to supply which, in
1850, Dr. C. Wakefield moved from De Witt County and started a factory in Bloom-
ington.
His business was pushed with great energy, and soon became well established and
profitable. Dr. W. built the first three-story brick store in Bloomington, whicli, with
his factory and drug store, was burned in the great fire of October 16, 1855. His
large factory on East Washington street, built about the year 1856, has growh with his
394 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
business, until it is now a large and very convenient establishment. Here he manufact-
ures a variety of medicines, mostly fever and ague specifics, balsams, cough-sirups, pills,
etc., in all, about ten different remedies, and a number of essences and other prepara-
tions. In their preparation, great care is taken to secure the purest and best ingredients,
and the result is that his medicines rank with the best that are offered to the public.
They are sold largely in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and
Iowa, while there is a good demand in all the Western and Southwestern States. He
has a team, with a fine wagon, in six of these States, and thus keeps a watch over the
territory through salaried agents, while he has over six thousand local agents, mostly drug-
gists and dealers, who sell his medicines on commission. He employs from twenty-five
to fifty hands, according to the season. He has four printing-presses, run by steam-
power, by which he prepares his advertising matter. In 1860, he got up 100,000
almanacs for his agents to circulate, and he now sends out 1,500,000 annually. He
consumes nearly fifty tons of printing-paper each year.
" Wakefield's Almanac " is thus one of the best known of any of Bloomington's pub-
lications. At the present time, this carries the name and fame of Bloomington over a
wider area than any other medium. It is printed in the English, German, Nor-
wegian and Swedish languages.
This business is conducted in a straightforward, honorable manner, and is one of
the instrumentalities by which our city is always favorably spoken of abroad. Such
men as Dr. Wakefield are the ones who have built up the reputation of Bloomington ;
and we are glad to see they are honored at home. He has always been one of our most
liberal citizens, being among the foremost in all public enterprises. The amount of
capital employed in the business, including the building, presses, engine, the stock of
medicines on hand here, and the very large amount in the stores of his 6,000 agents is
over S150,000.
There are several manufactures of light articles such as brushes and overalls, and
there are the usual variety of miscellaneous artificers to be found in our best Western
cities. It is probable that, in the line of these light manufactures, Bloomington will in.
time become (|uite an important point.
In past times, our distilling interest was quite important, but the building, which
stood on the bank of Sugar Creek, west of the fair ground, was destroyed by fire
several years ago and has not been rebuilt.
The Bloomington Pork-Packing Company, now consisting of Van Schoick, Win-
slow (t Tryner, have been established since 1872. During the past season, they have
packed over 13,000 hogs, and given employment to over forty men. They have very
materially advanced the interests of Bloomington. This establishment is one of the
most important in Central Illinois.
We should also mention our breweries, which employ a large number of men.
The tile-factory of N. B. Heafer & Co., situated in Bloomington Township, a mile
southeast of the city, is one of our most important manufactories, and is rapidly extend-
ing its business. It is one of the very few in the West with first-class facilities for dry-
ing tile in the winter.
Besides the establishments enumerated above, there arc a large number equally
deserving of mention, but space forbids. There are also a very large number of small
shops and establishments that employ in the aggregate many men, including the usual
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 395'
variety of industries to be found in any city situated like this in a fine agricultural dis-
trict. Taken altogether, we have quite large manufacturing interests in Bloomington,
which seem likely to grow with the growth of the West. Our coal is as cheap as cani
be found, water is easily obtained, and we possess an industrious and energetic people.
Several of our manufacturing establishments are spoken of in our chapter entitled —
" Incorporated Companies."
MILLS.
The first mills in this locality were the old horse-mills, " corn-crackers " as they
were called, followed or accompanied by the " nigger-head " horse-mills, for grinding
wheat coarsely, which, when sifted, made a kind of flour, the " best to be had," and
accepted as cheerfully as possible. Good flour was made only at distant water-mills, and
Mr. James Allin and his associates in the new town of Bloomington, as late as 1832 and
1833, longed for a good steam flour-mill. A wind-mill, owned by Gridley & Covel,
located near the corner of Oak and Market, is mentioned as among the early institution^
of Bloomington. Steam saw-mills were built here as early as 1835, several of which
went the way of all saw-mills, upward in smoke. Steam grist-mills were not much more
fortunate, several being burned from first to last. Among those burned, we will men-
tion Myers' mill, on South Main street, and one owned by E. Rogers, which burned in
1864, situated just east of the Illinois Central Depot. Bloomington can now boast as
fine mills as any in the West. The total capacity of all our flour-mills is about three
hundred and fifty barrels per day.
*' r ^ FIRES.
October 16, 1855, occurred a large fire, where Phoenix Block and other buildings
now stand. It swept over nearly the whole square bounded by Front, Main, Wash-
ington and Center streets. The loss was estimated at from $80,000 to $120,000. The
McLean County Bank and the building adjoining, subsequently used by Dietrich &
Bradner as a hardware store, both nearly new buildings at that time, were the only ones
of importance that escaped. The four-story building now called Phcenix Block arose
from the ashes very speedily. September 8, 1856, a fire occurred on Front street,
which destroyed property to the value of $50,000. In September, 1871, a large fire
consumed buildings on the east side of Main street, north ot North street, destroying
property to the value of $60,000. October 31, 1867, the Chicago & Alton Railroad
Shops burned, a loss to the Company of at least $100,000. During the year 1877, th(»
city's entire loss by fire was only $9,885 ; insured for $9,305.
PUBLIC DEBT.
The following is an approximate statement of the debt of Bloomington :
City Schools, about $100,000
City, about 120,000
Township, I., B. & W. Bonds, about 100,000
Township, Lafayette, B. & M., about 94,000
Township, Jacksonville Branch, about 37,500
Total $451,500
From this there should be deducted a certain sum — whose value is unknown —
being the amount of back taxes that will actually be paid, which will be large enough to
justify the statement that the net debt of Bloomington, city, city school, and township,
does not much exceed $400,000, a sum that is large enough to be somewhat burdensome,
^96 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
but not so large as a " larger debt," to use Abraham Lincoln's homely illustration.
May 1, 1867, the actual debt of Bloomington, exclusive of school debt, was only $6,497,
but the votes for railroad aid taken in 1867, of themselves, added over $200,000 to the
township and city debt in that year.
SEWERS.
When Bloomington was laid out, the low ground now known as the North Slough
was properly named, it being wet and marshy, as was also the South Slough, now called
Pone Hollow ; but these were at the time, so far from the village plat as to be thought
valuable for drainage, and were considered a long distance out of town. But the city
spread itself in all directions, soon overleaped these obstacles, and then went back and
occupied the low land, now become dry ground, through which meandered a little stream,
with a deep bed and high banks. These water-courses have cut so deep that they have
been sufficient to carry oif the water without overflow, ever since the wet season of 1858.
The land adjacent has been closely occupied by residences and manufactories for many
years. The city has now commenced to build a sewer through each of these tracts.
The northern one is now completed from Main street, nearly to its western outlet at the
main branch, and the southern one has been commenced. When these are finished, our
whole city will be of equal value for building purposes.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The Court House will be spoken of in the history of the county, and we will
merely mention here that it is one of the best in the State, was commenced in 1868,
and cost entire, furniture, sewer, heating apparatus, iron-fence, sidewalk and all, in the
neighborhood of $400,000. Prices were then very high, and it is probable the same
would now cost about $250,000. The Jail is at the corner of Market and Center
streets, and was erected in 1857. It should at once be replaced by a more suitable
structure. The city owns two steam fire-engine houses, which answer all purposes, but
are not particularly ornamental. During the year 1878, the new City Hall was erected at
the corner of North and East streets ; total cost, building and lot, was about $14,000.
It is a fine-looking structure, considering its small cost, and will be used as a City Hall
and City Prison. The public school-buildings will be described elsewhere. They are
the most important of the public buildings owned by the city. The Wesleyan Univer-
sity, which may be considered as a public building, is really the most beautiful structure
in Bloomington.
INCORPORATED COMPANIES,
Bloomington has never organized as large a number of incorporated companies as
many Western towns have done in the past. There have been several failures, and there
are several companies now in existence ; but, as a rule, our citizens have not depended
on " by-laws " and " charters " for aid. There was a Bloomington Fire Insurance Com-
pany, which comprised our best citizens, and was honorably and fairly conducted ; but,
after doing business from 1867 down to 1870, it honorably withdrew from the field.
We ought to mention the Bloomington & Normal Railroad Company, which haa been
of great benefit to the two cities connected, but never a paying venture to the company.
The line was built in 1867, and its total cost has been about $60,000.
The Bloomington Manufacturing Company, which purchased Flagg's factory in
1865, after a successful general business, was succeeded in August, 1873, by the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 397
Bloomington Furniture Manufacturing Company. This company has about sixty-five
men in its shops, and furnishes employment to over one hundred men, women and
•children in this city who take materials to their homes ; while it sends abroad enough
more to different reformatory institutions to keep busy about seventy-five persons. The
work sent out of the factory is the caning of the seats and backs of chairs, of which this
firm makes abaut fifty different patterns. It manufactures over thirty-five thousand
chairs per annum, consuming about two hundred and fifty thousand feet of black wal-
nut lumber, much of which comes from the groves of McLean County. Its capital is
$60,000. This company is of great assistance to the laboring people of Bloomington,
among whom it disburses about $100 per day. Though the wages paid for outside
work seems small, it must be remembered that most of those employed have no other
avenue of employment open, and would otherwise remain idle. The President of the
company is Peter Whitmer ; Secretary and Manager, I. P. Fell, who has been in office
ever since 1873. The Directors are P. Whitmer, K. H. Pell, E. B. Steere, B. F.
Hoopes, P. Folsom, C. Wakefield and I. R. Krum. This company has been a success
from the start, and appears to demonstrate Bloomington's ability to carry on manufact-
uring at a profit.
The People's Bank is another successful company, which has built one of the finest
buildings in the city. It has stood all the financial storms of the past ten years, and is
strong in the confidence of the community. Peter Whitmer is the President, and
William Ollis, Cashier.
The National Bank of Bloomington was organized soon after the passage of the
national banking act, on the 23d of January, 1865,' and has been in operation ever
since. It is the successor of the Bank of Bloomington, which was organized in 1857,
an institution with a proud record, having withstood the severe crash in 1861, and
maintained its notes at par with gold. Its present President is D. M. Funk ; Cashier,
E. Thorpe. Among the stockholders of this bank in the past we find the names of
Isaac Funk, David Davis, J. H. Robinson, W. W. Orme and others well known in
Bloomington history. Mr. Thorpe has been its Cashier ever since its organization as
a national bank. Capital stock of the bank, $150,000 ; surplus and undivided profits,
about $195,000, making the entire banking capital $345,000.
The National State Bank was started in the summer of 1878. Capital, $50,000.
President, Frank Hoblitt ; Vice President, Jacob Funk ; Cashier, A. B. Hoblitt.
These three banks are incorporated, while the McLean County Bank, and that of
T. J. Bunn & Co., are private banks or partnerships. The entire banking capital of
the city is estimated at nearly $1,000,000.
We can add to these the Bloomington Stove Company, which was organized in
1870, and has been one of the most successful institutions of the place. Its President
is Dwight Harwood ; Superintendent, W. P. Brophy. Its stoves are sold all over the
West, being of the most approved patterns, of one hundred and fifteen different styles.
The company has in its employ from thirty to sixty persons, according to the season.
Its factory is located in the northwest part of the city, in the township of Normal.
The Empire Machine Works are also within the limits of the town of Normal, though
generally classed as belonging to Bloomington.
The Bloomington Gas-light and Coke Company was incorporated in 1855 ; works
were soon erected, and by the year 1857, a street was lighted extending all the way
398 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
from the Illinois Central to the Chicago & Alton Depot, the latter then being near the
machine-shops, north of the crossing of Chestnut street. There were also a few lamps
around the public square. In 1867, the gas works at the corner of Market and Oak
streets were abandoned, and entirely new ones built at the present location. Gen. A.
Gridley had then become sole owner. He constructed very permanent buildings,
extended the gas mains in every direction, and used every honorable means to induce
the City Council to establish lamps on all well-settled streets. There are now about
twenty miles of streets upon which there are gas-mains, and the city possesses about four
hundred street lamps. Bloomington is a remarkably well lighted city.
CALIFORNIA EMIGRANTS.
Few of the rising generation have any idea of the excitement that ran through
the country at the time of the " gold fever" of 1849 and 1850. For a long series of
years — more than twelve — the nation had been passing through a period of the most
terrible financial depression. Money had become almost an unknown quantity, and
people had aboiit settled into despondency, when suddenly the wonderful stories of the
gold discoveries in California flashed through the land. As soon as the truth was ascer-
tained, and it was known that immense quantities of gold had been found, and it was
seen that a new empire was to be founded on the Pacific Coast, the rush of adventure-
ous spirits was sudden and enormous. Bloomington — always ready to make a move
as quick as any other part of the world — sent a large company in the summer of 1849,^
who, with teams and outfits mostly gathered here, went the whole distance overland — a
toilsome, tedious journey of several months duration.
Among those who went in 1849, we have the names of Col. J. H. Wickizer, Levi
Hite, Asa Lillie, Solomon D. Baker, Joseph Duncan, Hiram Baker, Samuel Asliton, J.
Jackson, John M. Loving, Daniel B. Robinson, John Greenman, S. A. Adams and
John Walker. Out of this number there are now living here in Bloomington, Col. J.
H. Wickizer, John M. Loving and John Walker. S. A. Adams lives in Missouri ; S.
D. Bake'r in Virginia City, and Joseph Duncan in San Francisco; John Greenman,
Capt. D. B. Robinson, Hiram Baker and Levi Hite are dead.
On the first of March, 1850, a very large company left Bloomington for Califor-
nia, made up in part from the adjoining towns. At St. Joseph, Mo., they organized
in military shape for protection against Indians ; there were about twenty-five wagons,
and nearly one hundred men. Hugh Taylor was chosen Captain. The company had
tolerably good luck until they nearly reached the gold-fields, when some of them were
destitute, and their teams were badly worn down ; but on the whole it was a successful
journey.
From Bloomington there were John D. Clark, Green B. Larrison, Lyman Ferre,
Carey Barney, M. W. Packard, Hugh Taylor, William Hodge, J. R. Murphy, E. Parke,
Robert Barnett, Robert L. Baker, John Owen, Isaac Strain, Dr. G. Elkins, AVilliam
Elkins, W. P. Withers, T. S. Howard, Jesse Isgrig, W. Isgrig, Elijah Ellis, Lee Allin,
F. M. Rockhold, E. Henry. Of these, there are now living in Bloomington or vicinity,
G. B. Larrison, Lyman Ferre, M. W. Packard, Isaac Strain, J. R. Murphy, Lee Allin
and Robert Barnett. Capt. W. P. Withers lives in Missouri ; T. S. Howard in Iowa,
and Carey Barney in California. It is a remarkable fact that but two or three of the
whole number made even a moderate fortune in California ; but the most of those who.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 399
returned to Bloomington have been very successful. These veterans of the plains can
tell of some remarkable adventures.
REMARKABLE WEATHER.
Those who find enough of interest in the state of the weather to furnisli daily
themes for conversation as they meet casual acquaintances, will do well to read this
chapter, and forever after refrain from the common unmeaning remarks they so often drop
in regard to the "remarkable weather we are now enjoying." The " Deep Snow," the
"Sudden Freeze," and the "Great Hurricane" which the early settlers witnessed stand
out in bold relief as the most wonderful phenomena of the times.
The great hurricane came on the 27th day of June, 1827, or, as given by several
authorities, on the 19th of June. It struck Old Town Timber with fearful severity, and
leveled large tracts of heavy timber. There were then no settlers on the prairie,
no villages or cities to be leveled, no church-spires to be demolished, or the record of loss
and damage would be larger. Some injury is recorded in Blooming Grrove, where small
tracts of timber were leveled.
The fall of 1830 or 1831, was remarkably mild. Tobacco sprouts are said not to
have been killed until December 2, which, if correct, indicates a wonderful state of
affairs, as this plant is one of the most tender raised in this latitude.
December 29, 1830, occurred the heaviest fall of snow ever known in the West
The first snow was nearly three feet deep, and there were more than a dozen storms sub-
sequently. The full depth appears to have been about forty inches on a level, and this
when several snows had fallen and become so compacted that in many places the crust
would bear a man. The deer broke through, and wolves chased and caught them
frequently, a very unusual circumstance. It was impossible for the pioneers to travel,
and families caught without provisions suffered severely. In some settlements the supply
of corn and hay was so small that cattle starved, it being impossible to move food any
distance. Much of the stock was kept alive by felling trees, and the stock subsisted on
the branches. Most families lived on meal obtained by pounding corn by hand. There
were a few of the settlers who were caught away from home, and who nearly lost their
lives in the toilsome homeward journeys.
The pioneers in Blooming Grove did not suffer much, but were compelled to keep
indoors most of the time. Blooming Grove was then old enough to furnish plenty of
provisions for such a siege, but those living in detached settlements, particularly new
comers in small communities, suffered severely. When the snow went off, after about
six weeks of intense cold, the streams were remarkably high, considerably higher, in all
probability, than they have ever been since that event. It is probable that a similar winter
now would cause immense suffering. Our prairie towns could not obtain coal, or even
flour and groceries, as in such a case the railroads would be totally unable to keep open
for business.
A few extracts from experiences related in Prof. Duis' " Good Old Times in
McLean County " will illustrate the hardships caused by the " Deep Snow." From
Robert Guthrie's statement, page 192, we quote the following:
The winter of 1830-31 is remembered as the winter of the deep snow. Three days
before the snow began falling, Mr. Guthrie and Frederick Trimmer started for St. Louis with
teams and wagons to liaul goods for James AUin, who had opened a small store where Bloom-
ington now is. 'Ihey intended to be gone only ten days or two weeks, but they did not see their
400 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
families again for five weeks. They were obliged to leave their goods, wagons and Mr. Guthrie's*
oxen about fifteen miles the other side of Spring;field, and came through with Mr. Trimmer's
horses to break the way. During this time, their families were in a state of anxious suspense,
and were obliged to live on boiled corn ; indeed, during the whole winter, they had very little
to eat except pounded meal. During that winter, Mr. Guthrie sent his children to school,
though they had to work their way for a mile through snow that reached nearly to their necks ;
but when it became packed, they walked over the crust.
From the same work, page 219, we quote the words of one of our pioneers, who-
is now living in the city:
Jonathan Maxson states that during the winter of the deep snow (1830), he and his
brother went out where it did not drift nor blow away and took a careful measurement of the
depth of the snow with a stick and found it four feet deep. During the early part of that terri-
ble winter, deer were very numerous, but when the deep snow came they were starved and were
hunted by famished wolves and by settlers with snow-shoes until they were almost exterminated.
Shortly after the snow fell, Mr. Jesse Hiatt killed a very large deer, which he was unable to
carry home. He buried it in the snow and covered it with his coat to keep the wolves away.
But the snow afterward fell so deep that he was unable to visit the spot for two weeks. At last,
he put a harness on one of his horses and went to drag it home. On his return with the deer, he
killed three others and attached them also to his horse ; but the load was so hard to drag that he
did not return until late at night, when he found the frightened neighbors collected at his house,
about to start on a search for him. They had collected on horseback with trumpets and horns
and various things with which to make unearthly noises, and were, no doubt, disappointed to
find that there was no occasion for their fearful shrieks. The remainder of the night was spent
in dressing the deer.
Some of their neighbors caught deer alive by putting on snow-shoes and running them-
down; but, toward the latter part of the winter, they were so poor and emaciated that they were
hardly worth catching.
The fall of meteors November 14, 1836, though not exactly coming under this head,
will be mentioned here. It was a wonderful sight. The heavens were full of shooting
stars and meteoric phenomena, which, when witnessed by people living in scattered
settlements, may well have caused a feeling of awe, wonder and astonishment.
December 14, 1836, occurred a very sudden change of weather. From a mild,
thawy condition of the atmosphere, with the thermometer standing about forty degrees
above, the change was almost instantaneous, to twenty degrees below zero. The wind
came from the northwest, with a howl and a roar, a perfect moving wall uf cold, with its
edges apparently square and perpendicular. It traveled at the rate of about thirty
miles per hour. People were caught on the prairies at various distances from shelter,
and quite a number of persons perished, some of them but a short distance from home.
Cattle, hogs, and even wild animals were frozen to death. It is evident, from the accounts
we have of the effects of the cold, that the thermometer fell much more than twenty
degrees below zero, but we have no records of the degree of cold experienced. In mod-
ern times, we have read of changes almost as remarkable, in Iowa and Minnesota, but
none that will compare with this for suddenness. The people living in those States call
these storms " blizzards," a term not invented in 1836. Our sudden freeze must have
thrown a chill over the frontier such as we can hardly imagine.
June 23, 1837, a fall of snow surprised our pioneers. It was heavy enough to
make the green-leaved trees look white, but no damage resulted.
November 7, 1842, there was another remarkable, sudden freeze, but, while start-
ling in itself, it was not to be compared with its predecessor in 1836.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 401
The year 1844 is known to Western history as the wet season. It rained nearly
all summer, only ceasing late in August, and crops were very light indeed. Traveling
was a constant succession of wading and swimming, as most of the streams were desti-
tute of bridges. This was the year when the river was so high at St. Louis, and when
the old town of Kaskaskia was nearly ruined by the overflow. Those of our pioneers
who remained at home did not suffer particularly, except from the annoyances incident
to constant mud and moisture.
One day in 1848, the thermometer was twenty -six degrees below zero, and the day
after, thirty below.
The summer of 1854 will long be remembered as the " dry season," almost as long
as that of 1844 will be spoken of for its opposite characteristic. Sugar Creek went
entirely dry ; wells dried up all over the city ; water was purchased by many people,
and at one time it began to be feared that Bloomington would not be able to obtain a
supply. People traveling through the country often suffered with their teams before
they could obtain water, and cattle ran wild with thirst, rushing to the Mackinaw and
streams that were not exhausted, like droves of demons. Some of our citizens con-
ceived the idea of artesian wells, and efforts were made in that direction, but none of
them gave any encouragement.
January 9, 1856, was remarkably cold, the thermometer being twenty-eight
degrees below zero. There were several intensely cold days during the winter, some of
them having followed soon after warm weather, and thus causing the death of apple
and peach trees all through this region. All the peach-trees were killed down to their
roots, and many whole orchards of apple-trees were entirely, others partially, ruined.
The summer of 1858, was another wet season — nearly as bad as that of 1844.
McLean County suffered very severely during that summer, as wheat and corn both were
injured. Wheat was killed the winter previous, and as at this time, the whole county was
raising winter wheat — induced by the high prices of the Crimea war — it happened that
great financial distress was caused by the unfavorable yield of both wheat and corn.
June 7, 1859, a severe cold spell formed ice in Bloomington one-eighth of an
inch thick. The frost cut all the corn to the ground and killed the young leaves on
hickory and other forest trees. The corn crop was supposed to be ruined, but, fortu-
nately, the weather was so favorable that late-planted corn matured finely. The largest
and earliest of the crop was the most injured, that which had just come out of the
ground at the time of the frost or that which was only two inches high, came up from
the roots again and went forward at once. Some of the early corn was six inches high
and was, of course ruined. Most of the youngest corn that was left to nature came on
better than that which was replanted, and there was a fair crop.
The year 1863, is noted as the one in which there was frost every month in the
summer. In August, a very heavy frost destroyed much of the corn, and in September,,
another ruined most of that which had escaped in August. Owing to this cause and
the war demand, the price of corn ran up to $1.15 a bushel in Bloomington before the
next crop was harvested.
January 1, 1864, occurred a terrible snowstorm. The wind blew a perfect gale
from the northwest, and at the same time a heavy fall of light snow filled the air and
made travel almost impossible. The thermometer was twenty degrees below zero
during the storm and it continued as cold for the next two days. Cattle and sheep gave
402 HISTORY OF McLean county.
up to the fury of the storm, drifted away before the wind and large numbers of sheep
lost their lives. The railroads were blockaded, the Chicago & Alton trains not being
able to pass from Springfield to Bloomington for three days, nor from Bloomington to
Joliet for eight or nine days.
The great sleet of January 13, 1871, was an event that should be noted. The
forest trees around Bloomington and the shrubbery in private yards were irreparably
injured. The sleet was equivalent to more than an inch of rain. Telegraph poles
were broken, and in many cases all the large limbs broke from trees. Nearly one-third
of the foliage-bearing branches were thus crushed ; whole trees fell down and the dam-
age to our fruit and shade trees is still plainly visible.
In the winter of 1873, during an intensely cold spell, when the thermometer had
fallen about twenty degrees below zero, the wind changed in the night to the south, and,
for a few hours, there was most a remarkably low temperature, with a high south
wind. At one time, the thermometer was from twenty-six to thirty-two degrees below
zero, according to the instrument and its exposure.
The winter of 1877 and 1878, will long be remembered on account of its extreme
mildness. At no time was the ice in the vicinity of Bloomington over three inches in
thickness. The entire winter was about as mild as average April weather. Rains
were frequent, often very heavy, and, before the 1st of January, the roads were impassa-
ble, and remained so from about January 1 to the middle of March. Business of all
kinds was nearly suspended, and a general gloom pervaded the community.
The following winter was just the reverse. Snow fell early in December, followed
by fifteen inches of level snow on the 13th of December, which remained for nearly
six weeks. The sleighing was the best ever known, and was enjoyed to the fullest
extent. Washington street was, by general consent, given up to the fast-stepping
horses for which Bloomington is so famous, and was crowded with gay and happy
parties every afternoon — often as many as fifty-five teams being visible at one time.
Near the close of the sleighing season, on the 11th of January, 1879, there was a grand
sleighing carnival, or free ride, for all the children of the city, participated in by nearly
three thousand. It was a sight long to be remembered. There were over two hundred
sleighs, of all sorts and sizes, many of them gayly decorated with flags and streamers.
Thousands of spectators lined the streets, and the excitement and enthusiasm were both
novel and pleasant.
Our list will close with the mention of the five cold mornings in January, 1879.
January 2, the thermometer was twenty degrees below zero ; on the 3d, twenty-eight ;
on the 4th, seventeen; on the 5th, twenty; and on the 6th, ten degrees below — mak-
ing, probably, five of the coldest days ever known in such close connection.
KVENTS DURING THE WAR.
Bloomington is entitled to rank with the most patriotic cities in the land. It can
show a proud record from the time when its citizens volunteered to aid the settlers of
the exposed northern frontiers of Illinois to the last day of the civil war. Its list of
heroes must be included in the county's record, as there is no way of fairly separating
the city from the county ; but it is proper that we mention some of the stirring events
that took place in the city itself
When Fort Sumter was fired on, and the President's call for volunteers appeared,
in April, 1861, our city wa.s not behind the rest of the land in its readiness to respond,
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BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 405
A public meeting was held at once, when speeches were made that gave evidence of the
patriotic feelings of the people. The enthusiasm for the old flag was deep and earnest.
Cheers, shouts and excitement abounded. Volunteers were called for, and in an
incredibly short time, a company was raised for the three-months service called for,
largely made up of energetic, enthusiastic young men from this city. In three or four
days, the company left for Springfield, under Capt. Harvey, and it served its time at Cairo.
As soon as this company was full, several other companies were at once organized,
For a few days it seemed as if every able-bodied man would volunteer. Four or five
companies were drilling daily, made up from all classes of citizens. Had the Govern-
ment been able to take all the troops oifered, there is no doubt that at least six hundred
men would have enlisted at once, in the month of May, from Bloomington alone. The
day that the first company, under Capt. Harvey, left town, and also the day of their
return from Cairo, are memorable events. On both occasions, the streets were literally
crowded with spectators. The first was a time of the deepest and most poignant afflic-
tion ; the last was a season of joy and gratitude. These two events were repeated over
and over again during the next few years ; but never were equaled in intensity of feel-
ing, except on the days of the leaving and returning of the entire McLean County
regiment — the Ninety- fourth Illinois Volunteers — which left August 25, 18G2, and
returned Augus: 9, 1865.
August 26, 1861, about three hundred of the men of the Thirty-third Illinois
Regiment left this city and county for Springfield, and again was there leave-taking and
patriotic excitement in our streets. This regiment included one company (A) of students
from Normal, and one company made up largely from Bloomington. The latter was
Company C, of which E. R. Roe was Captain. Roe edited the Democratic Statesman
at the time. He was soon promoted, and his place was filled by Capt. E. J. Lewis, who
enlisted in the company as a private soldier. Lewis edited the Pantagraph at the time
the war broke out, served with great credit until the close of the war, and again edited
the same paper for five or six years after his return.
It was noticed, as the war became an old story, that the departure of troops grew
to be more and more an individual matter, left by the public mainly to those interested
— the departing soldier and his intimate friends and relatives ; but at the close, every
detachment that returned was welcomed most enthusiastically.
The excitement caused by the destruction, in August, 1862, of the Bloomington
Times, a sheet with Southern sympathies too strong for this latitude, was most intense.
The soldiers of the Ninety-fourth Regiment performed this job, aided by uncontrollable
spirits who were willing to assist when sure that the blame or praise would be awarded
to the departing volunteers.
On the 2d of September, 1862, a dispatch was received from Springfield at about
midnight, calling for 200 men, instantly, to guard a large detachment of rebels stationed
at Camp Butler. The fire-bells were rung; the public responded; the state of the
case explained ; the required number was enlisted in a few hours, and a little after day-
light made their appearance at Springfield, creating the utmost astonishment at the
patriotic promptitude with which our citizens volunteered. Old men, boys and cripples
went on this expedition as readily as the able-bodied. It appeared some one at Spring-
field had an idea the rebel prisoners might make an attempt to escape, and relied on
Bloomington's well-known habit of prompt and instantaneous action, to call together,
406 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
suddenly, a force that should overawe the prisoners who had been carelessly left with
too small a guard.
During the early part of the year 1862, several soldiers' funerals took place at
Bloomington, stirring the city to its very heart. Among the most noted, we may men-
tion that of Lieut. Joseph Gr. Howell, who had enlisted at the first call in 1861, resign-
ing his place as Principal of the Model School at Normal. He was a noble young man,
with troops of warm friends. He was killed at Fort Donelson. Capt. Harvey, killed
a little later, at Pittsburg Landing, was honored with a public funeral, and the city was
plunged in grief once more. We should also mention Col. Hogg's and Col. William
McCullough's funerals, and others.
Immense sums were given in aid of the families of soldiers in the early part of
the war ; but later, the public sympathy was mainly directed through the Sanitary Com-
mission, to the assistance of those in the field. In 186-4, as much as $10,000 was sent
in money in one donation, of which Isaac Funk gave $5,000. There was a constant
stream of charity pouring in this direction, whose dimensions in tlie aggregate must
have been magnificent.
At the Presidential election, in 1864, there was tremendous excitement. Many of
the soldiers were at home ; some discharged for disability, others by expiration of threes
years' enlistment, and many were at home on furlough. These were well aware that
during the whole time of their absence there had been a "fire in the rear; " and from
a variety of causes, great feeling was manifested. At that time, the whole township of
Bloomington, polling 1,774 votes, had one voting place — the old jail-building, on
the northwest corner of the Court House square. The election, after all, was one of
the quietest on record, though probably one-third of the voters carried pistols, ready for
any outbreak that might occur. The Judges of the election were A. B. Ives, John
Dawson and J. H. Burnham. In spite of the rapidity with which they were obliged
to decide all cases of challenged votes, their decisions were acquiesced in by the leading
men of both parties most cheerfully, and their feat of taking votes at tbe rate of three
per minute, at a time of such a hot contest, can scarcely be paralleled. Mr. Lincoln
had a majority of about six hundred in the township of Bloomington.
During the winter of 1864, Company K of the Twenty-sixth Illinois Regiment
of which Gen. I. J. Bloomfield was the Captain, returned to this county on "veteran,
furlough," and were kindly welcomed by the citizens of Bloomington.
On the 14th of March, 1864, the entire Thirty-third Regiment Illinois Volunteers
arrived at Bloomington on their "veteran furlough," on their way from Texas to their
diti'ertnt homes in lUinois.
There were over four hundred of these heroes, of whom quite a number were from
Bloomington. The citizens gave them a warm-hearted reception at Royce Hall, which
was unlooked for by the veterans, and was a fitting tribute to the brave men who so
nobly continued in the service of the country. This class of soldiers, entitled to more
praise than any other, have generally been treated like ordinary volunteers. Now the
fact is, they really stand the highest in the list of the nation's defenders. Their vol-
unteering in the face of danger, alter three years' service, was convincing proof to the
rebels that they never could succeed in their undertaking.
The day before the Presidential election, in 1864, large bodies of suspicious look-
ing men came from Southern Illinois to this city, and changed cars for Chicago. James
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 407
AlHn, Jr., then Postmaster, telegraphed the circumstances to John Wentworth and
others, and the result was, that the men were arrested before they reached the city. It
afterward transpired that they were concerned in fhe famous plot to rescue the rebel
prisoners at Camp Douglas, and the dispatch from Bloomington was one of the indica-
tions that proved something unusual was being attempted.
In the early part of the war, it seemed that the volunteers paid little attention to
filling the muster-rolls correctly, and it often happened that nearly a whole company
would be credited to Bloomington, when, in fact, it was raised in the county at large.
Besides this, all who lived in three or four of the adjacent townships whose post-office
addresses were at Bloomington, were generally credited as residents, and the result was
that the city's quota was more than filled. When the first draft was threatened in
McLean County, in 1864, it was discovered that Bloomington's quota was already made
up, and a good deal of bad feeling resulted. By a liberal county bounty, and the gen-
eral co-operation of the citizens of both city and county, the first draft was avoided.
February or March, 1865, the last draft barely touched a few districts in McLean
County. Most of the towns, as well as the wards in Bloomington raised liberal
subscriptions, which, in addition to the county bounty, proved eifectual. In Blooming-
ton, out of a good many thousand dollars raised, quite a large proportion, in some of
the wards, was returned to the subscribers.
The news of peace, or rather the surrender of Gen. Lee, the capture of Jeff" Davis
and the surrender of Gen. Joe Johnston — the whole equivalent to a declaration of
peace — caused intense satisfaction and extravagant rejoicing in the same manner as
Union victories had done previously. The usual way was for a few men to run around
the public square, call for a collection, buy some powder, which Pres. Butler would burn
in his cannon, while the boys would join in a general rejoicing. Sometimes we fired a
little too soon, or the news would turn out to be unimportant, but we kept up the prac-
tice till the news of the last surrender.
In those days, the Associated Press dispatches usually arrived at the Pantagraph
office a little before noon, and any very special news was printed speedily on slips of
paper and sold by boys as '• extras." On the morning after the assassination of Presi-
dent Lincoln, J. H. Burnham, editor of the Bloomington Pantagrapli^ was at
Chicago. He saw the news in the morning paper there, and knew at once that the
Pantagraph could not possibly have the dispatch. He went to the telegraph office
before it opened, and sent the first dispatch of the morning, telling his paper, over his
own signature, in about sixty words, the terrible news. This was known on the streets
of Bloomington at about 9 o'clock, and it caused intense grief and astonishment. Mr.
Lincoln was known and loved in Bloomington as well as anywhere else in the world, and
for several hours, grief, anger and revenge swayed the public, crowds of people being in
the streets, discussing the sad event. A man of the name of John Hinzey, boarding
at the Ashley, was heard to rejoice over Mr. Lincoln's death, and thoughtlessly
applauded, or was understood to applaud the assassin. When this was reported on the
streets, the whole mass seemed carried away by frenzy, aad at once moved toward the
Ashley House to take out the ofi"ender to be hanged. His life was in such danger
that it was only saved by the stratagem of a few of the cooler heads, who organized a
committee to give him a trial, to which the crowd consented, and while this was going
on, Mr. Hinzey was hustled into a carriage, several blocks west of the hotel, having
408 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
been passed out in disguise at the rear, and he was driven rapidly toward Peoria. In a
few hours after his escape, the crowd became glad it had not taken human life.
FREEMASONS.
As it takes many people to make a world, so various methods for doing good have
been organized, and will be carried on till the end of time. One of the oldest, and,
perhaps, one of the most permanent, of the different orders or societies that we can men-
tion, is that of Freemasonry. This Order was established in Bloomington at an early
day. in 1847, Peoria Lodge recommended the application for a new lodge in Bloom-
ington. The first meeting of Bloomington Lodge, No. 43, was March 1, 1847. Its
first Master was John Foster. The first member admitted was W. C. Hobbs, who
became the second Master, and, afterward, was Master of the Grand Lodge, being the
only member from Bloomington who has ever attained this distinction. Dr. Hobbs was
one of the leading citizens of Bloomington from this time down to the time of his
death, February 10, 1861. He was, perhaps, the most genial, the kindest-hearted,
most generally useful man who has ever lived in Bloomington. The Masters of this
Lodge who followed Dr. Hobbs were E. Thomas, M. C. Baker, John M. Scott, Good-
man Ferre and others. The Masonic Order has always included a large proportion of
leading citizens, making it one of our " institutions " of merit, and it has accomijlished
a vast amount of good. There are three lodges, all meeting on different nights in one
hall, which, since 1877, has been in the upper part of the fine building at the corner of
Center and Front streets, where may be found one of the most completely fitted lodge-
rooms in the State. Besides the three lodges of inferior degrees, there are two or
more of the higher, made up mostly of those who belong to the lower lodges, of which
we will mention the Chapter of Rojal Arch Masons and the Commandery of Knights
Templar. Bloomington Chapter, No. 26, Royal Arch March Masons, was organized
March 19, 1855. Its leading ofiicers are : High Priest, J. Brewster; Treasurer, Good-
man Ferre, and its Secretary is John D. Fowle.
De Molay Commandery, No. 24, was constituted October 22, 1867. Its ofiicers are
Charles F.Webb, Eminent Commander; James Clark, Generalissimo; William M.
Stevenson, Captain General; Jabez Brewster, Treasurer, and J. D. Fuwle, Recorder.
These Knights are well drilled, and make a fine appearance when seen in public.
Bloomington Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, held its first meeting, as we have
stated above, March 1, 1847. Its present officers are W. R. Bascom, Master; Thomas
W. Stevenson, Senior Warden ; Michael Gee, Junior Warden ; N. N. Wiuslow, Treas-
urer ; Charles Strehorn, Secretary. The Lodge has about two hundred members.
Wade Barney Lodge Wcis organized August 8, 1866. and now contains 123 mem-
bers. Its Master is L. L. Burr ; Senior Warden, C. W. Kirk ; Junior Warden, A. M.
Goodfellow; Treasurer, J. E. Eastman; Secretary, C. J. Northrop.
Mozart Lodge, No. 656, is composed of Germans, and contains about forty mem-
bers. It was organized in October, 1870. This Lodge transacts all business in the
German language.
Closely allied with Masonry is the Order of the Eastern Star, composed of Free-
masons, their wives and daughters. Bloomington Chapter, No. 4, was organized Janu-
ary 1, 1870. Worthy Patron, W. C. Stevenson; Worthy Matron, Mrs. A. Kettle;
Treasurer, Mrs. W. Stevenson; Secretary, Mrs. E. C. Roberts. Tiiere are 110 members.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 409
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.
There is perhaps no more systematic charity than is dispensed through the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. This society is peculiarly fortunate in Bloomington, having
been established at an early day, and its first members being men of high moral aims ;
their successors have followed in the way first marked out by the original members,
have always kept the ancient landmarks well in sight, and have attained great proficiency
in all the proper work of the Order.
Remembrance Lodge, No. 77, was organized October 20, 1851. Among its charter
members we find the names of H. S. Herr and William Nightwine. John M. Scott
was initiated the same night the Lodge was instituted, and has with the above-named
continued a member until the present time.
Several of those most prominent in the Grand Lodge of this jurisdiction have been
members of Remembrance Lodge, among whom we will mention H. S. Herr and Thomas
F. Mitchell, both of whom have been Grand Ofiicers. Mr. Mitchell has been delegate
to the National Grand Lodge, where he was one of the most active and efl&cient representa-
tives. The present Noble Grand of Remembrance Lodge is C. S. Strayer ; Vice Grand,
C. M. Ross; Recording Secretary, Amos Kemp; Permanent Secretary, L. B. Elledge ;
Robert Thompson, is Treasurer, a position he has filled for twenty years. Evergreen
City Lodge, No. 265, was instituted September 30, 1858. Its present number of mem-
bers is 100. Its Noble Grand is George T. Heritage; Vice Grand, E. Huhn ; Record-
ing Secretary, F. B. Augustus ; Permanent Secretary, H. J. Higgins ; Treasurer, Peter
Rockwell.
Uhland Lodge, No. 305, was organized July 1, 1863. Its charter is in the Ger-
man language, and its meetings are all conducted in German, and its membership made
up of that nationality. A. Schlegel is Noble Grand ; Fred. Kersten, Vice Grand ; H.
Moratz, Recording Secretary ; W. D. Penner, Financial Secretary and William A. Ger-
ken, Treasurer ; Representative to Grand Lodge, Charles Lamp.
McLean Encampment, No. 29, was organized April 11, 1855. It contains at
present about seventy-five members. This Lodge is made up from members of the other
lodges, being a higher degree of the same Order. William McComb is C. P.; George
T. Heritage, H. P.; Charles Lamp, S. W.; A. C. Atkins, Scribe ; R. Thompson, Treas-
urer. Remembrance Lodge owns a business house, next to the northeast corner of Main
and Washington streets. It was purchased in 1878, at a cost of nearly $10,000. This
purchase was made from the permanent funds of the Lodge, and shows a financial stand-
ing that is to be commended. The amount of funds on hand in the different lodges of
the Order amounts to about $14,000. This money is a revenue to be used in case the
annual dues shall not be equal to the demands of its members who may happen to be
sick or disabled, and indicates a flattering degree, of prosperity.
Many of the wives of Odd Fellows, with their husbands, are members of the Order
of the Degree of Rebecca. Bethlehem Lodge, No. 32, was incorporated November 11,
1870, though a lodge was in existence previously. Its Noble Grand is Oliver Beebe ;
Vice Grand, Mrs. Nelson Taylor ; Mrs. E. R. Hallett is Recording Secretary ; Mr. W.
D. Hallett is the Permanent Secretary ; the Treasurer is Mrs. William J. Harrill.
There are seventy-five members.
410 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Abraham Lincoln Lodge, No. 85, of the Degree of Rebecca, meets at the hall in
Liberty Block. These Rebecca Lodges are mainly for social purpose*, though there are
some obligations and duties imposed upon the members.
VARIOUS SECRET SOCIETIES.
One of the most important of our secret organizations is the Knights of Pythias,
which meets at 112 and 114 South Main street, in Liberty Block. It contains 109
members. Richard Osborne, P. C. ; M. B. Jeter, C. C ; J. E. Espey, V. C; CD.
Myers, Prelate ; William Van Schoich, M. of E., and Frank Johnson, Jr., M. of F.
Its Trustees are J. W. Fifer, J. W. Trotter and Dr. C. R. Karr. Whenever this
society appears in public in uniform, it invariably attracts great attention, the appear-
ance of its members being highly indicative of discipline and good fellowship.
The "Universal Brotherhood" organized Lodge No. 4 in Bloomington, February
3, 1878, about which time representatives from all over the United States met here to
perfect their organization. This institution is of a fraternal nature, and its main feat-
ure is insurance, its policies being at the members' option, in sums varying from $500
to $5,000. The Order in this State has been incorporated as the "Grand Command-
ery of the Universal Brotherhood of the World." The officers of No. 4, are R. F.
McCabe, Illustrious Commander ; W. G. Nichols, Captain General ; A. 0. Grigsby,
Chief of Records; W. H. Phillips, Registration Chief; H. N. Cutshaw, Chief of
Exchequer ; J. A. Reason, Master of Ceremonies.
The Knights of Honor organized in July, 1878, with fourteen charter members.
It is mainly for mutual life insurance, though it has social features. The Grand Lodge
of the State controls 110 subordinate lodges. Assessments are made so that upon the
death of a brother, his heirs obtain $2,000. The Grand Lodge of Illinois, of which
J. C. S. Miller, a Bloomingtonian, is Grand Dictator, meets here in June, 1879. The
Bloomington organization is known as Independent Lodge K. of H., No. 706. Its
officers are: Past Dictators, Frank White, I. N. Littel, E. D. Miller; Dictator, C. A.
Brooks ; Vice Dictator, B. G. Cash ; Asst. Dictator, S. B. Cooper ; Treasurer, E. D.
Miller; Reporter, C. E. Baker; Financial Reporter, C. L. Camp; Medical Examiner,
Dr. N.B.Cole; Chaplain, W. R. Bascom ; Guide, M. Plumley ; Guardian, George
Harman ; Sentinel, Adam Hess.
The Ancient Order of United Workmen is a secret benevolent society with an
insurance feature that highly commends itself Upon the death of any member any-
where in the State, the assessments realize enough to pay $2,000 to the family of the
deceased. The Bloomington Lodge was organized April 17, 1877. Its number is 63.
Its officers for the past six months were J. D. Dodge, Past Master ; F. M. Fowler,
Master Workman ; T. W. Pelton, General Foreman ; Julius Johnson, Overseer ; J. L.
Beath , Receiver ; James Lonney, Financier; F. W. Coe, Recorder; D. Hemmele,
Guide ; G. B. Bossie, Inside Watchman ; J. S. Izaat, Outside Watchman. There are
about ninety members and the Order is in a flourishing condition.
The Independent Order B'nai B'rith has one Lodge, Abraham Lincoln, No. 190.
E. Ganz, is President; M. Lange, Vice President; W. Greisheim, Secretary; M. Heil-
brun, Financial Secretary. This Order equals the Masons or Odd Fellows in the
thoroughness and completeness of its organized charity. The Bloomington lodge was
started October 27, 1872, with twenty-two members and now contains thrity-three.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COJNTY. 411
The Ancient, Free and Accepted York Masons have a lodge — Evening Star
Lodge, No. 4— organized September 12, 1864. J. A. Hill, Master; Z. T. Baker,
Senior Warden ; J. Ward, Junior Warden ; R. Holley, Treasurer ; R. Allin, Sec-
Tetary.
BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.
Bloomington boasts of better organized charitable associations than almost any
other place in this State. Besides those which have secret organizations, we have a
number that work publicly, though in an organized form. Of these we might mention
the German Benevolent Association, which was formed May 1, 1857 ; has a present
membership of seventy-four, and has become one of the oldest of its kind in the State.
John Breckbeller is President ; C. Haker, Vice President, and William D. Penneri
Treasurer.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians of Bloomington was chartered April 20, 1874,
and contains at this time about sixty members. Michael Martin is President : James
Costello, Vice President ; William Nihin, Treasurer, and Daniel Haggarty, Secretary.
The Hibernian Benevolent Society was incorporated March, 1869.^ It has seventy
members. George Burns is President; John Sullivan, Sr., Treasurer, and Dennis
Mahoney, Secretary. These beneficial organizations have been supplemented by the
Father Mathew Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society, and the St. Patrick Total
Abstinence and Benevolent Society.
It is quite difficult, in a city like Bloomington, to learn of all the different
societies and organizations. Our modern life seems to be adapted to all these various
bodies ; they are readily formed, and often more easily dissolved. We know of the
Conductors' and Engineers' Brotherhood, and of the Firemen's and Brakemen's Asso-
ciations, as well as of several trades-unions and other societies, but our space will not
allow us to publish all the particulars which we might easily obtain. There are other
societies ; for instance, the German Free-School Society, with a good schoolhouse and
lot at the corner of West and Front streets, well worthy of more particular mention ;
but we have already exceeded the space allotted to these matters, and have, perhaps,
even as it is, descended to more particulars than our readers will care to examine.
IMPORTANT GERMAN ORGANIZATIONS.
The first appearance of Germans in Bloomington in any considerable numbers,
•dates from 1854 to 1858, and we find that during these years some of our best German
organizations had their origin. Among these, we will mention the Turners, who com-
menced August 20, 1858. They have become one of the most powerful societies in
Bloomington. They now occupy the building which was, previous to 1856, the Bap-
tist Church ; but this is too small and inconvenient for the Turners, who are forming
their plans for the erection, as soon as possible, of a building that will be a credit to
the society and an ornament to the city. Their ability to carry out the project has been
but very slightly impaired by the hard times through which we are passing, and when
the Society moves we may expect to see something accomplished. The present officers
of the Bloomington Turnverein are as follows : President, William Gerken ; Vice
President, C. Brohm ; Recording Secretary, P. Horermann ; Corresponding Secretary,
JE. Riebsame ; Treasurer, C. Trimpter.
412 HTSTORY OF McLEAN COUNTT.
October 12, 1874, saw the first organization of the Bloomington Maenne'rchor,
which now contains a membership of 120. This number includes several hon-
orary members, the active, or singing members, being about one-half of the whole
society. The success of the organization has been quite remarkable. It now contains
some of the best voices in the West, well trained, and ready to take a high position in
the musical world. This society contains a large proportion of the best educated of
the Germans in Bloomington, and it represents the wealth, culture and refinement of
the German nation as well as any single organization in Central Illinois. Its officers
are : Peter Gratz, President ; Carl Wehrstedt, Vice President ; Henry Behr, Secre-
tary ; George H. Mueller, Financial Secretary, and Jacob Jacoby, Treasurer; H. P.
Seibel is Musical Director, and Arnold Rigger is Librarian. Prof. H. Von Eisner, who
died in July, 1878, was, for some time, musical director, and is spoken of by the mem-
bers as having been a fine musician, to whom the society is under obligations for quite a
large portion of its present efficiency.
OUR HIGHEST OFFICIALS.
Bloomington was not very ambitious for high political honors in its younger days. It
never aspired to fill high offices in the State or nation ; was content to be well governed
at home, and to take care of as many of the county and legislative offices as possible?
ever ready to help elect good men from other portions of the State to its highest offices.
Even when John Moore, of Randolph's Grove, was made Lieutenant Governor in 1840,
it did not seem to rouse our other politicians to any degree of individual ambition.
There was a spasm at the time Owen Lovejby was nominated for Congress in 1856,
McLean being then in the same district with Bureau County, but nothing came of it,
and our voters swallowed their pride, and assisted Mr. Lovejoy to the position he
desired. Up to 1870, no citizen of McLean County had ever been elected to Congress.
In 1856, James Miller, of Bloomington, was chosen State Treasurer, being the first
Bloomingtonian to fill a high State office. Mr. Miller was one of our most respected
citizens, and has left his mark upon our city, very particularly in the Methodist Church,
of which he was a consistent, liberal and enthusiastic member. In 1874, Samuel M.
Etter, who had for some time been City School Superintendent here, was elected State
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
In 1872, Gen. John McNulta, whose brilliant record as Colonel of the Ninety-
fourth Illinois Regiment is set forth in its proper place, was elected to Congress from the
district composed of the counties of McLean, DeWitt, Logan, Tazewell and Mason,
being the first of our citizens ever elected to Congress. He was followed in 1874 by A.
E. Stevenson, who is our present member, having been again elected in November,
1878.
Judge Thomas F. Tipton, another Bloomingtonian, was chosen to Congress in
1876. Our city is now rather noted for its willingness to furnish Congressmen, or, in
fact, candidates for almost any position. We believe Bloomington has always had the
Judge of this judicial district ever since it was first filled by David Davis in 1848. He
was succeeded in 1862 by John M. Scott, who was promoted from the Circuit to the
Supreme Bench in 1870. Thomas F. Tipton was our Judge from the latter date until
he was sent to Washington, as noted before, and Owen T. Reeves was then chosen to fill
the vacancy. Our judges have been distinguished for their ability and impartiality.
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY, 413
Hon. John M. Scott was elected to the Supreme Bench of Illinois in June, 1870.
He had been Circuit Judge here from 1862. He had also filled several offices in this
dty and county, having been, when a young man, City Clerk and City Attorney, and,
previous to his election as Circuit Judge, he had, in 1852, filled the position of Judge of
Probate, and had held other appointments. He never sought office, but has been one of
those careful, competent, well-balanced men who are so rare that, when met with, the
public insist upon elevating them to offices of honor and trust. Judge Scott is a native
Ulinoisan, having been born near Belleville, St. Clair County, in 1823. He has been
honored with the above-mentioned offices, while at the same time he has conferred dig-
nity upon every one he has filled, being a cultured gentleman whom people have always
been proud to refer to as a model official. For two years of the nine during which he
has been upon the Supreme Bench, he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
State of Illinois.
Judge David Davis, one of the oldest and foremost of Bloomington's pioneers, is a
gentleman who has heeu highly promoted difierent at times, and we will refer to him by
a quotation from the carefully-prepared article in " The Good Old Times in McLean
County," by Prof. Duis, which does him justice in better terms than we can command.
The greatest legal light of Bloomington is Judge David Davis. He was born in Cecil
County, Md., on the 9th of March, 1815. He graduated at Kenjon College, Ohio, on the 4th of
September, 183'2, and commenced the study of law at Lenox, Mass., in October following, in the
oflBce of Judge Henry W. Bishop. After studying there for two years, he went to the New
Haven Law School, where he remained until the fall of 1885, when he removed to Pekin, Taze-
well Co., III. After practicing law for one year in Pekin, he removed to Bloomington, which
has ever since been his home. Here he succeeded to the law business of Mr. Jesse W. Fell,
who became much interested in operations in real estate. He took possession of Mr. Fell's old
office, which was one door east of what is now Espey's drug store. Mr. Davis succeeded in the
law at the very outset. He was not a great orator, nor ever a very fluent talker, but he was a
clear-minded man, and soon took a front rank in his chosen profession.
On the 13th of October, 1838, Judge Davis married Miss Sarah Walker, at Lenox, Mass.
She is a daughter of .Judge Walker, of that State. Judge Davis has two children living — a son
and a daughter. The former is living with his family near Bloomington. In the year 1840,
Mr. Davis was the candidate of the Whigs for the office of State Senator against Gov. Moore, but
the latter was successful. The Senatorial District then embraced the counties of Moultrie,
Macon, Piatt, De Witt, McLean and Livingston. In 1844, Mr. Davis was elected to the lower
house of the Assembly, but declined to be a candidate for re-election. In 1847, he was elected
a member of the Constitutional Convention; and, in 1848, was chosen by the people, without
opposition, to be Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, embracing fourteen counties. This was
a position for which Judge Davis was eminently fitted. It has been said of him, that his lead-
ing characteristic is love of equity, and this, combined with a strong will, quick perceptions
and the very clearest judgment, made his decisions universally respected. His decisions were
seldom appealed from, and more seldom reversed.
The Eighth Judicial Circuit, which embraced, at first, fourteen counties, contained an
array of talent rarely equaled among the same number of lawyers. Judge Logan was the
leader of the bar, but, following him closely, were Lincoln, Stuart, Baker, Linder, Gridley,
Judge 0. L. Davis, Judge Thornton, Hon. 0. B. Ficklin; Judge Emerson, C. H. Moore, .Judge
Benedict, Judge Parks, Judge Edwards and others, some of whom have since become immortal
in history. Lincoln was the constant companion of Judge Davis in their travels around the
extensive circuit, and at the close of their journey each day, Lincoln related those humorous
stories which have made him so famous. Mr. Davis traveled in a two-horse buggy, and Mr.
Lincoln rode in his own conveyance, drawn by his celebrated horse " Buck." the one which fol-
lowed the great martyr in the funeral procession to his final resting-place.
414 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The year 1860 was one of memorable interest in Illinois. Some years before this, many
prominent citizens of the State resolved to press Abraham Lincoln as a candidate for President
■of the United States, and during this year the excitement was so intense that nearly all law
business was at a standstill, because the lawyers and judges devoted all of their time to the
campaign. Judge Davis was, by far, the most active and influential of Mr. Lincoln's support-
ers, and his labors were almost herculean. Perhaps some idea may be given of the labors of
Judge Davis by giving an extract from a letter written by Mr. Jesse W. Fell to a late distin-
guished Senator of the United States, in regard to a question by the latter as to the part taken
by Mr. Fell in the campaign of 1860. The question was suggested by an autobiography of
Abraham Lincoln, of which Mr. Fell was the proprietor, recently published by Osgood & Co., of
Boston. The following is the extract :
" Before responding to your inquiries, allow me to say, you give me much more credit than
I am entitled to for the part I took in bringing before the American people the name of Abra-
ham Lincoln as a candidate for the Presidency. Your original impressions were originally cor-
rect. To Judge Davis more than to any other man, living or dead, the American people are
indebted for that extraoi-dinary piece of good-fortune — the nomination and consequent election
of that man who combined in his person, in so high a degree, the elements necessary to a suc-
cessful administration of the Government through the late most critical period in our national
history. It is quite possible Mr. Lincoln's fitness, or, rather, availability, as a candidate for that
position may have occurred to me before it did to the Judge; but at an early date, as early, I
think, as 1858, it bad his earnest approval ; and, I need not say, his vastly superior influence
gave to his opinion on this subject a weight and character which my private and humble opin-
ion could not command. It is well known that Judge Davis, though not a delegate, was one of
the leading men at the Decatur State Convention, in May, 1860, which elected delegates to the
Chicago National Convention ; that he was there selected as one of the Senatorial delegates to the
latter body; that, for more than a week prior to the nomination, he had, in connection with
other friends of Mr. Lincoln, opened the ' Lincoln Headquarters,' at the Tremont House, Chi-
cago, where, and throughout the city, wherever delegates were to be found, he labored day and
night, almost sleeplessly, throughout that long and dramatically-interesting contest, working
with a zeal, assiduity and skill never surpassed, if ever equaled ; and that when those herculean
labors culminated in the choice of his trusted and most confidential friend, his feelings so over-
powered him that, not only then but for hours after, in grasping the hands of congratulating
friends, he wept like a child. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that without the hearty and vigor-
ous co-operation of quite a number of equally eminent men, the prestige attached to the names
of Seward and others could not have been broken and this nomination secured, no one as famil-
iar as I was with what was then and there enacted, can doubt for a moment the pre-eminent part
there played by the Judge. Among Lincoln hosts he was emphatically the great central figure ;
the great motor of the hour. ' Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.' "
In 1861, Judge Davis, Judge Holt and Mr. Campbell were chosen by Lincoln to investigate
the management of Quartermaster McKinstry, who held his office under Gen. Fremont. The
investigation was thorough and laid bare the corruption and mismanagement of aflairs in St.
Louis.
In 1862, Judge Davis was appointed by Abraham Lincoln one of the Associate Justices of
the Supreme Court of the United States. This appointment was not made by any personal
solicitation of Judge Davis, but simply on account of Mr. Lincoln's knowledge of the man and
by the eflFort of friends. At the time of his appointment, he was well known in Illinois as a man
of great judicial learning and the best of judgment, hut his reputation had not gone beyond his
State, as he had never filled a position whei-e his decisions would be published. But, when he
came to the Supreme Bench of the United States, his reputation as a jurist went beyond the
most sanguine expectations of his friends. A writer in the American Law Times, in discussing
the character of Judge Davis, says, " .Judge Davis is a natural lawyer, a character so truly great
that to doubt him would be impossible. His mind is all equity and as vigorous as it is kind.
He is progressive, and yet cautious ; a people's judge, and yet a lawyer." His opinion in the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 415
Milligan case has attracted more attention from the people at large than any decision since that
•of Judge Taney in the Dred Scott case. Judge Davis lays down some fundamental principles
of constitutional law which will stand as landmarks for ages after he shall have been gathered
to his fathers. Judge Davis has been remarkably successful as a dealer in real estate, and in
all of his pui'chases and sales has shown the very best of judgment. His first purchase of real
estate was made in Chicago ; hut as he was associated with others and the disposition of the
property was in a great measure beyond his control, the speculation was not fortunate. Never-
theless, he had great faith in the future of Chicago, although it then numbered but a few
hundred inhabitants, and he purchased an eighty-acre tract of land about three miles from the
harbor. It now sells by the foot, so far as it is offered for sale. It is to this fortunate invest-
ment that he is indebted in part for the ample fortune he possesses.
His policy in dealing in real estate has been to purchase property in the suburbs of a
growing town in order that it might become valuable with the increase of the place in size and
prosperity. He was always careful to buy land intrinsically valuable, considering what it would
produce, so that in any event his speculation would be a safe one. As is well known. Judge
Davis is a man of great public spirit, but thinks public matters should be managed as other
business matters are, on a good financial basis. He has been charged with being indifferent in
the matter of subscribing to build railroads. His theory with regard to railroads is that they
should be built whei-e it will pay to build them as an investment, and that the idea of voting aid
from towns, counties and States, or donating lands along the line of the proposed road is wrong
in principle.
He believes that capitalists are always sharp enough to see where it will pay to invest their
money and are ready to build railroads which will return a fair profit to the investors. He
thinks that the voting of aid by towns and counties and making land-grants result in many
cases in building roads which will not pay running expenses, and in others of putting roads in
the hands of unprincipled managers who care nothing whatever for the people who have helped
them and the towns that have voted them aid. Under these circumstances, he has always been
very conservative and cool about assisting railroads, and some fault has been found with him
for so doing, but many of those who have blamed him in times past, are now very much of his
way of thinking. Bloomington and Normal have been very much benefited by their State insti-
tutions—the Normal School and the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. The location of these institu-
tions here was due in a great measure to Judge Davis, who donated forty acres of land to the
Normal School and sixty acres to the Orphans' Home. The former donation was worth at the
time when given, $4,000 and the latter $12,000. It will be remembered that great exertions
were made to have these institutions taken elsewhere, and Judge Davis' example and influence
did very much to prevent their transfer. So far as matters of charity are concerned it is not
usually safe to speak definitely of any one. People who have the greatest reputation for charity
usually only deserve part of the credit they receive, as a suspicion is sometimes aroused that
their charities are performed to be seen of men. Judge Davis does not indulge in ostentatious
charity, but his friends assert that very few can be found anywhere so liberal, even when judged
by the pi-oper standard — ability to give.
Judge Davis was, at one time, enabled to do some service to the city of Bloomington by
saving to it the machine-shops of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. These shops secure a monthly
disbursement of .$50,000, and the matter is of the greatest importance to Bloomington. When
they were burned down. Judge Davis was holding court in Chicago ; he there learned that it was
the intention of various parties to make an effort to transfer the machine-shops to another point.
He immediately gave notice to the citizens of Bloomington, who took active measures to save
them.
There was more danger of the shops going to Chicago than the public in Bloom-
ington generally imagined, but Judge Davis understood the real state of aflFairs better
than any one else, and Bloomington is deeply indebted to him for his services on this
occasion.
416 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
For the benetit of future historians, we will explain Judge Davis' connection with
the famous Cincinnati Convention of May 2, 1872. There were in the Republican
party a large number of men who were very much opposed to the renomination of
President Grant. Some of these were disappointed office-seekers, but the majority of
those who were in the foreground of the movement were men who were of the purest
motives, looking for " civil-service reform." It was thought that if a Republican could
be agreed upon at Cincinnati who was likely to carry a large number of votes from his
own party, he would be nominated by the regular Democratic Convention and elected
President ; while it was seen that the nomination of a regular Democrat, with no sup-
porters except from his own party, would insure his defeat. From Judge Davis' inde-
pendent position, he having been known for years as a Republican, having been one of
Abraham Lincoln's warmest friends, being the executor of Mr. L.'s estate, being well
known all over the country for his high standing as a Judge in the Supreme Court of
the United States, there is little doubt that, had he been nominated at Cincinnati, he
might have proved much stronger than Horace Greeley, who was the choice of that
Convention, and was accepted by the Democrats at their National Convention soon after.
When it was seen that a strong effort would be made at Cincinnati to secure the nomi-
nation for Judge Davis, his personal friends in Bloomington rallied with wonderful
enthusiasm. A special train of eight passenger- coaches left this city for Cincinnati,
carrying nearly three hundred Bloomingtonians, who were full of zeal for their candi-
date. Probably Bloomington never experienced such a peculiar excitement as during
the few days that preceded this excursion, and the time that elapsed till May 3, when
the result at Cincinnati became known. Judge Davis' friends were fully persuaded
that he would be nominated, and that, in that event, he would be the next President.
His life-long friends were rejoiced at the prospect of such good-fortune, while the citi-
zens generally, whether personally or politically friendly or not, were pleased at the
prominence that would be given to Bloomington in case of his success.
The Bloomingtonians at Cincinnati, strengthened by the other delegations from
Illinois, infused great enthusiasm into the movement, and, on the first ballot, Judge
Davis carried a large vote in the Convention. He was not regarded as sufficiently
known all over the Union, and Horace Greeley was the fortunate, or, as the event
proved, unfortunate, nominee.
But this event was not needed to prove the strong hold Judge Davis has upon the
affections of his neighbors, who well know the many instances in which he has assisted
the home of his adoption in nearly all plans that have been inaugurited for the public
good. During his whole career in this place, he has been one of the foremost in nearly
every public enterprise, so that particular enumeration here is entirely unnecessary.
In the winter of 1877 and 1878, at the Senatorial election, when the Legisla-
ture was called upon to choose a successor to Gen. John A. Logan, there was a long
contest before a choice was effected. The Republican party in the Legislature lacked
several of a majority. The balance of power between the Democrats and Republicans
was held by five or six Senators and Representatives who were called Independents,
though sympathizing more with the Democrats than with the supporters of Gen. Logan,
who had been voted for by the Republicans for several days in succession. The Repub-
licans balloted for other persons — Judge C. B. Lawrence among others. Finally, the
Independents proposed Judge David Davis, whose political sentiments were almost
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 417
unknown, though he was supposed to lean slightly to the Democratic side, and to be
very much in sympathy with the Independents. After a few ballots, the whole strength
of the Democratic party, with one or two exceptions, added to the votes of the Inde-
pendents, elected David Davis to the United States Senate for the six years commen-
cing with the 4rh day of March, 1878.
His high standing as a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States taken
in connection with his well-balanced judgment, which is seldom at fault on political
questions, gave him an enviable position in the Senate, where he wields an influence of
which his constituents may well be proud. He has continued impartially to fill the
political position lie was expected to occupy — that of an Independent, with a decided
inclination to the side of the Democracy. Bloomington, as well as the whole State of
Illinois, may well feel honored in being represented in the United States Senate by
David Davis.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Our city has always claimed that the great Republican party of the nation had its
birth at Major's Hall in 1856. At the risk, of being attacked for our audacity, we will
undertake to declare this a spurious claim. In the fall of 1854, the opposition to the
Nebraska bill all over the country fought its battles under different names, generally as
Free-Soilers, Anti-Nebraska Democrats, the Whig or American party; though in Massa-
chusetts the Free-Soilers and Anti-Nebraska Democrats had declared themselves to be
Republicans. The election of Speaker in Congress in the winter of 1855 and 1856
resulted in the choice of N. P. Banks, who had been elected as a Republican and
American, in 1854. It is, however, a fact that a convention called as the •' Anti-
Nebraska State Convention " assembled in Major's Hall, in Bloomington, May 29, 1856,
which nominated William H. Bissell for (jrovernor, which was a most enthusiastic con-
vention, was ajidressed by Abraham Lincoln, and was practically the first Republican
State Convention ever held in the State of Illinois.
Let us examine a letter signed "Anti-Nebraska," published August 9, 1854, in
the Bloomington Pantagraph : '' I am in favor of issuing a call for a State Conven-
tion, signed by Whigs, Democrats, and persons of all other political faiths. Let all
opposed to this Nebraska outrage come together upon equal footing, and when together,
let them organize and devise plans by which to carry the State. As to the name under
which we might organize and fight, I should care but little. The one adopted in
Massachusetts, viz., ' Republicans,' is, perhaps, as unobjectionable as any other.
" Anti-Nebraska."
Here we have proof that as early as August, 1854, the name of the new party
had been applied in Massachusetts.
There was a meeting at Potter County, Penn., July 4, 1854, when the Hon-
Joshua R. Giddings and others organized those present into the " Republican " party
of that county. The proceedings of this meeting were recorded in the Potter County
Journal, as we are informed by William Perry, Esq., of this city, who was present at
the meeting, and well remembers that Mr. Giddings spoke of the organization of the
Republican party as a " new movement" being inaugurated all over the country. These
references to what was being done in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are sufiicient
proof that the Republican party did not " originate " solely in Bloomington ; and we
mio-ht also mention that one of the first Republican meetings in this State was held in
Aurora, Kane Co., in the mouth of August, 1854.
418 HISTORY OF McLean county.
It is on record that during this month a County Convention in La Salle County,,
111., adopted the same name. Furthermore, Hon. Washington Busbnell, of Ottawa, 111.,
sent to Mr. A. B. Ives, of this city, printed notices for calling a Republican County
Convention here on the 9th of September, 1854. These notices were posted by Mr.
Ives. The idea of such a convention was derided by our leading politicians, who
regarded this movement as a sort of disguised abolitionism. This convention was held
at our old Court House, its proceedings attracting very little attention. The Pantagraphy
then a Whig paper, contained an able editorial arguing against the formation of a new
party, which is almost the only evidence we find in its files that any movement was in
contemplation. It did not even deign to give a regular editorial report of the County
Convention, which is thus reported in the Weekly PantagrapTi of September 13, 1854:
REPUBLICAN.
At a meeting of the voters of McLean County, held pursuant to notice, at the Court House
in Bloomington, on Saturday, the 9th day of September, for the purpose of appointing delegates
to the District Convention to be held at Springfield, on motion, Dr. J. R. Freese was called to
the chair, and A. B. Ives was appointed Secretary. On motion, the following delegates were
chosen, to wit : Dr. R. 0. Warinner, Dr. J. R. Fi'eese, Oliver Graves, A. B. Ives, Bloomington ;
N. N. .Jones, Hudson ; W. F. M. Arny, North Bloomington.
On motion of Dr. J. R. Freese, it was
Resolved, That our delegates be instructed to have added to the platform of the new party
(if one is formed) the Anti-Liquor plank.
Resolved, That the delegates have power to fill vacancies, and that the proceedings of this
meeting be published in the Daily Pantagraph.
J. R. FREESE, Chairman.
A. B. IVES, Secretary.
The State Convention to which these delegates were appointed, met at Springfield,
October 5, 1854. It was attended by only twenty-six delegates, who were mostly
Abolitionists, Owen Lovejoy, Ichabod Codding and Erastus Wright having been the
moving spirits. On the 5th of October, it nominated John B. McClun, of McLean, as
a candidate for State Treasurer. In a short time, the name of James Miller, of Bloom-
ington, was substituted for that of Judge McClun, but the latter gentleman is entitled
to the honor of having been the first Republican nominee in Illinois for a State office.
This Convention is not generally considered as the first Republican State Convention,
its numbers having been insignificant and its organization imperfect, but it is historically
the earliest on record.
This is the same State Convention recommended in the PantagrapK s communica-
tion of the date of August 9, 1854, and we have now plainly shown the chain of title
from its beginning to its ending, proving that Bloomington assisted the general move-
ment for a new party, but that our city originated very little that was new in this
direction.
Very few of the delegates appointed at the Republican meeting at the Court
House September 9, 1854, attended the State Convention of which we have spoken,
but they were present at the Congressional Convention held at Major's Hall September 1 2.
This district, at that time, was made up of Bureau, La Salle, Will, Kendall, Kankakee,
Iroquois, Putnam, Woodford, McLean, Livingston, Champaign and Vermilion Counties.
Among the delegates were some of the class known as Republicans, or Abolitionists,
while others were " Anti-Nebraska" Whigs and Democrats. The Convention was
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 419
regarded by the people of Bloomington as a sort of Abolition affair, as in this region
the Whig party was supposed to be good enough for all purposes. In the organization
of the Convention, the " Republican " element (then considered about the same as Abo-
litionists) obtained the organization, and the Committee reported and the Convention
adopted a full set of Republican resolutions, which were thought to be too strong to
please the Whigs, and which were intended to be too radical for the support of Jesse
0. Norton, who was the Anti-Nebraska and also Old-Line Whig candidate for a renomi-
nation. To the surprise of all, Mr. Norton planted himself squarely upon the Repub-
lican platform.
The supporters of the opposing candidate, Mr. C. Coffin, who was also a Whig,
withdrew from Major's Hall and assembled at the Pike House. There was great excite-
ment in Bloomington ; committees conferred between the two wings of the Convention,
and, at 11 o'clock at night, the seceders returned from the Pike House, participated in
the meeting, and the Hon. Jesse 0. Norton, of JoHet, was nominated as a Republican.
This Convention was large and enthusiastic, and was the real parent of the Republican
party in McLean County, although many of the Whigs of that day would not acknowl-
edge themselves as members of the new party.
The platform of this Convention was strongly " Anti-Nebraska," of course, was
quite satisfactory to the Abolitionists, and, though not as radical as was then demanded
by the latter class, it was agreeable to the " Anti-Nebraska" Whigs and Democrats;
and by a union of these three parties the Republican party was formed. In the plat-
form, the " new party," referred] to in the Court House meeting of September 9, was
named the Republican party. This was probably the first convention of any note of
this new party held anywhere in the West, though, as we have mentioned above, N. P.
Banks and others were chosen to Congress as Republicans from Massachusetts at the
same election. The fact seems to be that all over the country, wherever the radical
"Anti-Nebraska" men were powerful, there attempts were made, during the fall of
1854, to organize a new party ; and the meeting held in Bloomington was not held in
advance of others in different States.
The resolutions of this Convention were not printed in the Weeldy Pantagraph,
then a Whig paper, which is the only file of newspapers of that date to which we have
access. Its report of the Convention is as follows :
RIPTJBLICAN CONVENTION.
"The Convention in session in this place yesterday, after rather a stirring time,
and passing through several phases indicative of the elements of which it was composed,
closed its labors at a late hour last night by nominating Hon. Jesse 0. Norton. Of
course, as sensible men, honest in their anti-Nebraska sentiments, they were obliged to
nominate the man who could be elected. Mr. Norton is now what he has ever been — a
Whig — and, as such, he may well expect to be re-elected by a large majority."
The Whigs voted for Mr. Norton as a Whig. The Republicans, referring to their
Major's Hall resolutions, which he had indorsed, voted for him as a Republican, and
he was elected to Congress in November.
At the same election, James H. Woodworth, of Chicago, was elected to Congress
as a Republican, as we see by a dispatch from the Chicago Tribune^ dated November 8,
1854, which gives the figures: "J. H. Woodworth, Republican, 2,143 ; Turner
420 • HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
(Nebraska Democrat), 695 ; Mayo (Anti-Nebraska Democrat), 70 ; Blackwell (Whig),
249." In the summary of Congressmen elected, we find Norton classed as a Whig,
Woodworth as a Republican, while in one district an Anti-Nebraska Democrat was
chosen. All this in 1854 proves that there was a Republican party at that time. The
Republican party carried the State of Massachusetts at the election in 1855. When
N. P. Banks reached Washington, in the fall of 1855, he and others were willing to
be called Republicans, and when the long contest over his election as Speaker ended, in
January, 1856, he was known all over the Union as a Republican. In the light of
these facts, it is ridiculous for Bloomiugton to claim that the Republican party had its
origin and birthplace here. If there is any historical honor connected with the mat-
ter, it attaches itself to the meeting held in our Court House September 9, 1854,
whose proceedings we have given above. However, the Republican State Convention
held at Major's Hall, May 29, 1856, was of the greatest historical importance, as we
shall see.
This Convention was largely attended by delegates from all the principal counties,
ai d was a most remarkable gathering. John M. Palmer presided, and Abraham Lin-
coln made his celebrated speech. The '-Anti-Nebraska" Whigs and Democrats, with
the Abolitionists, and those who, in 1854, were willing to be called Republicans, who
in this State were not numerous, with a large number of the Americans, coalesced will-
ingly into one party and took upon them.selves boldly the name of " Republican," which
had now since the election of Speaker Banks, became a name of national importance.
The enthusiasm of the convention was most tremendous, and here was started the
movement which resulted in the perfect organization of the Republican party of Illi-
nois. The nominees of this Convention were elected. Hon. William H. Bissell was
elected Governor, and James Miller, of Bloomington, State Treasurer, while the speech
of Mr. Lincoln resulted in his election to the Presidency.
Ward H. Lamon, a resident of Bloomington from 1857 to 1861 when he became
Marshal of the District of Columbia, in his life of Abraham Lincoln, says: "Mr. Hern-
don drew up a paper to be signed by men of his class is politics, calling a County Con-
vention to elect delegates to the State Convention at Bloomington. ' Mr. Lincoln was
then backward,' nays Mr. Herndon, ' dodgey,' so and so. I was determined to make
him take a stand, if he would not do it willingly, which he might have done, as
he was naturally inclined Abolitionward. Lincoln was absent when the call was signed
and circulated here. I signed Mr. Lincoln's name without authority — had it published
in the Journal. John T. Stuart was keeping his eye on Lincoln, with the view of
keeping him on his side, the totally dead conservative side. Mr. Stuart saw the pub-
lished call, and grew mad ; rushed into my office, seemed mad, horrified, and said to me,
* Sir, did Mr. Lincoln sign that abolition call which is published this morning ? " I
answered, ' Mr. Lincoln did not sign that call.' ' Did Lincoln authorize you to sign it? '
said Mr. Stuart. ' No, he never authorized me to sign it.' ' Then do you know that
you have ruined Mr. Lincoln ? ' 'I did not know that I had ruined Mr. Lincoln — did
not intend to do so — thought he was a made man by it — that the time had come when
conservatism was a crime and a blunder.' ' You, then, take the responsibility of your
acts, do you ? ' 'I do, most emphatically.' However, I instantly sat down and wrote
to Mr. Lincoln, who was then in Pekin, or Tremont, possibly at court. He received
my letter, and instantly replied, either by letter or telegraph, most likely by letter, that
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 423
"he adopted in toto what I had done, and promised to meet the Radicals — Lovejoy and
such-Uke men — at Bloomington."
At Bloomington, Lincoln was the great figure. Beside him, all the rest, even the
oldest in the faith and the strongest in the work, were small. Yet, he was universally
regarded as a recent convert, although the most important one that could be made in the
State of Illinois. "We met at Bloomington, and it was there," says Mr. Herndon in
ojie of his lectures, " that Mr. Lincoln was baptized and joined our church. He made
a speech to us. I have heard or read all Mr. Lincoln's great speeches, and give it as
my opinion on my best judgment, that the Bloomington speech lyas the grand efi'ort of
his life. Heretofore, and up to this moment, he had simply argued the slavery question on
grounds of policy, on what are called the statesman's grounds, never reaching the ques-
tion of the radical and the eternal right. Now he was newly baptized and freshly born ;
he had the fervor of a new convert; thesmothered flame broke out; enthusiasm unusual
to him blazed up; his eyes were aglow with an inspiration; he felt justice; his heart was
alive to the right ; his sympathies, remarkably deep for him, burst forth, and he stood
before the throne of the Eternal Right, in the presence of his God, and then and there
unburdened his penitential and fired soul. This speech was fresh, new, genuine, odd,
original, filled with fervor not unmixed with a divine enthusiasm ; his head breathing
out through his tender heart its truths, its sense of right, and its feeling of the good and
for the good. This speech was full of fire, and energy, and force ; it was logic, it was
pathos, it was t-iithusiasm; it was justice, equity, truth, right and the good set ablaze
by the divine fires of a soul maddened by the wrong ; it was hard, heavy, knotty, gnarled,
«dged and heated. I attempted for about fifteen minutes, as was usual with me then,
to take notes, but at the end of that time I threw pen and paper to the dogs, and lived
only in the inspiration of the hour. If Mr. Lincoln was six feet four inches high usu-
ally, at Bloomington he was seven feet, and inspired at that. From that day to the day
of his death he stood firm on the right. He felt his great cross, had his great idea,
nursed it, kept it, taught it to others, and in his fidelity bore witness of it to his death,
and finally sealed it with his precious blood."
It is universally admitted that this great speech was the means of elevating Mr.
Lincoln into the prominent position he soon occupied, and which resulted in his eleva-
tion to the Presidency.
This Convention thoroughly organized the Republican party of Illinois, and, from
its results, has becoihe a landmark in the history of Bloomington — almost as prominent
as if it had been, as many seem to suppose, the first movement of the kind in the
West.
To recapitulate — we find that September 9, 1854, the first Republican County
Convention of McLean County was held at the Court House; on the 13th of Septem-
ber, 1854, there was a remarkable convention of Republicans of this Congressional dis-
trict at Major's Hall ; while on the 29th of May, 1856, the second Republican State
Convention, but really the first in importance, was also held in Major's Hall, resulting
in the perfect organization of the Republican party.
The first nomination of Hon. Owen Lovejoy, to Congress, in 1856, and the " Bolt
ing " Convention, held in Bloomington, deserve a place in this chapter. July 2, 1856.,
a delegate convention of the "Anti-Nebraska" party met at Ottawa to nominate a
candidate to represent this district in Congress. This Convention was, in reality, a
N
424 . HISTORY OF MoLEAN COUNTY.
Republican gathering, though the name of the new party was at this time used rather
sparingly. Its candidates were Owen Lovejoy, Leonard Swett, of this city, and Hon.
Jesse 0. Norton, then our Representative in Congress. Mr. Lovejoy was the nominee
of the Convention. His nomination was exceedingly distasteful to the more conserva-
tive old Whig element, especially in McLean and the southern part of the district.
This element formed a considerable portion of the new party, then beginning to crys-
tallize. " Abolitionist " was the most opprobrious of epithets known, and the Whigs
had received too many hard blows from Mr. Lovejoy — long known as an Abolitionist —
to accept him as their standard-bearer. Consequently, a large number of the delegates
withdrew from the Convention, and signed a call for a '" bolting " convention, to be held at
Bloomington, July 16. This call was signed by Gen. Gridley, Isaac Funk, Dr. H.
Noble, John J. Price and David Cheney, from this county, as well as by delegates from
several other counties.
On the 16th of July, the Convention met in the Court House at Bloomington,
Isaac Funk being Chairman, and nominated T. Lyle Dickey, now Judge of the
Supreme Court, as candidate for Congress. In the evening, there was a mass-meeting
at the west side of the Court House, in the public square. Churchill Coffin, Esq., of
Peru, opened the meeting with a rather heavy speech. He was followed by Judge
Dickey, in an argumentative speech, in which he wholly failed to arouse the
meeting, although he roundly denounced the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
Gen. Gridley was the next speaker, and he aroused the enthusiasm of his hearers, for he
paid his respects to Mr. Lovejoy, the " Abolitionist," in his usual vigorous style, and
caused several interruptions from some of the highly-excited auditors. At the conclu-
sion of this speech, Mr. Lovejoy was called for, and, in response, took the stand. He
had ."pent his life in the advocacy of an unpopular cau.se, many times speaking before
unfriendly and hostile audiences. This gathering had been collected by his enemies,
and to hear himself denounced. He had been declared an enemy to his country, and a
man wholly unfit to be voted for by the members of the new party. He quickly
proved himself an unrivaled public speaker, and, in a few minutes, he had the audi-
ence completely with him. He showed his hearers that, even if he had been an
Abolitionist, he was entirely in sympathy with the newly-awakened Northern conscience
which had now organized the new Republican party. He stated his position upon the
Fugitive Slave Law, and asserted that every man of his audience regarded the law in
the same light. His speech was a masterly effort — the greatest of his life — and had an
electric eficct upon the immense assembly. Since then, Bloomington audiences have
heard Lincoln, Douglas, Corwin and Blaine, but never as effective a speech as that of
Mr. Lovejoy that night. It was full of wit, declamation and pathos, and was as
elo(|ucnt a speech asevcrwas listened toby our citizens. Itkilled the "bolting "convention,
which was never heard of afterward. Nearly all who participated in it became ardent
supporters of Mr. Lovejoy, and developed at once into the best of Republicans, and
many of them were ever afterward Mr. L.'s earnest personal friends. To his great
success at this meeting, thereby placing the Republicans on an advanced ground, is
largely due the Republican majority in McLean County in later years, although the
magnetism and popularity of Mr. Lincoln no doubt contributed toward bringing about
the same result.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
425
NORMAL TOWNSHIP.
NORMAL UNIVERSITY.
The location of the State Normal University at North Bloomington May 7, 1857,
marks a period of history that is not only important to Normal Township, but also in
an equal degree to the city of Bloomington and McLean County. At the time indi-
cated. Normal was North Bloomington, or " The Junction," the six miles square, now
called Normal, not having been named until after the location of the University, its first
existence as a town dating from April 6, 1858. The early history of the Normal
institution, its location, its first years of struggling efi"ort, its vigorous childhood, belong
NORMAL UNIVERSITY.
to Bloomington, and this sketch is as well calculated to honor that city as it is fitted
to reflect credit upon Normal. As we proceed with our account, we shall reach a period
when the newly-built village became in reality Normal, with a definite future and pros-
pects of its own, after which time, its acts and doings shall be credited to the proper
source as zealously as its most earnest friends can desire.
For the sake of greater clearness, we shall here omit any particular mention of the
first settlers in Normal Township, and insert that information in another chapter by
itself We might state, that in 1857, the township was generally occupied by farmers,
the village of North Bloomington having been platted and a few houses built, but to all
practical intents, the entire township was simply an agricultural district.
The Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton Railroads were finished and in running
order several years before the location of the University, an excursion train having been
426 HliSTOllV OF McLEAN COUNTY.
run on the 4tli day of July, 1854, from Bloomington to Lexington. The cars of the
Illinois Central passed this point without stopping, from May 23, 1853, to the time of
the completion of the other line. It was thought in 1852 that there would be a rail-
road crossing near this place, and after the definite location of the Chicago & Alton line
through the western part of Bloomington in 1853, the point for the junction was fixed.
North Bloomington was projected and platted in the early part of 1854. There was a sale
of lots on the 15th of June, 1854, at which about thirty lots sold at prices ranging
between $30 and S50, and public attention was thus attracted to the new town of North
Bloomiijgton. The sale took place under the auspices of \V. F. M. Arny & Co., but it
was understood that Mr. Jesse W. Fell was the moviug spirit in the new enterprise.
In 1855, a large addition was made to North Bloomington by a t-ompany composed
of Jesse W. Fell, R. R. Landon, L. R. Case, C. W. Holder and L. C. Blakesly. The
place had all the prospects common to a railroad " crossing" or "junction," which were
never very brilliant, when it is considered that the important town of Bloomington,
with two depots, was only two miles away. Here, at the point of greatest natural
beauty, Mr. Jesse W. Fell commenced, in 1855, his family residence, and finished it
the next year, when he made it his permanent home.
In the enterprise of building a new town at the "Junction," he had taken into
partnership, about this time, the several gentlemen whose names we have given; and in
the course of a few years thereafter, acquired from them nearly the whole of their
interests in the town site.
Mr. Fell, from the first, had plans for bringing to North Bloomington something
more than the ordinary business of a common railroad crossing. He intended to spare
no effort to build hero a town that should have for its characteristics, sobriety, morality,
good society, and all the elements for an educational center. Previous to the passage
of the act to establish a Normal University, which dates from February 18, 1857,
Mr. Fell was laboring with some prospects of success, to establish at North Blooming-
ton a college or seminary of learning, and was in correspondence with Hon. Horace
Mann and others in regard to the matter. Had he succeeded, the institution was to
have been located upon Seminary Block, shown on the plat of North Bloomington, as
the block next east of Mr. Fell's rcsidtmce. This particular piece of ground at that
time, before the trees and shrubbery had made their appearance, commanded a fine
view of all the land in the neighborhood, being a part of that beautifully-rounded^
elevated prairie upon which Mr. Fell built his family residence. In fact, the whole
tract was one of striking beauty, long before North Bloomington was projected, in
the days when, for more than a mile in either direction, not a house or improvement
of any kind was visible. As long ago as in 1833, when on his way to what is now the
township of Money Creek, in company with Mr. Kinder, one of the early stttlers of
Blooming Grove, Mr. Fell rode over the beautiful elevation which his residence now
occupies. The public highway then passed in that vicinity. It was early in the morn-
ing, and as they surveyed the beautiful prairie landscape, Mr. Fell remarked, what a
fine location this would be, at some day, for a residence. His companion replied, that
it was not probable any one would ever be fool enough to build at such a great distance
from the timber, echoing thereby the common sentiment of the early settlers. Over
twenty years after, Mr. Fell built his family residence at that point, and com.
menced to plant trees, whicli in u little more than another twenty years, have made
HISTORY OF MrLEAN COUNTY. 427
at that location the most beautifui grove or park that can be found in Central Illi-
nois, and he has lived to see the prairie landscape converted into a beautiful village,
(-haded by many thousand trees tastefully adorning the whole. We question if the
history of our rapidly growing State can furnish a parallel, a town built entirely on the
prairie, and, in so short a space of time, to be covered with more large trees than can
be shown in most cities of older growth, though they were built on land originally
occupied by those grand monarchs of the forest, which the early settlers delighted in
destroying as fast as possible.
Mr. Fell took a remarkable step toward bringing to the new town a desirable class
of residents, by providing in all deeds to purchasers of lots in North Bloomington, that
intoxicating liquors should never be sold on the premises ; and this stringent prohibition
was afterward re-enforced by a town charter, which was intended to be entirely prohibitory.
This charter needed amendments, however, in 1867, to make it as fully operative as the
inhabitants desired, and a petition was circulated asking the Legislature to make such
changes as should perpetually restrain the town or city authorities from ever licensing
the sale of intoxicating liquors. It is a remarkable fact that this petition was signed by
every man and woman, and every child over seven years old, in a town which then con-
tained 1,800 inhabitants. This incident, though rather out of the proper historical order, is
valuable as we thus discover that the foundations for the gathering-together of a very
superior class of citizens, were early laid broad and deep, and the subsequent character
of Normal can be traced quite plainly to those early efforts. North Bloomington, in
1857, was barely started — scarcely known — called indiscriminately by its proper name,
or the " Junction ; " a town site without a town, and with no special reason for its exist-
ence. There was one inhabitant previous to 1855 ; fehis was Mr. McCambridge, whose
residence was at the crossing of the railroads, where, as agent, he attended to all the
interests of the railroad lines crossing at that point. Mr. Fell moved into his residence in
1856, and, during that year the new town was augmented by the arrival of L. R. Case
and family, and a few others, but no great growth took place till after the events of the
year 1857.
For the information of some of our younger readers, we will state that from 1848
to 1856, the subject of free schools received a large share of attention in Illinois. Settlers
from States where these schools were well established, were rapidly pouring in, and their
influence, combined with the spirit of the times, resulted in a wonderful impulse being
given to the cause of education. One direct result was the passage of the act of the
Legislature for the establishment of a State Normal University, which passed February
18. 1857. The project had been warmly advocated for several years, by the teachers
of the State and all friends of education. As originally passed, the act contemplated
that an agricultural or industrial college should be attached, and we find that the friends
of these particular specialties were among the most earnest laborers for the new institution.
One of the reasons why it was called a university, was because the way was thus prepared
for future enlargement. Among the most earnest and devoted workers in this, as in
other directions, we might mention the noble-hearted Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jackson-
ville, and Bronson Murray, then of Ottawa, 111., now of New York.
Normal schools were new in the West at that time, Illinois being the pioneer in
this grand enterprise. Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, and a few other
States had inaugurated normal schools. None of them were equal to the demands of
428 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
the times. Still, their success had been such as to warrant the public in expecting that
institutions for the education and training of teachers of our common schools would aid
the cause of education to a desirable degree. Some of the ablest friends of this new
project for the proper education of the teachers of the public schools lived in McLean
County, among whom we might mention W. F. M. Amy, Jesse W. Fell, Prof. D. Wil-
kins and J. H. Wickizer, the latter being member of the Legislature from this
district.
The public mind was ripe for the proper appreciation of the needs, designs and
scope of such a school, although even its own advocates diflPered somewhat as to the
course of study and plans for its development.
The act of the Legislature provided for a university, although what was established
is in fact a normal school. The intention was to gather around the new institution the
different colleges — classical, agricultural, industrial, law, medical, and the other depart-
ments of a university — until in the end the State should have here a grand university,
equal to any in the land. The full design has not been carried out, but there are many
who still have hopes that the future may yet see its realization.
The law provided a Board of Education of the State of Illinois, with power to
carry into effect its purposes. This Board consisted of N. W. Edwards, of Springfield ;
W. H. Wells, of Chicago ; John R. Eden, Moultrie County ; A. R. Shannon, White
County ; Simeon Wright, Lee County ; W. Sloan, Pope County ; George Bunsen, St.
Clair County ; George P. Rex, Pike County ; Charles E. Hovey, Peoria ; Daniel Wil-
kins, Bloomington ; C. B. Denio, Galena ; F. Mosely, Chicago ; S. W. Moulton, Shelby
County, and J. Gillespie, Jasper County. This Board had full power, and it was made
their duty, "to fix the permanent*location of said Normal LTniversity at the place where
the most favorable inducements are offered for that purpose, provided that such location
shall not be difl&cult of access, or detrimental to the welfare and prosperity of said Nor-
mal University."
This body of gentlemen soon organized, and it appointed a committee to receive
proposals for the location of the Normal University, which committee published notices
in several newspapers, stating that the Board would, on a certain specified day, open
at Peoria all bids that might be made.
Several cities and towns entered into competition for what was understood to be a
valuable prize. That the value of the new institution was thoroughly appreciated by
the inhabitants of Bloomington is shown by the following extract from the Bloomington
Fantagraph of April 8, 1857, then edited by E. J. Lewis:
The advantages to be conferred by such an institution upon the place of its location are too
obvious to need enlarging upon. Richly endowed from a Government fund, collecting within
its walls every year the flower of the youth of every part of the State, and organized with a full
corps of the ablest instructors, the Normal University will doubtless take rank among the noblest
institutions of learning in the country, and give to the town which contains it a degree of prom-
inence at home and abroad scarcely second to that enjoyed by the State capital itself.
In the light of subse(iuent events, how prophetic is this statement !
Mr. Fell and his co-workers did not rely on appeals made through the public press.
On the contrary, they were willing that the competing points should labor under the
impression that Bloomington was not thoroughly aroused. These gentlemen labored
incessantly with individuals ; argued, pictured, pleaded, taught, both by precept and
J
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 429
example. They set the fashion by giving liberal fiubscriptions, and so far succeeded
that they brought the amount of donations in land and money up to $50,000 from pri-
vate individuals. They had previously obtained a pledge from the members of the
County Commissioners' Court, A. J. Merriman, of Bloomington, Milton Smith, of
Pleasant Hill, and H. Buck, of Le Roy, who formed the County Court at that time,
that they would appropriate from the proceeds of the swamp-lands funds an amount
equal to that subscribed by individuals. This made the total oflFer $100,000, and it
was thought amply sufl5cient to secure the location.
In order to be fully aware of what Peoria — the principal competitor — was doing,
one of the most active of our party went to that city, quietly and rather in disguise,
dropped into a back seat of a meeting of the County Board held in aid of the project,
mixed with the crowd in the streets, and in various ways learned almost exactly what
Peoria was preparing to offer. Its liberality alarmed him ; he returned to Bloomington
and aroused his friends to still further efforts. Mr. Fell and other gentlemen
increased their subscriptions until they reached $20,000, or $70,000 in all. The
County Court was speedily called together again, the county's part increased by $20,000,
and when the final effort was completed, at about the last day, in the afternoon, the
total offer amounted to $141,000, made up of $70,000 from the first proceeds of the
sales of McLean County's swamp-laud, and $71,000 in money, lands and town lots from
individuals.
But the gross amount was kept a profound secret. Mr. Fell and a very few others
were aware of the total, as it was highly important that competing points should remain
in ignorance until too late for them to make additional subscriptions.
On the 7th of May, 1857, the State Board of J]ducation met at Peoria to open
the bids and decide upon the location. The first offer was that of Batavia. This bid
■embraced $15,000 in money and the land and buildings of the Batavia Institute.
There were between twenty and twenty-two acres of land, and a building seventy by
fifty feet, three stories high, the whole estimated at $H0,000, making Batavia's bid, in
effect, $45,000. The citizens pledged themselves to raise $25,000, in order to pay a
debt of $10,000 now resting on the buildings, and to give the sum of $15,000 for the
Normal University direct. There were several propositions from Bloomington, six sites
being offered. The tract of 160 acres at the junction was the favorite, and the particu-
lars of that proposition were as follows :
General subscription I 7,875.
Local cash subscripiion for Junction site 25,850.
Real estate f 160 acres lan-J— 60 acres at |300 per acre, $18,000; 100
acres at |200 per acre, $20,000 38,000.
McLean County subscription 70,000.
Total $141,725.
There were offered also, by K. H. Fell, thirty acres west of Sugar Creek ; by
Judge Davis, ten acres, near his residence ; by William Flagg, ten acres, on the north
hill above the city ; by Thomas, Young & Sears, forty acres northeast of town ; by
K. H. Fell and John Nicolls, eighty acres, two and a half miles east of the city, each
of these on condition the University be located upon them. By the citizens of
Washington, Tazewell County and the Trustees of the Washington Academy
were offered $12,000 in cash, and the lot 430 by 120 feet, with brick building 47
430 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
by 62 feet, and three stories high, of said Academy, in said town ; real estate at
$2(»,000, making the bid $21,000. Peoria offered, in money :
Individual subscription $25,032.
City Corporation 10,000.
County Board of Supervisors 15,000.
There were several offers of land for sites. Phelps, Conklin & Brady offered 15-
acres, of which appraisements were unsettled, the first rating it at $18,000, the second
at $80,000 ; the twenty-acre site was valued at $20,000 ; 120 acres two miles from the
Court House, at $18,000 ; 200 acres three and a half miles from the Court House, at
$20,000, and there were two minor offers. Taking the highset valuation of the princi-
pal site, the total bid of Peoria was $80,032.
The bid of McLean County was so far ahead of Peoria, the next competitor, that
the Board of Education located the Normal University in accordance with the condi-
tions of the subscription, on the 160 acres of fine rolling land within three-quarters of
a mile from the junction of the Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton Railroads.
Great must have been the rejoicing at Bloomington on receipt of the glad news of
success, after a contest of such intensity ; but we, who look back over twenty years, can.
scarcely imagine the interest of the occasion.
The Board of Education made the location u])on the condition that the full amount
of the McLeao County subscription of $70,000 should be legally guaranteed withia
sixty days, in default of which, the location was to be made at Peoria. They employed
Abraham Lincoln to draw up a form of bond or guaranty to be signed by responsible
citizens of Bloomington. This guaranty is a matter of such historical interest that we
produce it entire, with the list of guarantors, prefacing this with the remark that this
bond was thought to be necessary on account of the danger that a future County Court
might reconsider the appropriation, and the further doubt whether the swamp-lands
would be sold for cash soon enough to meet contracts for the building about to be
erected.
GUARANTY.
Whereas, on the 15th dx.j of May, 1857, the Executive Committee of the Board of Educa-
tion of the State of Illinois passed a resolution in the words and figures following, to wit:
"Resolved, That we require of the citizens of Bloomington a guaranty that the sum of
$14,000 be paid on the 1st day of August next, and the further sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of
November next, and the further sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of February next, and the further
sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of May next, and the remaining sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of
August, 1858, if called for by the Board, to enable them to erect the building of the Normal
University, on the McLean County subscription."
Now, therefore, we, the undersigned, in consideration that the said McLean County subscrip-
tion be accepted by said Boai-d of Education, an<l the said Normal University be located at the
place and in accordance with the conditions indicated in and by said McLean County subscrip-
tion, do hereby guarantee, each, to the extent of the sum set opposite his name, and no furthen
the payment to said Board of Education the several sums specified in said resolution, and to be
made at the times therein required. And in case of any actual default, we are to share with
each other, pro rata, according to the several sums set opposite our names.
May 15, 1857.
K. H Fell $5,000 George Bruener $1,000
Jesse VV. Fell 5,000 I R. R. Landon 5,000
.). E. McClun 5,000 1 R. Leach 500
A. B. Shafier 5,000 W. McCullough 3,000
A. Gridley 5,00oln. Rounds 5,000
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
431
George Park $5,000 | H. J. Eager.
J. H. Moore 3,000
A. J. Merrinian 1,000
John Dawson 1,000
William R. Chew 500
A. W. Rogers 2,000
E. R. Roe 500
R. T.Stockton 500
J. C. Walker 2,000
.1. H.Robinson 1,000
William F. Flagg 5,000
Overman & Mann 1,000
William E. Foote 1,000
.15,000
Z. Lawrence 2,000
.John Magoun 5,000
Leonard Swett 3,000
James Grover 3,000
A. W. Moore 3,000
0. Ellsworth 1,000
L. Bunn 1,000
Z. S. Hoover 3,000
S. E. Kenyon & Son 1,000
David Brier 5,000
A. Johnstone 500
R. Thompson & Co 1,000
D. D. Haggard 500 I S. G. Fleming 1,000
Denton Young 3,000 C. W.Lander 500
W. W. Lusk 3,000
C. Baker 3.000
Joseph Payne 5,n00
M. Pike 1,000
S. B. Hance 5,000
C. W. Holder 2,000
S. P. Morehouse 1,000
N. Dixon 1,000
Charles Roadnight 5,000
Franklin Price 3,000
William W. Orme 5,000
W. W. Lusk & Company 5,000
William T. Major 5,000
D. L.Crist 2 000
Theron Pardee 5,000
George W. Stipp 5,000
W. H. Temple 3,000
James Niccolls 3,000
James Bronson 500
Edward D. Benjamin 1,000
E. W. Bakewell 5,000
Dr. H. Schrceder 1,000
.John Rouse 2,000
S. S. Adolph 1,000
J.C. Slening 1,000
E. H. Rood 1,000
John J. Price 5,000
Joseph Ludington 1,000
0. Rugg 1,000
N. B. Heafer 2,000
Keays & Brother 500
S. Galagher 1,000
Birch & Brothers 1,000
Elihu Rogers 2,000
E. M.Philips 1,000
J. F. Humphreys 1,000
C.Wakefield 1,000
W. Wyatt 5,000
A. J. Warner 5,000
J. N. Ward 5,000
E. Hartry 5,000
James L. Rice 1,000
W. P. Withers 1,000
Jesse Adams 1,000
H. H. Painter 3,000 I
Their guaranty was never enforced, as it was found that some of the lands were
sold for cash, others on credit and the proceeds used in the building, and it also hap-
pened there was no trouble about the county appropriation, as it was confirmed by the
new court in the spring of 1 858. This new court consisted of a Board of Supervisors,
the county having adopted township organization at the fall election in 1857. This
guaranty, however, was made in good faith, was of great value at the time, and is one
of the important steps taken to secure the Normal University.
It will also be interesting to read the list of subscribers, which we give. The
following is a list of subscriptions that were nearly all given with the single condition
that the institution should be located at some point within one mile of the corporate
limits of Bloomington :
Jesse W. Fell, f 500, payable in six and twelve months after location is made ; also, ten
acres for site, to be selected anywhere, valued at $2,000.
C. W. Holder, $200, payable in six and twelve months.
S. D. Rounds, $300, payable in six and twelve months.
William W. Orme, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
R. O. Warriner, $100, payable in six and twelve months after the building commences.
A. B. Shaffer, $600, payable in six and twelve months.
Park & Brother, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
Robert Leach, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
R. R. Landon, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
432 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
George Dietrich, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
Leonard Swett, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
W. Thomas, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
A. & 0. Barnard, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
J. E. McClun, $500, in real estate at cash prices.
Isaac Mitchell, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
William E. Foote, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
James P. Keen, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
S. B. Hance, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
Hance & Taylor, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
Corydon Weed, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
John R. Smith, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
R. Y. Stockton, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
0. Ellsworth, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
Lewis Bunn, $100, payable in eight and twelve months.
E. Thorp, Smith & Co., $100, payable in six and twelve months.
John Magoun, $100, payable in six and twelve months.
C. P. Merriman, $50, payable in six and twelve months.
F. K. Phoenix, $100, payable in one and two years.
F. Price, $100, payable in one and two years.
E. Thomas, $200, payable in one and two years.
Denton Young, $100, payable in one and two years.
W. W. Taylor, $200, payable in one and two years.
K. P. Taylor, $150, payable in one and two years
K. H. Fell, $100, payable in good notes, to be made payable in one and two years from the
1st of June next, provided the said institution is located within two miles of the corporate limits
of the city of Bloomington.
Jesse W. Fell, $500, payable by the conveyance of 100 acres of land, of average value,
in Range 4 west, of Jackson County, 111., on completion of building.
The list which follows is made up principally of those who limited their subscrip-
tion to a location within three-fourths of a mile of the junction of the Illinois Central
and Chicago & Alton Railroads. These individuals owned land in North Bloom-
ington, or adjoining, or near by, and hence had, most of them, a direct interest in the
location. Several of these made smaller unconditional subscriptions. C. W. Holder,
for instance, would give $200, wherever the institution might be located, and $800
more provided North Bloomington were the fortunate point. The most of this, with
that in the preceding list, was limited, practically, to the site which was chosen, it being
within one mile of the corporate limits of Bloomington, and also within three-fourths of
a mile of the crossing of the two railroads :
Jesse W. Fell, $2,000 (including a subscription of $500 already made^, payable in one, two,
three, four and five years : Provided, not less than $10,000 more can be added to this subscription,
and not less than eighty acres of land ; the first $500 to be expended in making a good side or
foot walk to the .Junction from University.
Swett & Orme, $1,500 (including a subscription of $200 already made), payable in one and
two years : Provided, not less than $10,000 more can be had to this subscription, and not less
than eighty acres of land.
C. W. Holder, $1,000 (including a subscription of $200 already made), payable in one and
two years : Provided, not less than $10,000 more can be had to this subscription, and not less
than eighty acres of land.
F. K. Phoenix, $1,500 (including a subscription of $100 already made), payable one-half
in nursery stock or ornamental planting on said site, and the balance in one and two years.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY, 433
R. R. Landon, |1,000 (includiug a subscription of $100 already made), payable in one and
two years.
F. Price, |300 (including a subscription of $100 already made), payable in one and two
years.
Robert Ulrich, $300, payable in one and two years.
William Dooley, $500, payable in one and two years.
A. Gridley & Co., $1,1")0, dischargeable by a conveyance of eleven and one-half acres of
land, situated in North Bloomington, and in tracts adjoining on the north.
John Magoun, $700 (including a subscription of $100 already made), payable in one and
two years.
William Hill, $400, payable in one and two years.
0. M. Colman, $1,000, payable in one and two years, or dischargeable by the conveyance,
within one year, of ten acres of land in North Bloomington.
Jeshua R. Fell, $500, payable in one or two years, or dischargeable by the conveyance,
within one year, of five acres of land off the south end of my home farm, east of the railroad,
at my option.
0. T. Reeves, Jr., $500, payable in one and two years.
Elihu Rogers, $500, payable in one and two years.
William E. Foote, $200 (including $100 already subscribed), payable in one and two years.
Robert A. Dalzell, $250, payable in one and two years.
Thomas Junk, $500, payable in one and two years, or dischargeable by the convyeance-
within one year, of five acres of land in the northwest corner of my farm, at my option.
Norvel Dixon, $200, payable in one and two years : Provided, I succeed in getting a good
title to the northeast quarter of Section 22, Township 24 north. Range 2 east.
W. W. Taylor, $600, payable in one and two years, including a subscription already made
of $200.
K. P. Taylor, $500, payable in one and two years, including a subscription already made
of $150.
J. S. Walker, $200, payable in one and two years, if located on the Arny property.
Overman & Mann, $1,200, payable in one, two and three years, one-half in nursery stock,
hedging and ornamental planting, first and second years ; and balance cash, second and third
years.
L. R. Case, $200, payable in one and two years in cash, or dischargeable within one year
by the conveyance of two acres of ground in North Bloomington, and adjoining on the north, at
my option.
K. H. Fell, $500, payable in notes to be due in three years from the 1st of June next.
John Rouse, $200, payable in one and two years from the 1st of .Tune next.
W. H. Allin, $1,100, payable on the completion of the building, by the conveyance of the
following lots : Lot 7, Block 1 ; Lot 5, Block 2 ; Lot 13, Block 13 ; Lots 14 and 15, Block 23 ;
and Lot 9, Block 24 — all of Western Addition to Bloomington.
William T. Major, $600, payable on the completion of the building, by a conveyance of Lot
No. One (1), Section 16, Township 25, R. 2 east, containing forty acres.
George P. Howell, $150, payable in one, two and three years, equal installments.
Jesse W. Fell, $7,000, payable, on the completion of the University Building, by the con-
veyance of 1,450 acres of my Jackson County lands, situated in Towns 8 and 9 south. Ranges 4
and 5 west of the Third Principal Meridian, and to be of average value with my other lands in
said townships, to be selected by disinterested persons.
The next list is mostly made of those who subscribed on condition that the institu-
tion should be located at some point within three miles of the corporate limits of Bloom-
ington.
Dietrich & Bradner, $200, one-half payable in nine months and balance in eighteen.
Poston & Didlake, $100, one-half payable in nine months and balance in eighteen.
S. P. Morehouse, $100, one-half payable in six months and balance in twelve.
434 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
D. L. Crist, $100, within one mile of Bloomington, one-half in six months, balance in>
twelve months, and $100 more if located within one-half mile of Junction.
A. C. Washburn, $50.
Harwood & Rugg, $200, one-half payable in nine months and balance in fifteen, if located-
one-half mile from Junction.
John Denman, $100, on condition that said school is located within one and one-half miles
of Bloomington.
E. K. Crothers, $50, one-half in nine months and balance in one year.
R. E. Woodson, $50, one-half in six months and balance in one year.
Thomas Carlile, $200, one-half in six months and balance in twelve months if located
within one mile of the corporate limits.
C. Weed, $500.
Samuel Watson, $200, in one and two years.
0' Donald & Warner, $300, in one and two years.
C. W. Lander, $50.
E. Barber & Co., $50.
R. B. Harris, $25.
A. Steel, $25.
E. Martin, $100, in one and two years.
T. J. Karr, $25.
C. Wakefield, $50, in one and two years.
Giles A. Smith & Graham, $50, in one and two years.
Samuel Colvin, $25.
John McMillan, $25, in one and two years.
A. J. Nason, $25, in one and two years.
J. Bronson, $25, in one and two years.
A. Sutton, $25, in one and two years.
•J. W. Lichenthaler, $25, in one and two years.
J. B. Crouch, $25, in one and two years.
K. Thompson, $25, in one and two years.
J. W. Moore, $50, in one and two years.
Orin Small, $100, in one and two years.
James Grover, $100, in four yearly payments.
E. M. Phillips, $100, in four yearly payments.
The subscriptions in this last list, as well as those in the first and second classes,
were, by the terms of their subscription, included among the donations to the Normal
University.
In addition to the above, we find that Joseph Payne and Meshack Pike donated
the site where the institution was located, consisting of about sixty acres, with enough
more on the west to make their gift about eighty acres, the whole valued at about
$22,000. Mr. E. W. Bakewell and Judge David Davis, each gave forty acres, valued,
altogether, at $16,000. The whole of the last-mentioned eighty acres, and some of the
other, is west of Main street, and is the land designed to be used by the agricultural
department of the institution.
The list we have given speaks for itself It is a record of liberality, which, at the
time it was made, was unparalleled, and caused great comment all over the country.
We should not forget that the most valuable part of the subscription — that which really
was of the most solid importance — was the county subscription. This was voted by the
County Commissioners — Judge A. J. Merriman, of Bloomington, and his Associates,
Hon. Milton Smith, of Pleasant Hill, and Hon. H. Buck, of Le Roy, in a quiet,
almost private session, with no opportunity to consult their constituents.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 435
In the fall of 1857, these gentlemen were all re-elected to the same positions; and
when the Board of Supervisors, in the following year, ratified their proceedings, appoint-
inf A. J. Merriman Swamp-Land Commissioner, it was seen that McLean County fully
sustained the County Court in its disposition of so large a portion of the swamp-land
funds.
The Board of Education appointed an architect — George P. Randall, of Chicago —
who prepared plans and specifications, upon which bids were called for in the papers of
Alton, Galena, Springfield, Peoria, Chicago and Bloomington. Fifteen bids were made,
ranging in price from $80,000 to $115,000. The contract was awarded to Mortimer
& Loburg, and T. H. Soper, of Chicago, for the sum of $83,000, the work to be com-
pleted September 1, 1858. The corner-stone was laid September 29, 1857. On this
occasion there was quite an impressive ceremony. Rev. H. J. Eddy, of the Baptist
Church of Bloomington, offered a prayer. Prof D. Wilkins read a letter from Gov.
Matteson, appropriate to the occasion. W. H. Powell, State School Superintendent,
deposited in the corner-stone, a copy of the school laws and of the different educational
journals of the day.
Mr. Jesse W. Fell deposited a list of all the contributors to the location of the
Normal, and hoped to see the institution develop into a complete State University, with
a model farm and agricultural college.
Dr. E. R. Roe, the editor of the Illinois Baptist, deposited all the Bloomington
papers of the time, and made a very appropriate speech. Judge A. J. Merriman, of
the County Court, placed the upper stone in position when the ceremony was completed.
Before winter, quite a large amount of work had been done upon the stone foun-
dation of the lower story, and about $30,000 was expended before the work was sus-
pended for the winter season.
The financial crisis of 1857, which commenced in the month of September, was
the means of causing a discontinuance of the work on the building. The county lands
could not be sold for cash ; many of the subscribers were crippled, and it was thought
best by the State Board to wait a few years, till money matters might become easier,
and hence the buildings were not fully completed until the early part of 1861. During
1859 and 1860, work was pushed with sufficient vigor to see the building inclosed in the
winter of 1859, and far enough advanced so that the graduating exercises of the first
class were held at the new building in June, 1860.
Temporary rooms had been secured by the State Board at Major's Hall, in Bloom-
ington, where, on the 5th day of October, 1857, Charles P]. Hovey, Principal, and Ira
Moore, Assistant, opened the Normal School with 29 pupils, whose numbers increased
during the academic year to a total of 127. Major's Hall continued to be used until
the fall term of 1860, when the Normal building was far enough finished to be occupied
by the entire institution. Several of the rooms were not completed till late in the
winter, at which time the State made an appropriation of $65,000 to pay debts which
had accumulated against the Board of Education. The building cost more than the
.sum first agreed upon, owing, in part, to advanced cost of materials. Included in the
appropriation is a large sum for heating and furnishing the building and for.miscel-
laneous matters. A portion of this money was lost by the failure of so many banks in
the spring of 1861, and for other reasons it was found necessary for the next Legis-
lature to appropriate $35,000 more before all bills were fully paid. The total cost of
436 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
the building, with all the incidental expenses, and the amount asked for books and
furniture up to 1863, was about $200,000 ; but had the building been completed near
the time it was started, the total cost would probably not have exceeded S100,000,
reckoning simply the cost of the building. It should be stated that McLean County
honorably met its subscription according to its terms, and that nearly all the private
individuals paid, though, as before stated, the State Board of Education did not enforce
the subscriptions at the time most of them were payable.
The Normal building is located about two miles north of the McLean County
Court House, on an elevated plateau, commanding a splendid view of Bloomington and
the surrounding country. At the time of its erection, the adjacent lands were princi-
pally utilized for agricultural purposes ; but since that time, the beautiful suburban vil-
lage of Normal, with its elegant villas, lovely parks, classic church-spires and wealth of
flowers and shade-trees, has clustered around it, making as fine a combination of nat-
ural and artificial landscapes as can be found in the entire West.
The building is admirably arranged for collegiate use. Its dimensions are 160 feet
in length ; the end wings are 100 feet in width, and the central portions, 80 feet. The
distance from the basement to the extreme hei2;ht of the tower is 140 feet. The base-
ment is divided into apartments, used, respectively, as a chemical and zoological labora-
tory, scientific lecture-room and dissecting-rooms. These are furnished with the neces-
saries for thorough, practical tests and demonstrations in the various branches. The remain-
der of the basement is occupied by the janitor's rooms and the heating apparatus, hot
air and steam being both utilized. Here, also, may be found reels of hose, connected
with the reservoir, located near the roof, which furnish sufficient water-pressure to
extinguish any ordinary outbreak of fire.
The first floor is exactly symmetrical in its divisions, the adjacent sides and oppo-
site ends corresponding precisely with each other in the size of the apartments. The
north side is divided into four recitation-rooms, occupied by the grammar and high
schools. The corner rooms on the south side are large, convenient dressing-rooms.
The primary department serves as a training-school for teachers. Here, the pupils of
the normal department witness the theoretical, practical and disciplinary work of teach-
ing, demonstrated by Prof. Metcalf and his assistants. Pupils are required to take
charge of primary classes, affording them an excellent opportunity to put into practice
the theories imbibed by observation. The reception-room, in the central front, is a neat
apartment, carpeted with Brussels and furnished with upholstered chairs and sofas, the
walls hung with portraits, and, on (me side, adorned with an elegant gilt-framed mirror.
Ascending to the second floor, we find the assembly-rooms occupying the entire
width of the building, with seats and desks for 270 pupils. The remainder of this
floor is divided into eight recitation -rooms, the library and reading-rooms. The library
contains about one thousand two hundred volumes of choice, standard reference-books.
The reading-room contains files of prominent literary and news journals.
The third floor contains five compartments — the museum. Normal Hall and the
two society-rooms, the latter occupying the west end ; they are 30x50 feet each, and
seat 250 persons. They are similarly furnished, each with a well-selected library, a
piano and other appropriate articles, all of which are the property of the societies. The
Pliadelphian and Wrightonians hold their regular literary exercises once a week. The
Normal Hall is 80 feet square and 20 feet in width, with a seating capacity of about
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 437
800 persons. The museum occupies the east end, and contains a very valuable collec-
tion, of great interest to the student as well as interesting to visitors, and is valued at
nearly SI 00,000.
Charles E. Hovey was the first President, from 1857 to 1861, followed by Perkins
Bass, for the years 1861 and 1862. Richard Edwards became President in 1862, and
filled the position with great ability until 1876, when Mr. E. C. Hewitt, who had been
an assistant in the institution from 1858^ was selected by the State Board of Educa-
tion, and has been President to the present time.
The following gentlemen and ladies constitute the present Normal Faculty : Edwin
C. Hewett, LL. D., President, Professor of Mental Science and Didactics ; Thomas
Metcalf, A. M., Principal of the Training Department ; Albert Stetson, A. M., Pro-
fessor of Language and Reading ; John W. Cook, Professor of Mathematics ; Henry
McCormick, Professor of History and Geography ; Stephen A. Forbes, Director of Sci-
entific Laboratory ; Minor L. Seymour, Professor of Natural Science ; Lester A. Bur-
rington, A. M., Professor of Latin and Greek and Principal of the High School; Mrs.
Martha D. L. Haynie, Professor of Modern Languages ; Miss Armada G. Paddock,
First Assistant, Training Department ; Charles DeGarmo, Second Assistant, Training
Department ; Miss Rosalie Miller, Teacher of Drawing ; Miss Bandusia Wakefield,
First Assistant Normal School ; Miss Flora Pennell, Second Assistant Normal School.
During the year ending June, 1878, the number of students in the noroaal proper
was 447 ; and in the high, grammar and primary schools connected with the institu-
tion, there were 235.
Since the Normal University first started, nearly four hundred pupils have taken
the full three-years course and graduated, while nearly seven thousand different students
have availed themselves of its advantages. The institution has done a greater work
with those pupils who have attended a portion of the course than with the limited num-
ber whose means enabled them to avail themselves of the entire curriculum.
When the Normal Building was ready for occupancy, in the fall of 1860, the vil-
lage of Normal comprised only about thirty houses, and a large number of the students
resided in Bloomington during the first two years; but by the fall of 1862, there were
enou"-h tenements to accommodate all who desired board at Normal. From this time
forward, the number of permanent residents in Normal rapidly increased, and probably
the year 1863 maybe taken as the time when the village had become in reality, distinct
and separate from Bloomington, with definite aims of its own. Houses went up on
every side, retail stores, began to be started, and Normal was a town of 1,000 inhab-
itants as early as 1865.
The total expenses of the Normal Department from July 1, 1877, to February 1,
1879, were $42,092, the whole of which were paid by the State. The total receipts from
the Model Department for the same time, $5.776 ; expenses, $5,635. The expenses of
running this school are met by the tuiiion foes charged to the pupils, only about thirty
of the smallest being admitted free. These last are needed in order that the pupils in the
Normal Department may acquire experience in the training of children. The Normal
University has taken a high rank among similar institutions, and has a firm hold upon
the hearts of the leading educators of the State. Its graduates have acquitted them-
selves with honor, some of them having been chosen to fill leading positions in normal
schools in other States. Its influence is felt not only in every part of Illinois, but
438 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
throughout the entire West. It is an institution of which the State may well be
proud, and is an honor to the community in which it is located.
soldiers' orphans' home.
While our civil war was raging, many plans were discussed for the future care of
the disabled soldiers, and for the orphan children of those who might lose their lives in
the country's service. As early as January 19, 1864, there was a meeting at the Court
House in Bloomington, at which quite a number of citizens and several officers and sol-
diers who happened to be at home on furlough, were present. A motion was ofiered by
Col. McNulta, of the Ninety fourth Illinois, propo.'-ing a resolution to appoint a commit-
tee to memorialize the Legislature in regard to preparing a home for soldiers' orphans.
This motion was seconded by Lieut. Col. Roe, of the Thirty-third Illinois Regiment, and
it was carried unanimously. Other parties in difierent portions of the State, about the
same time, re-echoed the sentiments of this meeting, and the movement here started re-
sulted in the passage of an act of the Legislature, February 7, 1865, without a dissenting
vote, which is " An act to establish a home for children of deceased soldiers." This law
was not found quite operative, and, during the winter of 1867, it was further amended.
The new law provided for a Commission to locate the home, and for trustees who should
manage the same. It appropriated the sum of $70,000 toward erecting a suitable
building. Gov. Oglesby added to this the sum of $30,000, which was in his care, known
as the " Deserters' Fund." This money had been left in the hands of the Governor by
men who had enlisted for bounties, and after enlistment had deserted or died, and left no
heirs, and it seemed best to appropriate it to some worthy object. The citizens of Normal
under the lead of Mr. Jesse W. Fell, organized a movement in April, to secure, if possible,
the location of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. The Commission for its location consisted
of Dr. H. C. Johns, of Decatur, Col. W. Niles, of Belleville, Maj. John M. Beardsley,
of Rock Island, Col. J. H. Mayborne, of Geneva, and Col. T. A. Marshall, of Charleston.
Rock Island offered 100 acres of land, valued at $10,000 ; cash, $5,000 ; total,
$15,000. Decatur offered 22 acres of land. Irvington, Washington County, offered
40 acres. Springfield's offer was 20 acres of land, valued at $20,000 ; cash, $40,000 ;
total, $60,000. The location offered by Springfield was not desirable, and when it was
compared with the offer of Normal, the Commission, on the 3d of May, 1867, unani-
mously voted to locate the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Normal. As a matter of histor-
ical reference, we give the list of donors :
D. Davis, 80 acres, valued at $1'2,000 [ W. G. Parr $200
J. W. Fell, 2,000 acres, valued at 10,000 i S. A. Overman 300
K. H. Fell, S. E. 21. l-"), 1, valued at.... 2.000 M. D. Seward 200
W. H. Mann, land valued at 1,000 .James Kelley 100
H. r. Taylor, 20 acres, valued at 2,400 : Thomas S. Underbill 150
W. A. Pennell 1,000
J. S. Walker, land valued at 375
N. Dixon, N. .', N. E. 12, 25, 4, valued 1,000
B. Smith 120
C. D. .Tames 300
Joshua Brown 150
F. K. riKPui.x, 20 acres, valued at 2,500 ! Thomas Bates 100
0. M. Colman, payable in six and . G. Dietrich 1,000
eighteen months 250 Thomas Fell 100
L. A. Hovey, payaVjle in six and twelve W. W. Bright 125
months . 500 S. J. Reeder 50
L. Dillon, five acres, valued at 400 i J. E. McLlun 500
W. H. Allin 1,000 ! Chicago & Alton Railroad in freights at
.John Worden 200 ! tariff rates 10,000
Jackson liukill 200 '
C. G. McClure 1,«00 Total $50,220
1. R. Gaston 400 !
^J
"\
.r
i^
'y/.^^i-^
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 441
Mr. Jesse W. Fell's offer was fioally made at $10,OuO, nearly all cash, the balance
in materials, thus making it to him a very costly donation. Judge Davis' gift of land,
afterward, at the request of the Board, modified to sixty-five acres, could, at the
time, probably have been sold for the full amount at which it was valued in the list. As
will be seen, nearly all of the donors were Normal citizens, and this liberality toward an
institution, which does not, from its nature, call for the building of many residences or
bring to the village much business, is truly most remarkable, and shows that the inhab-
itants of the place appreciate the pecuniary value of educational institutions.
The Board of Trustees, as soon as possible, let the contract for the Home building,
and, on the 17th of June, 1869, it was dedicated to the use designed. The cost of the
structure is placed in the books of the institution at 8125,000. It is 140
feet long, eighty feet wide, and four stories high. In the east end of the
basement story are the girls' playrooms, bathroom and storeroom, and the place
where the girls' clothing is manufactured. In the west end, we find the boys'
playroom, bathroom and storeroom, while between the two departments is the large
diniiig-hall. On the next floor is the reception parlor, with the ofiicers' rooms
in tha front, while at the east end is the library and reading-room, which contains a fine
library of 1,300 volumes. In this end, we find also the nursery for very small chil-
dren. In the western portion of this floor are two large dormitories, which contain
bed-i for about fifty children, and there are smaller dormitories and other rooms for
various purposes. On the third floor, we find the large chapel in front, in which is a
fine pipe organ. There are also dormitories on this floor. On the upper floor is one
very large dormitory in front, others in the ends, with hospital accommodations, both
for boys and girls. The whole building is warmed with steam, is lighted with gasoline
gas made on the premises, is furnished with iron fire-escape ladders, and with ropes and
all appliances for fire purposes. In the rear are the kitchen, laundry and boiler-house,
erected in 1872, at a cost of $6,000. Here we find the most approved arrangements
for cooking and heating, and for taking care of the children. The schoolhouse stands a few
rods east of the main building, and was built in 1872 at a cost of $15,000. It has six
schoolrooms, where 7 teachers take care of the 312 pupils now in the institution. The
State may well be proud of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. It is under the care of a
Board of three Trustees, who are Gen. John I. Rinaker, of Carlinville ; Gen. J. C.
Black, of Danville, and Duncan M. Funk, of Bloomington. Dr. J. L. White is Phy-
sician ; Clark N. Gill, Secretary, and Isaac N. Philips, Treasurer, all of Bloomington.
Mrs. Virginia C. Ohr is Superintendent. She commenced her labors in this institution
June 1, 1869, a short time previous to the dedication of the building. Before this, she
had been at Springfield for eighteen months in charge of about ninety orphans, who
were brought to Normal in June. There had been about ninety children in Blooming-
ington for the same time at temporary homes — one on North Main- street, west of the
Wesleyan University, and the other at the corner of Prairie and North streets.
The annual expenditures of the State in behalf of soldiers' orphans at this institution
have been from $30,000 to $45,000 per annum. This noble charity is but a small por-
tion of the country's debt to the brave men who risked their lives in the defense of the
country. It is accomplishing a great work, and is one of the State institutions which
seems to have little difficulty in securing appropriations.
442 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The township of Normal contains only one small tract of timber-land, the whole of
the balance being among the richest and finest prairie to be found in the State. There
are no swamps of any magnitude, and no large streams. Sugar Creek and its branches
become noticeable in times of high-water, overflowing wide tracts along the banks,
most of which, however, are seldom covered with water long enough to render it liable
to be included in the category of waste land, as it produces abundant crops in spite of
its occasional submersion. The timber-land referred to is at the extreme southern
edge of the township of Normal.
Here, of course, along the borders of Little Grove, now called Major's Grove, we
shall find the early settlement of the town, though at first included in the precinct of
Bloomington, and being at a later day, down to the present time, a part of the corporation
of Bloomington, it will be really difficult to include its history with that of Normal.
Still, as our work deals with these matters territorially, we will give a sketch of the
early settlement of Major's Grove, as well as a slight mention of the more recent devel-
opment of the prairie portion of the township.
The first entry of Government land in the Grove was made by Robert H. Peebles
August 11, 1830. Peebles seems to have been the first genuine land speculator of
this region, as his name appears frequently in the earlier entries. He lived at Vandalia,
111., and loaned money to the pioneers. His entry was the east half of the southeast
quarter of Section 32 — eighty acres. This tract includes the present Water Works and
stove-foundry. Achilles Deatherage appears to have been the first settler in the Grove,
about the year 1831. His residence was in the central or western portion, while, a
little later in the same year, Robert Guthrie occupied a log cabin in the eastern part,
and lived there for some time.
Most of the Grove was purchased, in 1835, by Rev. W. T. Major, and it has since
been called Major's Grove. Here he built a residence, and at a later date, in 1855 and
1856, he erected the fine educational building, since called Major's College. Its cost was
over $16,000, and its value, with the land, was $20,000. This was occupied as a young
ladies' seminary for several years^ though at first intended to be a female orphan school.
At times, it was well filled with students from Bloomington and Central Illinois, having
been occupied as late as 1867. Mr. Major was one of the leading members of the
Christian denomination. He gave liberally to schools and colleges of that Church, and
finally decided to present it this fine building. A full Board of Trustees was appointed,
and an effort made to operate the College as a denominational institution, but it was not
very successful, owing, mainly, to the fact that ^he Christian Church was interested in
several other Western colleges. This magnificent gift from one of the noblest Christian
gentlemen of the age, is almost without a parallel. The College building is still stand-
ing, a monument to his memory.
It seems that there is nothing of very special public interest connected with the
early settlement of Normal Township. Down to the adoption of township organization
in 1858, the residents of the townships were attached to the precinct of Bloomington,
and its early history is almost inseparable from that of the latter town. The prairie-
land was gradually purchased and occupied, until, by the year 1850, there were a good
many farms under cultivation. There was, however, rather a rapid demand for the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COJNTY. 443
lands during the speculative era of 1836. In that year, John Woods and N. E. Hall
entered the whole of Section 4; P. S. Loughborough entered Section 9; John Grigg,
the whole of Section 15 ; James Allin purchased Section 17; and A. Grridley bought
Section 20. The year previous, 1835, saw the entry of Section 21, by James Allin,
and Section 27 by Dr. John F. Henry. This rapid entry, did not, however, indicate
immediate settlement, as most of these tracts were purchased on "speculation," and
were not improved for many years. Some of these tracts were afterward sold for taxes.
All that portion of Normal Township included within the limits of the city of
Bloomington was settled and improved, of course, with the city, and its history is
included in that of the city proper ; just outside of this territory we shall find its his-
tory is also nearly identical. As we go further north, the land was early improved, the
settlements extending northward quite gradually from the center to the northern edge,
where in the northern half there was considerable Government land as late as in 1850,
when the Illinois Central charter granted all such tracts to that corporation. Between
1850 and 1856, nearly all this northern portion was purchased by farmers, and improve-
ments made thereon, though a few tracts were unbroken as late as 1862. Several thou-
sand acres of Normal land were purchased at a very early day by Judge David Davis,
and he still owns 2,000 acres in this township. Normal was quite well settled in 1858,
nearly every section of land being under cultivation, unless we except the Judge Davis
tract, near the center of the town, and few other portions which were used as a com-
mon herding-ground. As late as 1857, the Bloomington city cows made daily journeys
to the free pasturage offered by these open ranges. Normal farming land is all good,
and nearly every acre of it is held at high prices.
One of the early settlers of Normal was Mr. Elihu Rogers, whose home was on
North Main street, where his widow now resides. He was engaged in business many
years in Bloomington, and was always liberal-hearted, a leader in all good enterprises.
He was one of the principal organizers of the Second Presbyterian Church in Bloom-
ington ; he contributed several thousand dollars toward the new church in 1856. Mrs.
Rogers built the best business block in the village of Normal, in 1877.
Charles E. Fell's nursery was started quite early — some time before 1859. It is
one of the best collections of small fruit in Central Illinois.
Cyrus R. Overman's nursery was noted all over the West, from 1857 to 1864.
He was in company with Capt. W. H. Mann, and together they carried on a very large
business northeast of the Normal University. Mr. Overman was well known as a
writer on horticultural subjects, and was in every way worthy of the affection and
esteem in which he was held by his friends all over the State. At his death a few
years ago, the members of the State Horticultural Society erected a beautiful monu-
ment to his memory in the Bloomington Cemetery.
The world-renowned nurseries of Mr. F. K. Phtjenix were also in Normal Town-
ship. These are described elsewhere in this work. A.t one time the different nui.sery-
men in Normal Township cultivated over one thousand acres of land in trees and small
fruit. Even now, notwithstanding the falling-oft' in the trade, there is probably no town
in this State that has as much ground devoted to nurseries as has Normal. Several of
these are devoted almost wholly to raspberries, blackberries and small fruits. Among
those who are interested both in trees and fruit, in addition to the ones mentioned, are
H. K. Vickroy and others.
444 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
We have before mentioned that the township organization of McLean County
dates from the spring of 1858. Previous to that time, Normal was a portion of .the
precinct of Bloomington, and voted with it on all State, national and county matters.
The city of Bloomington, even then, extended into' the township of Normal, and all the
inhabitants of the city voted then, as now, at ward elections, and on municipal questions.
Upon the final adoption of township organization, the six miles square north of Bloom-
ington was named, very appropriately, Normal.
The first town-meeting was held April 6, 1858. William G. Thompson was elected
Supervisor, and John J. North, Town Clerk ; 0. M. Colmau and W. F. Coolcdge were
chosen Justices of the Peace. The first Commissioners of Highways were John
McLean, W. M. Hall and Robert Larrimore. William Hill was Assessor, and Peter
Whitmer, Tax Collector. The lamented Cyrus R. Overman was Supervisor in 1859.
Mr. 0. M. Colnian was Supervisor in 1866 and 1867.
In 1879, the Supervisor was R. B. Chaplin, with T. C. Funk as his Assist-
ant. The Collector was Jerome Chipman, the Assessor, J. B. Sargent, and the
Town Clerk, W. P. McMurray. The town vote is about 1,000, when all
brought out. The usual number of voters is from 700 to 900. The total
populatitm of the township, meaning thereby all who live in the six miles square,
must be nearly 6,000. No township census has been taken since 1870. The
number of voters is large enough to indicate that 6,000 is not far from what the
census of 1880 will exhibit. That portion of the township lying in the corporation of
Normal contains a population of 2,720, and that lying in Bloomington is always counted
with Bloomington in such a manner that it can with difficulty be separated. The
United States census, which follows the township lines and includes all the agricultural
people living in neither of the two municipal corporations, as well as those in the latter,
will not be published until after 1880.
The township of Normal, like nearly all our McLean County townships, moves
along in a very quiet manner. It has incurred no debt ; it meddles not with the
schools, with the State institutions, nor with Normal village. Its citizens meet and
transact what little business there is, keep their taxes down as low as possible, elect
their cffioials, and then go home and wait till it is time to repeat the same operation.
In 1860, the population of Normal Township was 660. In 1870, the population of the
same territory was 4,372.
VILLAGE ORGANIZATION.
To provide for the proper government of the rapidly-growing village, the inhabit-
ants voted September 30, 1865, under the general law to incorporate as a town. The
Trustees elected were L. A. Hovey, Wesley Pearce, D. P. Fyft'e, John A. Rockwood
and S. J. Reeder.
October 2, the Trustees organized by choosing Wesley Pearce, President, and S.
J. Reeder, Clerk.
The first election under the charter of 1867 was held March 18 of that year,
resulting in the choice as Tru.stees of W. A. Pennell, L. A. Hovey, S. J. Reeder,
William Wilde and James Loer.
On the 21st day of March the Trustees met, and they selected L. A. Hovey for
President, and S. J. Reeder as Clerk. The territory included in the town corporation
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 445
of Normal is two miles square, and the center is near the northwest corner of the
Normal building. Normal "School District" comprises the same territory, and, in 1867,
the members of its " Board of Education " were chosen by the Town Trustees. On the
21st day of March, 1867, the Trustees elected the first Board of Education, consisting
of W. B. Smith, 0. M. Colraan, T. S. Underbill and J. A. Sewall. Previous to this
time, the children of the district had attended the Model School, which is attached to
the Normal. All the property in Normal School District, except the University, or
other property properly exempt, is taxable for school purposes ; while for corporation
purposes, farming or horticultural lands, in ten-acre tracts or larger, are not taxed unless
laid out in town lots, or used as residences.
The present Board of Town Trustees is: B. F. Carpenter, President; H. G.
Fisher, H. K. Viekroy, R. B. Chaplin and J. Chipman. As before stated, this Board
has no power to license the sale of intoxicating liquors, and as a result it has little need
of police or police magistrates. There are now 2,720 people within the corporation by
actual count ; and we question if there can be found in the State a village of equal
size with so large a number of moral and religious and well-behaved persons. The
village is just what it was hoped it would become, when, in 1857, the State Board of
Education selected this as the site of the future training-place for the common-school
teachers of Illinois. Away from the temptations of a populous city, in the midst of a
population made up largely of people who have made Normal their homes for the sake
of its educational and social advantages, the State Normal University is admitted by
the general public to be most happily located, while the citizens of the village are justly
proud of the institution, which has become a model to be patterned after by all those
States which are seeking to elevate the standard of education within their borders.
To illustrate the energy and theappreciation of educational institutions manifested
by the citizens of Normal, we will mention the gallant fight it made in 1867 for the loca-
tion of the State Industrial College. The citizens of Normal Township voted $1U0,000
of ten per cent bonds ; and besides were ready individually to pledge quite a large sum.
The total ofi"er for the location of the college was :
McLean County 10-per-cent bonds $200,000
Bloomington City 10-per-cent bonds 100.000
Normal Township 10-per-cent bonds 100,000
Chicago & Alton Railroad Subscription (freight) 50 000
David Davis, cash 25,000
Jesse W. Fell, cash 15,000
Citizens of Normal and Bloomington, 140-acre tract for site 40,000
Total $530,000
The magnitude and liberality of this offer, viewed in the light of the present value
of money, seems almost marvelous, and yet there is little doubt that had Normal been
successful, the Industrial College, added to the Normal University, together with other
institutions which would naturally have been attracted thither, the investment, large as
it seems, would have been worth all it would have cost. This is also an illustration of
the harmony of feeling existing between Normal, Bloomington and the people of the
county at large, a proof that we are really one in interest and feeling. In fact, so thor-
oughly are the inhabitants of Bloomington and Normal convinced that their welfare is
almost identical, that quite a movement has been made for their formal union under one
446 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
government. There are many weighty reasons for such a union, and it is very prob-
able that some future historian may tell the story of its accomplishment. At present,
one of the chief objections on the part of Normal is the sale of liquor at retail — now
utterly prohibited in their village — but which would probably be allowed if the two places
were in one municipality.
NORMAL.
As a matter of course, we find the early settlement of the village of Normal cannot
antedate the location of the town unless we include as residents those farmers whose land
went to make up the two-miles square of the place itself We have made no effort to
trace the actual settlement of any of these farms, taking it for granted that several fam-
ilies were living here previous to the location of the town site of " North Blooming-
ton" in the early part of 1854. The cars ran on the Illinois Central Railroad through
Normal in May, 1853, but, by the latter part of that year, the line of the present Chi-
cago & Alton road was sufficiently well established to indicate where it would cross the
Central, fixing thus the point where a town might be built, if suitable efforts should be
made. We have elsewhere stated the facts in relation to the establishment here of the
young village of North Bloomington in 1854, and of its change of name to Normal
in 1858.
When the Normal School was in Major's Hall, in Bloomington, from October, 1857,
to June, 1860, the village of Normal was rather a dull place. As stated below, there
were perhaps nearly twenty families living here during this time, but there was no
visible reason for the existence of the town, which had the appearance of being on hand
before it was needed. The present business portion, where the blocks of stores are now
located, was in 1858 a beautiful grass plat, remarkably smooth, looking in some respects
like a village green in an Eastern town. In the month of June, 1858, the Normal stu-
dents had an excursion to view the site of the future seat of learning, and on their
return the young men had a game of ball on the green grass where now we see the
business part of the town, and the site was one of the best that could possibly be imag-
ined for that purpose. The writer has a distinct and vivid remembrance of the scene,
and to his mind the view was one of the most charming ever met. He watched
the game as a spectator, and remembers wondering whether the town would ever grow
enough to encroach upon what was then called by the students the " ball-ground."
This spot was covered only with grass as late as 1 863.
While the game was going on, the railroad cars rushed past, barely stopping at the_
crossing, having rarely any business at this point. In fact, so careful were the railroads
not to make any foolish stops in those days, that even when the material began to
arrive for the Normal building, in the fall of 1857, there were no conveniences here for
receiving freight, and the State Board of Education actually passed a resolution
requesting the companies to put in side-tracks here for their convenience, which was
done, as requested, by the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad, in a very short time thereafter.
The first family to settle here by virtue of the demands of the town, was that of
Mr. William McCambridge, who came as agent of the railroads in 1854, to look after
their interests at the crossing. Ilis family lived for a time in the rude depot-building,
which stood in the north angle of the railroad "junction," as a crossing was often called
in those days. Sometimes the place was called by its proper name, oftener " Blooming-
ton Junction." Mr. McCambridge's neighbors were the Junks, Bakewells, Colemans,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 447
Hills. Joshua Fell's family, W. F. M. Arny, the Taylors and a few others, who lived
on farming-lands which were wholly or partly within the present village limits. Mr. Arny
was living on a farm just west of the University building, west of Main street. He
was a remarkable man. He was a minister, a lecturer, an educator, a politician, a news-
paper writer, was in short, ready for almost anything that might turn up ia a new
country. Though living on a farm, tradition a.sserts that farming was almost the only
business he did not understand. His name frequently occurs in the history of Bloom-
ington and Normal until the year 1856, when he was made the Secretary of the Kansas
Free State Emigrant Aid Society, and after that date his fame became national. His
services there, as well as here, were of great assistance to the cause of humanity. Mr.
Arny was one of Normal's projectors and early benefactors, and is always mentioned
with respect. He became Governor of the Territory of New Mexico, and filled the
position very creditably for several years. He has since been an Indian agent.
Mr. Jesse W. Fell's residence was finished in 1856, when his family moved into
the new house, finding in the vicinity only the family of Mr. McCambridge. During
the next year, 1857, the Normal University was located, and from that time the settle-
ment went forward rapidly. By the close of that season, we learn of the following
families, in addition to those before mentioned as residents of North Bloomington:
Loran R. Case, Addison Reeder, James Maley, Stephen Dike, John J. North, John R.
Dodge, James Carleton, John Cai'leton, Mrs. Taylor, William Junk and Joseph Walker.
The Landon House, now occupied by the family of Mr. C. R. Parke, was started in
1856, and finished in 1857.
The University foundation was commenced in the fall of 1857, and over ^30,000
expended thereon. A foundry was also commenced, owned principally by Mr. Fell, in
company with Mr. Reeder, but the enterprise was a fiiilure. Some of the castings used
in the Normal building were made here, and also the iron work for Royce Block in
Bloomington.
The financial crisis of the fall of 1857 caused a discontinuance of work on the Nor-
mal, and this of course acted as a damper upon the new town. During the year 1858,
and also during 1859, but few i-esidences were erected, among which we can mention
that of Mrs. Robinson, in 1859. In the latter year, work on the Normal building was
pushed with great vigor, and the town began to have good prospects again. During the
following winter, plans were made for the erection of several residences, and they were
completed in 1860. Among these we will mention those of President Hovey, Messrs.
Hewett and Moore, who were of the Faculty, Albert North, Wesley Pearce, William
Flynn and Mr. J. S. Stewart. By this time, the town made quite a pleasing appearance,
several of the residences evidencing good taste. All of Normal was most distinctly visi-
ble from almost any point, as the trees were then in their infancy.
When the Normal institution was opened at the new building, in the fall of 1860,
there were not enough rooms in the village for all the students who wished board, and
during the fall term many boarded at Bloomington. A new sidewalk was constructed
to meet the walks in Bloomington, and it extended nearly to the corner of Main and
Chestnut streets. When this old foot walk was new, there was some good walking done
by Normal students of both sexes. All the boarding-houses in Normal were full to
overflowing. There were only two houses with many rooms ; these were kept by Mrs-
J. H. Stewart and Mrs. Grinnell, the latter in what was called the Landon House.
448 HISTORY OF McLean county.
Normal built its first sidewalk in the fall of 1860, and it then began to take on the
airs of a village, though it did not possess a post office, a telegraph office, or stores, for
eeveral years.
The first post office was opened about the year 1862, on the corner of Linden street
and the C. & A. Railroad, in a building where there was also a store. The first Post-
master was Robert E. Bower, and the first store was kept by a Mr. Phillips. The two
railroads did not at first make Normal a full office, tickets having first been sold fi:om thi&
place on the Chicago & Alton road, April 4, 1864; William Mc Cambridge, Jr., was the
first agent who sold tickets and made all the regular official reports in 1864. Shortly
after this time, he also became the first express agent ; he was also the first telegraph
operator, in 1870.
The Chicago & Alton Company built a depot in 1864, which was burned at the
time of the Normal Hotel fire, February 14, 1872. Very soon after the present station-
house was erected. The freight-house on this road was constructed in 1866 ; and in
1871, the freight-house of the Central was built, which has since been destroyed by fire
and replaced by another building which is a duplicate of the first.
In the chapters relating to the public schools, churches, and the State institutions,
we have given the dates of the erection of the buildings used by each, and we will not
here repeat those statements.
We should also mention that the village of Normal grew with wonderful rapidity
from about the year 1864 to 1870. Since the latter date, improvements have been made
quite slowly ; and at present, Normal, like all the towns in this part of the State, appears
to be almost at a stand. It is, however, a beautiful village, noted all over the West for
its fine appearance; for the intelligence and culture of its citizens ; and is very specially
remarkable for the trees which are so strikingly beautiful. But as we have touched
more fully upon each of these topics in other portions of this work, we will not here
enlarge upon them.
Quite a large number of the best families living in Normal have become citizens
since 1864, having come here for the express purpose of rearing their children in the
most moral and best behaved community they could find with first-class educational
advantages. Many of these families had accumulated enough property at farming or
other business for a comfortable support, and have here built or purchased homes where
they can attend to the education of their children. This element of society is a very
important one, and, added to others that are equal in all respects, gives the town a good
name and a permanency that it is hoped will grow with time until Normal will become
a place of national reputation.
TREES.
Normal has obtained an enviable reputation for its beautiful trees and shrubbery.
At the time of the hjcaton of the State Normal University, as we have stated, the town
was a bare, wild-looking piece of prairie, enlivened occasionally by the smoke and noise
of a few railroad trains, and then relapsing into desolate quiet. A beginning had been
made, however, by Mr. Jesse W. Fell, in that great tree-planting enterprise in which he
took such a loving interest. In the year 1856, he had planted a large number at North
Bloomington, and at the very time of the visit of the State Board of Education to
view the site for the Normal University, in 1857, his men were busy at tree-planting
on the public highways. The fact of the start thus already made, together with the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY, 449
interest then awakened in the matter of ornamental shrubbery, by such men as Cyrus
R. Overman, 0. M. Coleman, W. H. Mann and F. K. Phoenix, all living in the town-
ship, and all enthusiastic tree-planters, went far to convince the members of that Board
that the young institution would fall inlo good hands, and its future be watched by
carel'ul men, if it should be located at this point; and the more than twenty thousand
beautiful trees at Normal, with tbe successful twenty-two years' growth of the Normal
University, bear united witness to the foresight of the ruen of 1857. The zeal and
enthusiasm of Mr. Fell in the subject of trees on our public highways, found vent before
he had fairly commenced his labors, by giving names of trees to the streets of North
Bloomington, at the time of recording its plat in the Circuit Clerk's office.
Proceeding from west to east, we find Maple, Walnut, Oak, Linden and Elm
streets ; iirom Sycamore, going south, we come successively to Poplar, Cypress, Willow,
Locust, Cherry, Mulberry and Ash streets. Is not this an atmospbere of verdure?
How could the new town help growing as the trees grew, fresh, graceful, ever increasing
with each annual eiFort ?
The planting of shade-trees in double rows in such a manner that the sidewalks
are overhung by the two rows, is a novel feature — one that is duplicated in but few
places in the land. It is said that Germantown, Penn., has similarly shaded sidewalks.
This is the distinguishing feature of Normal. The number of these trees planted adja-
cent to sidewalks is in the neighborhood of six thousand. There are a little over nine
miles of streets thus shaded. There have been planted, in the streets, within the lots,
upon the grounds belonging to the State at the two institutions, and in private parks,
the larger part of the whole under the direct care and supervision of Mr. Fell, over
thirty-five thousand trees, including shade, shelter and fruit trees. These trees now
range in height from twenty to fifty feet, and give the town in summer the appearance
of being one vast, ornamented park, with a few houses in sight, the church-spires, even,
being then visible only at a distance of a few blocks. Well may Normal be proud of
these shade-trees, which are monuments to the memory of those who planned and exe-
cuted the immense work of transplanting, guarding and training these beautiful
objects.
Our work is not complete without an appropriate tribute to Mr. Jesse W. Fell, to
whom, more than to any other person. Normal is indebted for its existence, for its
beautiful trees and for the most of real public worth and value that it contains. We
are recording public events and speaking for a thankful, proud and generous public
heart. We are well aware that Mr. Fell enjoins silence on the part of public chroniclers ;
that he modestly prefers no panegyric to his name and fame, but we insist upon making,
here in this, albeit, weak, formal manner, a general acknowledgment of the public
appreciation of the life-long labors of Jesse W. Fell. We will accept his disclaimer of
his selfish motives in bringing together at Normal as many good influences as possible,
but we must insist that we are thankful to acknowledge he had the nobility of
heart to conceive, and the manhood and ability to carry into eifect, no plans except
those which were good ones ; no projects but those whose success should inure to the
happiness and welfare of his fellow-men. Happy the man who had the head and heart
to realize that his own self-interest would be best subserved by engaging himself and
others in enterprises like those which have been consummated at Normal. Thankful
we are also that Mr. Fell took delight in planting trees ; that in this occupation he was
450 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
happy and at home ; and that in other respects he phinned and managed in the interests
of public education, sobriety, morality and humanity.
If we may be permitted, we wish to call attention to the magnificent park which
surrounds Mr. Fell's residence. Here he gave scope to his passion for artistic shrub-
bery, his love for elegant groups of beautiful trees, his fancy for such ornamentation as
comes from the most skillful arrangement of all the different trees that will grow in
this latitude. This park is a lasting monument to its originator, and is a possession
shared by the public almost equally with its owner.
CHURCHES.
The residents of Normal Township attended the different churches in Blooming-
ton until several years after the village had been started. The first religious services in
the village were held in the University building in the winter of 1860-61. This was
the first year of its occupancy, and during this winter there were Sabbath-afternoon
union services, the different pastors of Bloomington being employed in regular rotation.
This continued for some time and gave good satisfaction until the village had grown
large enough to begin to have enough permanent inhabitants to form churches of the
leading denominations, when the Congregationalists and Methodists took steps to organ-
ize their respective churches, followed soon after by the Baptists, Presbyterians and
Christians. There are a large number of families in Normal who are connected with
churches in Bloomington, and who help swell the numbers included in the churches of
that city. In this particular, as in several others, we find it very difficult to separate
the interests of the two communities.
The First Baptist Church of Normal was organized July 13, 1866, with thirty
members. Bev. John H. Kent, from Holyoke, Mass., was the first Pastor. They
built a small frame chapel, 26x40 feet, which they occupied for about three years, when
this, from the rapid increase of membership, became too small for them. In 1871, they
erected a fine brick house, 40x70 feet, costing $15,000^ which they now occupy. The
number of members that have united with them since their organization is 286. The
present number is 158. The Church is now in a prosperous condition. They have a
large Sabbath school, which is well sustained, besides a mission school at the West
Side, which is on the increase. Their present Pastor is Bev. S. B. Gilbert.
The Christian Church was organized in April, 1873. The first Pastor was Bev. S. M.
Connor. There were only about twenty members at that date, while at present there are one
hundred and forty. Its present Pastor is N. A. Walker. Its church-building was erected
in 1873, and is a very comfortable and creditable structure. Its Elders are H. G.
Fisher, John Gregory and Isaiah Dillon.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized September, 1865. Bev. C. D.
James was the first Pastor. The church-building was begun in 1866, and, in the fol-
lowing winter, the basement was ready for occupancy. The church was dedicated Janu-
ary 7, 1868. The membership at the time of organization was 32; present number,
175. The present Pastor is the Bev. George M. Irvin, who was appointed in 1878.
The building is of brick, of fine design, with one tower 60 feet high, and another 119,
and is one of the ornaments of Normal. Its cost was over $16,000. The Sabbath
school is very flourishing, there being nearly two hundred in attendance. The Society
was transferred to the Central Illinois Conference in 1872.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COCTNTY. 451
The Presbyterian Church of" Normal was organized by the Presbytery of Blo(nu-
ington July 3. 1868, with only ten members. The church is at the corner of Linden
and Cherry streets. It was built in 1871 at a cost of about $2,500. It was dedicated
February 17, 1872. At present it has about seventy members and maintains a good
Sabbath school. Its first Pastor was the Rev. S. Hart, who remained until May, 1872,
when his place was supplied by Rev. Dr. S. Wilson, who officiated three years. Rev.
W. L. Boyd is the present Pastor.
The first church-building erected by the Congregational Church was dedicated
June 23, 1867. The Church had been organized several years previously — some time in
the spring of 1 865 — having met for some time in the University building. Its first
church was a very beautiful structure, having cost with the parsonage adjoining over
$15,000. It was destroyed by fire May 30, 1873. The total loss on buildings and
furniture was $18,000 ; insured for $7,700. This fire was a very severe blow to the
Chuich, but, on the 12th of September, 1879, it dedicated a new structure. The Church
contains at present about ninety members. Its Pastor is the Rev. Albert Etheridge.
It is probable that no other church in Bloomington or Normal has ever survived as
heavy a loss as this one has experienced.
NORMAL PUBLIC SCHOOL.
We have mentioned that the first school in Normal was probably the one taught in
1855, in a small building situated a little southeast of the residence of Mr. Jesse W-
Fell, upon what is known on the plat of North Bloomington as Seminary Block. There
were about fifteen children in this school. Its first teacher was Miss Brown, who is still
living in Normal. She is a sister of Mrs. Walker. Mr. P. C. W. Lyman was the next
teacher, followed by a very young man named William 0. Davis, who is now proprietor
of the Bloomington Pantagraph. When the Normal institution was opened at Nor-
mal in the fall of 1860, the children of what was known as District No. 2, embracing a
portion of what is now the corporation and school district of Normal were all admitted
to the Model School of the Normal, an arrangement having been effected by which the
public funds of the district were used to defray, in part, the expenses of the Model
Department. We quote the following from President Edwards' decennial address,
delivered at Normal June 27, 1872 :
The Grammar School, as a separate department, was organized in September, 18ij6. Pre-
vious to that time, the Model School was entirely under the supervision of the Principal of the
High School. All this time, too, the school had included all the children of school age, in Dis-
trict No. 2 of the town of Normal. But as the village increased, and the number of children
multiplied, the rooms at the University became too small for their accommodation. Accordingly,
a schoolhouse was built by the district, and, in April, 1867, the grammar and intermediate
grades of the Model School were removed to the new building. While these grades were yet in
the University Building, Mr. E. P. Burlingham, then of Geneseo, was appointed to conduct the
grammar grade. But the first Principal in the new building was Mr. John W. Cook. He con-
tinued in the position for two years, and was succeeded in September, 1868, by Mr. Joseph
Carter. Under these two gentlemen, the grammar school became a popular and efficient insti-
tution— well graded, thoroughly organized and marked by a vigorous and positive power. At
the beginning of Mr. Carter's principalship, the arrangement by which the children of school-
age belonging to District No. 'A of the town of Normal had been taught in the Model School was
annulled by a vote of the Board of Education of the State of Illinois, and the University ceased
to exercise control over the new building erected by the district. For the last two years, the
grammar grade has been conducted by Mr. B. W. Baker, a representative of Southern Illinois,
and a graduate of the University in the year 1870.
452 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
This school has been held, since the date given, by Mr. Edwards, in the new brick
school-building, which is such evidence of the good taste and refinement of the inhab-
itants of Normal. Its cost was $16,000. The Normal public school, in 1879, num-
bered 650 pupils. Nine teachers are employed in the diiFerent grades. Its Principal
is A. C. Butler.
INCORPORATED COMPANIES.
The Bloomington and Normal Street Railway Company, was organized in the
spring of 1867. Before the selection of its route there was a good deal of excitement.
At one time, when the Legislature was voting upon the charter of the proposed line,
there was a prospect that the State Industrial College would be located at Normal. Had
the location been made, the College was to have been placed just north of the Chicago
& Alton Railroad, on the west side of Main street. This would have fixed the street
railroad upon Main street or some one not far off. When the time came for organiza-
tion and location, there was quite a strife for the line a few blocks east of the street
selected, as well as for the Main street route. The road was organized under a special
charter. It was finished in the fall of 1867. At first "dummy" engines were run
between Normal and the city limits of Bloomington, but after about two years' trial
these engines were sold and the more reliable mule was substituted. The road is still
owned by a corporation, but as Mr. Asa H. Moore possesses nearly the whole of the
stock, he can be reported as being practically the full Board of Officers. We under-
stand there is no great profit in the property, but Mr. Moore keeps it in good shape for
the public accommodation.
The Bloomington Stove Company's shops are in the limits of the town of Normal,
and a large portion of the Chicago & Alton Company's repair-shops, as well as their
rolling-mill, but these matters will properly be treated in the city of Bloomington.
The Empire Machine-Shops in the south part of the township, were organized at
first as a company, but have now become private property, and are managed by W. F.
Flagg, whose money in the first place mostly built and operated the whole concern.
RESURVEY OF NORMAL.
From, the earliest settlement of Normal Township, there were grave troubles aris-
ing from the location of section and half-section corners. The lines of the difi^erent
farms and the proper position of roads could scarcely be permanently placed, as each
new surveyor would find errors in the previous survey. The trouble seemed to be that
only the outside or township lines were ever properly fixed by the Government Sur-
veyors. They perhaps drove stakes to indicate the section and half-section lines, but
placed no stones at these corners. There being no trees and no permanent corners, in
the course of a few years the fires had destroyed all boundaries. The first settlers did
the best they could, and lines and corners were established in various ways, causing
never-ending confusion. Some sections would over-run, others fall short of the proper
amount. Finally, in June, 1861, in locating the schoolhouse in the Overman district,
such grave errors in existing lines were demonstrated that, in the couise of a few years
the owners of property came to the conclusion that they would abide by a resurvey, to
be made under provisions of an act of the Legislature. This act was obtained in the
winter of 1864 and 1865. It provided a commission of three — A. T. Risley, of Macon
County ; John McGrew, of De Witt, and Z. A. Enos, of Sangamon. This commission,
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY, 453
in the fall of 1865, assisted by George P. Ela, of Bloomington, proceeded to survey
and re-establish the lines of the whole township, placing them as near where they had
biien before as was practicable, and the result has been tolerably satisfactory. Each
owner was made a party to the case by advertisement, before the survey commenced,
causing the publication of an immense list of names. The cost — about $3,000 — was
paid by the owners of the land. Appeals might be taken from this commission to the
courts. All such as were carried to the Supreme Court, were settled by a decision
which sustained the law.
INCIDENTS.
When the Illinois Central Kailroad was constructed, the bridge over the south
branch of Sugar Creek, not far north of the Empire Machine Works, was built of brick,
in the shape of an arch, on the top of which was a high embankment. The long con-
tinued rains of the spring of 1858, softened this mass of earth, and it rested with a
heavy pressure upon the biick arch underneath, which must have been of faulty
construction, as it was designed to carry the load with safety. One night, in the month
of May or June, the brick-work fell, allowing the embankment thereon to drop into the
creek. This, of course, created a dam, and, as a large amount of water was flowing at
the time, it soon rose nearly as high as the impediment, which was probably at least
fifteen feet. This water backed up and overflowed the farms east, rising in some cases
into houses, frightening the sleeping inmates nearly to death. As soon as the pressure
became sufiicient, the water broke through the embankment, carrying onward with
resistless fury large masses of masonry and earth, in some cases, lumps that would
weigh half a ton, being moved a quarter of a mile. No lives were lost.
In 1807, the Normal Hotel, situated near the depot, was built by W. A. Pennell,
Jesse W. Fell and others, and cost, furnished, about $25,000. It was well kept, was a
great favorite, and in every respect a credit to Normal. It burned in the winter of
1872, and its loss has been severely felt by Normal. The insurance on the property was
about $10,000, and much of it has been in litigation ever since the fire. The depot was
destroyed at the same time, its burning being, in fact, the cause of the hotel fire. A
foundry was built at Normal at the time of the erection of the Normal School building,
which furnished some of the iron-work for that institution, but the enterprise failed, and
entailed a loss of about $4,000, the most of which Mr. Fell sustained.
Another foundry, with a stove and furnace manufactory combined, built here in the
spring of 1877, was only able to survive a few short weeks.
Normal is abundantly supplied with good water, not yet utilized, but known to
exist in large quantities under ground. The well at the Orphans' Home is one of the
best in the State. It is 112 feet deep, and furnishes an abundant supply. The well is
tubed with iron, and the tube is three feet in diameter. An engine lifts the water to
the surface, wbere another forces it to the Home, and the engine there pumps so much
as is needed to the tank in the upper part of the building, and also performs other work.
Normal is well known all over the West as the home of the Dillons, who have
imported so many valuable Norman horses fiom France. Their stables are well built,
and are at any time worth a visit, often containing single horses that sell at from $1,000
to $4,000 Their stock is known in market as '' Normans " or " Percheron Normans,"
from Percheron and Normandy, in France, where the Dillons make annual trips to
select the best animals that can be purchased.
454 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
Normal labors under the great disadvantage of having lost a large portion of its mili"
tary glory, from its proximity to Bloomington, which city has appropriated to itself with-
out effort, by the natural force of circumstances, much of the military credit of Normal.
Whenever regiments, companies or squads of soldiers were being made up in
Bloomington, Normal and the adjoining towns helped swell the ranks, regardless of the
little matter of credit. Many of the volunteers obtained their mail at Bloomington,
there having been no post office at Normal until the war was well under way, and, from this
fact, gave Bloomington as their home when the muster-rolls were being compiled, and
hence the poor showing made at first by the new town of Normal. The fact remains,
however, that its residents were fully as patriotic as those of Bloomington, and when
the result of the loose method of crediting was discovered, in 1864 and 1865, atid it was
seen that the township would need to bestir itself to furnish its quota of volunteers,
the most vigorous efforts were made, with great success. The township raised by sub
scription a large sum of money, and it was given to volunteers who would accept of the
large county bounty, with an additional sum from Normal, often as much as $50, and,
by earnest work, the town's quota was always raised, and no draft was ever necessary.
Had the matter of credit been thought of in 1861, Normal could very readily have
secured the large number of its citizens who were credited to Bloomington, and would
have shown a surplus over all calls.
The history of the famous Normal, or Thirty-third Illinois, Regiment, should be
touched upon in this article, as it is of interest to our narrative. In April, 1861, when
the war commenced, Joseph G. Howell, who was then Principal of the Model School at
Normal, volunteered, with four or five of the students of the University.
Howell was killed at Fort Donelson. On his departure from Normal, with several
of the students mentioned, there was a probability that nearly all of the remainder
would enlist before the end of the spring term. Had this happened, they would have
been scattered through different commands, of little assistance to each other, and would
have made no record for the institution of which they were members.
Mr. Hovey, the President, in order to hold the school together awhile longer, pro-
cured a drillmaster — Capt. White — and a military company was formed for daily prac-
tice and drill.
By the end of the term, July 4, 1861, this company had become well disciplined,
and had formed plans for enlisting in a body as soon as an opportunity should be found.
About the middle of July, Mr. Hovey went to Washington, and offered to raise a
whole regiment of students, teachers and educational men. His offer received no
attention for several days; but while he was waiting for an answer. Bull Run spoke in
beseeching tones for volunteers, and the day after that disastrous battle, his regiment
was gladly accepted by the Secretary of War.
Mr. Hovey returned to Normal, now Colonel, and proceeded to organize the
regiment. He called on the educational men of the State with such success that
by the first of September his regiment was at Springfield with nearly its full comple-
ment of men. Company A, its first company, was made up originally from those Nor-
mal students who had been driUing for nearly three months previously, and contained
most of the students who volunteered at that time, although several others took positions
in this or in other regiments. Ira Moore, one of the teachers, raised a company
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 455
for the regiment, mainly of men from McLean County. Moses I. Morgan, Aaron
Gove and C. »]. Gill, students, together raised in Du Page, La Salle and Stark Counties
a full company, of which they became the commissioned officers. The officers of the
students' company (A) were : L. H. Potter — one of the teachers — Captain ; J. H. Burn-
ham, who graduated July 4, 1861, Fir.st Lieutenant; and G. Hyde Norton, of the
next graduating class, Second Lieutenant ; about fifty enlisted from this institution in-
the year 1861.
Charles E. Hovey, the first President of the Normal University, went into the
army as Colonel of the Thirty-third Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, known in the
history of this State as the " Normal Regiment.". He was one of the bravest and best
of the noble officers of the volunteer service ; he was commended for his skill and good
behavior in the battle of Frederick town, Mo., which took place October 21, 1861. In
the battle of "Cache River," or "Cotton Plant," in Arkansas, July 7, 1862, Col..
Hovey greatly distinguished himself by his courage in the face of defeat, when he
rallied the retreating soldiers under a galling fire, though wounded in the breast himself,
re-arranged the shattered lines and brought victory out of what came near being a disas-
trous defeat. For this good conduct he was appointed Brigadier General by the Presi-
dent, his commission dating from September 5, 1862. He was soon assigned to the
command of Gen. Sherman, who placed him in charge of his advance brigade, a posi-
tion he filled until April, 1863. Gen. Sherman gave him the highest praise for his
efficiency. When Congress assembled in the winter of 1862 and 1863, it was not pre-
pared to confirm the appointment of all of President Lincoln's Brigadier Generals, and
limited the number of confirmations to one hundred. The President had sent in two
names from McLean County — those of Gen. Hovey and Gen. W. W. Orme, and when
he was obliged to revise his list, bringing it from about one hundred and fifty to the
proper number, he felt compelled, on account of the policy of equal territorial distribu-
tion, to drop the name of Gen. Hovey, which he did very reluctantly. This threw that
gentleman suddenly out of his position in April, 1863, and he left the army just as he
was on the threshold of a remarkably brilliant career. In 1868, Congress granted him
tardy justice by the compliment of a brevet Major Generalship.
Several of the residents of the village — students — enlisted and never returned, or
came home to linger a few years and die. William A. Pearce and his cousin, Alvin T.
Lewis, were both killed in battle, while Lieut. James B. Fyff"e died in 1871. Edward
J. Lewis, editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph in 1861, assisted in forming the
Thirty-third Regiment, enlisted as a private soldier, and afterward became Captain in
C Company. He is now Postmaster at Normal. Col. E. R. Roe, Gen. C. E. Lippin-
cott and Col. I. S. Elliott were all members of this brave old regiment, which partici-
pated in the battles before Vicksburg, Mobile, and other historical battles. Normal has
always claimed an interest in the welfare of the Thirty-third Regiment which was known
for years as the Normal Regiment ; and its Company A of students, though represent-
ing thirty different counties in this State, contained so many Normal residents, and was
so essentially a product of the institution, that its memory will ever be cherished here.
In 1862, several of the Normal students enlisted in the Ninety-fourth Regiment, which
was raised in McLean County. These were mostly in Capt. W. H. Mann's company.
Mr. M. was a nurseryman, in company with the lamented Overman, and his command
contained more Normal men than any other that enlisted.
456 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Freemasons were organized February 20, 1871. The present number ot
members is twenty-six. The officers for 1879 are: J. S. Lackey, Master; A. T. Dick-
erson, Senior Warden ; J. M. James, Junior Warden ; A. C. Taylor, Treasurer ; S.
K. Vickroy, Secretary ; F. E. Baker, Senior Deacon ; J. S. Garrett, Junior Deacon ;
James Worden and George W. Davidson, Stewards ; A. S. Hursey, Tiler. There are
quite a number of gentlemen in Normal who are members of some one or more of the
different societies in the neighboring city of Bloomington.
We find, that though Normal does not pretend to be a commercial or manufactur-
ing point, it transacts considerable business. Its grain-dealers purchase considerable
quantities of produce, and its retail stores include the several branches found in towns
of its size, consisting of drug, hardware, dry goods and grocery stores; there are,
besides, other retail dealers. For several years after the village was started, it was
thought all the different branches of miscellaneous business would be patronized in
Bloomington, leaving no opening for home talent; but after a time, the greater conven-
ience of Normal stores was so plainly demonstrated, that those dealers who first started
business in the village found ready patronage, and their places of business were followed
by the opening of others, all of which are now permanently established.
In the manufacturing line. Normal's experience has been rather a severe one, as
there can scarcely be said to be a successful manufactory in the village. There is a
woolen-factory, capable of employing from ten to thirty operatives, but it has never been
run to its full capacity. It is now operated on a small scale, making excellent goods
and doing a fair business, but has not the trade that might be expected of a factory
situated between two such towns as Normal and Bloomington. A large paper-mill was
built about six years ago, which, for a time, turned out large quantities of a good qual-
ity of printing paper. For some months the St. Louis Republican, the Bloomington
Panta ff r ajjh, -dud other journals used its paper, but the owners failed after about two
years' trial, and the mill is now idle.
The Normal stock yards are quite an institution. They are situated on the east
side of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. They can comfortably feed and
water over a thousand cattle at once, and are a great convenience to such shippers as
wish to rest their stock here before taking them to the Chicago market.
We hope Normal will, in the future, retain its pre-eminence as an educational cen-
ter, and that it will some day see the establishment of other colleges or seminaries. If
it can secure these, and can retain its present intelligent population, there is little doubt
that it will become known as one of the best towns in the West; that its future may
become all that its past has led us to look for, is the earnest wish of the citizens of
McLean County.
n^-^vr^, ->
NORMAL TP
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 459
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP.
Randolph Township, named from Randolph's Grove, which occupies the centra^
part, is, like all of the southern tier of this county, six miles by eight, and contains all
of Township 22, Range 2 east, and twelve sections, or one-third of Township 21, Range
2. It is generally rolling, having very little flat land, and is beautifully timbered, or
was originally, and very little of what was timber has been cleared ofi". About ten sec-
tions, or nearly 20 per cent of its territory, were covered with a more or less sturdy
growth of native timber, which made it a. desirable location for those who sought this
county for homes at an early day. The Kickapoo Creek passes entirely across from the
northeast to the southwest corner, and its branches flow through nearly every section in
the township, so that it is not strange that no other country township in the county drew
so many early settlers to its borders as this. When Gardner Randolph and his kinsfolk,
the Stringfields, flrst looked on its virgin beauty in May, 1823, it is not to be wondered
at that, after years of moving and looking for homes, they should have stopped here
and thought —
'• Within this limit is relief enough —
Sweet bottom-grass and high, delightful plain,
Round, rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
To shelter them from tempest and from rain."
There could not well be found in this part of the State more of those points deemed
necessary by the " Twenty-niners " than were found here. The timber, high, rolling
land, running water, and absence of all those things which were popularly supposed to
produce the prevalent sickness in new settlements. Randolph, however, visited all the
other groves in the county before he decided to remain here, and did not find any that
suited him like this. He was, withal, a particular man, and what would have satisfied
others would not him, for, having lived here until he had brought up a baker's dozen of
children, he went to Kansas, and from thence to California.
The story of the first settler is always an interesting one ; in this case, of more
than ordinary interest.
Gardner Randolph, a second consin of John Randolph of Roanoke, was born in
North Carolina about the year 1793. When a small boy, his father moved to Tennes-
see and died. Gardner and his sister made their home with an uncle, who, soon after,
made his home near Huntsville, Ala. About the year 1818, he married a sister of A.
M. Stringfield. A year later, he came north and located in White County, 111. The
migrating party consisted of the elder String-field and his wife, two sons, Alfred and
Severe, the two daughters and their husbands, Randolph and James Burleson, and a
daughter, who afterward married Jesse Funk. After remaining in White County one
year, they moved to Sangamon, where the father of the family died. Burleson returned to
Alabama about 1835, where he entered military service (had served under Jackson before),
after which he went to Texas and engaged in the Texan war for independence as Colonel
of a regiment of Texan Rangers.
In 1823, the remainder of the family, under the lead of Randolph, came to the
present town of Randolph and made it their home. At that time, everything north of
Vandalia, until you reached Fort Clarke (Peoria), was Fayette County. Hendrix and
460 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Dawson bad small shanties at Blooming Grove, and, with this exception, the present
county of McLean had not a resident. They made a camp near where the residence
of Dr. Stuart now stands, and left A. M. Stringfield there with the women and children,
while Randolph, Col. Burleson and Severe Stringfield prospected for a permanent home.
They had lelt Sangamon County because it was too wet, and, in passing through Funk's
Grove, where no person then resided, they were pleased with it ; but Randolph's clear
good sense taught him that he could find something better. They visited Blooming
Grove, but say nothing about finding any persons, though it is now understood that
Hendrix and Dawson were living there. They also visited the Mackinaw timber and
Old Town timber, but returned to where their family were, saying that this was the best
place in the country, and, from that time, it has been known as Randolph's Grove. The
reasons for their choice were that the land was more rolling than they had found it in
Sangamon County, and hence would not be so troubled with standing water, and the
stream was a favorite one. The timber was excellent, and they concluded they had
found the best locality in the State. Randolph took up a claim and built his cabin
where the Houser buildings now stand, on Section 15, and continued to live there until
he removed from the State in 1854. He reared a family of twelve children, and, in
1850, four of them, James B., William, Samuel and Alfred, went to California. Find-
ing that he needed more land for his large family, he sold the Fry Farm to Mr. Bell,
and entered considerable land in Kansas. In 1854, he sold his farm to Houser and
went to Kansas to live. He soon sold out and followed his children to California, and
died in Sacramento County. One daughter, the wife of Albert Welch, lives in Bloom-
ington. Three sons were killed by horses in California, one resides in Oregon and four
children still live in California with their mother. Randolph was an energetic business
man. In company with his brothers-in-law, he frequently went on those trading excur-
sions to Chicago, Terre Haute, Peoria, Ottawa and the mining region, and the Rock
River country. They drove hogs principally. They were not of the " improved
breeds," now the favorites, but were the sandy, streaked and speckled " wind-splitters,"
so well known to the early settlers, and which could travel as iar in a day as a man
could walk before the days of pedestrian contests. It required about seventeen days to
drive to Galena, and the hogs would pick up a living as they went along. They would
drive from one grove to another, and feed the hogs on the nuts as they became hungry.
Like most of the men who settled in this grove early, he belonged to the Methodist
Churcli, and was an exemplary and honored citizen and neighbor.
A. M. and Severe Stringfield, as appears above, came here at the same time with
their mother and brothers-in-law, in May, 1823, and took up a claim for their
widowed mother on the place which she afterward sold to Samuel Stewart. Alfred later
took up a claim a little west of where he now lives, and, afterward, purchased some
land cast of this, not exactly adjoining it, but leaving a tract between his two parcels
which he thought no one would want to buy, and, after he was able to, he bought himself
He was the first to break the land in this town, and, indeed, in this part of the county.
After several years of vain attempt to make money enough here to pay for his land, he
took his mother to Galena and went to work there teaming, chopping, or at any other
labor he could find to do. There was no money in the settlement at Randolph's Grove,
but at Galena there was always demand for work and reasonably good pay for the times.
He remained at Galena two years, and his mother died there ; he then returned, in
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 461
1830, to the Grove and bought the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 14,
west of and near his present residence. This land he continues to own still. Subsequently,
he bought the east half of the same quarter-section, and, later, other lands joining. Up
to this time, the life of Capt. Stringfield had been a wandering one. For years working
with and for his father to support the family, and, after that father's death, as the chief
support of his widowed mother, his care and labor had been for her. The slow process
of acquiring property on the frontier had been to the energetic and active young man
slower than he had expected ; the uncertain calling of teaming in the lead-mines had hardly
encouraged him. The recent passage of the pre-emption law gave him an opportunity,
and, in 1832, he married a daughter of George C. Hand, who had for some years lived
a neighbor in the little settlement. From this date his success was marked. Hard
work and plenty of it he has always had, but now, at the age of seventy, he is as lithe and
spry as a young man of twenty-five ; swings an ax as if it were mere sport, and one would
hardly suppose that he had lived through sixty years of hard and exacting labor. For
several years and up to the railroad age, he continued to raise feed, and buy and drive
stock to market ; the latter he abandoned when it became necessary to ship stock by
rail. His papers bear the signature of Andrew Jackson, whom he knew when he lived
in Alabama. His father and other members of the family had served under the old
hero, and, on return from one of his Southern excursions, Jackson had taken dinner at
his father's house. Whether these early incidents had their natural effect on the young
man he himself probably hardly knows, but no secrecy is violated in saying that Strinf"-
field has voted the Democratic ticket and very effectively supported the principles and
views of that party pretty continuously since he arrived at voting age, a habit he is in
no danger of abandoning while he remains here. He is a man of native eloquence and
might have made in any calling which would have cultivated those powers a very fine
record ; but he seems to have had no ambition in that way. Ten children have been
born to him, eight of whom grew to maturity. He is a strong man, whose patriotism
has never been questioned and whose love for his fellow-man has never ceased.
George C. Hand, Mr. Stringfield's father-in-law, left Ohio for the great West in 1819,
and, after spending four years in the Wabash Valley, near Shawneetown, and two years
in Sangamon, came here to Randolph Grove in 1825. He took up land in Sections 24
and 25, the farm now owned and occupied by Clement Passwaters. To him were born
ten daughters and four sons ; all of whom grew up to manhood and womanhood but
one daughter. This would have been deemed at the present day a very interesting'
family, but it did not seem to surprise the Grove much. He was a devoted member of
and a local preacher in the Methodist Church, and his house was one of the earlier
preaching-places in this neighborhood. He went from here to Iowa and died in 1845.
Mr. Severe Stringfield, who came here with his mother and brother, was a wheel-
wright by trade, and commenced to build a mill on the Kickapoo, but sold it to Mr.
Bishop. He afterward put up a mill farther up stream in Downs Township. In 1852,
he went to Santa Barbara County, Cal., where he still resides.
These early settlers endured all the hardships customary to those in like situation.
They went to Springfield to do their trading and not uncommonly (Squire Stringfield
vouches for this, and it will be remembered that he married into a family where there
were ten daughters) the single room of a pioneer cabin served the joint and several
purposes of parlor, kitchen, dining-room and bedroom, whore the family and visitors
462 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
did their cooking, eatiug, sleeping and courting. The County Clerk's office was so far
away that to accommodate custom to circumstances, the Clerk agreed to a trifling irregu-
larity in the way of marriage licenses, in permitting the officiating clergymen to fill up the
license, when he came around in his circuit to make return of the license to the Clerk.
Many a young couple were just as efficaciously united in this way, and felt satisfied with it.
Thomas Toverca, who had served in the war of 1812, and was somewhat familiar
with this part of the country (it is said, though the writer has not been able to verify
this, that he passed through or near this grove in an expedition which was intended to
intimidate the Indians in this State}, came to the State from King's salt works in East
Tennessee, about 1820. He lived for a time at the salt works in Gallatin County, from
whence all this new country got their salt in the early times. There he became
acquainted with Gardner Randolph, and after living a short time in JMorgan County,
came to Mr. Randolph's and made his home on a portion of the latter's claim, where
Mrs. Lightner now lives. After living here a few years, he sold to Governor Moore and
removed to Downs Township where H. A. Myers now live.
In 1830, John Moore came here from Harrison, Ohio, where he had worked at
his trade some years. He had married in Kentucky the widow of the man he had for-
merly worked for, and then engaged in work at Harrison on his own behalf A sketch
of this remarkable man appears farther on. He sold this place to Mr. French, and
bought farther east and built where Mr. Ryburn now lives. He was the first of the
long line of names who have made McLean County famous for conspicuous official life,
and his great success in that direction undoubtedly gave incitement to a desire for polit-
ical preferment which so many of her citizens have indulged in.
The same year (1830), Mr. Samuel Stewart came here from Hamilton County,
Ohio, a county which furnished many early settlers to Randolph. He had formerly
lived in Virginia. He purchased the claim of A. M. Stringfield, before mentioned, and
in 1834 put up what is believed to be the first brick house in McLean County. The
house still stands, and is occupied by his son, Hon. A. E. Stewart, as his family resi-
dence. The house is a real curiosity. The lumber was most of it home made, " whip"
sawing being then a favorite way to manufacture lumber. The fire-place is large enough
for four, and the bricks in the chimney are sufficient to make at least a half-dozen as
now made. The house has never undergone any modernizing, and is comfortable within.
Dr. Stewart is the only one of Mr. Samuel Stewart's children now living on the land
which he entered here. He studied medicine, and after graduating, married, but soon
left a growing practice to accept the position of surgeon in the Ninety-fourth Regiment
Illinois Volunteers, serving three years and returned to his farm. In 1872, he was
elected to the Legislature, and returned in 1874. He proved to be a careful, well-
informed and industrious Representative. At present he is serving as Record Clerk in
the office of the Circuit Clerk of McLean County, a position which his accurate meth-
ods of business and prompt attention to whatever his duties are eminently fit him. He
owns and works a fine farm of about three hundred acres, the residence occupying a
beautiful spot adorned by nature for a home of elegance and delight. As before stated, it
was the first spot selected in Randolph for a home, and with but one or two exceptions, the
first in the county ; and well it justifies the judgment of that early selection. It is not
strange that music finds its home in such a pleasant retreat. The children of this fiimily
have formed a band, and make music one of the pleasant accompaniments of home-life.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 463
In 1825, Tobias Downer moved herefrom Sangamon Connty, and made a home
on Section 24, near the township line. He remained about ten years, and after a few
years spent in the lead mines, moved to Salt Creek.
The same year, John Mayberry took up a claim on Section 25, and lived there
until his death, which occurred in 1869. One of his children lives Bloomington and
one in Chicago. His two youngest live on the same land their father first entered.
He was a quiet man and a good citizen.
Near him was the farm of Col. J. Burleson, before spoken of after whom the
branch was named. It is a fine farm and now owned by H. M. Miller. Col. B. sold
it to Mr. Merrideth who lived on it several years.
Chambers Wright took up land in Section 36, and after going to the lead mines
for awhile, some years after his return, sold to Morgan and RadclifF.
Early in 1824, Thomas 0. Rutledge came to the farm he still lives on, about
one mile east of Hey worth. Only the Stringfield family and those who came with them
then lived in the present town of Randolph. Mr. Rutledge, then scarcely eighteen years old,
had in a great mea§.ure the care of his mother, lately widowed, and her family. They
came from Kentucky, and spent a year or two in White County, and in Sangamon. He
made a wagon without any iron, to move with, and their entire household goods were
readily transported on it, drawn by a pair of steers, which he had raised. This team was
all he had for farming the first two years of his residence here. He was not able to
work on the new farm all the time, for he was obliged to work out part of the time.
He went to Waynesville and split rails, and brought home his pay in the shape of chairs
and other needful furniture, on horse-back. This was at that time part of Fayette County.
He was married in 1829, when this was Tazewell County, with its county seat at Mack-
inawtown.
He enlisted at the time of the Black Hawk war in Capt. Merrit Covel's company,
and went to Pekin; from thence to Peoria, and was enga2;ed in the fi2;ht, at " Stillman's
Run," where it is his opinion " somebody blundered." After this fight his company
went to Ottawa, Chicago and Milwaukee, thence back to Ottawa. He did not see any
more fighting, and at the close of hostilities, returned to his farm.
He still lives where he first entered land, and his younger sons remain to help carry
on the farm. He was the father of twelve children. Owen C, his second son, is in
business in Heyworth. The weight of more than seventy years rests on him, though he
is still active, and capable of doing considerable work. Always careful and attentive
to his business, never ventuiing into speculations, he has acquired a competency, and
now, in his old age, with most of his children around him, there is no very good reason
for his feeling otherwise than contented and happy. In 1826, Thomas Rutledge came
to Randolph with his son Robert H., and took up a claim near his relative, Thomas 0.
He died in 1830. Robert continued to reside on the land his father had taken, and, in
1831, married a daughter of George Wadman, who had in the mean time settled near by-
This was the first marriage license issued by the Clerk of McLean County, after its
formation, and the wedded life thus inaugurated was a fruitful one, for twelve children
were born to this first couple.
They occupied a cabin which had neither floor nor door, and their bedstead was
made by boring holes in the logs, and driving poles into them. His first journey to
Chicago was made in company with Wright and Bishop, with ox-teams, and they sold
464 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
their corn for $1.25, and oats for $1.00 per bushel, which was considered in these times
pretty fair prices. The trip occupied about six weeks, and on their homeward way they
encountered high water on nearly all the streams.
His brother-in-law, Jacob Bishop, took up land near here in the southwest quarter
of Section 36, in 1830. He came from Ohio with his father-in-law, George "Wadman,
and their first winter's experience was a memorable one. Tire deep snow was severe
enough on all, but to those who had only got half fixed for the winter, it was far more
trying. There was little to buy, and less to buy with, and how they got through the
winter alive they hardly know.
Mr. Bishop has raised a family of thirteen children, all of whom married and live
near him.
John Weedman, who came at the same time, bought the Thomas Rutledge place, and
lived there some years. He moved to Farmer City, and his children have there grown
into some of the most successful business men in that county.
The most successful in business enterprises and in acquiring property, of all the
early settlers in this township, was Jesse Funk, who commenced here in 1825. Not so
well known as his brother Isaac, and leaving an estate somewhat less than his, he had
many of the strong points of character which were so well known in him. For a year
before he married and settled here, he had lived with Isaac at Funk's Grove. He had
grown up in Ohio, and came here with nothing but his energy, good sense, and a strong
constitution, that could endure any amount of hardship. In 1825, he married a sister
of Capt. Stringfield, and, in the spring of 1826, commenced housekeeping in a log cabin,
12x14 feet, with only a floor in half of it, and no door but a blanket ; two stools and a
table furnished the " house." It was fortunate in his case that he did not wait till he
'' got ready to marry," or ready to "support a wife," as do so many of the present day,
as he would never have done so, for he became so engrossed in business that he never
would have found time.
Like many others in this neighborhood, he looked to Galena, then the best market
in the State, for business. He tried mining and teaming there one year, and then began
the business^ of driving hogs there. He was on the way there with a drove of hogs, in
company with Col. Burleson and Severe Stringfield, his brother-in-law, when the deep
snow came on. It seems impossible that they could have got through, and most any
other man would have given up. But this indomitable man never gave up ; he drove
the hogs and drove the men, using pretty much the same arguments with both, and
those which did not actually freeze to death he got through to cralena ; but they were
the sorriest looking lot of pork that ever went into that or any other market.
He pushed his trade into other markets, and for years drove large herds of cattle
and hogs to Chicago. Other men had the same opportunities, but other men had not
generally the same untiring energy, powerful will and physical power. He bought
everything he could buy, and kept " on the drive." He continued the same business
even after railroads were built. As fast as he could spare money from his trade he put
it into land.
He lived on Section 2, Town 21, Range 2, and at the time DeWitt County was
laid off, it was proposed to make the north line of the new county the north line of
Town 21. Funk, who had so long lived in McLean County, said he would not stand
it to be cut off, and got up a counter-petition to have the two northern tiers of sections
HISTORl' OF McLEAN COUNTY. 465
tions of all the townships in 21 retained in McLean County. He carried his point, and
that is the real reason that DeWitt County did not get all instead of two-thirds of the
tier of townships.
At the time of his death, February, 1865, he owned over 7,000 acres of land in
McLean and DeWitt Counties. Hon. John Cusey was his administrator. His per-
sonal property sold for $37,000, and not a dollar of the sale notes was uncollected.
He left seven children, one of whom, Wesley, lives upon the homestead. James
F. Brown, a son-in-law, lives on a farm adjoining the old homestead. He came to
DeWitt County in 1850, from Kentucky, where he used to cut cord-wood for the Mis-
sissippi boats. He has a fine farm and has been more than usually prosperous in busi-
ness. He is a safe and successful man in all his business undertakings.
Purnel Passwaters came, with his family, from Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1830,
and settled on Section 28. He brought a large family of children with him, five of
whom are now living and have families in Randolph. Richard, who married the stop-
daughter of Gov. Moore, lives and is i^ngaged in business at Heyworth ; Enoch and Purnel,
living where their father first settled, and Clement, living east of the grove, on the Hand
farm. The Passwaters family are among the very best people, and are much respected.
Michael Dickerson came to Randolph Grove in 1825, and took up a claim on Sec-
tion 28. He built a mill on the Little Kickapoo, above the junction of the two
streams. There was water enough to run it about half the year. He sold to William
Hampton, who was of the Wade Hampton connection, who, about twelve years later,
sold to Bishop, and went to the Ozark Mountains, in Missouri. This was the first mill
ever built in this township. There was no bolt in the mill ; people who patronized the
mill had to " sarch " the flour as it was termed. In entering the land, this property
came into the possession of Mr. Baldwin.
James Hedrick came here about 1833, and purchased the place which had been
improved by George C. Hand, and put up the first saw-mill on the Kickapoo in this
township. Three years after, he sold it to John Baldwin and Siebern. Baldwin, from
being a very wicked and boisterous man, had, after his conversion, become a preacher-
and though lacking some of the refinement which a life of early piety and devotion
usually engenders, was really a greatly altered man. He engaged in revival work with
great spirit and zeal, and though considered a little crazy by many, is believed to have
been faithful to his profession. Stories are told of his prophesying when under strong
religious excitement ; but there is no record of any fulfillment. His brother James was
the earliest doctor in this neck of woods, and lived on a farm east of the mill property.
Baldwin, like some other Ohio men, had a " wicked partner," who persisted in run-
ning the mill on Sunday. It was an old-fashioned gate-saw, which went so slow that
there seemed to be a sort of excuse for putting in all the time when the water was up.
Baldwin used to go to the mill Sunday and expostulate with his partner, and while
arguing the matter, the mill running meantime, the sawyer would get him to help turn
down the log and set the tail end for him. All these kind acts did not convert him
from the error of his ways, and the partnership had to be dissolved.
Baldwin laid out the town of Lytleville around his mill, and for a time it contested
strongly with Waynesville and Bloomington for the chief place in the future greatness
of this part of the country. A post oflBce was established, stores and trade grew
up ; but the building of the Central Railroad blotted out the last hope, and Lytleville
466 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
is amono; the things that were. It was named by Mr. Baldwin after and in honor of
his old friend, Hon. Robert T. Lytle, the first native of Ohio who was elected to Con-
gress from that State.
Another sudden conversion upon the road — not to Damascus, but to church — is
reported. Mr. Tovcrca, spoken of heretofore, was a local Methodist preacher, and
had gone over to the United Brethren. While going on his faithful horse one day to
meet an appointment in a portion of the country that contained some pretty rough
characters, he heard shooting before him, and was somewhat alarmed, and doubted
whether to go forward or not. Coming to a fork in the road, one road leading to the
place of his appointment, and the other to a Methodist preaching-place not far distant,,
he decided to give his horse the rein, agreeing to accept the situation and go where the
Lord or the horse led. The horse turned unhesitatingly on the road leading to the
Methodist place, and he went and was received back into full communion.
Matthew Covardale, when only nine years old, walked with his father from Maryland
to Ohio, and, after his father's death, came on here with some of the Hamilton County
folks. After working out and renting for several years, he accumulated enough to get
a farm of his own. He now owns a considerable farm on Section 11, and is very much
respected, his latter life a bright commentary on the rewards which honest labor, thrift
and energy give in this present world.
Dr. Thomas Karr, who has but recently died — September, 1878 — was well known
to every resident of Randolph. His early life was spent in Hamilton County,
Ohio, where he grew up a great admirer of his neighbor. Gen. Harrison. Though he
was a Democrat, he voted for him when he was elected President in 1840. He received
a good common-school education, and studied medicine and commenced the practice of
it in Ohio. In 1835, he came to Randolph Grove to occupy the land which he had
purchased in 1833. He arrived in October, and for two weeks, until he could get up
his little cabin, he occupied one jointly with two other families. It had but one room,
and, while he remained there, was the home of eighteen persons. Thus people began
life in these new places. He built a cabin, first, on Section 22, near where Mr. Powell
now lives, and remained there two and one-half years, after which, he put up a frame
house on Section 10, where he continued to live until his death. He carried on his
farm successfully, raising and feeding stock, which was the line of farming most gen-
erally followed by these farmers.
In general, he took an interest in political affairs, and in 184-3, was County
Assessor. Of his five children, only one survives — Mr. William Kair, who was born in
Ohio, and came with his father to the present home when only twelve years old. He is
a man of strong constitution, and is a good farmer, as his fine farm of 850 acres, with
its good buildings, will sufficiently testify.
Mr. Walter Karr, from the same neighborhood in Ohio, came here in the spring
of 1834. He came by river all the way to Pekin, then the important river-landing for
all this country, with a prospective future as bright as any young city in the State. He
commenced on a farm near where Ileyworth now stands. He was a strong man, a
great reader, especially of history, and, with the methodical mind which he possessed,
together with a strong love of truth for truth's sake, he took in and held the important
events of historical interest in such a way as to be popularly supposed to be the best
posted man in town.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUUTY. 467
In the spring following his arrival here, his little three-years-old child was drowned
in a well. Up to this time, all burials had been made in the cemetery north of the
Grove, near the Stewart residence. It was decided that a place of burial must be had
nearer by, and the beautiful location — beautiful in all but that the railroad now rumbles
too near it — now so well filled up, was selected. Walter Karr's little one was the first
who was laid here to sleep. At this present writing, he is himself the latest one ten-
derly laid away in this sacred place more than forty years after the first burial here.
James Martin, from Tennessee, was the second, and a little daughter of Esquire
Buck the third, interment. Hiram Buck, with whom the whole history of
McLean County is identified in its political, educational and agricultural interests,
came here to live in 1833. He built the house, now modernized, 300 yards
east of the present residence of Esquire Wakefield. The cabin stood out on
the prairie, and he took it down, rehewed the logs, and set it up again near
the timber. Tt is now occupied by Mr. Hill. The door was made out of black-
walnut strips sawed out by hand, the sash rived out and dressed down, and
" puncheon " floors. He remained on his little farm four years, and sold out to Gen.
Gridley just before the latter's failure in the crash of 1837, which took with it nearly
every man who had engaged largely in business in the State, and even the State itself,
for, during nineteen years, this goodly State did not even pay the interest on its ind'.bt-
edness. Gridley immediately sold the property to Wakefield, who still owns it. Mr.
Buck went to Le Roy, then recently laid out by Mr. Gridley, and commenced to build
up that town. At the time of his residence here, he showed, probably in a less degree
than latterly, those positive traits which have since made him recognized as one of the
most useful and important men in the history of this county.
The Nobles, David and William C, his son, and Joseph and his family, came here
from Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1831, and were followed by Dr. Harrison Noble in
1833. They came from the old home of Gen. Harrison, and had the strong admiration .
for that old hero which was bred by a long acquaintance with the stern soldier and were
constantly dwelling on the stories of his dash and heroism. David Noble first occupied
a cabin on the Passwaters place. The next spring he took up land near or southeast of
Lytleville, where he lived until 1844, when he took up a prairie farm. His first intro-
duction to the manly sports of this new land was before he reached the place where he
spent his first winter. He saw a wolf and set his dog on it. The dog soon gave it up
as a bad job, when Capt. Stringfield, the hero of more such adventures than he is will-
ing to have recorded, came along and gave chase, captured it and took it home alive.
The idea that he would find men here who could run down and capture wolves, had
never entered old Dr. Noble's mind and his admiration for Capt. Stringfield's prowess
knew no bounds. Dr. Noble was twice married and was the facher of ten children,
those by his first wife reside and in Bloomington, and by his second with their mother
Champaign County.
His son William C. Noble Uvea on a farm about one mile north of where he spent
his first winter, the land first owned by Gardner Randolph and more recently by
William Rust.
William Birdsell came here in 1829, and located on Section 21. He built a small
wagon-shop and alter having learned his trade of Gov. Moore, who was recognized as
the best wagon-maker in the country, worked at repairing wagons a portion of his time
468 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
in the interim of farming. He was a good citizen and an upright man. The farm had,
really before it became a farm and before any title came from the Government, passed
through several hands. The claim was first taken b}' Mr. Gaines, who was a nephew
of Gen. Gaines, once famous as a soldier, and since his death made still more widely
known by the long contest carried on by his widow for her rights in New Orleans. He
was a brother-in-law of Rev. Peter Cartwright, and soon took up his home with him at
Pleasant Plains. The claim passed to Kinsey, who commenced to improve, but soon
sold to Brook and he to Birdsell. It was not very uncommon for these frequent
changes to occur in the early times. The men (and perhaps, their wives, too) who
migrate to new countries, are proverbially restless, and slight things will serve to change
their minds and location. Owen Evans came from Pennsylvania with or soon after his
son-in-law Thomas Fell, who lived part of the time in Bloomington and part of the
time in Randolph, near Mr. Evans. He had a farm on Section 16, where, after several
years, he died and the farm came into possession of his son-in-law, J. H. Stewart.
Mr. Stewart was the eldest son of Samuel Stewart, and came with his father to Ran-
dolph, where he worked the farm until his marriage to Miss Evans in 1839, when his
father gave him a little piece of land upon which the new couple went to work to make
a living and do their full share to perpetuate the clan Stewart and its goodly name.
They succeeded reasonably well in both, for he increased his farm, and, in 1857, sold to
William Rust, and moved to Normal to give his children an opportunity of a higher edu-
cation. Thomas Fell, after living here some years, tried California luck with very little
success. He went there twice overland and the second time passed through California
Gulch, now one of the most famous places in the world. He did not find the fortunes
there which, it is said, are being taken out now.
Joseph Noble, who came here in 1831 with his family of children, and purchased
what was called an improved place, that is, some one had lived a year or two on it, and
•got up a small log cabin. His children speak of attending school where the future
Lieut. Gov. Moore taught. In his school, he was in the habit of teaching half
a day only, as his time was required in the shop a portion of the time.
Dr. Harrison Noble came, in 1833, from the same county which had already sent
to Randolph so many Noble men and children, and took up a farm in Section 28. He
had received only a fair common-school education in Ohio, but was well qualified to
teach school, and had qualified himself for surveying ; could work at his trade, or at
farming, " and even the story ran that he could gauge," though whisky-gauging was
not at that time in as much demand as now. It seems that his personal appearance
was prepossessing, and the development of acquaintance showed a mind of real mental
vigor, and qualities of very decided note. He was above all things averse to boasting
of his own' deeds or qualifications, so that men who knew him intimately did not even
know that he was qualified for County Surveyor, when he appeared as an independent
candidate for the position. That he was thoroughly qualified might have been known
from his offering himself as a candidate, for he was the last man to assume to do what
he could not perform. After serving three terms as Surveyor, he studied medicine at
home and with Dr. Luce in Bloomington ; went to Cincinnati to attend lectures, where
he graduated and received his diploma. His practice was very general, and carried
with it the same trait which showed so strongly in his character. He was several years
President of the County Medical Society, and twice of the State Society. In politics,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 469
Dr. Noble was a Whig, with strong Antislavery leanings. It was not until hydra-
headed Treason rose in rebellion against the Government, that the people of McLean
began to know and realize the stuff that the quiet, homespun Doctor was made of.
Like all men of his type, he grew with the occasion. He took very active steps in
arousing the people to arms, and was untiring in his zeal to help on enlistment. Par-
ticularly was this so in regard to the Ninety-fourth, a regiment officered, manned and
filled up by his friends in McLean County. The regiment, while in Texas, had so
many proofs of his remembrance and friendship that they purchased a cane and sent it
to him. In 1862, he was elected to the Legislature. But what could a man of his
peculiar qualities do on the minority side in a House which was kept at fever beat dur-
ing its entire session by the continued recurrence of questions of a most exciting nature
growing out of the war? His was a mind which was most active in committee-room.
Committee-rooms were practically abolished during that Legislature. Lovejoy would have
stirred all by the zeal and fury of his speech; a Charley Steele might have turned the
tide by the eloquent periods of his perfect oratory ; Dr. Noble did what neither orator
could have done. It is well remembered by all except the very youngest who will read
these pages, that Gov. Yates took advantage of the failure of the two Houses of the
General Assembly to agree upon a time of adjournment, to prorogue the Assembly.
Soon after this was done, in the fervor of political excitement, citizens of Jacksonville
(the Governor's home), who were in political sympathy with the Governor, gave him a
banquet. During his speech upon that occasion, he publicly acknowledged the great
service which Dr. Noble had done him during the exciting scenes through which he
had just passed. The parties themselves are both dead, and there is no known way to
verify the statement; but what seems very good authority, stiites that it was Dr. Noble
who carried to the Executive chamber, immediately on its occurrence, the news of the
vote of the House disagreeing to the adjournment resolution of the Senate, and with it
the suggestion that there was now, if promptly applied, a remedy for the longer sit-
tings of the Assembly. The proroguing message was immediately sent to the two
Houses, and the Legislature stood adjourned, and, from all accounts, somewhat sur-
prised. Dr. Noble was never known to allude to this ; still it was in full unison with
his character and habits that he did not. He never boasted. He was re-elected to the
House in 1864, and served with great distinction. He was presented to the State
Convention in 1868, by McLean County, for the position of Lieutenant Governor, but
the nomination of a candidate for Governor from the same Congressional district
required that the candidate for the next office should be elected from another part of the
State. He was pre-eminently a man of the people, uniformly temperate in his manners,
destitute of vanity, kind, considerate and safe. He died in 1870, where he had so long
lived, beloved by those among whom he had grown in private and public consideration.
Campbell Wakefield came from Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1835, and took up
land on Section 3, Town 21, Range 2. He built a snug log cabin and returned to Ohio
to bring out his wife and child. He has continually been engaged in farming, and has
been more than ordinarily successful in what he has undertaken. He is a man of fine
form, commanding presence and positive convictions — one of the latter of which is that
his success in life is largely due to his most excellent wife. It would hardly be possible
to get up an argument with him on that point, for his opinion on it may well be accepted.
She seems a most excellent and estimable lady.
470 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Commencing in a small way, Esquire Wakefield has added to his farm until now
he and his son own about one thousand five hundred acres of as fine land as the town
of Randolph affords. They have, lying in a body, all of Section 3, west half of 10,
120 acres in 27, Town 22, and 400 acres in 34.
He has but one child, living near by him, and whose children and grandchildren
are growing up around him in goodly numbers. They have given a good deal of atten-
tion to cattle raising and feeding, but no phantom of great wealth has ever lured them
into dangerous speculation.
Mr. Wakefield was proprietor of the town of Heyworth, and gave an undivided
half of the town, reserving the cemetery, church and school lots, etc., from the transfer.
He was early and throughout a friend and one of the strongest promoters of the
Presbyterian Church. The first preaching services of that denomination were held in
his house.
Politically, Mr. Wakefield is a Democrat of the strictest sect. He never has been in
public life much. He was several time selected a Justice of the Peace in the early days ;
but his services in that line were confined mostly to taking acknowledgment of deeds
and marrying oft" the young people who had come to the conclusion that it was not good
for man to be alone in this world of temptations. In his hale old age, though his step
is slightly unsteady, he can look back over a busy life with probably as few regrets as
any of us.
John and Reuben Draper took up land farther west, and made farms. They were
from Tennessee, and both died here with families around them.
The same year, the brothers William, Robert and Samuel Leeper came. The
former bought a farm on Section 24, and Samuel in Section 4, south of Heyworth. H.
M. Miller settled on Section 36, where he remained a few years. In 1835, Capt.
George Martin came from Ohio with Mr. Wakefield, and still resided here at the time
this sketch was written, but died about . the middle of April. He was a worthy and
upright man, much respected by all.
In 1834, William Rust came to Randolph from Hamilton County, 111., where he
had moved, a few years before, from Tennessee. He brought with him a large family,
and commenced by renting some of the Stewart land. Two years later, he bought a
piece of land now owned by W. C. Noble, and went onto it. In 1847, he bought
the mill at Lytleville, and ran it in connection with Wooster and Hougham. Finding
the water insufficient, he put in steam, and it was quite prosperous. He sold out in
1807, and died in 1873. Mr. Rust's sons went to work with energy to help their father
get a farm. They worked out for Mr. Kunk and others, and, as the result of their hard
work in those days, have made farms and are in comfortable circumstances. They were
engaged driving cattle and hogs for Mr. Funk at those times when it was about as much
ab the hogs were worth to get through to market and get back home. Such experiences,
thuugh grievous to bear, have an influence in making strong and useful men. John,
William and Harvey are honored and respected citizens.
Samuel Turman, in 1836, bought the saw and grist mill at Lytleville, and carried
it on for some time. He was an energetic business man, and undertook to supply
Bloomington with flour.
A. R. Nickerson, who now resides at Heyworth, came from Maryland to Bloom-
ington in 1834. Ten years later, he bought a farm on the north line of the township.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 471
■near Dr. Karr's. He has several sons, and bought a section of land in Martin
Township in 1865. He came to Heyworth in 1871, where he has been engaged in
business.
Mr. Johnson took up a claim about 1832, and sold it to Squire Wakefield. Further
west Mr. Richards had a claim, but he soon moved over onto Salt Creek.
Near Short Point, Mr. Kennedy and Fred Bernard settled. The latter had one of
the finest farms in the county. His widow now resides with her son-in-law, in Bloom -
ington.
Nathan Low, father of the present, active business man of that name at Heyworth,
purchased land of Weedman in ISjJt), intending to make it his home, but he decided to
settle in Bloomington, and never built here.
The manner of living was of course primitive, and many privations were under-
gone. Sickness, that bane of a new country, was not wanting. The cold, the deep
snow, the wilderness and the savage foe were the final assurances of success. The res-
idences were small and uncomfortable ; mail facilities were scanty. Mills were rare,
persons having to go to Peoria, to the Mackinaw and other distant points for their
grinding. When corn was only 10 cents a bushel, grinding cost 12? cents, so that a
load of corn would not pay for its srinding. The settlers kept good horses, but no car-
riages. For the men, the only sport was hunting deer and wolves; and for the women
— well, if they had any sport, it is not on record. The children had short schooling,
and were early pressed into such work as they could perform. The large families which
were so common — now so rare — were looked upon as blessings rather than burdens, and
were made useful rather than ornamental.
The settlers of Randolph Grove were almost without exception religious people,
civil in their behavior, and even before total abstinenc^e came to be demanded as a Chris-
tian virtue, drinking was rare, loafers, cowards and criminals were unknown, and not-
withstanding the warmth of political controversy, quarrels and litigations were kept in
abeyance by a spirit of Christian forbearance. McLean County cannot show a more
civil and pleasant neighborhood. Religious services were early instituted in the little
cabins, and Ingersoll, himself, would have found very little to cavil at in Randolph
Grove. The first to pseach the Gospel here was Ebenezer Rhodes, in 1823. Jesse
Walker, the missionary, also preached here that year.
In 1825, Rev. William See was sent here by Conference. He owned the Maberry
property, and had a blacksmith-shop there. He rode the Kickapoo circuit two years.
The circuit required six weeks to go around. He preached in Blooming Grove, Peoria,
Lewiston, Beardstown, Waynesville, Salt Creek and Randolph Grove. He went from
this to Chicago, and James Kinzie married his second daughter. Mr. See, A. M.
Stringfield and Mr. Barnett were the first ones to go from here to Chicago. When it
began to be known Smith L. Robinson followed as circuit preacher for one year, and
Rev. James Atty and Jesse Walker, the missionary, were next. Mr. Walker was an
old man, and so few of the settlers had tea and coffee, that he was in the habit of tak-
ing those useful commodities with him in his pocket, so that he should not be without
them. Rev. William Crissey preached on this circuit in 1831, and Rev. Stephen R.
Beggs after him.
The Cumberland Presbyterians held services here early. The Johnsons — Archie
and Neal — were the first of that denomination to preach here.
472
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Rev. Robert Patten, of that church, came to Lytleville at an early day from Ten-
nessee, and soon went back there.
Mr. Baldwin, of Lytleville, a Baptist preacher, was for several years in the habit
of holding religious meetings in various places, and Elder Elijah Veatch also frequently
fillt'd appointments here at an early day.
Rev. W. J. Newman, Methodist, and several others of that denomination labored
here.
Robert H. Rutledge and Charity Weedman were the first couple who got a license
to marry from the County Clerk of McLean County, and Nathan Low the first to get
a deed recorded.
" Uncle Billy " was, if not the first, among the first to haul wheat to Atlanta and
bring it back again.
The Downs Mutual Insurance Company, organized in 1875, has its Secretary's
ofiice in this township. Under its original charter, the territory which it was author-
ized to operate in only included the townships of Bloomington, Randolph, and the four
lying east of this latter. In 1878, its charter was so amended, as to extend its oper-
ations over the county. It has over $115,000 of policies in eflFect, and has met
with but a single loss of S-400 in nearly four years. Sylvester Reasley, of Downs, is
President; .1. C. Elder, of Randolph, Secretary, and William Karr, Treasurer.
The large amount of black-walnut timber which was originally growing here has
been very generally cut ofi". Latterly, a great many logs have been sent by rail to
Indianapolis, where they are sawed and shipped east as Indianapolis lumber. Not a
very bad cheat, either, as it is in all respects just as good as the best Indiana walnut.
The following is a record of those who have been elected to township oflBces :
„ i Votes
Date. I Cast.
1858...
1859...
1860...
1861...
1862...
1868...
1864...
1865...
1866...
1867...
1868...
1869...
1870...
1871...
1872...
1873...
1874...
1875...
1876...
1877...
1878...
1879...
174
206
254
266
268
307
362
377
341
362
312
315
324
338
335
34'.
373
325
Supervisor.
A. M. Stringfield
A. M. Stringfield
A. Welch
Albert Welch
S. .J. Reeder
A. M. Stringfield
Albert Welch
George Trookshank..
George Crookshank..
Wm. Karr
W. W, Elder
W. W. Elder
A. M. Stringfield
A. M. 8trin;;field
[. Vanord.«trand
[ Vanordstrand
George W. Freeman..
George W. Freeman..
George W. Freeman..
I. Vanord.«trand
I. Vanordstrand
G. W. Freeman
Clerk.
S. J. Reeder
S. .1. Reeder ,
S. J. Reeder
.;. C. McFarland.
.J. C. McFarland.
.7. H. Tilghanan.
T. ('. Stringfield.
Hiram Noble .
.J. C. McFarland.
A. W. Elder
A. W.Elder
A. W. Elder
0. C. Rutledge...
0. C. Rutledge...
0. C. Rutledge...
P. W. Chrisman.
S. T. Thery
S. T. Thery
.James Blake
Nathan Low
.lohn Shannon....
John Shannon....
Assessor.
T. S. Groflf
W. 1'. Noble
W. C. Noble
W. C. Noble
0. C. Rutledge
Elias Brock
W. C. Noble.'.
Moses Harbard
S. McTeer
A. S. Vanordstrand..
Elias Brock
W. C. Noble
Abram Fry
Abram Fry
Abram Fry
Abram Fry
Abram Fry
N. Vandervoort...
C. N. V:indervoort...
Elias Brock
liilias Brock
J. J. Hancock
Collector.
Waller Karr.
George A. Ross.
George A. Ross.
J. Munson.
T. C. Stringfield.
G. W. Freeman.
.John Munson.
0. B. Myers.
William Bishop.
William Birdsell.
R. 0. Nelson.
J. H. C. Dill.
J. E. Hill.
Geo. E. Moore.
J. N. Ball.
.7. B. Robertshaw.
Joseph Noble.
John Shannon.
M. McCorkle.
M. Crews.
\I. Crews.
1. P. Passwaters.
Those who have been elected Justices of the Peace since township organization
has gone into cfi"ect are George Crookshank, Samuel IMcGowcn, John Kelly, J. R.
Stewart, A. Kelly, C. N. Vandervoort, Z. A. Newton, William Thompson, F. S. Wat-
kin.s, W. W. Elder, Harrison Howser.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. ' 473
Commissioners of Highways : A. R. Nickerson, Richard Passwaters, Jesse Funk,
I. Vanordstrand, Harvey Seldon, James Funk, Thomas Karr, Thomas Hair, David
Campbell, William Benjamin, W. H. Ijams, John F. Rust, F. S. Watkins, E. J. Moore,
William Karr, Z. A. Newton, G. A. Marker, J. 0. Davis, J. Dorland, George Clark,
W. F. Ijams.
HEYWORTH.
When the Illinois Central Railroad was built and the cars commenced running, itt
1855, it was known that there would be a station somewhere in Randolph's Grove, but
it was not so easy to find out just where it would be located. There was an interest
at Bishop's, two miles north of where Heyworth now stands, which, it was thought,
could not well be defeated. John Nichols, of Bloomington, who was understood to
rely on the influence of Gen. Gridley, who had again become an important factor in all
the affairs of the county, and who, in the Legislature, had secured the building of the
railroad through Bloomington, had purchased apiece of land of Enoch Passwaters and
laid out a town on it. A side-track had been put into a gravel-bank near by, and every
thing looked as though the station would be there. The contest grew lively between
Wakefield, Funk and Vanordstrand on the one side, and Nichols and his party on the
other. So far as pluck, energy and push were concerned, the parties were pretty nearly
equal. Gridley has a habit of speaking out in meeting or in any other place he
happens to be, and indulged in some pointed remarks in regard to the officials of the
road, which had the effect to displease them, and the salve offered just at this time by
Wakefield, of an undivided half of the entire forty acres which he proposed to lay out,
carried the point, and Wakefield laid off forty acres in the southwest quarter of the
southwest quarter of Section 34, and immediately transferred an undivided half to the
corporation, after making the reservations spoken of before. Frisbee soon after
laid out an addition west of, and Wakefield has since laid out and platted his first, sec-
ond and third additions on the south and east sides of the original town. The next most
important thing after a child is born is deciding upon a name. Those interested here
had decided on calling it Elmwood ; but finding that the name had been appropriated,
by Mr. Phjelps in Peoria County long before, the President of the railroad, proposed to
call the new station Heyworth, the name of one of the English directors of the road.
This was in 1856, and everybody around the south end of the grove felt happy.
Mr. Wakefield fulfilled every obligation which he made in regard to the new townr
and, true to his well-fixed principles, inserted in every deed he made an inhibition
against the sale of spirituous liquors on the premises conveyed. Whether this or the
well-estabHshed sentiments of the citizens is the cause, it is a fact that no license for the
sale of liquor has ever been granted in Heyworth.
0. C. Rutledge, who is still in business at Heyworth, purchased and shipped the
first grain that was ever sent from this point. This was in 1855, before the station was
established. The wheat was weighed in bags, on a small platform scale, and carried out
to the car on the track. It was extremely difficult to get cars, and he often had to load
in the night, the train waiting for the men to load, if they did it briskly.
As soon as the station was established here in 1856, J. C. Frisbee moved an old
station-house here, and commenced buying and shipping wheat. Elder & Rutledge
and J. S. & G. T. Barber also engaged in the same line of business. Isaac Vanord-
strand commenced, together with Mr. Ludiugton, a business which he has very successfully
474 * HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
carried on, with one or another, to this time. He is a man of great business
capacity and energy, and has, besides his large mercantile business, been foremost in
everything which has been for the interest of his place. He has been largely engaged
in the purchase and sale of land, and has always taken a lively interest in educational
matters, and in the politics of the town and county. Always a Democrat politically, he
has been in political unison with the majority in Randolph, and has frequently served
his town in official position with the same energy and business-like attention which he
gives to his own large business. According to general belief at Heyworth, he has
acquired a very fair competency.
Mr. 0. C. Rutledge, who is now and has long been his partner, is a man of good
business habits and excellent judgment. He is now the oldest native-born citizen of
Randolph residing in the town. Two daughters of Jesse Funk were born here before
him, and probably one or two children to Gardner Randolph ; but none of them reside
now in the township. The extensive business of this firm embraces grain, lumber and
and all the line of articles usually going with it — exchange, banking, real estate, loan
and conveyancing, commission, live stock, etc., and almost anything else that the public
wish them to undertake.
In thf^ early days of the grain trade of Heyworth, very little but wheat was pur-
chased ; but this came from many miles roundabout, especially to the east. Trade was
drawn to it from the farmers ofi" as far as Le Roy and Farmers' City, there being no
railroad in that direction nearer than the Chicago Branch of the Illinois Central.
William H. Wilson & Co. were the first to commence mercantile business here in
1856. The firm name was soon changed to Coursin & Wilson, and continued the busi-
ness for some time and sold to McFarland & Co. J. C. McFarland, who has, during
the entire life of Heyworth, been one of the leading men in business, in religious and
other public interests, came here in 1857. For twenty-oae, years he has continued one
of her most enterprising citizens. For three years, he served his country in the Ninety-
fourth Regiment as Major, returning to continue his mercantile and other interests. In
1877, he was elected Circuit Clerk and County Recorder, which makes his home temporarily
in Bloominston. No man is more thoroughly respected, or more worthy of such respect.
His first business was a general store, conducted in a building which stood on
Block 17, just east of the railroad and south of Main street. In this building he con-
ducted the post office, also ; it burned in 1860, consuming everything, including the
mails ; he saved only a pitchfork and six candles from the building.
He then built the store owned by him across Main street from the former store,
and continued in trade for a year, when 0. C. Rutledge went into the firm and contio-
ued in business until Maj. McFarland returned from the army, when he sold out his
interest to McFarland, and he soon sold to Short & Bayless.
In 1864, S. Hill & Son came from Ohio and engaged in trade. In 1866, McFar-
land went into the firm, which did business as McFarland, Hill & Co. until 1869
when they sold to Brittenham, who moved the goods to Monticello. Hill & Son
brought on a new stock of goods in 1870, which they soon sold to Wise & Co.
Short & Bayless, about this time, sold their business to Jefferson Moore. Wamsley
& Co. opened a store here in 1867 and continued in business ten years, when they sold
to Short & Dillon, and they to Samuel R. Nickerson. Plummer & Trowbridge com-
menced in 1874, and after a year, Trowbridge sold out.
BLOOMINGTON
^^^^
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 471
E. Witter had the first shoe shop, and carried it on for several years.
Gr. M. Delano, the present Postmaster, commenced harness-making in 1857. In
1861, President Lincoln appointed him Postmaster, and he has never resigned it.
John Morsman commenced blacksmithing in 1356, but remained only eighteen
months. After him came Jacob Hagel, who is here yet with John Peters.
George Uhrich came here from Ohio in 1858, and continues business.
A. Millmine opened a boot and shoe stock in 1864; two years later, N. Low
bought him out and continues in trade.
Dr. A. F. Rogers, from Le Roy, put in a stock of drugs and medicines in 1865.
In 1869, he sold to A. Wise, who soon after moved the stock away.
D. A. Abbott ran a drug store here a few years, and, in 1871, took it to Missouri.
•Soon after which, McFarland & Co. opened a drug store and sold out in 1877, when
McF. went into the Circuit Clerk's office.
In 1874, Mr. Wallace opened a drug business, and died two years later.
W. D. Gilman, who bought the McFarland stock, still owns it. He is engaged in
trade at Bloomingtou.
J. P. Kenton, from Ohio, commenced a grocery trade here in 1860, and his son-
in-law, J. B. Robertshaw, about the same time, commenced working at his trade as
carpenter and builder. Both are still here, the latter engaged in the furnittn-e trade and
xindertaking.
John Kelley built the present hotel in 1856, and, a few years after, sold to David
Campbell.
Hey worth was incorporated in 1869 by a special act. The charter gives the
corporation, which is in the hands of five Trustees elected annually, one of whom shall
he elected President — all the authority needed to run a city of the first-class, even to
borrowing money on the credit of the town and lighting the city with gas, except that they
can only grant license to sell intoxicating drink upon a vote of the legal voters at the
annual term election. The question of license must be submitted each year, and
has never yet been voted in the affirmative. The present Town Board is A. R. Nick-
erson, J. J. Hancock, J. B. Rutledge, William Marker and C. Perkins.
The present business men are : General merchants, E. D. Plummer, S. Nickerson ;
grocers, W. W. Elder & Co., Rutledge & Battersell, J. R. Kenton & Son, A. F. Rogers
& Co. ; drugs, Will D. Gilman, F. H. Hill ; hardware and implements, Capt. J. H. C.
Dill, S. Mann ; grain, lumber, etc., Isaac Vanordstrand & Co. ; furniture, J. B. Rob-
ertshaw ; hotel, D. Campbell ; butchers, Rutledge & Cunningham ; millinery, etc., Miss
Martin, Mrs. Shannon, Miss Buck ; harness, S. R. Shannon; boots and shoes, Nathan
Low; blacksmiths and wagon-makers, Hull & Uhrich, Stagel & Peters, A. Kelley;
tailor, D. D. Dunseth.
In 1857, Coursin & Wilson built a large mill west of the railroad, south of Main
street, opposite the Vanordstrand warehouse. This mill was burned in 1860, together
with the building opposite. Mr. Alexander Wilson had been educated to business and
and had for many years carried on a wholesale grocer's business in Pittsburgh, Penn. He
closed in 1837, and went across the river and engaged in trade for some years. He
came to Heyworth in 1857, and went into this mill operation, by the loss of which he
suiFered heavily. He built the first good dwelling-house in Heyworth, that on the block
next east of the railroad, at the cost of about $3,000. He was a man of superior
478 HISTORY OF ^SIoLEAN COUNTY.
business qualifications, a leading man in church and public enterprises. While living
in Pittsburgh, he was Superintendent of the large Sabbath school of the First Presby-
terian Church and of a large mission school, such a man as would be greatly useful in
any community. He died in 1862, and bis widow resides in Allegheny City. Maj.
McFarland has quite recently purchased the Wilson residence and expects to repair it
for his residence.
Upon this same block, for a long time stood the pioneer residence of Capt. George
Martin, whose recent death removes from the town the earliest resident within its
borders. The cabin was removed by McFarland after he purchased the lot upon which
it stood for thirty years. Capt. Martin was so long the " oldest inhabitant " that he
was almost considered a fixture.
In 1868, Dice, Hall & Co. built the present mill, a two-story, three-run mill, at a
cost of about $1,800. It stands just east of the railroad, two blocks north of the
hotel. In 1869, McFai*land bought out Hall's interest, and it was sold, a few years
afterward, to Ellsworth & Mayei's. It has done a large and good business a portion of
the time, but is not now running. The engine exploded some years since and killed
the engineer, Cooley.
The good supply of timber induces many of the inhabitants to burn wood for fuel.
The coal supply comes from Du Quoin. No attempt has ever been made to find coal
here, though there can be no doubt of its existence at a reasonable depth.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, SOCIETIES, ETC.
The Randolph Grove Presbyterian Church was organized in 1844, by Rev. Josiahi
Porter, of Waynesville, of the Presbytery of Illinois, N. S., with twelve members, all
of whom were received by letter from churches in the western part of Hamilton
County, Ohio. Previous to the organization, Rev. Mr. Watson had preached occasion-
ally and there had been occasional preaching by others, but seldom by the regular
Presbyterians. The original members were Mr. C. Wakefield and Margaret, his wife^
J. M. Wakefield and Nancy, his wife. Homer Buck and Mary, his wife, Robert Spence
and Anna, his wife, John Finnic and Elizabeth, his wife, Mrs. Margaret Karr and Mrs.
Hannah Elder. For a year or two, Mr. Porter continued to serve the little Church,
preaching in the east room of Mr. Wakefield's house, where the organization had been
effected. The Church at once connected itself with the Presbytery of Sangamon, 0. S.,
all of its members being attached to that branch of the Church.
A Sabbath school had been established by the Wakeficids and Mrs. Elder as
early as 1838, in their house, and has been pretty regularly kept up from that time.
In 1848, Rev. D. I. Perry, father-in-law of Judge Scott, of Bloomington, was
engaged to preach once a month, which engagement continued two years. After him,
Rev. A. H. Rogers, of Waynesville, was employed for two years one-fourth of his time.
In 185i>, the first church-edifice was erected at a cost of $900. It is now used
as a school-room for the primary school. After this, the successive pastors were Revs.
J. II. Moore, S. H. Stevenson, John Wilson and A. L. Knox. During the ministra-
tions of Mr. Knox, which continued to 1870, the Church increased to 121 members
and the new church-building, was erected. It is 38x70, two stories, with the belfry
and epire foundation projecting out from the front center a few feet. It cost, including
the bell, $9,000, and is really a fine structure. Rev. W. R. Glenn served the Church
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 479
one year, and was followed by Rev. H. R. Peairs, the present Pastor. The present
membership is about 140 and of the Sabbath school, 90. A parsonage was built in
1864 at a cost of about $1,800.
Though only one Methodist Episcopal is in Heyworth, there are three others in
Randolph Township, and their history is so united that it will be given under this head.
The writer finds it far more difficult to get the exact data of this, the pioneer denomina-
tion all over the country, than of the one given above, and is, as a matter of necessity,
obliged to depend largely on the memory, seldom very accurate, of the leading
members.
The earliest labors of the Methodists in this Grove are given in the proper place,
the Township History. After those, the regular appointments of the Randolph Grove
Circuit were usually at the schoolhouses near by, where the present churches, the Hey-
worth, Shiloh, Sparta and Wesley Chapel, now stand. In 1853, Mr. Carlos was preach-
ing at these several appointments; the next year, Rev. Mr. O'Neil, and after him the
Rev. Mr. Barthlow; others followed whose names could not be learned. In 1864,
Rev. 3Ir. Hendallwas sent to this circuit, and was instrumental in building the " Shiloh"
Church, which stands on John Maberry's land, on Section 25, near the eastern bound-
ary of the township. The following year. Rev. Thomas E. Warasley was on the circuit, and
started the matter of building churches at the other appointments. The previous year,
he had been engaged in completing the church at Wapella, and thought all things were
possible. Several attempts to build the church at Heyworth had been made, and ended
in talk. Father Wamsley got a subscription paper, and went through the usual form
of getting signatures. He then hired a man to lay the foundation, and engaged mate-
rial for building, and then there was no alternative but to collect what had been sub-
scribed. The people took hold very liberally, and a good, substantial building, 34x50,
with belfry, spire and bell, was erected at a cost of about $3,000. The same year,
under Father Wamsley's ministration and energetic spirit, Wesley Chapel No. 2, was
built on the land of Jonathan Houser, on southeast corner of Section 16, which is about
the same size, plain, at a cost of about $2,800. Mr. Houser, John Rust and George
Crookshank are remembered as very eflScient workers in this enterprise; of course,
among many others.
The following year. Rev. C. D. James had charge of the circuit, and Mr. Wams-
ley was his assistant. This year, the " Sparta " Church on Capt. Stringfiold's land,
southeast of Section 11, was built of uniform size with the others. A. M. Stringfield,
Albert Welch, E. J. Moore and Mr. Ijams were largely instrumental in carrying on this
work. The circuit preachers since then have been Cornelius Bradshaw, S. Martin,
Arthur Bradshaw, Thomas Simmons, Messrs. Lattimer, Sail, Joseph Long, McCoy and
John Enerly. The circuit belongs to the Bloomington District, Illinois Conference.
The churches are all in a prosperous condition, and well attended, and flourishing; Sab-
bath schools maintained. During the war, there were few preachers here; many of them
were away with the army, and for a time Mr. Wamsley was about the only ordained minister
in the neighborhood, and as such was called on very frequently to perform services at
weddings and funerals for many miles around. For this, among other reasons, he is
very widely known. He is not now a member of the church which he so long and
faithfully served. Owing to some unpleasantness, he withdrew, and connected himself
with the Christian Union Society.
480 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Questions and animosities growing out of the war, and the position taken by the
M. E. Church in regard to the subject of slavery, caused a division in that body, and
the Episcopal Methodist Church was formed. These same questions divided the church
of Heyworth, and a church of that denomination was formed here, which, about the
vear 186-4, erected a house of worship, 32x46, at a cost of about $2,500. It belongs to
the Pana District. The Church was organized by Rev. Mr. Smithson, who preached
for it awhile. The house was built under the ministration of Rev. Mr. Laurence.
Afterward, Rev. William Howard was Presiding J]lder, and officiated. Rev. A. Hocker
aud Rev. M. Crews have also preached.
Elder S. Staguer, who has performed efficient labors for the Christian Church
in this part of the county, held meetings at Heyworth, and baptized about thirty mem-
bers into that Church. In 1S71, a church was formed, and a neat building was erected,
about 34x50, with belfry, at a cost of about $2,000. Elder Harry Vandervoort
preached about one year. J. C. Campbell, S. Low and Jefferson Hodson have also
labored here. A Sabbath school has been maintained irregularly. There is no pastor
of this Church at present.
The Heyworth School District is under a special act, incorporated in 1867, with
seven directors, one of whom goes out each year. The present Directors are J. F.
Brown, H. A. Karr, Erastus Miller, William H. Wakefield, J. M. Funk, Samuel Hill
and J. E. Wakefield. The district embraces about six or eight s({uare miles of territory.
School is maintained four months in the winter term, and two months in the summer.
Average attendance, 185 in the former, and 132 in the latter term. The school is in
four grades; grammar, first and second intermediate, and primary. The building, erected
in 1865, is 36x65, two stories, with a separate building for the primary department, and
<;ost about $5,000.
The successive Principals have been W. L. (jrlover, C. A. Laus, Rev. I. H. Ste-
phenson. A. Gr. Scott (now a Judge in Nebraska), D. C. Clark, J. R. McGregor, J. E.
Jewett, L. B. Wadsworth, A. M. Scott and T. H. Zimmer. The higher branches taught
are algebra, natural sciences and rhetoric. The present teachers are : Principal, T. H.
Zimmer; first intermediate, F. H. Hill; second intermediate, Miss Jessie Reeder;
primary. Miss Jennie Brown.
Masonic Lodge, No. 251, was chartered in 1856. The charter members were H.
J. Short, W. W. Elder, U. S. Washburn, John Washburn, T. F. McGowan, J. S.
McWharter. H. J. Short was the first W. M. The present officers are: Isaac Van-
ordstrand, W. M. ; John Vanordstrand, Senior Warden ; George Stephenson. Junior
Warden ; J. T. Shannon, Secretary ; N. Low, Treasurer. They own their hall and
have it nicely furnished, and are in a prosperous condition.
Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 483, was established in 1872. The charter members axe
William Shannon, J. C. McFarland, J. I. Mills, J. T. Walton, F. S. Watkins. The
first officers were: William Shannon, N. G. ; J. C. McFarland, V. G. ; F. S. Watkins,
Secretary. It now has sixty members and is in good working condition. The present
officers are: S. R. Shannon, N. G. ; Mr. Reisser, V. G. ; Hugh Robb, Recording Sec-
retary ; George A. Hull, Treasurer ; N. Low. Permanent Secretary; Lodge Deputy,
William Marker. The Lodge meets every Friday.
Encampment No. 168, was established in 1875. Charttir members. J. C. McFar-
land, D. H. McFarland, N. Low, John Flemming, J. B. llobertshaw, J. C Geroldman,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 481
T. A. Walter, J. F. Brown. The officers are Hugh Robb, C. P. ; N. Low, H. P. ;
George W. Bell, S. W.; G. A. Hull, J. W.; R. W. Orr, Scribe; G. W. Marker,
Treasurer. Meets first and third Mondays of each month.
The Good Templars were instituted December 21, 1874, with twenty-seven mem-
bers and the following officers: J. E. Jewett, W. C. T. ; Rev. H. R. Peairs, P. W.;
Frank Capell, Secretary; Mrs. J. E. Jewett, Treasurer; John Shannon, Financial Sec-
retary ; S. R. Shannon, Marshal. The Lodge numbers sixty-seven, and meets in the
Masonic Hall. The present officers are : S. R. Shannon, W. C. T. ; Mrs. N. B. Shan-
non, V. T. ; Arthur Short, Secretary ; Miss Altha Campbell, Financial Secretary ; John
Fryer, Treasurer; John Greenlee, Marshal; J. G. Chatterton, Chaplain; John Peters,
P. W. A Degree Temple is attached to the Order, with twenty-five members. It is
in a good condition and the interest well maintained.
RANDOLPH STATION.
When Randolph Station was first established it was on the township line between
Sections 3 and 4. When the Randolph Grove Post Office was first established, David
Noble was Postmaster. This was the first office in the town. Gov. Moore succeeded
Noble as Postniaster, after whom Karr was appointed. When the station was estab-
lished, the post office went there, and Olcut was appointed Postmaster. The location of the
station did not accommodate those living north of the Grove. The railroad company es-
tablished Karr's Station, a "flag station" opposite the residence of William Karr ; after-
ward, by consent of the company, the station was moved to Karr's Station, about two miles.
H. J. Feelder was engaged in buying grain there, and W. C. Stewart shipped a
good deal of grain and hay during the war. J. C. Elder is present Station Agent and
Deputy Postmaster, and is engaged in buying grain. Grain loaded here goes south to
Clinton thence to Chicago or to Bloomington, and thence east to Philadelphia.
The names of physicians who have practiced here are : Dr. H. Noble, who studied
at home and with Dr. Luce in Bloomington, died in 1870; Dr. R. G. Laughlen, who
came here in 1857, went into the army in 1862, returned and moved to Bloomington ;
Dr. D. H. McFarland, who came in 1862 ; Dr. H. C. Luce, who succeeded Laughlen ;
Drs. Patterson and Suggett, and Dr. W. L. Pollock, who came in 1872.
As a proper closing of the history and people of this important township, a short
sketch will be appropriate of Hon. John Moore, one of the most remarkable and
most important personages of Randolph.
John Moore was born in Lincolnshire, England, in ] 793 ; attended school a few
years after arriving at school age, but perfected what book education he had by reading
while engaged at his trade. He served a full apprenticeship in England and came to
America in 1817. He worked around in diff"erent places in several different States,
married in Kentucky and settled down at Harrison, Ohio, to work, where he remained
seven years. During this time and for a few years after he came to Illinois, his habits
were convivial and free. Strong drink was not a stranger to him by any means, and
some of his best friends, on this account alone, doubted the propriety of making him a
Representative when his name was first brought foi'ward for that position.
In 1830, in company with the Passwaters he came to Randolph Grove and pre-
pared to make his home, where it continued to be until his death. His first settlement
was in Section 15, where he put up his cabin and fixed up a small shop to work at his
482 HISTORY OF McLean county.
trade of wagon-making. Here he quietly spent the few years which ensued before he
became drawn into public life. If not the first, it is certain that he was among the first,
to teach school in Randolph, teaching half a day and working at his trade the remainder,
In 1831, or as his son-in-law, Richard Passwaters, thinks, in 1832, Mr. Lindley, an
admiring friend, brought out his name for Justice of the Peace. He was elected, and
for the first time began to show the quality of the material that was in him. He con-
tinued to serve as Justice for a number of years, so very acceptably that Judge Treat,
who was at that time Circuit Judge, says, "he would render the best decisions of any
Justice within his knowledge." Either in 1834 or 1836, he was suggested by some
friend as candidate for the Legislature. The county, district and State were Democratic,
and all that was thought necessary to secure an election was to nominate an acceptable
man. His friends went to Merritt Covel, at that time an authority in the Democratic
camp, with his name. They were met with an unexpected rebufi". Said Covel, " You
can't resurrect John Moore ! " Whether this taunt from Covel, his own better nature,
or the appeals of his friends, who had got their hearts set on making him a public man,
or all combined had the effect, certain it is that he became a changed man. He was
elected to the House and continued to serve there until 1840, when he was elected to the
State Senate over David Davis, after that memorable contest which the people of
McLean County, who were here, never tire of talking about. It is said that Davis gave
up the contest, privately, before the election, an account of Moore's capacity for adapt-
ing himself to every position, and the ease with which he got the sympathy of all classes.
Moore was pre-eminently a man of the people, and thought it no sin to give them a
chance to see it in that light. In 1842, he was selected, with considerable unanimity
by his party, for their candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and was elected, and served
through a four-years term. He then enlisted for the Mexican war and was chosen
Lieutenant Colonel of the Fourth Regiment, and went through the war, participating in
every battle of that regiment. On his return, in 1848, he was appointed State Treas-
urer by the Governor, an oSice made vacant by the death of the recently-elected incum-
bent. He was elected successively to that position in 1850 and 1852, and was a candi-
date in 1854, but was defeated by James Miller, who was the candidate of all the ele-
ments which united against the continuance of Democratic ascendency in the West.
Moore was the first in Illinois to fall before the popular rising against the Kansas-
Nebraska bill. He was one of the Trustees of the Illinois Central Railroad lands up
to his death, and thousands of the residents of this and adjoining counties held their
titles from him. His eyes had for some years been troubling him, and in 1866, he went
to Boston to have a surgical operation performed, which brought him to his death. His
remains were brought to Randolph Grove and buried near where he had so long lived.
Among all classes of people there are no two opinions in regard to his ability, integ-
rity and worth as a public man. All place him in the higher range of politicians in aU
these particulars. He had, for a laboring man, a mind well-stored both in reading and
travels. In the various positions of public life running through more than a quarter of
a century, he never got rich, and at his death was worth less than many who had begun
life when he did here in Randolph, and had attended to their own private affairs.
He had a remarkable memory, a kind, generous nature, and from the time of his pro-
fessing religion his life was worthy of no blame. He was one of the rare instances in
which political excitement did not seem to lead away from a fixed principle.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 483
LEXINGTON TOWNSHIP.
At the formation of the County of McLean, it was divided into five townships or
precincts, each precinct being so located and outlined as to suit the convenience of its
inhabitants. Of these, the Mackinaw Precinct was much the largest, embracing, as it
did, nineteen townships of the present size of Lexington. The county then extended
far to the north, and included a large portion of what is now Livingston County ; and
Mackinaw Precinct embraced ten of the townships afterward set off to that county. Of
that vast township, larger than an average county, Lexington now occupies the middle
of the southern part, and, at that time, was the most populous portion.
At the time of the first white settlement here, there were found two small tribes
or bands of Indians in what is now the township under consideration. These bands
were of the tribes called Kickapoos and Delawares, about three hundred e1ich. They
had built their towns, the former near the present site of the village of Pleasant Hill —
a mile or so south — and the Delawares nearly three miles further up the Mackinaw.
The houses of the Indians were mostly constructed of poles set in a circle twelve or
fifteen feet in diameter, the tops meeting at a point about ten feet above the ground.
Over these poles the skins of animals were stretched, near the top, and, at the bottom,
large pieces of bark, peeled from the trees and dried, constituted the siding of these
primitive dwellings. Dirt was heaped up on the side as high as the poles would bear,
and thus quite a comfortable abode was formed. The door consisted of the skin of an
animal, and the chimney and window were identical, being simply an opening left at the
top for the egress of smoke and the ingress of the sunlight. In morals, if they could
be said to have any, the Kickapoos were superior to the Delawares. The former had a
code of morals which, in some respects, were severe in the extreme. Drunkenness,
which was so common among the Indians, was prohibited by this tribe, and the infringe-
ment of the rule relating thereto was death to the law-breaker. Some of the old set-
tlers remember cases of this kind. They even professed a kind of Christianity, and
some of them were, no doubt, really pious. They were all great beggars, and the men
were lazy. The women did a little gardening, raising corn and beans, while the men
spent their time in hunting. Game was plenty here, but they were not content to hunt
in their own neighborhood, preferring to take long rambles to other parts of the country
in search of game. On some of these expeditions, they would be gone for several
months, but would always return as the cold weather approached, and spend the winter
in their wigwams. After a few years, the whites having settled quite numerously in
their neighborhood, the Kickapoos removed their camp to a point further east, in Living-
ston County, still known as Indian Grove, and the Delawares wandered ofi" to Arkansas.
A year or so before the Winnebago and Sac troubles, the Kickapoos changed their
camp to Oliver's Grove in the eastern part of Livingston County, where they resided
a short time and then joined other bands of their own tribe at their reservations,
west of the Mississippi.
FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENTS.
The first white settlers in this vicinity were Conrad Flesher and family, John
Haner and sons — Jacob, John and William — and Isaac and Joseph Brumhead. These
484 • HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
families arrived here in 1828, at which time Bloomington had been settled by Hendrix
and Dawson about six years, and a few settlements had been made in various other
parts of the county. This was three years before the formation of McLean County.
and while most of it still belonged to Tazewell, and the ancient town of Mackinaw, some
fifteen miles further down the river, was the capital. The families named settled in the
timber of Mackinaw River, a short distance south of the present site of the town of
Lexington, with the Kickapoo Indians as their nearest neighbors, about three miles
further up the stream, and the Delawares as many miles beyond.
In the year 1828, the population of what is now Lexington Township con-
sisted of not more than twenty white persons, and fifteen or twenty times as many
Indians. The intercourse between the two races was by no means so unpleasant as
might be supposed. Notwithstanding the advantage in numbers of the Indians over
the whites, and notwithstanding their general jealousy of the encroachments of their
pale-faced neighbors on their ancient rights, they annoyed them but little, and never
became openly hostile. In 1831-32, when rumors of impending troubles were plenty,
the Indians still professed friendship for the whites, and asserted their readiness to take
up arms against Black Hawk, rather than to assist him.
The privations of these pioneer families were, in some respects, very great, cut off",
as they were, from almost all social, religious, educational and commercial advantages.
Of course, they enjoyed all of these advantages in a very limited degree. The first
settlers were people who greatly valued such privileges, and, though they were for many
years without schoolhouses and churches, easily found the facilities for enjoying them-
selves both socially and religiously. The greatest privations arose from a want of the
means of communication with the outside world. An absence of railroads, and even
of good wagon-roads, rendered the locality almost inaccessible to postal and commercial
facilities, and traveling for other than business purposes out of the question. Most of
the first settlers were from Ohio, and we believe all who settled in 1828, with one excep-
tion, were from that State. Of the families named, we believe the Haners and Brum-
head were related by marriage, and came from the same place in Ohio. All these fam-
ilies are still represented here, but the original pioneers all passed on to a country that
is always new, but where the trials of the pioneer life are unknown, many years ago.
The first settlers were all farmers, after a fashion now unknown. They raised a little
corn and a few vegetables, and, like their red neighbors, depended largely upon the rifle
for subsistence. Their houses were but little superior to those of the Indians, being
merely little cabins, erected with the help only of the ax, and perhaps an auger. No
locks, nails or any other article of iron entered into their construction, but just such
devices as could be wrought out on the ground by the use of the tools named, and of
such materials as the locality afforded. The only boards used for any purpose were such
as were hewed out of logs. Some ten or twelve years after the settlements indicated, John
Haner, Sr., built on the Mackinaw a saw-mill, which supplied, from the logs cut in
the vicinity, the lumber for the partial construction of many of the houses still standing
in the township. Jacob Spawr, who came to the country in 1826, was handy with the
ax and saw, and constructed from walnut logs, by hewing, the boards which he after-
ward made into cofi&ns in which many of the old pioneers were buried. It was no
every family, however, who could afford to lay away their loved ones in even so good a
coflBn as this, but many a worthy old settler was entombed in a casket constructed by
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 485
simply splitting in two a log, cut to proper length, and the halves scooped out by the
use of a common chopping-ax. One of the troughs thus prepared received the remains,
and the other placed in its original position and held there by wooden pins or hickory
bark, served as the lid.
Benjamin H. and William Downey were brothers. They came to this country
about the same time that the families before mentioned arrived. They were also from
the State of Ohio, and one of them was related to the Haners by marriage.
During the years 1829-30-31, the population of McLean County increased
((uite rapidly, and the neighborhood at the Mackinaw timber received several acces-
sions.
The following persons, in nearly the order in which their names are mentioned,
arrived in this locality during the years named : Joseph, Moses, Aaron and John Pat-
ton and son Benjamin came in 1829, having lived a short time in what was called Old
Town Timber, east of Bloomington. This family came to the county from Indiana,
though some of the older ones of the family were natives of Kentucky. When they
first came to the township, they lived in one of the recently-deserted Indian wigwams
until they built a more comfortable abode.
The family of the Messers came from near Columbus, Ohio, in 1828, to the Mack-
inaw timber, and settled at first in what is now called Money Creek. After a year's
residence there, they came to this township. Mr. Messer was a man of more than ordi-
nary importance. In 1812, while he yet resided in Ohio, he enlisted in the service of
the United States as a soldier, and served in that capacity during several campaigns.
He was one of the founders of the original United Brethren Church, since removed to
Lexington, and preached for the same for a number of years. A large number of his
descendants still reside in the northwestern part of the county. Isaac Messer died many'
years ago in Money Creek Township.
Valentine Spawr and family located in Lexington Township in 1829, having lived
two years in Money Creek. This has been one of the most favorably known families
in this part of the county. Mr. Spawr was from Pennsylvania, where he had taken an
active part in public enterprises of various kinds. In 1794, he was a soldier under
Gen. Anthony Wayne, in a campaign against the Indians in Northwestern Ohio. The
Indians had, for several years, given the Government a good deal of annoyance, and
Gen. St. Clair had suffered a severe defeat at their hands. In the year mentioned
'' Mad Anthony," as he was called, was sent out against them, and, at the rapids of
the Maumee, he met them and gained over them a complete victory, resulting in the
treaty of Greenville, by which vast tracts of territory were ceded to the United States.
Mr. Spawr died here in 1855. Of this family, Jacob Spawr, son of the above, had
really preceded his father and the rest of the family one year, but remained in Money
Creek ten years, removing to Lexington in 1836. The other sons, John, George and
Peter, accompanied their father to Money Creek in 1828, and, in 1829, removed with
him to this township. Of these, Jacob is still a resident of the village of Lexington ;
Peter died some years ago in Kansas ; George lives in Blue Mound Township, and John
occupies the old Spawr homestead.
Patrick Hopkins moved from Indiana in 1830, and settled in the central part of
the township of Lexington. About twelve years ago, he moved to the village of Lex-
ington, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1874.
486 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
John B. Thompson was one of the early citizens of the township, as he was also
one of the best known.
An influential and well-known family is that of the Uawsons. James R. Dawson,
the father of a number of the name in this and adjoining townships, came with his
family from Ohio, in 1832. He settled at first in Money Creek, but removed to
Lexington Township a year later. In 1831, the precinct of Mackinaw was organized
or set oflf by the County Commissioners, and of this domain, John B. Thompson, named
above, was elected the first Justice of the Peace, and Henry Flesher, Constable. The
election was held at the house of John Patton. The Judges of Election were John
Hawley and Conrad Flesher. Jacob Spawr, who then lived in what is now called
Money Creek, was also elected a Justice of the Peace the same year. Though the
territory over which these dignitaries held sway was large, embracing, as it did, more
than half as much as now constitutes the largest county in the State, their duties as
public ofiicers were not arduous ; indeed, they did not materially interfere with their
usual avocations. The limits of the precinct a year after this were somewhat modified
by the formation of Vermilion Precinct, embracing the settlements of the upper part of
Vermilion River in Livingston County. Gradually, from time to time, as the popula-
tion and wants of this part of the county demanded, the outlines of the precinct were
changed, until 1858, when they were established as we now find them.
In 1832, occurred an event which, though it took place many miles distant, was
the cause of much excitement and apprehension in this neighborhood. For a year or
more, deep mutterings from the northwestern part of the State had been heard, indi-
cating a near approach of trouble from the Indians who lived there. Treaties had
been made with the chiefs by which the territory there had been ceded to the Govern-
ment, but the original possessors were loath to give it up, and returned occasionally from
their reservations west of the Mississippi to their old homes, uj^on which occasions they
never failed to annoy and sometimes to massacre the whites, who were then beginning
to settle there. Of course these acts would be resented, and finally open hostility was
declared by the Indians, who, headed by Black Hawk, crossed the river and commenced
to over-run the country, destroying property and scalping all who came in their way-
Though the scene of these troubles was a hundred miles distant, and though the
Indians in this vicinity professed friendship, yet there was a constant dread and alarm.
The settlements here were comparatively weak and scattered, and had their enemies
chosen to attack them, they would easily have been overpowered. Fortunately, how-
ever, the State and Government took prompt and active measures to suppress the
uprising of the savages, and their devastations never reached this section. Some pre-
cautions were taken by the people along the Mackinaw to prevent a surprise. A
company of rangers was organized for the purpose of scouting through the country in
the direction of the enemies' camps, to ascertain their movements.
Several forts or blockhouses were built at various points along the Mackinaw, one
of which was erected in this township. The one built here consisted simply of a log
building some 20 feet square at the base, with a projection all around at the top to
prevent any from climbing its sides. Through the sides near the top were made port*
holes, to allow the firing of rifles, or such other fire-arms as the settlers might possess,
without exposing the body to shots from without. To this fortification it was proposed
to flee upon notice of approaching danger, and a good many families who lived at a
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 487
distance, during the prevalence of alarm, left their farms and lived near the blockhouse
until the troubles were over.
In the neighborhood of Pontiac and Fairbury, then in this county, there was not
an inhabitant left, all having fled to this vicinity, or to others beyond. Some brought
their women and children, and occasionally returned to look after traces of the Indians,
and their deserted homes. Fortunately, the summer passed without any more serious
trouble to this section than the neglect of crops and the troubles incident to moving
back and forth. Many frights are remembered, which now seem quite ludicrous ; but
when it is remembered thai the settlers were without telegraphs to inform them of the
movements of the enemy, and, indeed, without any easy means of communication with
the seat of war. it cannot be wondered at that they were in a state of mind almost bor-
dering on a panic.
The immediate result of the Indian troubles was to check immigration to this
State, and for a few years but few new settlers made their appearance in this section.
However, after the lapse of a few years, when it began to be definitely understood in
the East that no further molestations were likely to occur, a new tide of immigration set
toward this country never before or since equaled. This began in about 1834, and
continued about five years. A system of advertising and speculation similar to that
now prevailing in the country several hundred miles further West, brought thousands
upon thousands. Not unlike the excitement which pi'evails in later times in regard
to the Western gold, silver and lead mines was that which swept through the Eastern
States in regard to Illinois lands and town lots. During the years 1835, 1836 and 1837,
more than five hundred new towns were laid out in Illinois, not less than a dozen of which
were in McLean County, Lexington being one. Railroads were projected through nearly all
of them, and these, with the town sites, were platted, showing depot grounds, parks and
drives, and were sent with the most exaggerated descriptions to all parts of the country.
The State government caught the epidemic, and bills for railroads, canals, and other
internal improvements were passed, corresponding in magnitude with the universal
expectancy of the people. In 1837, a financial crash came and found this State but illy
prepared for the shock. As a consequence, the numerous railroads, canals, and paper cities
vanished in thin air ; and then for a number of years, improvements and immigration
were at a stand-still. Of course, this part of the country having no extra inducements
to offer, partook of the general stagnation ; and for a score of years no remarkable
advance was made, either in population or improvement. Occasionally, a new arrival
was announced. A relative or friend writing back to the old home in the East or
South would induce some one to come out and see the country, and perhaps work a
year, and once here, he would likely stay. As in other parts of the State, the first set-
tlers located in or near the timber, and thus it will be seen by a glance at the map
where the first improvements in the township were made. A strip of a mile or less in
width, on either side of Mackinaw Creek, embraced all of the settlements for fifteen
years or more after the first settlement was made. In 1840, Jacob Spawr took the cen-
sus of the county, and he says that at that time his house was the farthest away from
the timber.
Among those who located here during the five years following the Indian scare,
were John Smith, Milton Smith, James Brown, William Popejoy, Isaac and Jacob Harness,
Dr. Abbott Goddard and Jacob Spawr, who came in, as nearly as can be remembered,
488 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
in the order in which their names occur. The founding of the town of Lexington was
the indirect cause of bringing to the neighborhood some of these, and a number of
other families.
In 1854, occurred an event which had more to do with the immediate development
of the country than any other single cause. For years it had been known that this
was one of the finest agricultural regions in the country ; farms had been opened and
successfully cultivated ; schools had been organized and churches founded ; towns had
been platted and post lines and offices had been established. It seemed that almost
everything had been done that individual energy could accomplish, and yet the country
was poor and backward ; much of the very best land was even then for sale at Congress
price. In the year mentioned, however, the " one thing needful " to this section — a
means of disposing of the abundant productions which heretofore found no market,
came. It is impossible to conceive how the country through which the Chicago &
Alton Railroad passes ever would have approached the wonderful development it has
but for the timely completion of this enterprise. Indeed, it is not too much to say that
it is the very basis of the greatness of the country through which it passes. Immedi-
ately upon the completion of the road, the prices of real estate doubled, and within three
years there was not to be found a foot of Congress land within ten miles of its line,
where whole townships had lain unoccupied for thirty years without a single purchaser.
Commerce is said to be the great civilizer. In this instance, it has proved itself
eminently so, and much more. It has not only improved the condition of the people
socially, intellectually and morally, but it has brought the people. With the people
have come the schools and churches, and to these have come teachers and books and
ministers and Sunday schools. With the railroad came improved methods of farming,
better plows, better means of harvesting grain, and better prices for grain. With the
railroad came lumber which enabled those who would settle on the prairie to protect
their grain from the stock which roamed at large, and to protect their cattle and horses
and themselves from the ioclemencies of the weather. This made it possible to utilize
all of that vast extent of country wnich till then was thought to be useless except for a
boundless pasture-field. For several years after its completion, the road was in a greatly
embarrassed condition, owing somewhat to incompetency in the management; but of
late years, through a more systematic policy, and a liberal course toward its patrons, it
has not only become one of the soundest roads financially, but the most popular line in
the West.
SCHOOLS.
The citizens of Lexington Township have always been noted for a deep interest in
whatever would tend toward the education of the youth. Though the advantages of
school education to the early settlers were exceedingly meager, they, nevertheless, have
striven to give to their cliildren that of which they were, in a great measure, deprived.
The first schoolhouse was a little log cabin built in the timber just south of Lexington.
Like all of the schoolhouses of that early day, it was a joint affair, being erected by all
interested in providing means of learning for the few children of the neighborhood.
The State Government had not, at that time, made provision for the general education
of the people, and a school depended entirely on the interest taken by private indi-
viduals. As the people were nearly all quite poor, it may be easily imagined that
enterprises of this kind were of the most primitive character. A little log shanty that
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 489
-would not now be worth $10 as a schoolhouse, a teacher who was barely able to give a
little instruction in spelling, reading and writing, the only apparatus a bundle of birch
switches — these were the school advantages provided for the children of 1830. And
jet, surprising as it may seem, some of our most competent business men, judges and
legislators, got their education in this very class of schools.
Perhaps in no particular has the country changed more than in that of educational
advantages. From the little log shanty, with its huge fire-place, its puncheon floors
and seats, and its paper windows, have sprung ten comfortable buildings, in various parts
of the township, estimated in value at over S12,000, each of these furnished with
improved desks and seats, and, in most cases, with charts, maps, globes and other
apparatus.
^^ POLITICS AND WAR.
This township has furnished its full quota of men to fill positions of honor and
trust. For a number of years, the township has been not without a representative,
either as a county or State officer, of which those of Judge and Representative, in the
persons of Hon. Thomas F. Tipton and Hon. W. M. Smith, are worthy of special
mention.
The township did its duty well in the recent great struggle of the nation to
preserve its identity. The call for men and means to put down the rebellion had
scarcely been made before numbers of the strong and loyal men of this part of the
county stepped forward to defend their country and to preserve the nation intact.
TOWNSHIP ORCxANIZATION.
The law authorizing the organization of townships for the transaction of business
previously done by county officers, as before stated, was adopted by this county in 1857,
and the first township election was held in this township in April of the following year.
The following officers were elected : Jacob C. Mahan, Supervisor ; Jonas Fell, CAerk ;
T. E. Scringer, Assessor; James H. Gaff, Collector; G. B. Okeson, Overseer of Poor ;
J. W. Smith, George Flesher and James Adams, Commissioners of Highways ; John
Fulwiler and H. McCrackin, Justices of the Peace ; and J. Hand and Jacob Best, Con-
stables.
At that time there were in the township 310 voters. Since that time, the number
has increased lo nearly double. At the last election, there were polled over five hun-
dred votes, and a majority of which were polled for the following persons: George B.
Okeson, Supervisor ; James M. Bay, Collector ; John Gallehugh, Assessor ; William
H. Shepherd, Clerk ; William A. Smith, Noah Wilson and George VV. Vandolah, Commis-
sioners of Highways ; Reason A. Wells and George Bradford, Justices of the Peace,
and Henry C. Hays and James E. Johnson, Constables.
VILLAGE OF LEXINGTON.
As before indicated, the village of Lexington was founded during the great "town-
lot speculation" era, the plat being selected and surveyed as recorded in the office of the
Circuit Clerk, for James Brown and Ashael Gridley, by Elbert Dickason, January 14.
1836. The original plat consisted of parts of the northeast quarter of Section 1, and
of the northwest quarter of Section 8, Town 25 north. Range 4 east. The plat has
since been greatly enlarged by numerous additions. The enterprise, like most others
of its time, for nearly twenty years seemed to be a failure, and, but for the building of the
490 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
railroad through this section, doubtless would have proved so. Numerous other places,
with advantages fully equal to those aiforded by Lexington, have budded, blossomed
and died. At the time when the line was surveyed, there were not in the village more
than a dozen families. The first improvement made after the town was surveyed was by
A. Gridley and C. Carpenter, who erected a store-building. This was rented and occu-
pied by Carpenter with a stock of goods for about two years. Id the mean time, two or
three families settled at the place, but the hard times coming on, the store was found to
be a bad venture and was taken to Bloomington, the house being removed to Clarks-
ville, the last-named being considered a better point for business. The first dwelling-
house was a cabin erected by Jacob Spawr, on the site of the more modern and pretentious
dwelling occupied by him. Mr. Spawr had lived in Money Creek Township for nearly
ten years before settling here. For a year or so after the removal of Carpenter's store,
Mr. Spawr's family were the only residents of the town. His double log house was post
oflSce, dwelling and tavern, and Mr. Spawr was Postmaster, farmer and landlord. At
about this time, Livingston County was organized, with Pontiac as the seat of justice ;
courts were beginning to be held there, and Lexington being in a direct line between
Bloomington and Pontiac, and the only place on the road where public entertainment
was to be had by the traveler, this became a general stopping-place for lawyers, judges,
litigants and witnesses on their way to the court at either place. Lincoln, Douglas,
Treat and many other worthies and dignataries were among those who stopped regularly
and partook of Mr. Spawr's hospitality. Though his accommodations were quite
limited at first, he was credited with being a first-class tavern-keeper, and continued to
"^ monopolize the business until 1854, when the railroad made its appearance. Then
Messrs. Franklin & Long built what has since been known as Long's Hotel, and
now used as a boarding-house, and Mr. Spawr retired from the hotel business.
A short time after the removal of the Carpenter store, William Lander built a
dwelling house and moved to the place. About three years intervened before the place
was considered an available point for business. Then J. C. Mahan brought on a stock
of goods. George Dement and Messrs. Knotts & Gregory were also among the first
merchants. Other classes of business gradually came, as circumstances seemed to war-
rant. Blacksmiths, shoemakers, carpenters and additional merchants started business at
various times, until, in 1854, there were probably nearly two hundred inhabitants in the
town. From the year named, the real growth and prosperity of the town may with
propriety be dated. The railroad brought a large number of laborers who wore employed
in the construction of the line. These made their headquarters here, and after the
completion of the road many of them became permanent residents of the village and
vicinity.
Hotels, additional stores and shops at once became a necessity, and, those wants
being at once supplied, the population in a short time was doubled. The surrounding
country filled up very rapidly about this time, and this levied additional trading facil-
ities on the little town, and everything seemed for a time to contribute to its improve-
ment. Another era of hard times followed in 1857, which gave a partial check to
progress, which, with the breaking-out of the war of 1861, put an effectual check upon the
development of the town. After the war closed, money was found to be plenty, and, as
was the case all over the country, so here, business was brisk and another period of im-
provement followed.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 491
Just at the close of the war, the first of the fine brick blocks which now grace the
village was erected by J. C. Mahan. The Smith Block was erected about two years
later.
Of course, Lexington grain trade dates no further back than the completion of the
railroad. The nearest markets, prior to that time, were Pekin, Peoria and Chicago,
whence farmers hauled by wagon over the prairies their superfluous products. How-
ever, on the location of a station at this place, a trade of this character at once sprung
up here, which has been quite extensive ever since. The country in the vicinity of
Lexington is exceedingly productive, and grain and stock buyers at once became a neces-
sity. Among the first grain-buyers here were Messrs. Dexter & Kinkaid. The extent
of the trade was not at first realized, and it was some time before the complete apparatus
for handling grain now in use was erected. Of the gentlemen named, Mr. Dexter was
the railroad agent, and the firm confined their operations in grain to buying on the
track and loading directly into the cars, sometimes using the company's building for
storing such as came in while cars were not to be had, and shoveling by hand or wheel-
ing by trucks into the cars. Messrs. Fulwiler & Okeson also engaged in the grain trade
after the same fashion. John Richardson also did a little in the same line.
The first improved means of handling grain was introduced by Messrs. Dawson &
jNIcCurdy some time after the railroad was completed. This was the first elevator
proper, and is the building now used by S. R. Cleggett as a kind of store-room.
ORGANIZATION OP THE VILLAGE..
In 1855, a year after the completion of the railroad, the citizens of the town were
aspiring to be known and recognized as an incorporated village, and a year and two
days — July 6, 1855 — found the citizen voters assembled to take measures to accomplish
the important fact in the history of the town. Thomas F. Tipton, since Judge and
member of Congress, was chosen Clerk, and G. T. Dement, President, of the meeting.
The motion to call an election to choose officers was carried, and the 12th day of the
same month was agreed upon for the purpose.
The election was accordingly held at Dement's store. At the election, thirty
votes were cast, and John Fulwiler was chosen President of the Board of Trustees, and
Jacob C. Mahan, M. Magill, G. T. Dement and Croghan Dawson as members. Thomas
F. Tipton was selected Village Clerk, and G. W. Knotts as Treasurer. The organiza-
tion then and there cfiected was under the provisions of the general law of the State.
The same charter, somewhat modified by the Legislature in 1867, has been in force
ever since, In 1874, a vote was taken to adopt the organization common to towns and
villages of the State and now in force, but the proposition was voted down by a large
majority. Again last year, the proposition to adopt the general law was lost, and the
organization consequently stands nearly in its original form.
The present Board of Trustees consists of William Skelly, D. H. Vandolah,
George W. Hiser, Charles H. Preble and Henry Weekly, the first named being Presi-
dent. J. W. Weekly is Clerk; A. B. Davidson, Treasurer and Police Magistrate, and
M. Gr. Hays, Marshal. The number of votes polled at the last election was 265, indi-
cating a population of near 2,000.
The temperance question has entered very largely into corporation politics at this
place, and, singular as it may appear to other towns used to the presence of saloons,
492 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
there has never been an authorized dram-shop in the village. Naturally enough, we
look for a high state of morals and refinement in a place thus so solidly opposed to the
liquor traflBc, and in this we are not mistaken. In no instance within our observation,
have we found a more intelligent and moral people than inhabit Lexington. As a fur-
ther evidence of this, one need only turn his attention to the places of religious and
secular instruction which have been established here, and which are in a most prosper-
ous condition.
CHURCHES.
The old pioneers, though they would not have hesitated much to engage in a
rough-and-tumble fight, and did not hesitate to take a dram once in a while (though
they say the whisky did not contain as much infernal fire as it does now), were yet
almost universally pious people, and enjoyed themselves religiously quite as well as the
more fastidious church-goers of to-day. The religious services were simple, the church-
buildings were simple, the methods of conveyance to and from church were simple, and
the manners, dress and intercourse of the people who attended church were primitive
in the extreme. But some of the old pioneers assert that the natural organs of the
voice, with which they praised God, were to be preferred to the organ now pumped by
a boy and skillfully manipulated by a popular but not pious young lady or gentleman,
dressed in silk or broadcloth, instead of the ancient linsey-woolsey or jeans.
Let us not quarrel with our Others and mothers about the matter ; they have sac-
rificed their preferences to our modern methods, and many, if not most, of them are
praising Him on harps of such glorious construction as we are little able to comprehend.
The United Brethren seem to have been the pioneers, religiously, in this neighbor-
hood, or, at least, they were the first to organize a society. There were a number of
Methodists here at about the same time, but they generally fraternized with the United
Brethren, and a number of them went into the early organization. For a number of
years, church services were held in private houses, in barns or in the groves — " God's
first temples" — as the size of the congregation and the state of the weather seemed to
indicate. Ten or a dozen years after the first settlements were made here, a house of
worship was erected south of town, in the timber. It was quite a comfortable and com-
modious edifice for the times. When the village began to grow, however, a demand
arose for a church huildiog in town, which, about that time, was erected. The old
building finally went into disuse, and was removed to the village and appropriated to a
very practical, though scarcely so dignified a use as formerly — that of livery-stable — and
the spot from which the Scriptures were once eloquently expounded is now occupied
by John Barret, who dispenses horse-knowledge with equal fluency. About tweniy-
Ibur years ago, the society built in the village their present house of worship, and
though the same frame is still in use, the house was so remodeled last fall that it scarcely
afipears to be the same building. In the rebuilding, some $2,000 were expended, and
the Brethren now have one of the most comfortable houses of worship in this part of
the county. Lexington seems to have been a favored location for the faithful of this
denomination, and was, in consequence, for a number of years, the seat of residence of
Bishop Edwards. A fine residence was erected for him. The house once occupied by
the Bishop is now owned and occupied by Albert Dawson. The present Pastor of the
Church is Rev. John Morrison. The Sabbath school in connection with this Churcli
is successfully managed by James Norman, Superintendent,
3^CA^7e-f%.^^72^0
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 495
The oris;inal members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this place were Jacob
•Spawr, Patrick Hopkins. Dr. Mahan and their wives. The first services were held in
the U. B. Church and in the schoolhouse until 1855, when their present building was
■erected. The house was built mainly through the influence of Rev. Mr. Griggs, who
was the Pastor at the time. The size of the building is 45x65 feet, and cost $2,700.
The Church has prospered well, and numbers, at this time, about one hundred and sixty
members. Rev. R. B. Williams is present Pastor, and John Langstaff is Superintend-
ent of the Sunday school.
The Presbyterians organized a society here near the same time that the Methodists
built their church, but did not erect a building until 1867. In the mean time, services
were held by this denomination frequently in the Christian Church. Among the
original members of this organization were John Fulwiler, J. C. Mahon, their
"wives and others, to the number of about a dozen. Rev. J. C. Mahan was the first
preacher, and ministered to the Church for about four years. In 1867, the congrega-
tion erected a very handsome and substantial church-edifice, at an outlay of $7,000,
which was dedicated the following year. Rev. Robert Conover is Pastor at present.
The membership numbers nearly one hundred, and the Sunday school numbers about
as many. The Superintendent of the Sunday school is Jacob Mahan.
The Christian Church was organized in 1859, by Rev. B. H. Smith, with Mr. and
Mrs. C. W. Long, Mr. and Mrs. John Franklin, and Mr. and Mrs. G. T. Dement as
original members. From this small beginning, their numbers have increased to sixty.
They have a comfortable house of worship, 40x60 feet, that cost $3,000. It was erected
about 1860. At present writing, the Church is without a settled Pastor; but church
services and Sunday school are held regularly. The Sunday school numbers about
seventy scholars. Frank Trimmer is Superintendent.
The Baptists of this place have held religious services here for the last twenty
years or more, but did not own a house of worship of their own until about four years
ago. The organizers of this Church were L. P. Scroggin and wife, Henderson Peek
and wife, John Peek and wife, and a half-dozen others. In 1874, they erected, at an
expense of $5,000, a handsome church-edifice, the dimensions of which are about 34x66
feet. The membership of the Church is about one hundred and forty, and that of the
Sunday school about one hundred ; of the former, Rev. John Davis is Pastor, and of
the latter, L. P. Scroggin is Superintendent.
SECRET SOCIETIES.
A charter to establish a Lodge of Masons at Lexington was granted to G. W.
Kcotts, D. Underwood, Frank Barney, W. Elbert, John Cassedy, W. M. Smith, H,
Kittle J. S. Millsap, Shelton Smith and Isaac Thomas, October, 1866. The lodge-
room of the society is well furnished, and the society has prospered well. It numbers
at present about fifty members. The present ofiicers are : A. B. Davidson, W. M. ;
William Skelly, S. W.; Hugh Carnahan, J. W. ; W. H. Kannady, Sec; Almarion
Moon, Treas. ; Richard Stevenson, S. D. ; H. C. Hays, J. D. ; Geoi-ge Nutt, Tiler, and
W. G. Hays and A. Ogden, Stewards.
McLean Lodge, No. 206, I. 0. 0. F., was organized October, 1856, the charter
beino- o-ranted Brothers David W. Grifiith, Edwin M. Murphy, Thornton Robertson, J.
A Hart and J. E. Murphy. For several years, especially during the war, the
496 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
prosperity of the Lodge was not marked, at times barely a sufficient number to maintain-
the organization. Since the war, the fraternity has increased quite rapidly. The
present membership is about seventy. The officers are: Charles Stiller, N. G. ; Ben-
jamin Arbogast) V. G. ; F. P. Casey, Sec, and R. Stevenson, Treas. Meetings are
held every Saturday evening.
At a later date, October, 1875, a higher Order of the fraternity was established,
and known as Lexington Encampment, No. 161. The membership of this branch of
the Order is about thirty, and the present officers are : William Valentine, C. P. ;
John Henline, S. W. ; L. C Clark, J. W., and R. Stevenson, Scribe and Treasurer.
The meetings of the Encampment are held on the first and third Monday evenings of
each month.
SCHOOLS.
The schools of Lexington are the just pride of all its citizens. They erected, in
1869, a fine brick building, at a cost of S8,500. Besides this, two primary school-
houses are required to accommodate the school population of the town. The schools
are well graded and governed, and the people of Lexington feel that they get full value
for the large amount yearly expended for the purpose of educating their children.
Prof. George Blount is Principal teacher and Superintendent.
PLEASANT HILL.
The village of Pleasant Hill (Selma Post Office) is on the northeast quarter of
Section 21, Lexington Township, and is one of the oldest villages in the county. It i&
situated on a part of the Patten land, or, rather, the land of Aaron Foster, son-in-law
of Mr. Patten, and actually covers a portion of Indian Town. Several of the graves of
the ancient owners of this soil are within its limits.
In 1838, Isaac Smalley, then recently from Ohio, but who had lived a year in Will
County, where he had taught school very acceptably, for he was a man of fair edu-
cation came to the Mackinaw to get cheaper land than he could find in Will County.
In coming here he passed through Pontiac, which had then just been chosen as the
county seat of the new county of Livingston. He and his party had to stay there two
hours to get a chance to cross the river. They were nonplused for awhile, but finally
got some logs which would float, and put some boards or rails on them and got their
wa"-ons onto it, and pulled this primitive raft across. When they arrived at Foster's,
they were surprised to learn that they had made a visit to Pontiac, for they had not
seen any town there.
The hill upon which he settled was such a nice natural site for building, that Mr.
Smalley decided to lay out a town. For a time, he lived in a little house near by, but
the next year put up the first framed house here, a neat story-and-a-half structure,
which is now occupied by Mr. Rogers.
In 1840, M. R. Bullock, County Surveyor, laid out for Mr. Smalley sixteen blocks,
each block divided into four lots. The conveyance of streets was acknowledged before
'Squire Spawr, then, as now, a resident of Lexington. Later, two additions were laid
out one on the west side of twelve blocks, in February, 1852, and one on the south side
in June of the same year. (These last were in contemplation of the railroad, which
they did not get.)
The name was given by Mrs. Milton Smith, a near neighbor of Mrs. Smalley's, in
this way : Mrs. Smith said it seemed odd to date a letter from nowhere when she had
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 497
to write one to her old friends in Kentucky ; she must have a name to date from (she
lived on a hill immediately east of Smalley's), so she told Mrs. Smalley that she called
her place Poverty Hill, and as this one was a fairer one to look on, she would call that,
"if she were her," Pleasant Hill. The name took, but when application was made to>
the Department for a post office, the officials there named it Selma.
When Mr. Patten came into the Indian town, he was not well received by the
dusky denizens ; but he was a man of resources, and soon got their confidence by the
handiwork he did for them, and they moved their quarters instead of moving him.
Dr. Mahan built the next house — a log one — and commenced the practice of medi-
cine here, which he continued for about ten years. The house has now been moved
away.
Mr. Smalley was an energetic, prosperous man, well informed and a good business
man. He built up his young town in the same spirit in which he did everything he
undertook, drew business and settlers there, and for a while it outstripped its only rivals
on the Mackinaw — Lexington and Clarksville, both of which had a small start in point
of age.
Mr. Smalley was a true and consistent member of the Methodist Church, and was
a local preacher of considerable power. He made every endeavor to secure the railroad
through his town, but Gen. Gridley was interested in Lexington, and the Fells at
Pontiac, and their influence was too much for whatever argument Pleasant Hill could
offer.
In 1855, Smalley went to Springfield, at the earnest solicitation of some of the
leading citizens of the county, to lobby against a contemplated division of the conntv,
which had for its object the fixing of a county seat at Saybrook. While there, he was
exposed, without knowing it, to the small-pox, and died soon after his return home.
His widow married Mr. Bratton, with whom she continues to live on the old place.
Mr. Bratton is also a local preacher, or has been, for now, at upward of eighty years of
age, he believes his labors are about ended, though he is still hale and vigorous. Mrs.
B. still retains the old plats of Pleasant Hill, and some other papers which it would be
of interest to the Historical Society to secure.
Mr. Smalley, about 1842, moved a house here from Clarksville, and two or three
were brought here from Lexington, one of which was made into a schoolhouse.
Jacob Brown came here soon after, and commenced blacksmithing, which business,
although now nearly ninety years of age, he continues to prosecute, shoeing his horse
or two a day. He is now the oldest " living blacksmith" in the county.
Absalom Enoch was the first to sell goods here. He brought a few groceries and
notions here early in the forties. There being no building which he could occupy,
Mrs. Smalley gave up her bedroom, which was soon shelved-off and stocked. This is
given as a sample of her way of doing things. She frequently gave up a room to some
new family for temporary living in, and has had three families in her house at a time.
When Enoch got a building for his store, he took in Aaron Foster as partner.
Foster was an important personage here, full of business, good feeling and good judg-
ment. He was Squire, Constable, Class-leader, and whatever else the people wanted.
He went to Kansas and died. Georee Webster and David Curtiss bought out the store
and carried on an extensive trade. W. D. Johnson finally bought the old store and
moved it out to his farm for a barn.
498 HISTORY OF McLean county.
There were three cabinet-shops here, carried on by Edwards & Jesswin, Joseph
Patten, and Mr. Smith. Washington Edwards, now of Bloomington, kept tavern.
James H. Gaif, now Postmaster of Pontiac, and, recently, Sheriif of Livingston
County, had a blacksmith-shop here, and, going away about 1860, sold to Pat Wilson,
who still carries it on.
Another man, who has also been Postmaster of Pontiac, first made his mark here.
Dr. John W. Yeomans practiced medicine here for some years at an early day.
Dr. Goddard was for a long time the physician here, though he lived at Lexington.
He is dead. Dr. Waters succeeded him.
Harrison Foster was first Postmaster, keeping the office in his little store.
There are now three churches, three stores, three blacksmith-shops and thirty
dwellings in Pleasant Hill, and a graded school with two departments.
The first M. E. Church was built in 18-45, by the Pattens, Foster and Mr. Smalley.
The latter cut the logs, got the lumber sawed, seasoned it, and worked and prayed over
the thing until it was done.
Mr. Cummings was among the first preachers. Stephen R. Begg, who recently
celebrated his golden wedding at Plainfield, Will County, was also among the first.
Rev. Henry Maynard rode this circuit when it was 400 miles around it. He came
here to live, afterward, and carried on a tannery. He moved to Wisconsin, and lives
there yet. Messrs. Pinkard, Gregg, Craig and Murch preached here, but the latter did
not practice as well as preach, and they had to let him go. The old church was sold
for barns, and a new one, 28x60, was built in 1865.
The Presbyterian Church was built in 1852. Milton Smith, John Smith and
William Mahan were largely interested in securing the building of this edifice. There
had been, for several years, an organization here, and regular preaching is now had.
Preaching-service was, for a long time, at Milton Smith's house.
The United Brethren Church was built in 1858.
CHENOA TOWNSHIP.
When the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad (now the Chicago & Alton), in its prog-
ress from Joliet, its starting point, southward toward the "future great" city, struck
the northern boundary of McLean County, a few rods from the present city of Chenoa,
there was nothing to distinguish the location from a thousand others, which the pioneer
railroaders found during those years in this prairie State. It was down in the maps as
Township 26, Range 4, east of the Third Principal Meridian, and that is all of its pre-rail-
road history. Not a house is known to have been erected within its borders, not a tree
was ever known to have grown, or a human being to have lived there. The building of
this road and the location of the station here brought the first " settlers," and about all
the " settling " they did, was to imbed the railroad ties from Michigan and Wisconsin
into the prairie soil and settle it sufficiently for rails to lie on them. The building of
the eastern extension of the Peoria & Ocjuawka (now Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw) Rail-
road, crossing the Chicago & Mississippi at this point, seemed to mark this as an impor-
tant " railroad center," so common " iu the mind " of those who were watching the
unparalleled railroad building of that fruitful decade. There were reasons which are
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 499
not now so plainly visible, why this point should appear to have very superior advantages
as a railroad center. It was the only crossing on the line of" this, the most important
railroad in the State — a road passing in almost a direct line between the two great cities
of the West, through the very center of the State, having among other important
places, the State capital upon it — between Joliet and Springfield; and for many years
no other east and west road cut it. The soil was known to be fertile and inexhaustibly
rich ; every prospect was flattering. Farther on will appear some of the reasons that
have prevented a full realization of the most sanguine hopes of the projectors and early
settlers.
The township of Chenoa is a full Congressional township, being six miles square,
and is all prairie, sufficiently rolling to be capable of easy drainage. The soil is ri^h
and deep, adapted to raising corn, grass, small grains, fruits and all crops for which the
State is so generally noted.
It is situated about one hundred miles from Chicago, and about twenty miles from
Bloomington, the county seat of McLean County, and about fifty miles from Peoria.
Its settlement and agricultural development began in 1856, and for ten years it was very
rapid. By 1870, very little of the land remained wild. At first, wheat was a very
profitable crop, thirty to forty bushels to the acre being a very common yield ; this soon
changed, however, and farmers readily adopted the notion that it was not exactly in the
"wheat belt," and soon gave their attention largely to corn.
There is no stream of water running through the township, but the land is rolling
enough to be capable of thorough draining. Early in the life of its farming enterprise,
mole draining was practiced by many. This, of course, only proved a temporary relief,
and it was followed by a system of open draining by the use of road graders and ditchers.
This was cheap, and during times of superfluous water seemed to answer the purpose,
but all these machines leave the excavated soil on the edge of the wide open ditch, and
it there forms a dam against the free escape of the surface water behind. Some of the
best farmers have found that ditches made with plow and scraper — the earth being
deposited where " it will do the most good," that is, in. low places, or so scattered that
it will not form an embankment — were the only permanently useful ditches. Within
the past year, tile-draining has became very popular ; where so carefully done that there
are no sags in the line of tiles, it is proving a success. Fencing has been generally
done with the csage-orange hedge ; few of the farmers went to the expense of putting
up board fences. Hedging with osage-orange had become quite general before the farms
of this township came into cultivation.
Very little of the land passed from the Government direct to the real tillers.
When the pioneers began turning the sod, already nearly all except what was known as
"swamp-land" — a very broad term where applied to the land of this country — was owned
by those who were "holding for a rise." The Scott family and their partners were
owners of many thousand acres, 3,000 of which still remain in their names.
Whatever railroad facilities the township has, it had when the settlers arrived, and
they never have been called on to " bond the town " in aid of railroad corporations.
Thus it has been able to keep out of debt, and the only debt the tax-payers will be
called on to pay, is the debt of School District No. 1, about $2,300, which compared
with that of many Western towns, is light. This keeping out of debt has its counter-
part in keeping out of political office. There is really no connection between the two,
500 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
"but it is true that while Chenoa has been in unison with the prevailing political party of
the county during its existence, she has been practically left in the cold. Whether the
fault of the ''ring " as some would have it, or whether it is because her enterprising
-citizens have been too busy looking after their home interests, it is a fact that no citizen
of Chenoa has ever been placed in important positions of county trusts, or in represent-
ative halls. Perhaps this is not rightly a matter of complaint, but in a county which
for years has enjoyed the reputation of furnishing more officials, State, county aud
national, than any county of its population in the West, it seems a little strange that
this and the two other townships, which with it forms the " north tier," have never been
called on to furnish any.
The principal crop raised is corn, and being a prairie township without shade and
running water, few men have made a business of feeding cattle. Of late years many men
have been able to feed their corn to hogs, and the exportation of live hogs has very
gradually increased. The majority of the farmers are men of small means, and owning
or renting small farms, a few only have tried cutting " wide swaths," and the result of
such cases has not been such as to awaken a desire on the part of others to imitate
them. The earlier population found its way here largely from the States of Ohio,
Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, with a few from New England. Latterly, there has
been a considerable influx of those born in foreign countries, principally Ireland and
Germany ; many of these own good farms, and some work places ; the usual method of
renting has been for a share of the grain.
EARLY INCIDENTS.
The land upon which the city of Chenoa was built lay in Sections 1, 2, 11 and 12
of the township; Section 2 belonged, as did seviiral thousand acres in this and Living-
ston counties, to the family of which Matthew T. Scott, who lived in Kentucky, was a
member, and some partners ; while he was not the owner of all of it, he had such legal
papers as gave him power to contract, sell and do whatever he chose for the general
benefit of himself and his co-owners. The junction of the railroads, which was to be
the center of the town, was on Section 2, about GO rods west of its eastern boundary ;
along this boundary lay Section 1 , which, or a part of it, was in the name of W. M.
Hamilton, between whom and Scott an early friendship had changed into rivalry
and animosity. Scott claimed that he had furnished Hamilton the money to
buy the land before he left Kentucky, and that Hamilton had taken the title in his own
instead of Scott's name. The land of Section 1 lay so near the business center of the
future city that the rivalry which must follow was seen at once by Scott, and he took
measures to prevent it. When he laid off" his plat for record, he made it lay on the
west side of the railroad keeping his own plat as far away from the Hamilton land as
he could. When he made a public sale of lots, he sold those on the west side of the
railroad, and off"ered every inducement to comers on that part of his town. For a long
time, he refused to plat and open the strip of land between the original town and Hamil-
ton's land, and declared he would build a wall between them so high that the purchasers
of Hamilton's lots could not get into town. The wall was, of course, only this strip,
about 30 rods wide, upon which it was trespass to enter to get to Chenoa. Hamilton
being thus prevented from laying out an " addition to Chenoa." called his plat " East
Chenoa," and thus it appears upon record. Scott was very liberal in his promises to
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 501
those desiring lots, and in a hand-bill offering a public sale of lots, he proposed to give
suitable lots for churches, schoolhouse, cemetery, etc., free, as such were wanted. That
he failed to make good these promises was due, perhaps in part, to subsequent events
over which he had not control ; as a matter of history these promises were not fulfilled.
Soon after, he entered upon the undertaking of making a town here. Humphries, the
young man to whom the land, in part, belonged, died in New Mexico, and the legality
of the arrangement by which Scott was operating was clouded by the refusal of his
father to agree to anything. No lots could be sold ; no titles conveyed, and a general
insecurity pervaded all business undertakings. Hamilton would have been more than
human had he failed to take advantage of this state of things and pressed the sale of
his lots until in a short time East Chenoa became the most popular for residences.
In the year 1854, J. B. Lenney, who seems to have no rivalry in the claim to
being the father of the town, living in Pennsylvania, made up his mind that there was a
good opening in this locality, having several friends living along the Mackinaw, who
had posted him in regard to the railroad crossing. He sent his brother-in-law, John
Bush, Jr., now a farmer residing in this township, forward to get up a building that
could be used for a shop and store, so as to commence business in the following spring.
Young Bush, on arriving in the county, was persuaded by his friends in Lexington not
to build, for they thought that Lenney, on his arrival, would prefer to make his home
along the Mackinaw timber, instead of on the open prairie, where no sane man at that
day thought of living. This year, Michael Herr, a Pennsylvanian, who owned land
just across the county line, had built some farmhouses, and Bush found shelter in one
of them for the first winter on this prairie. In 1855, Lenney came, and, in company
with Bush, put up the building long known as the Farmers' Store, one block west of
the C. & A. R. R., and about 200 feet south of the T., P. & W. This building served
as residence, cabinet-shop and store, if the little collection of candy, clothes-pins, tobacco,
saleratus, sugar, etc., which was temptingly displayed in the front window, might be
called such. This was the first building erected on the site of the present thriving,
active, prosperous city of Chenoa, if we except the two little half-sod, half-board dug-
outs which answered the purpose of depot, freight-house and home for the section
hands. To say that Lenney exhibited the pride of Solomon viewing the Temple, as he
stood at the railroad track, scanning this " Farmers' Store," which he had built, would
be probably exaggeration. All he lacked now of being a " successful Western mer-
chant," was the goods and the customers. The former he knew where to get, but the
latter he must get " on time." This building was put up before the town was laid out,
and Scott promised to give them the lot which it should prove to be on when the sur-
vey was made.
They " paced ofi"" the land and calculated the distance to an expected corner lot,
tut when the survey was made, the building was found to be in the street, and as the
proprietor of the town had not proposed to give them a whole street, they were obliged
to buy a lot and move the store. The next year, Mr. Lenney bought a lot of Hamil-
ton, in East Chenoa, and put him up a residence. At the time this store was built,
the only customers to be looked to for traflBc were 'Squire Payne, John St. John and
Bishop Young, who were over in the edge of Livingston County, to the northeast ; Mr.
Riley, who had broken the sod two miles southwest, and two or three hands who
" worked on the railway." The road now known as the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw,
502 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
had not yet reached this point, and as Mr. Jjenney drove over the country to Peoria,
not a human being was seen, not a furrow had been struck, till he reached Washington
in Tazewell County. The Pennsylvanian then thought he had got as far away from
civilization as it was possible to get in this State.
In 1855, John Bush, Sr., built what was known as the " Bush House," near the
Farmers' Store. It was used as a residence and boarding-house.
In 1856, Chenoa and the country around it began to fill up. Lenney took in a
partner, George Bettinger, from Kentucky, who put in a stock of goods and remained
in trade here nearly ten years. He was a lawyer by profession, and politically was tinct-
ured with the prejudices common to his nativity, and returned to his native State
during or soon after the war, and resumed his practice. He was a man of fine business
and social qualities, and is kindly remembered by the older settlers.
The " National Hotel," the first public house in the city, was built in 1856 by
John M. Bryant and his son-in-law, W. H. Levers, who came from Pennsylvania. The
block upon which it was built cost $375. Even at that early day, the hotel business
was quite active The only all-rail route for Peoria and points west of there to Spring-
field and St. Louis was by way of Chenoa, and the travel was considerable. This con-
tinued, practically, so far as Springfield was concerned, till several years after the close
of the war.
Samuel Henry built a store about the same time, and R. C. Sallee, who, during
nearly the whole of the life of this city, has been an active business man here, and
whose fortune and life were thoroughly devoted to the best interests of the place, came
here from Ohio and put up a store. All these were built west of the railroad. Mr.
Sallee remained here, thoroughly identified with the growth of the town, until repeated
fires swept away the accumulations of an active and successful life, when he removed to
Missouri. ^
J. P. McKnight, from Ohio, built a store the following year, and John McMahan put
up a house three blocks west of the " National," which stood until the terrible tornado of
May 13, 1858, literally wiped it out of existence, scattering its material as it did that
of many of the smaller houses. This storm of wind was the most severe ever known
here, and is one of the " incidents " which will never fade from the memory of those
who were then living here.
In 1857, Dr. Stevenson, the first practicing physician, built a drug store back of
the " Bush House," fronting on the railroad. He was a good doctor, but his " eye to
business " seems to have been rather askew when he selected his location. Dr. R. W.
McMahan studied medicine with him and practiced here for several years.
George Lounsbery built a blacksmith-shop in 1857, and, the following year, he, in
company with Louis Ziegler, a young wagon-maker, recently from " fatherland," put up
a wagon-shop, which act commenced the career of one of Chenoa's most enterprising
citizens. Mr. Ziegler continued in the wagon-making business for some years, until
driven out by fire. Not discouraged, he engaged in the milling business for a short
time, when fire swept away his business and his property. He afterward purchased
another mill, and that soon fell before the devouring element.
The first depot-building was built in 1857, on the Y, some distance north of the
present one. It was a magnificent building, and, beyond comparison, larger and finer than
any other such structure on the line of the railroad. It was built for hotel and depot,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 503
having a larger hotel capacity than anything then in the county. It was occupied by Sam
Emery, and finely furnished throughout. Whether it would ever have proved a paying
investment to the company who built it, or to the landlord who occupied it, will never
be known, as while they were preparing to partake of the first meal, a lighted fluid
lamp, which was being filled by an employe, fell and the fluid ignited, and the fire,
which, as a matter of course, followed, laid the fine building in ashes. Emery, soon
after this, built the " Exchange Hotel," and ran it for about twelve years. He was a
popular landlord and a valuable and enterprising citizen.
Squire Lenney not only built the first store but was the first Postmaster and
expressman, first President of the Town Board, and was about the first man ever known
to resign an office in these parts. He resigned the post office after holding it ten years,
the latter part of which time Ira F. Phillips was deputy in charge. He was also the
first School Director. This was previous to the era of injunctions, but, in attempting
to raise the tax for school purposes, the Directors had made some trifling omission, and
M. T. Scott enjoined the collection of the tax. The first man in town was equal to
the emergency, and applied to the Legislature for a legalizing act, and, in the last hours
of its session, it was granted, and the taxing went on.
Joseph Graham was one of the first to break and inclose a farm in the township.
This was on Section 14.
Sickness, which is always incident to new settlements, did not spare this. In the
summer of 1858, nine young children died within a few weeks, and nearly every house
was in mourning. Among the first deaths in the new town was the little child of W.
H. Levers, which necessitated the securing and setting apart of some suitable place for
a cemetery. Mr. Scott, for the proprietors, had, on the laying out of the town, pro-
posed to give a suitable ground for that purpose. When applied to he absented to a
burial on the hill due north of the " National " hotel, and about half a mile away.
For several years, burials were made there ; but new light seemed to break in, and lor
some reason he revoked his permission and required the removal of all remains. It is
said that some were never disinterred, and that the ground was actually plowed over,
leaving nothing to mark the place of burial of such as remain.
The early settlers found in the lack of fuel a trial which caused them much
trouble and anxiety. Coming from a place where wood was easily procured, before rail-
road communication had opened a supply of coal, they had to depend on the Rook's
Creek timber, five miles away, for their supply. During the great snow blockade of
the first winter, the railroad hands were kept so employed trying to keep communication
open, that their families were sometimes destitute of fuel, and at one time, death by
freezing was imminent. Peoria was soon able to send a sufficient supply of coal,
however, and latterly the mines at La Salle, Fairbury, Streator and Bloomington have
been depended on. Two organized efibrts have been made to sink a coal shaft here.
A company was formed by parties residing in Indiana, who, by boring, found coal at the
depth of 268 feet from the surface. They commenced operations, and reached the
distance of 160 feet, when quicksand was struck, and water came in so freely that
digging was abandoned. This was at a point near the railroad, nearly half a mile
west of the depot. The parties returned to Indiana, re-organized their company, and
soon after made another attempt. This time the work was done close by, and just
northwest of the depot, but with a like result. Water came in so freely that the work,
504
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
after repeated failures, had to be abandoned. The leading citizens encouraged these
eiforts by liberal contributions. That coal-mining will yet be successfully done here
can not be doubted. John L. Marsh triumphed over similar difl&culties at Fairbury,
and Chenoa pluck will do it here.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
For some time after the station was made here, it was known by the railroad offi-
cials and by the traveling public under the name of "Peoria Junctiim." When
Matthew T. Scott laid out the town, he named it Chenoa, an Indian name having a
more or less remote significance in the original to some " dark and bloody " ground?
which he, a Kentuckian by birth, education and tradition, treasured up as suitable,
though it would be difficult to imagine what there was in the treeless, sunny prairie to
run parallel with, or awaken associations of his " old Kentucky home."
On the adoption of township organization by the legal voters of the county, the
voters of this township met, pursuant to given notice, in town-meeting, on the 6th day
of April. 1858, to organize the town and set it afloat on the political waters. R. B.
Mahan was chosen Moderator, and F. B. Beach, Clerk. The election then proceeded
as regularly as though Chenoa was not going through an entirely new experience. J.
B. Graham was elected the first Supervisor, and R. C. Sallee, the first Town Clerk.
The record of the four principal township officers from that date is as follows:
Sate.
Votes
Cast.
Supervisor.
Town Clerk.
Assessor.
Collector.
18.^8
37
66
71
94
73
63
93
66
198 1
186 i
323 '
269
426
390 1
401
370
335
335
350
396
137
J. B. Graham
R C Sallee
.lohn Graham
C. Hetherington.
Geo. Lounsbery.
.J. B. Lenney.
C. Hetherington.
C. Hetherington.
C. Hetherington.
J. D. Moore.
1 Hr-,9
John McMahan
John McMahan
John McMahan
John McMahan
John McMahan
Nathaniel Brown
Nathaniel Brown
R. C. Sallee
R. C. Sallee
Nathaniel Brown
VV. Dawson
.Joel Hicks
18H0
R. C. Sallee
18fi1
R. C. Sallee
-[m?.
Thos. Sandhan
A. L. Metcaff
R. B. Mahan
A. N. Nevin
David Sharp
Joel Hicks
18H8
Thos. Sandhan
18fi4
Thos. Sandhan
1865
Thos. Sandhan
J. D. Moore.
1866
Thos. Sandhan
Thos. Sandhan.
1867
R. C. Sallee
Thos. Sandhan
•J. B. Sample
Thos. Sandhan.
1868
R. C. Sallee
J. P. McKight
Joel Hicks
J. D. Carpenter
.John Graham
Thos. Sandhan
1869
J. B. Bradford
A. Work
Thos. Sandhan.
1870
C. H Holbrook
A. Work
Thos. Sandhan.
1871
Joel Hicks
C. S. Elder
George Sayrs
E. D. Churchill.
1872
C. J. Gilispie
C. J. Gilispie
C. S. Elder
S. E. Carmichael
S. S. Chapman
S. S. Chapman
S. S. Chapman
S. S. Chapman
S. S. Chapman
S. S. Chapman
Thos. Sandhan.
1878
R. E. Helms
Samuel M. Foss
Thos. Sandhan.
1874
C .1. Gilispie
Thos. Sandhan.
187ft
C. J. Gilispie
C. F. Churchill
C. F. Churchill
G. J. Ferguson
G. J. Ferguson
Thos. Sandhan.
1876
1877
1878
1879
E. M. Pike
K. M. Pike
E. M. Pike
Thos. Sandhan.
Thos. Sandhan.
Thos. Sandhan
The names of persons who have served as Justices of the Peace are : J. P.
McKnight, Abihail Hays, Louis Ziegler, W. A. Stark, Martin Shepherd, Joseph Evans,
N. K. Haynes and J. B. Lenney. The Commissioners of Highways have been Noah
Drake, Joel Hicks, Albert Riggs, J. P. McKnight, E. Mahan, George Hanks, David
Sutton, J. W. Vanderbelt, Joel Hicks, W. A. Stark, N. B. McColm, Jonathan Waite,
C. J. Gilispie, Samuel Murdy, James Brady, 0. D. Castle, John McColm, John Mor-
row, Andrew Jackson', William Clauson, Joseph Evans, S. C. Hays, S. Casey, C. J.
Gilispie,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COJNTY. 505
From this list it will be seen who have exercised the controlling influence on the
affairs of the township. For six successive years, "Pap" Sandhan has been Town
Clerk, and for twelve, Collector of tribute. Squire Lenney has held almost every
position as by right, he being the father of the town, while Joseph Menton, who is
down in the books as one of the pioneers, does not seem to have turned his attention
to political affairs ; his name does not appear in any official list. McMahan, McKnight
and McColm seem to have kept up the good name of Scottish progenitors in working
for the public weal.
CITY ORGANIZATION.
The first movement for town organization was made July 7, 1864. Nine years
had now elapsed since the "Farmers' Store" had been erected, and the people who had
devoted their lives to this undertaking began to long for sidewalks, city police and other
insignia of true civilization. At this date, a public meeting was called, and an election
ordered for the 25th of July to vote for or against town organization. At that election,
fourteen votes were cast for such organization. An election was held for five Trustees,
one of which should be elected President by the five, at which 21 votes were cast. The
canvass of the votes showed the following result : For D. Sharp, 9 ; R. C. Sallee, 17 ;
J. B. Lenney, 19; F. Ohmit, 10; D. C. Mears, 11 ; W. M. Fales, 19 ; J. D. Moore, 15;
I. F. Phillips, 2.
August 8, the first meeting of the Town Board was held, and elected J. B.
Lenney, President ; Thomas Sandhan, Clerk ; Nathaniel Brown, Constable and Street
Commissioner, and R. C. Rollins, Treasurer, and fixed the boundary of the town.
The bounds included all of the original plats of Chenoa (Scott's) and of East Chenoa
(Hamilton's), and all additions which bad been platted and filed in the office of County
Recorder, and all the "vacant land lying between the two " plats first named. This
last was the " high wall" which Scott had erected between his and Hamilton's interests.
The limits thus given embraced ninety-four blocks. In January, 1865, H. R. Benson
was appointed Clerk and Attorney to the Board, at a salary of $100 per annum. Below
is a record of town officers since elected :
August, 1865, N. A. Sanborn, President, R. C. Sallee, W, H. Levers, Robert
Hanna, D. V. Harrison; August, 1860, N. A. Sanborn, President, D. Sharp, George
Lounsbery, J. B. Lenney, W. M. Fales; August, 1867, N. A. Sanborn, President, R.
C. Sallee, A. B. Seybolt, R. W. McMahan, W. M. Fales; August, 1868, N. A. Sanborn,
President, R. C. Sallee, Nathaniel Brown, James Colter, J. D. Carpenter ; August,
1869, Louis Ziegler, President, J. B. Lenney, N. A. Sanborn, E. D. Churchill, A.
Work, Jesse Lynch, Clerk ; August, 1870, L. Ziegler, President, J. 0. Combs, Thomas
Sandhan, Michael Dillon, R. J. Williams, H. R. Benson, Clerk ; August, 1871, J. R.
Snyder, President, S. E. Carmichael, W. A. Haynes, E. D. Churchill, W. M. Fales,
Lynch, Clerk.
In 1868, the Legislature gave to Chenoa a new charter, that known commonly as
" the Princeton charter." It was done very quietly, without the fact of the change
being generally known. In those days of " special legislation," such things were possi-
ble, and, in fact, grew into quite common practice. For " ways that were dark," the
Illinois Legislature in the olden time, under special legislation and " omnibus " practice,
could discount any heathen of Chinese extraction ever seen this side of the Sierra
Nevadas, or any other man. The " Princeton charter" forbade the granting of license
506 HISTORY OF McLean county,
for the sale of liquors, not only in the town, but for a mile or two outside. This charter
actually took effect on its passage, in the winter, and was not known to the voters until
after the following August election. Under this charter, the town continued to act
until after the passage of the general incorporation act.
August 5, 1872, an election was called to vote for or against organizing as a city.
The whole number of votes cast was 169. For city organization, 150 ; against city
organization, 18 ; for minority representation in the City Council, 89 ; against minority
representation, 76. So both propositions were carried.
The first election under this organization was September 7, 1872. The following
oflBcers were elected: J. R.Snyder, Mayor; Aldermen. George Lounsbery, R. G.
Jordon, E. D. Churchill, J. E. Wightman, W. M. Fales, A. M. Crosby ; Clerk, C.
H. Holbrook ; Attorney, Thomas J. Hays; Treasurer, J. H. Work. These officers
served until the regular time for election, April, 1873, when the following were elected-
Mayor, C. S. Elder ; Aldermen for two years, George Lounsbery, S. E. Carmichael,
David Fitzgerald ; for one year, R. G. Jordon, Henry Crab, J. E. Wightman ; Clerk,
Samuel Foss; Attorney, Jesse Lynch ; Treasurer, J. H. Work ; Police Magistrate, T.
C. Carlisle.
In 1874, the minority representative plan was repealed, and the city was divided
into three wards. The follovring were elected Aldermen for two years : First Ward,
Horace La Bar ; Second Ward, J. B. Bradford ; Third Ward, J. E. Wightman ; for
one year, Isaac Carson ; Attorney, Jesse Lynch ; Clerk, 0. D. Sanborn ; Treasurer,
Joseph Hicks.
In 1875, J. R. Snyder was elected Mayor ; Aldermen, W. M. Fales, W. G. Abbott,
E. D. Churchill; Clerk, C S. Elder; Attorney, J. W. Seybolt ; Treasurer, S. S.
Chapman.
In 1876, R. C. Rollins, R. G. Jordon, J. E. Wightman, Aldermen; Clerk, W. E.
Ketcham ; Treasurer, A. Work ; Attorney, J. Lynch.
1877, J. E. Wightman, Mayor; Aldermen, S. S. Chapman, G. T. Coonley, N. H.
Pike ; Clerk, W. E. Ketcham ; Attorney, R. W. Lill ; Treasurer, T. J. Banta.
1877, Aldermen, J. D. Rilea, R. G. Jordon, W. A. Miller.
The following official salaries are fully earned and regularly paid : Mayor, 825 per
annum ; Clerk, S35 ; Treasurer, $15 ; Attorney, S50 ; Aldermen, SI per meeting, one
meeting per month.
From the first, the official trust of the young city has been faithfully and econom-
ically managed. There is no city debt, no tax levied on assessment. License fee, 8300.
Salaries have been kept small ; no expensive public improvements have been under-
taken. The total expenditures for the last official year (which is a fair average) were
^2, 870. 55. Nearly twelve miles of plank sidewalk are laid and kept in good repair.
The original town of Chenoa embraces 21 blocks west of the railroad ; Scott's first
Addition, 6 blocks, south and west of this. East Chenoa, 12 blocks in Section 1;
Hamilton's 1st Addition, 9 blocks ; his 2d Addition, 9 blocks, both north of this ; W.
H. Levers' Ist Addition, 9 blocks, and his 2d, 9 blocks, both in Section 12; Pearce's
Addition, 6 blocks, and McMahan's Ist and 2d Additions, 13 blocks, both in Section 1.
The Postmasters have been J. B. Lenney, appointed in 1856; G. T. Coonley, in
1866: G. W. Bovard, in October, 1874; 0. D. Sanborn, in February, 1875, re-ap-
pointed February 10, 1879.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 507
The railroad officials now serving are: For the Chicago & Alton Railroad, A. H. Cope-
land, Ticket Agent ; C. J. Chisam, Freight Agent ; C. B. Hanna, Night Operator ; John
Campbell, Baggageman ; William Cleary, Trackmaster. For the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw
Fiuilroad, Alonzo Thomas, Ticket Agent ; D. P. Cherry, Freight Agent ; Harry Carlisle,
Night Operator; John Keeley, Trackmaster; William Gayman and Lewis Arnold, Draymen.
Chenoa has several fine brick business blocks. That built by W. M. Hamilton, of
Wenona, north of the railroad, and occupied by W. M. Fales, was built in 1869, is
55x85 feet, two stories and basement; Snyder's Block, built in 1873, 50x80 feet, two
stories and basement; Shipman's Block, on the 'flat-iron," 24 feet on the north end
and 80 on the south, is 120 feet long, two stories and basement, and the one built by
Snyder, Keteham & Seybolt, and Coonley, in 1871, also two stories and basement, hav-
ing the bank at the corner, are among the finest.
BUSINESS.
At first, only the part of the town west of the railroad (original town of Chenoa),
was devoted to business. The portion lying between this and East Chenoa, was not
platted, and hence was not in market. The objections of Scott were overcome in 1865,
and at that time Louis Ziegler built a large wagon-shop east of the railroad, and about
the same time several others built there. Now, at least nineteen-twentieths of the busi-
ness is transacted on the ground which Scott had dedicated to a high wall between him
and Hamilton.
The men who have, by their energy, capital and business rectitude, made Chenoa
what it is are J. E. Snyder, Sanborn Bros., Haynes, Jordon & Co., Louis Ziegler, J. B.
Lenney, W. M. Fales, J. P. McKnight, R. C. Sallee, George Bettinger, Hicks,
Elias Shipman, W. H. Levers, the Bushes (father and son), and several others whose
names appear in these annals.
At present, business of various kinds is represented by the following: Dry goods
and groceries, W. M. Fales (who has been in trade here twenty years), James H. Worth
(fifteen years, has been in trade fifty-two years, and has seen four general seasons of pros-
tration in trade and industries), A. D. Keepers, S. C. Allen (ten years), Jacob Balbach,
and A. W. Atwood ; groceries, Keteham & Seybolt, Snyder Bros., G. W. Miller, and
F. N. Merton ; drugs, T. J. Banta & Co., W. Ruger, Southwick & Lenney ; hardware,
Besley & Wightman. Jewell & Gibson ; tin and stoves, Alexander Holden ; hoots and
shoes, Andrew Work, M. M. Arnold, H. W. Plank ; grain, Churchill & Sons, Haynes
Bros., Louis Ziegler; hotels, Z. Munsell, A. W. Miller; bakery, Thomas Edwards;
wagon arid carriage makers, Jewell & Gibson, Otto Scherberth, Fred Brumm, R. C.
Rollins, H. Crab ; butcher, Garisch Bros.; printer, C. W. Stickney ; harness-makers,
S. C. Atwood, Fred. Shearer, J. D. Moore ; hank, J. R. Snyder ; clothing, T. B. Pritch-
ard; livery-stable, Robert Hanna; milk-dealer, William Maxwell ; furniture, D. Shober ;
boarding-houses, Silas Baker, the Misses Ludem ; jminters, Edward Hendee, Will-
iam Alexander; lumber and coa^. Pike Bros., La Bar & Gordon; millinery, etc.. Miss
Bowen, Mrs. George T. Coonley ; hook and newsdealers, 0. D. Sanborn, George T.
Coonley; segar-makers, Lilie Bros.; watchmakers and jevjelers, M. W. Jenks, William
Ellis ; contractors and builders, Ohmit & Ballinger, Dunlap Bros.; doctors and dentists,
G. W. Ewing, Dr. Holderness, J. A. Munroe, J. M. Gallahue ; lawyers, Martin Shep-
hard, Judge Lynch, R. W. Sill, T. H. Harder.
508 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
From the first, the grain trade has been an important factor in the growth and
business of the city. With competing markets, and with the pluck and push of her
produce-buyers, grain was brought to this market from many miles around, even from
those farms which were naturally tributary to other railroad towns. The men who had
this interest in hand never let the buyers in other towns overbid them, and have been
singularly successful in trade.
The first grist-mill was erected in 1861, by Mr. Nordyke, now head of the Nordyke
Manufacturing Company, Indianapolis, the citizens contributing the ground and build-
ing. It was sold to Pontiac parties, and, in 1864, purchased by Sanborn Bros., who
tore it down in 1868, and built a large four-run mill. The mill was purchased by
Dehnor & Ziegler, but was burned in 1875.
CHURCHES, SOCIETIES, ETC.
There are five churches, viz., Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Methodist
and Roman Catholic. The first church organization was the Presbyterian (N. S.), which
was about 1860. It, however, soon disbanded, its members going by letter to " the
Chenoa Presbyterian Church" (0. S.), which was organized in 1862 by the Presbytery
of Bloomington, March 6, in the old schoolhouse. Rev. D. A. Cornelison acting a&
Moderator. This meeting of Presbytery was duly called for the purpose of acting on a
petition of the citizens to have a church formed here, and was the first permanent
organization. The Church was organized with fourteen members — Rebecca Bush,
Nathaniel Brown, Mary A. Gray, Huddessa Hicks, Edward Rowland, Margaret Rou-
land, Sarah E. Brown, Julia Gr. Scott, Margaret McCune, Jane Rowland, Rosanna
McCune, Martha Smith and Edwin F. Belden. Edward Rowland and Nathaniel
Brown were chosen Ruling Elders and were duly installed. The present Elders are
Addison Muzzy, William Maxwell, J. F. McClintock and William Crawford. For a
short time, the Church was supplied by Rev. J. T. Whittemore; after that, by Rev. P.
D. Young; from December, 1863, to April, 1866, by Rev. A. L. Knox; from this
date to April, 1868, by Rev. W. L. Green. In May following. Rev. M. M. Travis
commenced his labors here, and, during the year, was duly installed the first Pastor.
His services have continued to the present time. The entire number received into the
membership of the Church has been 393. The present membership is 175, not includ-
ing such as have moved away without being dismissed. Soon after the organization,
they commenced the erection of the first church-edifice built in the place, which they
sold to the Congregational society, and, in 1873, they commenced the erection of the
large and beautiful brick edifice they how occupy. It is believed to be (outside of
Bloomington and Normal) the finest church-edifice in the county, and cost $15,000. A
parsonage has also been erected at a cost of $2,000. A flourishing Sunday school is
maintained. To the labors of the present Pastor, Rev. M. M. Travis, most of the work
done in this building, as well as the spiritual growth, must be attributed. Ardent,
patient, faithful, have been his labors, and it is a pleasant thought that for years to come,
even after his pulse may have ceased to beat, the results of his laborious, devoted life
will be felt through generations yet to come. He has long been officially connected
with the school as one of the Board of Directors, with like good results.
The Roman Catholic. — As everywhere in the West where laborers are in demand,
a goodly number of Roman Catholics early made their homes here. Up to 1865, the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 509
members of this Church in this vicinity were irregularly visited and ministered to in
spiritual things by clergymen from Bloomington, and by Rev. Fathers Kennedy and
Campbell, later, in regular monthly services. The year mentioned, Chenoa was attached
to El Paso, and attended to monthly by Father Keenan, now of Amboy.
In 1868, a committee consisting of Hugh Brady, James Welch and John Hayes,
with Father Keenan as President, was appointed to select grounds and erect a church.
Up to this time, services had been held in private houses and sehoolhouses. The com-
mittee disagreed, and so persisted in disagreeing, that, at one time, it was proposed to
erect two churches in different parts of the city. The Father, President of the com-
mittee, could not sanction such a course, and withdrew from the committee, and, shortly
afterward, resigned the charge, which was immediately intrusted to Rev. Father Fan-
ning, then and now Missionary Rector of Fairbury.
Father Fanning had no difficulty with obdurate committeemen, for he cut the
Gordian knot by appointing himself a committee of one, and employed William
O'Brien, of East Lynn, 111., to put up a frame building 33x60, 20 feet posts.
Service was first celebrated in the new church in February, 1869, since which,
several additions and improvements have been made. In size and beauty, it is only
surpassed by one church in the city.
In 1871, it was visited by the much-beloved Bishop Foley, who gave confirmation
to a class of 125, chiefiy children, from ten years and upward. It was dedicated to the
service of God November 3, 1876, in honor of SS. Malachi and Columbkill, to the latter
of whom Father Fanning claims relationship. The dedicatory services were performed
by the Rev. Dean Terry, of Ottawa, whose praise is in all the churches, assisted by the
Rectors of Fairbury, El Paso and Batavia.
In June, 1878, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Spaulding, of the new See of Peoria, adminis-
tered sacrament of confirmation to 106 persons. The congregation consists of 125
families, averaging 5 members each.
The officers of the Church consist of the Rector, Father Fanning ; Mr. David Fitz-
gerald, who succeeded M. W. Dillon, Collector of Rents : and Mr. and Mrs. Dennis
O'Connor, Custodians. To these assistants, the Reverend Father and the Church are
under great obligations — especially so to the latter, whose services are of a nature to
demand and receive exacting attention, which is rendered in love and veneration.
The difficulties which Father Fanning met at the very beginning of his faithful
labors here have been overcome in such a way as to mark him a man of great tact in
management, and his praise is on the lips of all.
The Baptist Church. — In January, 1866, serveral persons who were attached to
the Baptist persuasion, and most of whom had been members of that denomination
before comin^ here, met and formed a Sabbath school, having in contemplation a church
organization. Such organization was efiected in March of that year by Rev. Samuel
Bishop, consisting of twenty-two members. Preaching by pastors of that denomina-
tion was maintained, not very regularly, for the next two years. In 1868, a frame
edifice was erected, about 25x40, which cost in the neighborhood of S3, 500, and Rev.
James Frey was secured as Pastor. Frey's services closed in September, 1869.
From Auc'ust, 1870, till October, 1871, Rev. Charles Wilcox was Pastor. From
October 1871, to October, 1873, Rev. A. S. Ames; from that date until January,
1875, Rev. A. Gross; from April 4, 1875, to October 1, 1876, Rev. T. T. Potter, and
510 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
for one year following, Rev. W. H. Wells, have successively served as Pastors. May
1, 1878, Rev. J. B. Brown commenced his present pastorate.
There are at present about one hundred and twenty-five active members. One of
the most interesting occasions to this Church was in October, 1 874, when forty mem-
bers were added to the Church, under the then charge of Elder Ames, as the results of
a special protracted effort.
The Trustees of the Church are W. A Haynes, J. T. Howard and E. Dunham.
The Sabbath school, under the superintendency of W. A. Haynes, has an average
attendance of about eighty, and eight teachers.
Methodist Episcopal. — Probably, in nine out of ten cases, the pioneer religious
ministrations in all Western localities have been by the Methodists. In Chenoa's case,
if it has been so, the writer has failed to find the person who is custodian of the infor-
mation. In 1866 Rev. Mr. Day and Rev. John Barlow, P. E. of Washington District,
were the ministers here, and in 1867, Rev. Mr. Day.
In the fall of this year, the Church commenced the erection of the present edifice,
38x55, frame, which, through bad management and poor contracts, was made to cost
$4,000. But it is out of debt, and answers the purpose as well as though it had been
built more economically. The Pastors since that date have been as follows : 1868,
Rev. T. S. Rhodes, who soon resigned his work and left the field without supply ;
1869, Rev. John Winsor, with Rev. Joseph Millsap, P. E. ; 1870, Rev. John Taylor;
1872, Rev. John Luckcock ; 1873, Rev. W. J. biddings, with Rev. E. G. Hall, P. E.;
1874, 1875 and 1876, Rev. B. Applebee; 1877, Rev. T. McNair ; 1878, Rev. W. P.
Graves.
There are in full membership sixty-eight. The Sabbath school has an average
attendance of about seventy, with eight teachers. Prof. J. A. Miller is Superintendent ;
Jacob Ballinger, Assistant.
The Salem M. E. Church, located in the extreme southeastern part of the town-
ship, was organized in 1866. The membership, at its organization, consisted of C. J.
Gilispie, Davis Parkhill, their wives, and one or two others. The first services were
conducted by Rev. J. S. Millsap, who then resided at Lexington. Rev. A. E. Day
was the first regular Pastor of the Church after its organization. Meetings have been
held in the schoolhouse in that vicinity, and at the residence of G. A. Wolff", regularly,
to the present time, though no definite steps have been taken to erect a house of worship
until a recent date. At the present time, a church-edifice is in process of erection on
Section 36, which, when completed, will be a neat and convenient building for the pur-
pose. Its proposed cost is $1,000. The membership of the Church now numbers
twenty-seven. Rev. John Rogers is present Pastor.
Congregational. — The Congregational Church of Chenoa was organized July 21 , 1867,
by Rev. Elisha Jenney, who was Superintendent of Home Missions, and Rev. H. G.
Pendleton, who had for some weeks been visiting families and preaching in the neigh-
borhood. Mr. Jenney preached on that occasion from the 73d Psalm, 21st verse, Mr.
Pendleton giving the right hand of fellowship. The original members numbered sev-
enteen. Mr. Pendleton continued to minister to the little Church, growing steadily in
numbers, until April, 1872. The Church was received into the Central Association, at
El Paso, the year it was organized. A mission Sunday school was maintained and a
weekly prayer-meeting, with great regularity. Rev. W. B. Williams was Acting Pastor
BLOOMtNGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 513
for the following year; Rev. 0. J. Shannon, until March, 1874; Rev. C. H. Eaton,
from December, 1874, for one year. During his pastorate, the Presbyterian Church
property was purchased. Rev. J. V. Nillis served as Pastor from December, 1875,
until January, 1878.
Up to the time of the tenth anniversary, 101 had united with the Church, which
at present numbers 78. The Sabbath school, in charge of R. E. Helms, is in a flour-
ishing condition. The congregation own a neat and comfortable house of worship, but
are at present without a minister.
Lodges. — Chenoa Lodge, No. 292, F. & A. Masons was chartered in October,
1859. The charter members were William C. Carter, George Birch, James Sample,
Oeorge W. Stoker, John Campbell, Daniel McLeod, Isaac Coldron, R. C. Sallee and
Squire L. Payne. W. C. Carter was the first Master. The Lodge does not own a
building, but the hall occupied by it is furnished very finely, and has few superiors in
this particular in the State. The furniture and insignia cost about $2,000. R. E.
Beard is Master. The Lodge numbers sixty members. Regular communications, sec-
ond and fourth Wednesdays of each month.
Chapter No. 14.3, Royal Arch Masons, was chartered in 1870. The charter
members were Louis Ziegler, R. C. Sallee, A. H. Copeland, James Sample, Gr. W.
Stoker, W. H. Boies, H. L. Perkins, W. C. Arnold, A. Stevens. Louis Ziegler was
first High Priest, as he is at present. There are thirty-five members. Regular con-
-vocations, first and third Tuesdays of each month.
Chenoa Lodge, No. 387, 1. 0. O. F., was organized in February, 1866. The mem-
bership now numbers twenty-eight. They meet each Monday. W. A. Miller, Noble
'Grand ; R. P. Jewett, Vice Grand ; M. W. Jenks, Secretary.
Newspapers. — The history of the first newspaper in a new town is almost, with-
out exception, a story of unrealized hopes, misdirected efibrts and unpaid bills. That
this was not the case at Chenoa, was owing largely to the superior qualifications of the
young man, Silas F. Dyer, who was the originator of the first enterprise. He was an
excellent workman — careful and painstaking in his labors, and his memory is held in
grateful recollection. His early death was a loss not to his family and home alone, but to
the profession of journalism of which, had his life been spared, he would have proved a
real adornment. A short sketch of his life is given: Silas F. Dyer was born in Cape
Elizabeth, Me., November 7, 1844, and was the youngest of seven children. When nine
years of age, his father removed to Bristol, Kendall Co., 111. His mother died in 1853,
and his father in 1859. He remained in school until the latter year, when he commenced
work in the office of the Kendall County Clarion, at Bristol. In the summer, though
but sixteen years old, he enlisted for the war in the Thirty-sixth, serving four years and
two months, participating in every battle but one in which that regiment was engaged ;
was not wounded and was never in the hospital. After actual hostilities ceased, he was
detailed as printer at the Texas headquarters. Discharged just before attaining his
majority, he returned and worked at the case in Ottawa and Chicago. In June, 1867,
in partnership with James McMurtrie, he started the Chenoa Times without "bonus"
from the citizens, but with liberal promises of subscription and advertising patronage,
which promises were very generally fulfilled. McMurtrie died soon after, and a pre-
monition seemed to take possession of Dyer's mind, that he was not long to survive his
partner. In June, 1868, he married Miss Deborah Dixon, of Bristol, by whom two
514 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
children were born, only one of whom survived its father. He died from the effect of
hemorrhage of the lungs August 8, 1871, having been confined to the bed less than a
week. His body was buried at Bristol, being accompanied thither by a deputation of
the Chenoa Masons, who mourned their dead brother with an affection little less than
that of his own family. After her brother's death, Miss L. M. Dyer, now, as for many
years, a teacher in the city schools, assumed charge of the paper, and for some months
kept up the reputation which Dyer had made for the limes. It was then sold to C.
H. King, who kept it going about a year; but the general unreliability of its manage-
ment, the utter lack of mechanical workmanship lost the patronage the Dyers had given
it, and he soon left, growling about want of support. C. R. Spore published it about a
year, when C. H. John and the Bovard Brothers purchased it, and, a few mouths later,
the latter became proprietors and changed the name to the Monitor. A few months
later, C. H. John repurchased it, and, after two years, sold to the Mann Brothers, who
changed the name to the Gazette, and, after two years, sold to C. H. Stickney, who still
publishes it. The citizens of Chenoa have never failed to give a fair patronage when the
paper has been worthy of support. The paper, under the several different manage-
ments, has always remained an independent.
Schools. — Ever since Chenoa has became a city, it has had excellent schools.
District No. 1 embraces Sections 1, 2, 11 and 12 of the township, the schoolhouse
standing in almost the exact geographical center of the district, and is a beautiful and
sightly structure, 60 feet square, three stories and a basement, adorned with belfry and
minarets, is kept thoroughly painted and scrupulously neat. The rooms are high, the
floors deadened, and cost, when built (18fi7j, $26,000, $23,000 of which still remains
a debt on the district. There are two rooms on the first floor, two on the second, and
one large one and two recitation-rooms on the third. The school interest of this dis-
trict is in good hands. The present Directors are R. G. Jordon and J. E. Wightman —
two leading business men of the city — and Rev. M. M. Travis. Prof J. A. Miller is Prin-
cipal; Mrs. Miller, Assistant; MissHays, teacher of first intermediate; Mrs. Lenny, second,
intermediate; Miss Dyer and Mrs. Duley, of the first and second primaries. The
annual expense, including interest, docs not vary much from $6,000. By the school
census, 1878, the number of children between six and twenty-one years was 327 ; number
enrolled in school, 275 ; average daily attendance, 230. Professors Glover, Lony, Mor-
row, Poor and Pingrey have in turn served as Principals here previous to the present one.
The course of study includes all the common branches taught in district schools, including
botany, philosophy, geology, chemistry. Constitution of the United States, and the fol-
lowing "optional: " astronomy, mental and moral philosophy, Latin, Greek and Fi-ench
— preparing graduates to enter college. The text-books used are " Independent " readers,
"Montcith's" geography, "White's" arithmetics, "Ray's" algebra, " Greenleaf 's "
geometry, "Tenney's" natural history, "Brown's" physiology, " Cooley's " philosophy,
"Steele's" geology, "Gray's" botany, "Kiddle's" astronomy, "Scott's" United States
history.
Fires. — Several very damaging fires have occurred in the city. The fine large
depot and hotel building was burned just after it was completed, in 1856. lu 1870,
Zicgler's large wagon-shop was totally destroyed. In 1871, the stores of R. C. Sallee,
Ketcham & Seybolt. and of Ednars were consumed, and little saved out of them. In
1873, Ilaynes, Jordan & Co.'s large elevator, with all the grain it contained, lu 1874
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 615
Ziegler & Dehner's large four-run grist-mill. The same year, R. C. Bailee's two stores,
and in 1876, Ziegler's second mill. Mr. Ziegler naturally thinks he has had enough
in the conflagration line, and prefers some other kind of accidents in the future.
In the matter of patriotic reply to their country's call, the citizens of Chenoa were
not behind their neighbors. The aggregate population at that time was small, and no
company was formed there, lying in between the two county seats, Bloomington and
Pontiac, where recruiting was almost continually going on; those living in Chenoa
went to those places to enlist, and many were likely "credited" to those places who
resided in Chenoa. During the earlier years of enlistment, it mattered not where one
enlisting was "credited;" but in the latter days, when drafting became first a threat,
and then a reality, those liable to draft began to hurry around, to find where the cred-
its of their township were. In all, some fifty to sixty soldiers enlisted from this place;
many going into the Ninety-fourth, some into the Thirty-third (Normal), quite a num-
ber to the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth, and some to the First Cavalry and to many
other regiments.
MEADOWS STATION,
on Section 6, lies four miles west of Chenoa, on the T., P. & W. R. R. ; was platted
and recorded in 1877, by Charles Parker, who owned the land there. It is a flag sta-
tion, having in its limits a post ofiice — Charles Klein, Postmaster — a store, grainhouse,
eight or ten dwelling-houses. A large quantity of grain is shipped from there, but its
other business is not hryie.
'&>■-
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP.
Empire, in the southern tier of townships, is the third from the eastern boundary,
and, like all in this tier, is eight miles long by six east and west, and is described as
Town 22 north. Range 4 east, and the first twelve sections of Town 21, Range 4 east of
the Third Principal Meridian.
For a long time it was known as Le Roy, taking its name from the village ; but
when township organizations went into eff"ect, it became necessary to change the name,
and S. A. Moore, Esq., suggested the name "Empire" which was proudly and eagerly
accepted by the people, for to them it seemed really an empire. Salt Creek, which took
its name from some real or supposed saline springs along its bank, runs nearly through
the center of the township. The west branch rising in Downs, connects with the east-
ern and northern branches in Section 33, and the stream flows south through Sections
4 and 8 of the southern township, making one of the finest cattle townships in the
county. The Kickapoo Indians gave the stream its name. " Buckles' Grove," or
" Buckleses Grove," as the citizens persist in calling it, winds around with the stream
through Empire, and Old Town Timber skirts the northern tier of sections part way across
the town, making originally about ten or twelve sections timbered. The timber was of
an excellent quality, and abounded with game of every description, as did the stream
with fish. Wild honey was so plenty that the people who came here did not need to
stretch the imagination much to call it a "land flowing with milk and honey," for with
the mere trouble of milking, and chopping down the trees, all the milk and honey one
needed mi^-ht be obtained. The surface of land outside the timber-belts is moderately
rollino-, and the farms that now occupy the virgin prairie soil which old John Buckles
516 HISTORY OF McLean county.
looked on in 1827 as being of no earthly value but to hold the timber portion of the
world together; are some of the finest in the county. John Buckles, a Virginian by
birth, had wandered around until he struck this grove in 1827. He had lived in
Edwards, Sangamon and Logan Counties, and pushed in this direction because he had
been informed, or more likely his own instincts { for he was a hunter rather than a farmer)
told him that there was somewhere an earthly spot which white man had not ruined
by crazy civilization. In coming from Logan County, he passed by Randolph's Grove,
which was in all respects as fine as this, except that it was already occupied by several
families. John Buckles had a family of thirteen children — nine boys and four girls.
Just why the Lord was so partial to these old pioneers, in the way of children, when
they did not even possess, many of them, a foot of land, and just how the mothers
managed, moving as they did every two or three years to some new spot, to get their
work done up, take care of baby, and get a stitch of sewing done, are questions which the
women of the present age have never satisfactorily answered.
Buckles did not bring all his children here, for some had settled in other places.
The first cabin erected by white man, in what is now Empire, was on Section 28, north
of the Grove, and about one mile south of Le Roy. From here, old John and his boys
sallied out to hunt and to explore the country around. The following year, Jesse Funk
and his brother-in-law, James Burleson, drove a great lot of hogs to this grove, because
there was so much here for them to eat. They made a camp for the protection of their
men who cared for the hogs, and the same year Aquilla Conaway came from Kentucky
and purchased the claim which Buckles had taken, he moving farther west onto Section
29. Here Conaway and his children remained several years. The earliest recollection
of this new home which Mr. Conaway has, was a black wolf which the Buckles young-
sters had fastened to a pole by a girth around its middle, and was thus exhibited to
visitors as a trophy of the chase.
The old man Buckles made a tannery, perhaps several of them, here at the Grove.
No ruins are now discernible, perhaps owing to his method of building. He cut down
a large oak log and dug it out so that it would hold several barrels, and used it as a vat
for tanning his hides, putting the bark which was on the outside on the inside to do
duty. Mr. Buckles was the largest man ever known in these parts ; he weighed 380
pounds. The years 1829 and 1830 brought in at least a dozen families into the Grove,
so that during the winter of the deep snow there were enough here to form quite a
community.
Michael Dickerson, who had iived two years near Lytleville and two years at Long
Point, in De Witt County, at the former of which places he had built the first mill
erected in Randolph's Grove, came here and purchased a claim of Mr. Bennett on Sec-
tion 20, near where his son Henry so long resided. Dickerson was brother-in-law to
the Rutledges. His sons Frank and Henry have been long known as among the best
citizens of Empire. They had been just a month -in their new home when the deep
«now came, finding them poorly prepared for such an emergency. There was no mill at
the Grove yet, and for weeks the corn had to be prepared for cooking either by soaking in
lye, or by pounding in a mortar. The boys attended the first schools ever held in this
-Grove, in a schoolhouse standing on the northwest corner of Section 28, near H. C. Dick-
erson's. It was built of logs, and by contribution, of course, as there was yet, in 1832,
no common-school system in operation.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 61T
Lame William Johnson, who, until a few years ago, lived in this township, taught
the first school, and really commenced it in a log house near by before the schoolhouse
was done. Mr. and Mrs. Amasa Washburn, Mr. Gaunt, Mr. Thompson and James
Vandeventer taught in this first log schoolhouse. Mr. and Mrs. Washburn are said to
have organized the first Sabbath school, though the date is not clearly ascertained.
When R. F. Dickerson was married, he says that he had one pony, but neither cow,,
hog, sheep or money, and kept house three months without bedstead, chair or table.
He afterward was able to own several.
Henry C. Dickerson, who lives on the old homestead, has been largely engaged in
cattle-raising and trading. The other sons of Michael Dickerson, Caleb and Wesley,
have long owned farms in the southwestern portion of Empire.
Reuben Clearwater came here in 1828, and took up land in the south part of Section
28, near Salt Creek. In 1838, his daughter was married to James Kimler, who, since
then, has been living at or near the place where Mr. Clearwater first settled, and in
Le Roy.
Abram Buckles came from Indiana in 1832, and took up a claim in the north part of
Section 30. This claim he entered at the land office at the sale in 1835 ; about 1855,^
he bought in Section 31, where he lived until his death in 1877, leaving a large family.
Father Silas Waters, a Virginian by birth, came from Bourbon County, Ky., to
Buckles' Grove in November, 1830, and settled on Section 20, one and a half miles
west of Le Roy, on the farm which his son Chalton now lives. When only twenty
years old he married Miss Conaway, and, the year following, he united himself with
the Methodist Church, and has been since that time a consistent, live, working^
Christian. He had hardly got settled in his new home before he went to mill, down on.
the Kickapoo, south of Randolph's Grove, taking a load with a yoke of oxen. Soon
after he started back, the heavy snow, which is remembered so well by all those who>
lived here in 1830, commenced to fall, and he drove as fast as possible the ten miles
which lay between Randolph's Grove and his home. He had no compass and had to
depend entirely on his own judgment, or on Providence, for direction. There was no
road and the air was so full of snow that there was absolutely nothing to direct him.
He arrived home safely. The snow had fallen to the depth of thirty-three inches during
his ten miles' trip. He was one of the first to organize the Methodist Church here,
and was the first Class-leader. To him, more than to perhaps any other one man, the
members of that denomination have looked for advice and for assistance in the tempo-
ralities of the church. They look upon him as a father, and apparently with good
reason, for he is a man of excellent judgment and great energy and piety. Though
now in his seventy-sixth year, there is to the casual visitor no appearance of physical
decay or approaching weakness. But for the snowy whiteness of his head he would
hardly be called an old man. For some years he has lived in Le Roy. His sons that
are living are near by on farms which their and their father's industry have made com-
fortable and remunerative.
T. J. Barnett settled near here in 1832, west of Mr. Waters. After farming for
some years, he went into trade in Le Roy and has recently retired, having acquired a
competency, and takes life tolerably easy.
Alvin Barnett, an older brother, made his home here two years earlier. He
acquired about seven hundred acres of land in Sections 19 and 30, near the western
518 HISTORY OF McLean county.
boundary of the township, and, about 1838, he sold to Jacob Karr, who moved in here
at that time. Mr. Karr is dead, and the land was divided among his heirs.
On the south side of the Grove, Aaron Williams settled in 1835, and entered land
in Section 30. When he died some years after, he left a family of twelve children,
only two of whom, Mr. Karr and R. Williams, reside here. Two others live just
south of the county line in DeWitt County.
John Buckles, Jr., son of Abram, had a farm in Section 3 (21-4). He sold out
some years ago and went to Kansas.
C. P. Dickerson bought a farm in 1851 in Section 31, which had been taken
up at an early date by Mr. Williams. He lives there yet.
John Baddeley, an Englishman, entered about one thousand acres in Sections 32
(22-4) and in 4 and 5 (21-4). He had also had a store in Le Roy. He was a man
of large means for that day and of good business qualifications, but the panic of
1837, which swept away the property of so many, ruined him. His son still lives in
Le Roy and is much respected.
T. 0. Rutledge was moving his family to Buckles' Grove in 1830, when he was
taken sick and died. He was buried in the place which he had selected for a cemetery
the spring before his death.
James Rutledge took up some six hundred aci:es in Sections 33 and 34. He had
a large family.
Amos Conaway came here in 1830, and took up land in Section 3 (21-4), and at
the time of his death owned about one thousand acres in that and the adjoining sections.
He left a large family, but they are scattered and gone.
James Merrifield came the same year, from Ohio, and settled east of the Grove
with his family of nine children. He had lived the previous winter over on the Kick-
poo. They made a cabin on Section 26, and entered land in that section, and in 34
and 35.
The Indians (Kickapoos) were often seen in those days going on their hunting
excursions, but they never molested the whites at Buckles' Grove. They went along
quietly and peaceably, in single file, and would return in the same way. Sometimes a
hundred, or even more would pass along in this way.
Farther north of this, James Lucas, about the same time, took up the south half
of Section 23. He remained there about fifteen years, and sold to Charles Cope. John
Merrifield had a farm north of him.
Daniel and Henry Crumbaugh came here to live in 1830. They were originally
from Maryland. In 1828, they came from Kentucky to Elkhart Grove, in Sangamon
County, and remained there two years. They came here together, and took up land
near each other, in Section 14, northeast of Le Roy. They had had very few early advan-
tages, and came here at a time when it required all their energy, pluck and good man-
agement to live. Daniel had had a good deal of experience, but neither of them had
acquired any property before coming here. In 1812, Daniel had enlisted in Col. Rich-
ard M. Johnson's regiment, to fight the Indians and British. He participated in the
battle at River Thames, where Tecumseh was killed, and after the war closed at the
North, returned home to Kentucky.
Arriving at Buckles' Grove, they had to contend with all those difficulties which
settlers in a new country encounter — sickness, lack of conveniences and of markets,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 519
rainy seasons, fires, serpents and hard winters, and poverty. They proved the men for a
new place. They have been remarkably prospered in their property and their families-
Daniel has been the father of fourteen children, and Henry of twelve. Of these twenty-
six, fifteen are livins, and most of them in this vicinity, with children growing up around
them to extend and perpetuate the good name of Crumbaugh. Four sons of Daniel —
Leonard, Thomas, Daniel and Frank — and four sons of Henry — James, John, Andrew
and Lewis — are men of good character, and most of them of considerable farms in this
and adjoining townships; quiet, peaceable, industrious and thrifty men, never quarreling
nor at law. It may well be said that these two men have done more to settle this part
of the county than any other two men. N. T. Brittin, from Ohio, in 1830
settled near the middle of the south half of Section 2. He owned land in Section
11, and in various other places. He had a large family, and acquired a large property,
but a good deal of it was lost to him and to his heirs from his peculiar unwillingness to
collect what was due him. While he was exceedingly close, yet he never would try to
force collections of what was due him if such collection would prove oppressive. He
loaned a great deal of money, and was always hopping around to get the interest, but
never seemed to let the principal worry him. He once took a note of a man, and not
having suflScient paper to write a note on, actually wrote it on the back of another note
which he had taken from some one else.
He was popularly supposed to be very rich, but his estate did not divide as many
thousands among his heirs as it was supposed it would, partly from the fact that the
■wealth of pretty nearly all men is overestimated by themselves, their children and every-
body else except the assessor, and partly from the fact that many of his loans had been
made to those who could not repay. Like all men who loan money, he got a name
for close and penurious habits, but was really a man of many kind and good qualities.
James Bishop, another of the prosperous citizens of Empire, came here, as the
Irishman would say, in several years. He came first from Ohio in 1831, and was back
and forth every year until 1837, when he married, and made his home here, buying
land in Section 10.
He was a man of some means, and great force and activity. Among the stories
told to illustrate the man, was the stolen pig and the bull exploits, which the old settlers
of Empire have told with variations, until the original proprietor could himself hardly
recognize them.
He was so annoyed by wolves that he found it necessary to keep his pigs close by
the house. Early one fall morning, he heard the well-known juvenile porcine squeal
He had heard it so often that he knew the " first gun " in a wolf-attack as well as a
breakfast-bell, and rushed out, without even dressing, to rescue his property. The wolf
had got a good start, and Bishop took the line of lupine retreat, without a thought of
his unlawful appearance, in his lawful endeavor to rescue the perishing. Over fences,
through breastworks of briers he stormed, deploying in cornfields, without the loss of a
man, throwing himself into single file, to more easily dodge the cornstalks, in light
marching order, he soon overtook Mr. Wolf, who was carrying three days' rations, and
captured the pig, which had only lost a part of an ear and had been frightened out of
at least six months' growth. When Bishop came to make report to his wife — women are
always inquiring into these matters — he found that the cuts and thrusts from corn-
stalks and briers would, if estimated at 10 cents a dozen, bring the price of that pig,
520 HltfTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
at the then market price of such articles, up to about four times what he ever expected
to get for it.
The story of his trying to get his hired man to come over into the pasture, which,
he had suddenly and unexpectedly changed into a first-class race-track — a purely agri-
cultural one — and help him let go of the bull's tail is too well known to need repeat-
ing and too well authenticated to need the certifying.
Mr. Bishop was always considered a good farmer; his traits were energy, thrift and
activity. Coming at a time when everything was greatly depressed, he did not need to
learn by experience that which so many others had to. He traded in cattle a good deal,
and seemed to know almost intuitively when the time came to let go, for he avoided
the losses which so many others met during the last ten years of his life.
He seems to have come short of the average number of children, having only five ;
but in all other things, his life appears to have been a success. He died in 1877, and
left about three thousand acres of land in Sections 8, 9 and 10, and in Padua and
West.
Hon. Malon Bishop came here from Ohio in 1835, and took up land in the north-
west quarter of Section 15. When the school section was sold, in 1857, he and his
brother James bought nearly all of it, and he now owns and resides on the north half
of Section l(i.
Settling here at a time when political excitement ran high, and in a community
which held the political tenets which he did by a large majority, he naturally got into
political and official life. Empire Township has always been, under all the changes through
which we have passed, steadily Democratic. Mr. Bishop was elected a Justice of the
Peace in 1837, and, in 1842, during the most depressed time in the history of the
State, he was elected to the Legislature. A few now of the elder settlers are left who
well recollect the discouraging prospect at the time that Legislature met.
The panic of 1837 had prostrated every industry. The State was hopelessly
in debt, and only required a resolution of the Legislature to that efiect to put it in the
class of repudiating States. Taxes were payable only in gold and silver, of which there
was, practically, none to be had. The bank currency, which went by the name of
"wild-cat," "red-dog," "stump-tail," and other significant and insignificant names, had-
received legislative authority to circulate, and was received generally, but not by the
Tax Collector or Postmaster. People were shunning the State, and Eastern merchants
did not wish to " extend their credit " in this State. Everybody thought the Legisla-
ture "ought to do something," and every man who did not spend his time getting his
living by hard work, spent it on dry goods boxes, explaining how this thing could be
remedied. Indeed, the county of McLean has only just now gone through the expe-
rience of listening to the second batch of statesmen which sprung from the " panic of
1873," and the governmental policies of our own day.
Mr. Bishop went to Springfield as the representative of McLean, to do whatever
was in his power to restore confidence and breathe new life into the lungs of trade and
agricultural pursuits.
That he labored faithfully to do the best he could for his people, no one who knows
him will doubt. If he did not succeed iu legislating money into every man's pocket and
title-deeds for farms into every family, he and the men who were with him kept the
State in the line of honest ones, prevented official repudiation, raised the amount
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 521
necessary to go on with the Illinois Canal, and took their own pay in the same kind of
money as other people received.
It is a strange commentary on our ability to learn by experience that, at this
present time, " currency questions " are still fruitful subjects for discussion and legisla-
tion.
Thomas D. Gilmore came from Kentucky in 1836, and took up land in Sections
3 and 4, along the Old Town timber. He was a blacksmith by trade, and soon went to
work in Le Roy. Esquire Buck shows a pair of fire-dogs which Gilmore made for him
more than forty years ago. The Gilmore family had a little experience with the " Sud-
den Change." They had come from Kentucky, and had but just got their little cabin
so that it was comfortable to live in in ordinary weather, when this " Change " struck
them " in the twinkling of an eye," as it were. They could hardly have been more
surprised or more struck had the veritable sound of Gabriel's trump been heard in
connection with this. They all thought that if this was Illinois, they wished to be
carried back to the Kentucky shore as soon after the weather should permit as was
agreeable.
Mr. Gilmore's father, a hale and rugged old man, accompanied the family here, and
lived here until 1870, when he died, at the age of ninety-eight. He was strong and
quite active to the last. Mr. Gilmore now lives on the northwest quarter of Section 3,
and owns about two hundred acres.
As early as 1830, the following persons were in Buckles' Grove in addition to
those whose sketches have been jiiven : Richard Edwards, William Davis, Catharine
Johnson, James Lawrence, Levi Westfall, H. Huddleston and Ambrose Hall. Most of
them had families, and many remained here for several years.
Yes, and there is Esquire Buck. Though not one of the earliest settlers, he has
formed so important a link in the history of Empire and Le Roy that it will hardly do
to leave him out. He was born in Seneca County, N. Y., and early went to North
Bend, Ohio, the home of Harrison. Here he taught school and worked around ; tried
flatboating for awhile, and then married in 1827. Under the law of Ohio, he had to
give security for his wife's maintenance, as he had no worldly possessions. This rather
stirred the Revolutionary blood with which his veins were largely supplied, and he
thought tea-taxing and stamp-acting were mild as compared with this. As soon as he
could get enough together to start with, he came West by way of the Ohio, Missis-
sippi and Illinois Rivers to Bardstown, thence across the country with teams to Ran-
dolph's Grove, where he remained until 1837, when he sold his claim to Gen. Gridley,
and came to Le Roy to build and keep a hotel. While living in Randolph's Grove, he
was Deputy County Surveyor, and laid out the new towns which were then springing
up all over the country. The three years following the close of the Black Hawk war
had brought a tide of immigration and speculation into this country. Gen. Gridley's
active mind had been busy laying out new towns and inducing immigration. He was a
thorough judge of human nature, and always knew how to enlist the right kind of men
in his undertakings. He immediately saw in Mr. Buck the man for him to work up
his Le Roy undertaking, and made him an offer. The opening was a flattering one, and
but for the panic which immediately followed, bursting the bubble speculation on
all sides, its realization would have been complete. The demand in 1836 for accommo-
dation of strangers was beyond the capacity of entertainment all over the State.
522 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Mr. Buck built the hotel, the rear of the present one, and kept it sixteen years,
holding the office of Postmaster and Justice of the Peace each, for several years. In
1851, he had become thoroughly satisfied that he would never amount to anything if he
remained in the hotel. A new son had come into his house and a desire seemed to take
possession of his mind to " do something for that boy." He got hold of a piece of land
in Section 6, south part of town, and has since spread over 1,100 acres of as
good land as there is in McLean County. He was elected a County Commissioner in that
year, and was twice re-elected. During the last term, the County Court, of which he
was a member, voted to give $70,000 from the first proceeds of the Swamp-Land Fund
to secure the location at Normal of the State Normal School. This action was so
unpopular in the country towns as to cause a general demand for township organization.
Mr. Buck admits the unpopularity of the act, but justifies his course. This retired him
to private life for a few years — a penalty he did not much regret. Since then, he
has been repeatedly elected Supervisor. He was appointed by the Governor a Trustee
of the Industrial University at Champaign, and held the position until the law was
changed reducing the number of Trustees. He was elected several years ago a Trustee
of Lombard University, a college under the auspices of Universalists and liberal
believers, at Galesburg, where his youngest son was educated. That a man at the age
fifty, when in most men the habits of life have become fixed, and, by common acceptation,
man has arrived at the time when he begins to grow old, should have left a country
tavern and begun an active, successful farmer's life is remarkable, and shows the strong
characteristics of Esquire Buck's nature. Careless in his personal and even in his busi-
ness habits, with a strong taste for political discussion and partisan display and action, a
free reader, a generous liver, fond of investigation, and deeply interested in public affairs,
the strong contrast of his later successes was hardly to be expected, and, indeed, is
almost anomalous ; for a lively interest in politics and attendance on caucuses and con-
ventions is enough to financially injure most any man. Five of his six children are liv-
ing near him, all married and comfortably fixed in life, and were able to be with him at
the fiftieth anniversary of that Ohio wedding when he gave his bond to the county of
Hamilton that his wife should not come on the county as a pauper. Mr. Buck ought
to get that bond from the authorities and present it to the Le Roy Library Association.
Though closely approaching his eightieth birthday, he shows, except in his wrinkled
face, no appearance of his advanced age ; his mind is as clear and his step as firm as a
man of fifty.
The hunting was so excellent at an early day, and was really so much a part of the
regular business of every family, that the raising and care of dogs became so common
that no family was without its complement of the different popular canine families ;
every dog-family down to rat-terrier and Spitz was represented in Buckles' Grove ; and
when all other sport slackened they " let slip the dogs " and cried havoc !
About the year 1830, the hydrophobia made its appearance among them, and the
dogs lost their popularity at once. Two persons were known to have been bitten, and a
canine slaughter right and left and a general clearing-out of all in the neighborhood waa
threatened. No injury came to tho.se who were bitten except a very serious scare, which
was almost as bad as death itself.
A year or two before Le Roy was laid out, J. W. Baddeley spread out a town which
he named Munroe, and put up a building for a store and stocked it for trade, about one
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 523
mile south of where Le Roy is. When Gridley and Covel laid out their town, they
bought out the interest of Baddeley in Munroe and squelched it.
The citizens have not, as a general thing, fed cattle as largely as in some of the
surrounding towns, and before the new railroads were built, the grain had to be hauled
a long distance. The earliest trips to Chicago were shortened to Pekin when the Illi-
nois Canal was completed, and to Bloomington and Heyworth after the completion of
the Illinois Central Railroad.
The building of the present Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad was
deemed by the people of Empire as a matter of vital importance to them. The history
of the road, as far as its connection with Empire is concerned, is about that of every
similar road.
In July, 1866, a vote was taken, which resulted affirmatively, for granting $50,000,
in twenty-year 10-per-cent bonds, for the Danville, Urbana, Bloomington & Pekin
Railroad. Soon after this vote was taken, the officers of the road discovered that the
company had not been organized in conformity to law, and the matter rested until the
Legislature should meet and give the embryo road legal life. Such an act was passed
February, 1867 ; for, under the old constitution, any person could get any charter he
asked for, but the State authorities were so jealous of their prerogatives that, while it
was admitted that the Legislature would give any railroad company all the authority or
power it wanted, no such corporation could act until it had first got legal authority.
This charter of 1867 gave to the township of Empire authority to subscribe not more
than $250,000, in aid of the building of such road. In June, 1867, the vote was
again taken, resulting a second time affirmatively, by a vote of 202 to 6. Things went
on swimmingly and the road was commenced, the bonds issued and went, with the
thousands of others, into the great maw of the construction companies, who hypothe-
cated them for half their face, and then let them slide. In 1869, October 12, the road
having been consolidated, had become the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western, and
work had come to a standstill. More bonds must be forthcoming. The township
authorities submitted to the legal voters the question of issuing $25,000 additional.
This resulted in the affirmative by a vote of 228 to 100, and three blanks. Within
the past year, the legality of this last issue has been questioned, and the matter has been
tried in the United States Court, resulting in sustaining the legality of the issue. The
ground upon which the township sought to question their validity was that, in taking
the former vote, the power to subscribe in aid of that particular corporation had been
exhausted, and thus there was no authority for the second vote. The Court did not
take that view of it, however.
The road proved a great convenience to the people, and everything seemed to work
nicely. Pretty soon, however, they found that they were paying higher freights than
they ought, and they set about finding a remedy.
After a good deal of canvassing, it was decided to ask the people along the line of
the proposed route to subscribe enough to grade, bridge and tie a narrow-gauge road
from Rantoul to Le Roy, and to bond it for $4,000 per mile for the iron. This was
done, and the men of Empire did the heavy end of the work by subscribing liberally
to this undertaking. It is now built and in running order, and fulfilling the most san-
guine expectations of its projectors.
524
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The first school in the township was held in the house erected for it in 1832, near
the residence of James Kimler.
For several years, the aflFairs of the school treasury have been in the hands of S.
A. Moore, Esq., and his successor in oflSce, Mr. E. E. Greenman.
From the last annual report, the following figures are taken : Number of districts,
11; whole number of children under twenty-one years, 1,132; number of children
between six and twenty-one years, 748 ; whole number attending school, 544 ; average
number of months' school, 7i ; teachers employed, 20 ; number graded school, 1 ; num-
ber brick schoolhouses, 2 ; value school property, $11,700; township fund, $7,612;
paid teachers, $4,858 ; total amount paid for schools, $7,165.
Next to Bloomington and Normal, Empire has the largest attendance in the
county, and draws the largest fi-om the State appropriation.
Empire has a large number of men who are recognized as good farmers. Hiram
Buck, J. H. L. Crumbaugh, A. Murray, Malon Bishop, J. A. Bishop, F. M. Crum-
baugh, T. Ross, Jackson Oliver, and many others, have made the raising and feeding
of cattle a specialty.
John Kline, James Barnett, John H Crumbaugh, have each very fine farms and
excellent buildings.
The following table gives a list of the township officers elected from township
organization down :
Bate.
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
'Votes
Oaet.
296
Supervisor.
228
286
277
263
275
James Wiley ,
James Wiley
James Wiley ,
M. Crumbaugh
R. F. Dickerson
Malon Bishop
Malon Bishop
R. F. Dickerson
R. F. Dickerson
James Bishop
James Bishop
James Bishop
J. V.Smith
J. H. L. Crumbaugh;
John Kline
D. 0. Howard
D. 0. Howard
Hiram Buck
Hiram Buck
Hiram Buck
Hiram Buck
John Kline
Clerk.
ABsessor.
Collector.
J. M. Shakleford James P. Craiger.,
R. S. Willhoite iRobert Barr
R. S. Willhoite Robert Barr
R. S. Willhoite iRobert Barr
J. W. Brown Robert Barr
George W. Pence Robert Barr ,
George W. Pence Robert Barr
George W. Pence JRobert Barr
M. M. Dickerson Robert Barr
M. M. Dickerson Robert Barr
G. W. Pence.'. Robert Barr
M. M. Dickerson Robert Barr
M. Burns 0. Smiley
M. H. Stone S. L. Bishop
C. G. Lanzen 'G. W. Pence
M. Burns G. W. Pence
C. A. Barley J. P. Melchi
C. A. Barley J. P. Melchi
C. A. Barley J. P. Melchi
C. A. Barley John Funk
C. A. Barley John Funk
S. Vandeventer John Funk
N. H. Roach.
R. F. Dickerson.
R. F. Dickerson.
R. F. Dickerson.
J. F. Bishop.
F. M. Crumbaugh.
F. M. Crumbaugh.
M. E. Ferguson.
M. E. Ferguson.
A. J. Thomas.
J. Crumbaugh.
C. Howard.
R. C. Hallowell.
R. C. Hallowell.
L. Heffling.
L. Heffling.
Samuel Sterling.
J. C. Baddeley.
J. C. Baddeley.
Z. Chick.
Justices of the Peace: S. A. Moore, H. Gilbert, L. M. Bishop, Robert Silvey and
H. M. Phillips.
Commissioners of Highways: T. D. Gilman, Robert Barr, H. Chapen, M. Crum-
baugh, D. Cheney, J. W. Williams, A. Buckles, J. Kline, H. Crumbaugh, L. A. Crum-
baugh, H. C. Dickerson, G. W. Buckles, James Bishop, D. H. Schoch, J. Crumbaugh,
S. R. Mitchell, C. P. Dickerson, J. W. Murfield, R. Rutledge, M. Wyckoff, John Dun-
lap, J. H. L. Crumbaugh, A. J. Crumbaugh, James York, P. C. Eskew.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 525
LE ROY.
The location of Le Roy was one of the most beautiful in the county, and its selec-
tion anomalous. Near the line between Sections 21 and 22, almost in the exact center
of the township, was a round elevation of land, hardly amounting to a hill, still so
descending in all directions as to make drainage easy. About one mile to the grove on
three sides, and on the north about three miles from Old Town Timber, its peculiar fit-
ness as a convenient point for the settlers who inhabited the grove, to the number of
some twenty-five families, was apparent. Gen. A. Gridley and Gen. Merritt Covel, of
Bloomington, readily saw the peculiar position of this little mound, and in 1835, pur-
chased the eighty acres of land and laid out the town, making the mound the center of
it. At the sale of lots in December, the bidding was spirited, and some of them sold
at very good prices. Building was, however, very slow. Two years later, Gridley
induced Hiram Buck to go there and build a hotel. In the fall of 1836, there were a
few log houses there, and Edgar Conkling put up a frame store. The same fall, Buck
surveyed and platted Conkling & Woods' addition, embracing about one hundred and
twenty acres, lying on three sides of the original town, east, north and west. Mr.
Conklino- was the first to do any business here. A post-route was established in 1838,
and a post office was opened, with Hiram Buck first Postmaster. The route was
from Danville through Bloomington to Peoria. At first, the service was by post-rider,
and then by Fink & Walker's mud-wagons, which, by courtesy, were called stages. This
firm, for a long time, ran nearly all the stage lines in the northern half of this and
the adjoining State. Mr. T. J. Barnett, who came to this township in 1832, and com-
menced trade in Le Roy in 1852, says that Amos Neal and J. W. Baddeley were the
first to sell goods here, and the Conklings and Proctor were among the first. Neal &
Withers put up a log cabin in 1836, east of the public square, and, about the same time,
Baddeley put up one on the south side of Center street, between the hotel and the pub-
lic square. He had laid out the town of " Munroe," and commenced selling goods one
mile south of here, and had been ofi"ered very liberal inducements to abandon that and
make Le Roy the place of business. He conducted trade here for several years. James
Wiley, an Irishman by birth, came here from the West Indies, and engaged in trade on
the north side of Center street, on Block 15, where the meat market now is. He was
successful and bought a fine farm from Conaway, and others east of town, and died
there.
E. E. Greenman, one of the old guard, who has lived here and been engaged in
active business during nearly ail the life of Le Roy, came here in 1843. He is now
one of the oldest residents of the county now living in it. He helped to build
the house of James Allin, in Bloomington, and lived a neighbor to him.
In 1843, he was engaged in peddling through this part and some of the citizens,
who thought he would be a valuable addition to the town, bantered him to hire
a hall and locate here. He made a contract for board at $1 per week as long as
he wished to stay, and rented the store near by for $1 per month as long as he wanted
to keep it. He stocked up and sold goods there one year, when it was rented to some
one else for $2 per month, and he had to get out. He bought the corner lot across the
street where Fisk's drug store now is, for $10, and sent a man into the woods to hew
the timber and in twenty-one days moved into his new store. S. D. Baker, now of
526 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Bloomincton, entered into partnership with him, and the firm remained in business on
that corner fourteen years and was quite successful. Since retiring from business, Mr.
Greenman has had a good deal to do with the schools, and his prompt, correct business
habits have been of great service to the community in many ways. His health is not
very good now ; has headache a good deal when folks bother him, but he looks as
though he would hold out several years yet.
Richai'd Edwards took the store which Greenman left in 1844, and continued in
business several years. B. E. Dodson rented in the hotel at first, and after that he
occupied the building on the corner of Center street and the public square.
Kimler & Bishop opened business about 1847, where the meat market now is.
They continued a few years and then bought the old harness-shop, and moved
it east to its present position, and built the corner store, and Minor Bishop con-
tinued to trade there. L. H. & B. F. Park occupied the old meat market building
which K. & B. had got out of, a few years, and then bought on the other side of the
street east, where Stearns' boot and shoe store now is. This firm continued until the
rebellion, when it was dissolved by the military service of L. H. Park, and Mr. B. F.
Park continued in trade until he died. L. H. returned and commenced business
again and still remains in business, the oldest in mercantile life in town.
Baker & Greenman, after a few years' trade in the frame building on the corner of
Center street and the public square, moved it off and built the present fine brick build-
ing in 1857, at a cost of $3,000. It was a fine building for its day and was a credit
to the builders, for it was, like them, substantial and business-like.
E. L. Morehouse & Son drove quite a brisk trade for a time, and Mr. McLean,
from Farmer City, was here awhile.
T. J. Barnett commenced trade about 1852, like his predecessors, in the " old
meat market." The next year, he built the post ofiice building, which was the first
brick building in Le Roy and was way out of the " business center," for up to that
time all the trade was on Center street within one block of the public square. Bar-
nett continued in the post oflSce building ten years and then bought the Greenman
brick building and still owns it. For a time he was in partnership with J. Keenan.
This made a strong firm, and sold in flush times $55,000 worth per year. Crumbaugh
& Reed did a large trade in 1854 and 1855. David Cheney carried on a considerable
trade here lor some years. Amos Neal put up the first log house in Le Roy in 1835,
and the next year T. J. Barnett built the next one near by it, on Block 15, where
Wright's blacksmith-shop now stands. It was a good-sized building for the times,
14xlG. It was built for his mother who continued to occupy it until he was able to
do something better for her.
Mr. Conkling put up a number of small frame buildings on his lots, intending
them to help sell his lots. Mr. Neal took the contract for putting up a lot of them. The
lumber to cover and finish them was split out, and dressed down with a drawing-knife.
They were small and decidedly primitive. Some are now standing. The speculation
proved abortive, and the panic of 1837 carried him with it.
Dr. Moran, a well-educated physician, came to Buckles' Grove in 1834, and con-
tinued to practice his profession here until he moved to Springfield, in 1857. Dr.
Welden bought him out and remained three or four years, and went to Covington, Ind.
Dr. Stephen Noble, a nephew of Dr. Noble of Randolph, came here in 1850 and
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 527
remained till 1865. when he went to Bloomington, where he died in 1871. He came
to the county in 1831, and studied medicine with his uncle and at Bloomington. He
came to Le Roy to enter a partnership with Dr. Cheney. He was several times Presi-
dent of the County Medical Society, and once of the State Society.
The first goods brought here were purchased at St. Louis and brought up the river
to Pekin, which was the sea-port for all this country till 1855, when the building of rail-
roads changed all trade to Chicago. Farmers hauled their wheat to Pekin (corn could
not be sold at any price), and sometimes went to Chicago with loads to get salt, which
was one of the articles of prime necessity among so many cattle, and could not be got at
St. Louis without paying too much for it.
At first, the people had to go to the Wabash and to the Illinois River to get grind-
ing done. They had small horse-mills along the timber. The first good mill built here was
by Elisha Gibbs, about 1841, on the south side of town. It was about 40x46, twa
and a half stories high, and had one set of three-foot stones, a saw-mill, and two sets of
carding machinery. It was run by steam, and cost about $4,000. It was in all respects
a good mill for the times. It was burned in 1844.
Buckles & Farmer built a steam grist and saw mill about 1853, on the east side of
town. It came into the hands of Morehouse, and burned about 1856.
Hobert & Dickerson built the large steam mill near the railroad depot, three
blocks west of the public square, in 1859, at an expense of about $30,000. Dickerson
sold to Bruner & Barnum, and Bruner to Keenan. Barnum & Keenan now run it
strong-handed, and, in connection with it, their large grain and lumber trade. It is a
first-class mill, and. probably, the best one in the eastern part of the county.
The Le Roy races were the standard Saturday sport of the old town, long before
circuses and other ways of spending money had come into vogue. The race-track ran
entirely around the town, which was then confined to the few blocks lying around the hotel.
Every Saturday that the weather was suitable, the crack runners from the surrounding
country showed their speed and tried their mettle on this track. Dr. Winn, from
Waynesville, the Funks, who always had good horses, old Sammy Ogden, from upon the
Mackinaw, with his " Clear the Kitchen " and " Juliet ;" Yazel, from Saybrook, and
other old sports who never could see any fun in trotting, were generally here. The
Bloomington boys used to come down and leave their tracks on the sand and their
money with the boys. Betting ran high, and men were drawn to the place whose
presence gave rise to many well-founded rumors of more objectionable vocations than
horse-racing. An impression got abroad that, under the cover of " the races," gam-
bling, counterfeiting and kindred crimes were not unknown in Le Roy. How much
truth there was in these surmises is not our province to decide, but racing, betting and
drinking were common, and from these it is fair to presume that men with criminal
intent were drawn there.
The growth of the town was slow, and for a long time there was not much to
encourage, but there are now many substantial and good buildings, which reflect credit
on the builders. S. D. Baker, of the firm of Greenman & Baker, who now resides in
Bloomington, built, in 1849, a nice two-story frame house on the north side of the pub-
lic square, in which he lived twenty-five years. In 1850, Mr. Greenman built the
house now owned and occupied by Rev. D. R. Taylor. In 1855, he built the house
now occupied by John Young. Dr. S. W. Noble built a good residence, now occupied
528 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
by T. J. Barnett. M. E. Ferguson built the house now occupied by Mrs. Arnold as
the Cottage Hotel, in 1862, and J. H. Arnold built the one now occupied by Mr. Mur-
ray in 1865.
Dr. Fisher built and occupies the finest brick residence in town, in the northeast
corner of the city. It is a neat and tasty building. John Kline, the present Super-
visor of Empire, built, about the same time, a frame residence of the same style of
architecture, near by Dr. Fisher's. Dr. Cheney and A. C. King put up nice residences
about 1860, in the north part of town.
P. P. Watt and Dr. Cheney put up a fine brick block of three two-story-and-base-
ment stores on Center street. B. F. Brinley built a similar store, and L. H. Park and
the Odd Fellows a similar one. J. Keenan built the two-story brick on the corner of
Chestnut and Center streets, now occupied by his store and bank. G. W. Potts built
the brick store now occupied by him and owned by Keenan.
Mr. Joseph Keenan has been for some years one of most energetic business men
of Le Roy. Besides his store and bank, he is interested in the mill, the lumber and
grain trade, and alive to every interest which is vital to Le Roy.
NEWSPAPERS.
The first newspaper ever issued in Le Roy was the Exchange, published by J. W.
Wolfe September 29, 1870. It contained an account of the excursion train, the first
one run over the I., B. & W. R. R., from Urbana through Bloomington to Peoria on
the 13th of September, containing seven coaches, filled with the guests of the road,
participating in this opening. The paper was well conducted and showed a healthy
amount of advertising patronage. He continued it about two years. He is now pub-
lishing the Citizen at Mt. Pulaski.
While the Exchange was still being published, Mr. J. S. Harper, the great news-
paper " starter," who has started more papers and run fewer beyond the first six months
than any other man in the State, commenced, in 1871, the publication of the Sucker
State. Harper had a kind of pre-emption on "starting papers" in this State. Most
any newspaper man can count up about three dozen of his various enterprises, without
much efi"ort of memory. It never made a particle of difference to him whether there
was an opening or not — whether the location had all the papers it could support — if he
could find a vacant loft, he just moved in and went to work. This lived as long as any
of his papers, and then he struck Saybrook, where his reception was no more encourag-
ing, and he came back to Le Roy.
In November, 1874, C. M. Davis commenced the publication of the Enterprise,
a five-column quarto, independent in politics. It is a neatly-printed, well-conducted
sheet, devoted to the local interests of Le Roy, and apparently receiving an encouraging
support.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS AND SOCIETIES.
The first intelligent account of stated preaching and church organization comes
from Father Silas Waters, who, for nearly fifty years has been a soldier of the Cross here
fighting in the M. E. division of the church militant. The year he came to Buckles'
Grove, Rev. James Latta was a missionary here, and held his meetings in William
Conaway's house. A class was organized, of which Mr. Waters was leader, composed of
eleven members, by Rev. S. R. Begg in 1831. William, Nancy and Chalton Conaway,
•i'-
^
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 531
Matilda Barnett, James Merrifield and wife, Jane and Rachel Conaway, Silas and Chris-
tiana Waters and Catharine Barnett were members of this first class. Preaching service
was held every four weeks by Mr. Begg. The circuit embraced Hurley's Grove
(Farmer City), Old Town, Bloomington, Randolph's Grove and Hidell's Grove (Clin-
ton), larger than a Presiding Elder's district now. William Crissey and William Royal
followed Begg on this field. The Clearwater schoolhouse was built in 1834, and they
began to have the service there. Rev. Z. Hall, Mr. Cummings, J. E. French and Mr.
Mozier served the little church when it met in the schoolhouse. The church was com-
menced in 1838. Edgar Conkling gave the lot, which was about sixty rods north of
the present church. The building was 30x45, and it was no easy matter in those discour-
aiiins times to Ret the church built, and thus a renewed effort was made to get it seated.
It was completed in all its necessary appointments in 1840. The seats were good, but
not very comfortable. The pulpit was a three-story affair. Some years later, a bell
was put in. The names of those who acted as pastors during the occupancy of this
•church, as recollected by Mr. Waters, were Richard Bird, Mr. Gentry, James Rucker,
Mr. Hendal, Sam. Martin, Sampson Shinn, Preston Wood, Mr. Norton, Ira Emer-
son, B. Barthlow, Mr. Aymold, Harker Smith and Amos Garner.
One of the ministers created a considerable feeling during the Black Hawk war,
by saying in a sarmon that if the Indians should come to his house in his absence and
murder and scalp his family he would not be justified in killing them. These peace
doctrines were not very popular.
This old church was sold in 1867 to Elias Wall for a barn, and the present brick
edifice erected. It is 40x60, with spire, and cost about SI 0,000, free of debt. D. L.
Morehouse and Silas Waters were the leading spirits in the building. Rev. Amos Gar-
ner was Pastor. It was then Le Roy circuit. The following year it was divided. The
following pastors have served no church since: Greenbury Garner, James Sey-
mour, Mr. Bates, C. B. Obinchane, W. C. Lacey, P. Be Clark, S. H. Whittock, J.
Seymour, Mr. McCoy, J. D. Fry. A Sabbath school is maintained, averaging about
two hundred members, largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Waters, Mr. Davi-
son, T. F. Hamand, Mr. Barley and Mr. Fry. The official brethren are Silas Waters,
D. L. Morehouse, Henry Long, James Kimler and B. F. Briuley. It belongs to the
Bloomington district.
The Cumberland Presbyterians were among the first to establish regular religious
services here. The Rev. R. D. Taylor (an imperfect sketch of whose life and services
in this part of the State will be found in " Downs"), the Revs. Archer and Neal John-
son, and the Rev. James Davis were believed to be the earliest Christian ministers of
that denomination working in the field. The Buckles family were attached to that
Church, and naturally took an interest in getting a house of worship and regular preach-
ino-. Mr. Taylor still resides in Le Roy. Mr. Johnson went to Kansas and died there
three years ago. Mr. Davis lives on the Mackinaw. This belonged to the Mackinaw
Presbytery as early as 1838, for in that year Mr. Taylor was ordained to the Christian
ministry by that body, he having been licensed to preach before leaving Kentucky, in
1836.
Just when the Church was organized seems to be involved in obscurity. Thomas
Buckles and James Rutledge were the first Elders ; and with J. D. Baker and Peter
.Buckles, were the leaders in getting up the first house of worship. Elisha Gibbs put
532 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
up the frame and Mr. Smith inclosed it, after which, Mr. Gibbs and his son put in
the seats.
No one seems to be found to father the architecture of this old church, which,
from all accounts, was one of the oddities of the age. It was forty feet square, and the
entrartce was at the side, under the eaves, back in the alley. The windows had about fifty
lights of glass each, which were square. The pulpit way up to the ceiling. Rev. A. J.
Thomas, who lor a long time was supply, and afterward Pastor, first came herein 1851 ,
aud while living at Atlanta, came here frequently to preach. In 1857, he moved here
on account of the advantages of the seminary which was constructed here under the
auspices of the Cumberland Church. Mr. Thomas had been educated in Indiana. He
served the Church as stated supply until 1858. For a year, R. D. Taylor and William
M. Taylor, now of Macon County, preached, and Mr. Thomas was installed Pastor,
which relation he maintained for twelve years. During his pastorate, the present neat
brick church was built, in 18G3. It is 36x50, with spire 72 feet high. Downey &
Hardy were architects and builders. It cost $8,600, and is free from debt. Mr.
Thomas still lives here, and is now in the employ of the Bloomington (^hair Company as
purchasing agent. He was a preacher of more than ordinary force, and under his pas-
toral labor, the Church increased in numbers to 230 members, built their tine church,^
maintained a good Sabbath school, and grew in strength and efficiency.
Since the close of Mr. Thomas' labors. Rev. R. T. Marlon, Rev. J. D. Best and
Rev. M. H. Kimberlin have preached, each for a year or two. Rev. J. R. Laurence, of
Lincoln, supplies the pulpit half of the time.
Connected with the Church, as really a part of its work, was the Le Roy Seminary,
an institution for higher education than the common schools of that day furnished-
Rev. Robert Patten, from Tennessee, had charge of it from 1854 to 1859, and had sev-
eral assistants. Miss Maltby, Mr. Roach and Miss Conkling were engaged in teaching.
The Seminary was a success until the building-up of the graded common school, when
it was abandoned. The building stood in the north part of town, and was used by the
graded school until the new brick edifice was completed, and then moved to and became
a part of the hotel.
The Le Roy graded school, which is the successor of the Seminary, occupied that
building for a few years, when the citizens decided to have something better.
In 186-1, E. E. Greenman, Dr. Cheney and B. F. Park were Directors, and they
purchased Block 112 of Conkling's Addition, paying $150, and built the two-story
brick schoolhouse, 34x48, at a cost of $4,200.
W. A. Munroe was first Principal, then J.W. Barley, J. X.Wilson, C. A. Barley and M.
Jess. The school oflacers have been fortunate, perhaps attentive to their trust is a better
term, in the selection of principals for this school. Mr. C. A. Bai ley, who taught the school
for five years previous to the five-years term of the present Principal, was a thorough teacher,
with peculiar fitness for management, and excellent judgment in all that appertains to
efficiency and welfare of the school. When Mr. Jess, the present Principal, took the
school, he found it in first-rate condition. He pays a high tribute, evidently a just one,
to Mr. Barley's administration of the schools. Since he left the school, Mr. Barley has
been in but-inoss in Le Roy, as insurance and real estate agent, and, with the useful dis-
position which possesses him, is often called into serving the public in ways almost
innumerable. No one in Le Roy ever thinks of starting a society, company or any
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 533
public undertaking, without Charley Barley's assistance. Really a useful man in the
community and one who is willing to be so. In clerical work he has few superiors.
Mr. M. Jess, who has, since Mr. Barley's close five years ago, had charge of the
schools, was educated in New York, has taught ten years in Champaign County and at
Farmer City, giving everywhere good satisfaction. He grades the school in eleven sec-
tions from the primer through to the graduation from the high school, without reference
to the time employed. When the pupil has performed the work in one section, he is
promoted to another, making the teacher responsible for the proper conduct and instruc-
tion of the pupil.
The course embraces languages, higher mathematics, civil government, the sciences
and history. Each pupil who passes a satisfactory examination is given a diploma, cer-
tifying his or her completion of the prescribed course. The graduating classes average
about nine ; and most of the graduates have made successful teachers.
Mr. Jess is an accomplished educator, seeming to control without an effort, with a
wealth of resource without limit for interesting and leading his pupils up the hill of knowl-
edge. From the estimation in which he is held, it seems as though his tenure is certain.
The average attendance for the winter term was 275. The teachers are, First
Assistant, Miss Anna Sutherland ; intermediate. Miss Susan E. Irwin ; second primary,
Miss Alice King ; first primary, Miss Nora Kline.
Le Roy Lodije, No. 221, F. & A. M., was instituted by dispensation granted January
28, 1856. Charter dated October, 1S56. The charter members were: D. Cheney, W.
M.; Hiram Buck, S. W.; S. D.Baker, J. W. ; J. M.Downey, E. E. Greenman, S. W.
Noble, J. W. Hagel. Three of them are still members. The Lodge numbers now about
sixty. Dr. Cheney has held Master's chair for a long time. The present officers are :
C. M. Davis, W. M.; A. Sigler, S. W.; A. D. Davis, J. W.; R. S. Howard, Treasurer;
T. F. Hamand, Secretary; Dr. J. F. McKensie, Senior Deacon; T. J. Baddeley, Junior
Deacon; J. W. Humphrey, H. I. Barnum, Stewards.
The Lodge can hardly be called a dark-lantern affair, for its night for meeting is the
Tuesday before the full moon. Thus, if almanacs can be relied on, having moonlight
for their meetings.
Lodge No. 149, 1. 0. 0. F., was organized in 1854, with sixteen members. Of the
ori'inal members, B. F. Parks is the only one left in the Lodge now. Present mem-
bership, fifty-three. More than two hundred and fifteen have belonged at different times.
The Lodge has been very successful. It owns the lodge-room, and has funds besides-
James Wright is N. G. ; W. C. Cochran, V. G. ; Z. Chick, Secretary and Lodge Deputy.
Meets each Thursday evening whether there is a moon visible or not.
Le Roy Encampment No. 32 numbers twenty-three members. Alexander Mcllfresh,
C. P.; James Wright, H. P.; W, C. Cochran, S. W.; J. H. Cochran, Scribe; G. S.
Crumbaugh, Treasurer. Meets second and fourth Fridays of each month. The Encamp-
ment is joint-owner of the hall with the Lodge.
The Empire Building and Loan Association was organized under authority of an
act of the Legislature " to enable associations of persons to become a body corporate to
loan money to their own members," June 3, 1874. C. A. Barley, B. Brinley, J. M.
Stearns, S. F. Barnum, A. R. Arbuckle, are the corporators. S. F. Barnum, President;
C. A. Barley, Secretary; J. Keenan, Treasurer. The capital stock is 1,000 shares of
$100 each. There are now 100 members, and about $55,000 in the fund. Interest is
534 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
payable monthly at six per centum. In its workings it has proved a complete success.
The object is to enable laboring men to own their own homes for just about what they
would otherwise pay for rent. So far, about forty have been assisted to get homes.
The charter is limited to eight years.
The Le Roy Library and Reading Association was organized in May, 1875)
by Dr. T. D. Fisher, C. A. Barley and .C. M. Davis. The capital stock is S5
a share. There were eight to commence with. Subscriptions to the capital stock
could be paid in books. Mrs. N. T. Humphrey, President; Dr. Fisher, Vice
President; Gr. L. Sheldon, Secretary; Mrs. T. A. Taylor, Librarian. There are
700 volumes. Loan tickets are S2 per year, or 75 cents per quarter. Stock-
holders pay, 8100 per year. The affairs of the Association are under the management of
an Executive Committee. Mrs. Taylor has been Librarian from the beginning. From her
last report it appears 1,500 books had been taken out during the year.
While yet in its infancy, no one can estimate the influence of this in the present,
or on the future. There are already many valuable books upon its shelves. We notice
sets of" Chambers' Miscellany," Rollins' and Macauley's histories, Wilson's " Rise and
Fall of the Slave Power," " Plutarch's Lives," and many of the standard works of travel,
history, fiction and poetry. The citizens can well afford to give it a wider influence.
The Havana, Rantoul & Eastern Railroad is, or at least the recently built section from
Fisher to Le Roy is, a Le Roy enterprise, and its history belongs here.
March 24, 1876, the company was organized here to build a narrow-gauge road
from Fisher to Le Roy, an extension of the road already built from Rantoul to Fisher.
James Bishop was elected President, C. A. Barley, Secretary, and J. Keenan, Treas-
urer. This action was taken because the people of Empire Township, which had
donated §75,000 to the I., B. & W. R. R., felt that they had been discriminated against
in the matter of freights, and they had assurances that if this road was built, their grain
could be shipped off at less freight than they were paying.
Fifteen thousand dollars was subscribed to the stock, when the death of Mr.
Bishop put a stop to the matter for awhile. In the spring of 1868, B. J. Giffbrd, of
Rantoul, was elected President, the capital stock was increased to $30,000, the right of
way was mostly donated, and in ten months from his election, the road was built and
in running order. Two-thirds of this stuck was subscribed in Empire Township, cre-
ating no debt. The road thus built is twenty-three miles long, and has eight stations
on it. It has already met all expectations, freights are lower than ever before, and the
road is doing a good business. It has good Eastern connections, and will, probably, in
time, be continued west to Havana.
The successive Postmasters of Le Roy have been Hiram Buck, Dr. S. J. Weldon,
S. D. Baker, James Kimler, S. A. Moore, G. D. Crumbaugh and J. W. Brown.
CITY ORGANIZATION.
The town of Le Roy was incorporated in 1853, and remained under town organi-
zation until the spring of 1874, when the fire which burned out the corner opposite the
Le Roy House, burned up the town records. In this fire, two stores. Sill's drug store,
a hotel, ten-pin alley. Dr. Fi.shcr's office and two other wooden buildings were destroyed.
A petition was presented to the Board to permit a city organization. A census was
taken, which showed a population of 1,018.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 535
On the 16th of July, an election was held to vote for or against city organization.
B. F. Brinley, L. H. Parks and H. M. Phillips were Judges of Election. The vote
was 99 for to 11 against city organization, and 91 for to 14 against "minority repre-
sentation." On the 10th of August, an election was held for a Mayor, Clerk, Attor-
ney and six Aldermen, at which election A. J. Thomas, M. S. Stout and C. Howard
acted as Judges; 179 votes were cast, and the following officers were elected : M. S.
Stout, Mayor; J. W. Brown, Clerk; A. R. Arbuckhi, Attorntsy ; James Wright, A.
B. Johnson, J. M. Stearns, William Buckworth, John Kline and A. T. Bishop, Alder-
men. For license, 97 ; against license, 81. August 14, the new officers assumed the
duties of their offices, and J. Keenan was appointed Treasurer ; J. F. Mcllfresh, Mar-
shal and Street Commissioner.
At the election in 1875, J. W. Wright was elected Mayor; C. A. Barley, Clerk;
Gr. D. Crumbaugh, Police Magistrate ; John Kline, Z. Chick, J. W. Brown, I. N.
Kaughman, H. Murray and C. Wamsley, Aldermen. In 1876, C. A. Barley, Clerk;
S. A. Moore, Attorney ; T. L. Buck, B. F. Brinley, A. B. Johnson and J. B. Patter-
son, Aldermen. J. Keenan was appointed Treasurer. The Council this year estab-
lished the fire limits, including within such limits Blocks 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, original
town, and 136 in Conkling's Addition. T. J. Barnett was elected Alderman to fill a
vacancy.
In 1877, J. M. Suggett was elected Mayor; Barley, Clerk ; Keenan, Treasurer;
Moore, Attorney, and J. B. Patterson, R. C. Hallowell and I. N. Kaughman, x\lder-
men. Rev. R. D. Taylor was appointed Marshal and Street Commissioner. In 1878,
A. B. Johnson was elected Mayor, to fill a vacancy ; T. L. Buck, J. F. McKinzie and
E. M. King, Aldermen.
The city is provided with a Champion fire-extinguisher, in charge of a regularly-
organized fire department, of which George Phillips is Foreman.
Directory. — The following are the men and firms now engaged in business :
Dry goods and clothing^ Joseph Keenan, L. H. Parks, W. W. Reynolds & Son ; gro-
ceries, Brinley & Stout, I. N. Humphrey & Son, Murray & King ; hardware and
implements, Beeney & Galusha, G. YJ . Potts ; clothing, hoots, etc., D. Young, J. W.
Humphrey ; drugs, etc., William Buckworth, A. C. Fisk ; boots and shoes, J. Stearns;
books, etc., Maxwell & Co., J. W. Brown; harness, W. Braselton, J. C. Corcoran &
Bro. ; bank, J. Keenan; butchers, Chrk & hougheck, George Yost; millinery, etc.,
Mrs. M. C. Hampton, Mrs. T. A. Taylor ; physicians, T. D. Fisher, J. F. McKenzie,
G. W. Keys, George Espey; lawyer, J. M. Stillwill ; insurance, C. A. Barley; wagon-
makers, Z. Chick, N. L. Robinson ; gi-ain and lumber, Barnum & Keenan, J. 0. Peck-
ham & Co. ; milling, Barnum & Keenan ; newspaper, C. M. Davis ; blacksmiths, James
Wright, L. Wilcox, B. F. Ayton, William Jones, Henry Alters. John Moss, L. Kazar ;
hotels, Le Roy House, Sam Bevens ; Cottage House, Mrs. A. R. Arnold ; jewelry, C.
C. Mayer. J. W. Veatch ; restaurant, Albert Miller; livery, A. ^Imyvvlj ; furniture,
etc., Howard & Hallowell; dentists, T. G. Erskine ; j^hotograjyher, J . Hammond; tile-
maker, Kelley ; nursery, L. A. Pike ; saw-mill, J. S. Young ; live-stock dealer, J. V.
Smith ; carpenters and bidldtrs, A. B. Johnson, George Simpson, Charles Wamsley,
I. N. Kaufman, J. Patterson.
Empire Station, on the line of this road, four miles southeast of Le Roy, is a ham-
let of a few houses and a fair, small business.
536 HISTORY OF McLean county,
CHENEY'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.
The wealth and magnificence of McLean County grew from its beautiful groves as
much as from any other one thing. These goodly forests in their primeval beauty drew the
pioneer as surely as the magnet does the needle. No other considerations overbore the
generous shelter which these islands of shade and their accompanying cool streams gave —
about the only comforts which the early settlers found in their new homes. All other
were surroundings of discomfort. The cramped cabins, the absence of schools and
markets, sickness — always the attendant on new locations — severe storms, depredations of
wild beasts, fires, snakes, poorly paid toil, and the uncertainties of the future, all gave
way to the supporting shelter of a grove of timber.
When Jonathan Cheney first saw the grove, which took its name from him in
1825, it covered nearly all of Sections 19, 20, 28 and half of 27 and 21, something more
than four square miles in all. The Sangamon Kiver, here large enough to be of good
value for watering stock the year around, ran directly through it, and the timber was of
good strong growth for lumber. Cheney gave his name to this grove, and in turn the
grove gave the name to the voting precinct, where, until 1858, the people assembled to
perform the glad, glorious duties of Americans — to vote without the modern inventions
of "bulldozing" or bribery. This in turn gave the name to the township when it was
organized ; but a little incident will show how near this last scheme came to failing.
When the name Cheney's Grove had been decided on and sent to the Auditor's ofl&ce
at Springfield, the chirography as may well be supposed, was not perfect, and the ofiicial
mistook the name for Cherry Grove, which name had already been pre-empted by a town-
ship in Knox County, and he informed the Board of Supervisors that another name
must be selected ; but the error was discovered in time to save the name.
Cheney's Grove is in the eastern second tier from the southern line of the county,
and has Anchor on its north, Belleflower on its south, Arrowsmith on its west, and Ford
County on its eastern boundary. It is a full Congressional Township, and is described
as Town 23, Range 6 east of the Third Principal Meridian. The Sangamon River
touches it at the center of its western boundary, and passes through in an east-south-
easterly course, passing out at the extreme southeast corner, the grove lying along both
sides of this, with Saybrook nearly in the center of it. The high rolling prairie which
marks the northern boundary of the Sangamon Valley, all through eastern McLean
extends through the northern portion of the township, and out into Ford County,
toward Gibson City, forming the delightful variety frequently alluded to in this work.
The land in the Grove and most of that south of it is also sufiiciently rolling for good
drainage and the highest cultivation.
The LaFayette, Bloomington & Muncie Railroad runs through the township from
east to west, having on it the only village or post office in the town — Saybrook. Jonathan
Cheney with his wife and eight children, Mary, Thoma.s, Owen, Keturah, Emilia, George^
William Haines and Catharine, came here in 1825. Two little twin girls and one other
whose stay was not long, were left buried at their old home in Ohio, and two children,
Return Jonathan and Rebecca, were born here. Of these thirteen, all but the three
above mentioned lived to grow up, and all but one of them married. The grandchildren
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 537
of the aged pair numbered fifty-nine; their great-grandchildren have not yet been num-
bered. His homestead was on Section 28, south of the Grove, and several children
settled around him there. The elder Cheney was a man of strong will and great deter-
mination; a man of good judgment, but seems to have been very undecided in his
earlier days, for he moved frequently. Came with his family once to Illinois and
returned; came again, leaving them here, he returned to Ohio, and wrote them to sell
out and come back. They did not follow his advice, however, and he returned to
Cheney's Grove, and the next boy which was born to him he named Return Jonathan,
a name which might well have been given to the father. He had returned, however,
for the last time now, for he remained here to see his children grow up around him
prosperous and respected. Nearly all of them lived in the county and became well off
financially, though most of them died at a less age than he and his estimable wife
attained to. He died in 1862, at the age of seventy-seven. His widow surviving him
about fifteen years.
Of his children, Thomas and Owen early entered considerable land in Padua,
and became important citizens in the early history of that part. The latter died, and
the former removed to California.
George and William Haines owned and lived upon large farms in the southern part
of this township, where their widows yet reside. Return owned a large farm just south
of them, in Belleflower Township, which, a few years since, he sold, and still resides
near Say brook,
Catharine and Rebecca married the brothers, John and Benjamin Prothero, pros-
perous and successful farmers, who live, the former in Saybrook and the latter on a
fine farm south of the Grove.
Mary became Mrs. Stansbery, and lived near the grove on the south, and Emilia,
Mrs. Horr, and are both dead. William Haines was elected State Senator for this dis-
trict to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Isaac Funk, who died while he was in office.
He served in an acceptable manner for the single year which he sat in the Senate. His
tragic death is too recent and the circumstances too sad to call for reproduction here.
He was long one of the best known and most generally respected men in this part of
the county.
Probably, next to Jonathan Cheney, in point of fact, though not, perhaps, of date,
the naan who did most to " settle " Cheney's Grove and make life comfortable here was
old Robert Cunningham, who came here from Clarke County, Ind., in 1829, where he
had lived twenty years. He had done good service under Harrison in the war of 1812,
and was present at the battle of Tippecanoe.
He took up 400 acres of land, rightly judging that his family would want nearly'^as
much as that. He built a log house in the northeast corner, and went to work mak-
ing a farm with the aid of his boys. Three or four years after (we are sorry the
date cannot be accurately established), he built the first and only water grist-mill ever
built on the Sangamon River in McLean County. It was a curiosity in its way, and if
such a mill could now be exhibited at Bloomiugton, bolts, bins, stones and all, it would
make a larger return of shekels to its owner, at 5 cents a sight, than it would to be
run as a merchant-mil). There was probably not a sawed board or stick in it ; in fact,
no sawing was being done yet in this part of the county. It is evident that sawing was
not in demand, or he would have put up a saw-mill instead.
538 HISTORY OF McLean county.
His " kit" of millwright tools to build it consisted of an ax, adz, jackplane, draw-
ing-knife, and, possibly, a jack-knife, hammer and saw. Most of the work was done
with the three former-named implements.
The building was of logs, and it is believed he did every bit of the work on it,
except raising the log.<, himself. The stones were the common prairie bowlders, cut
down to get about two- feet face on them. The floors, meal-bins, flume and all other " nice
work " were puncheons, split out and dressed down to match. The latter did not always
" hold water," and he had to "dust" it down with gravel, very frequently, to keep the
water from running through the widening cracks. The wheel was made out of the
same handy puncheons, and the bolting-chest similarly. For a long time, he had no
elevator to carry the ground matter up to the bolt, and it was lugged up in the half-
bushel and emptied on a platform — the original Saybrook platform, it may be — where a
low-priced boy (the older ones had to be kept at work on the farm) sat hour after hour
poking the product of the stone into the upper end of the bolt. This was business
for the boys, and it will not be doubted when they say they sometimes got very tired of
it. No smut-machine nor middlings-purifier cumbered up the old mill ; but the people
esteemed it a decided improvement over pounding their grain in a mortar.
There was sufficient water to run about six months in the year, and, in 1838, he
built a saw-mill, with the old-fashioned gate-saw, which, in flush times of water, would
go up one minute and down the next. The rainy season of 1844, the stream was too
high, during a great portion of the spring and summer, to run the mill, as indeed the
long-continued rains prevented almost all labor; planting, tilling and travel were
impeded, and it was one of the most discouraging years the old settlers ever knew.
Mr. Cunningham continued to run these mills for about fifteen years, and until Mr.
Blakesley built the old steam-mill.
Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham were the parents of fifteen children, all of whom grew
up, married and had families of their own, though none of them seemed to have been
blessed by Providence with the same number. All of them lived around here for a
while, and four still live in McLean County. Eleven are still living. The names of
these children, ten daughters and five sons, together with the number of children each
has been the parent of, are here given, and until some one in McLean County can show
a better record, Saybrook will claim the championship for the Cunninghams : Sarah,
12 ; Phoebe, 6 ; Anna, 5 ; Mary, 9 ; Thomas, 6 ; Jesse, 3 ; Abby. 7 ; Farily, 8 ; King
Solomon, 6 fhe had only one wife) ; Sardelia, 6 ; Emeline, 4 ; William E., 8 ; Jer-
emiah, 5 ; Aphia, 5 ; Robert, 6. Total, 96.
Mrs. Cunningham, in addition to the daily household work and the exacting duties
pertaining to maternity, carded, spun and wove the wool which made their daily
clothing; brought thus safely through the mumps, measles, whooping-cough, croup,
cholera morbus and courting, and lived to the good old age of seventy-five years,
without ever losing a child or losing her firm faith in fore-ordination and predestination,
which is the central doctrine in the faith of that branch of the Baptist Church of
which she was a bright and shining light. It never has been fully understood by
mothers of the j)rcsent day how those old mothers in Israel got along. That they had
some strong sustaining aid in the way of sense of duty, and, perhaps, in most cases, the
aid of faith in the promises, is more than likely. Indeed, it can hardly be conceived
that such an endless round of pressing and exhausting labors, running through nearly
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 539
thirty years of woman's life, could be borne without such aid. The sense of« duty is
one of the strongest, and nerves weak mortality to the most laborious and heroic acts.
That which could have driven Mrs. Cunningham to her grave or to destraction was,
possibly, to be endured even with joy and pleasure under the incentives of faith, duty
and love. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham were members of the Antinomian, or in common
parlance, " Hardshell," Baptists. Their house was the place of the stated preaching of
that sect. Rev. John Darnall, of Indian Grove, was for years the regular preacher
here. The membership here was limited, and now seems to have entirely disappeared.
It is due to them to say that, at least in their case, none of the absurdities which, by
common fame, attached to some of the disciples of this sect were ever acted on by them.
While holding to all the doctrines of the sect firmly, they were sensitive to any irreg-
ularity of conduct as they could have been had they believed in salvation by work*
alone. '
James, a brother of Robert Cunningham, came here at the same time, and lived
with him, or near by, where he lived on Section 27, where James Thompson now resides.
Robert Means came from Kentucky and settled on the Little Vermilion in 1829.
The next year, he came to Cheney's Grove and settled north of the Grove, where
James Vanscoyoc lives. He had been a soldier in the war of 1812, and again shoul-
dered his musket when the Black Hawk war sent a thrill of fear through these settle-
ments. His first winter here was the one of the deep snow, when everybody here-
abouts had to do their own grinding. He used an old iron wedge for his millstone, and
fastened it by a pole to a spring-pole overhead, and utilized the power of his children
to drive it. It was a novel experiment, but worked well.
He died in 1835, leaving a widow and ten children with but little means of sup-
port ; but they were used to work and got along without suffering more than many
others. Six of his children now live here — James R., Owen A., David D., Mrs. Ball,
Mrs. McMackin and Mrs. Vanscoyoc. The former is a Justice of the Peace and a
business man of Saybrook, and has repeatedly held important trusts. He is recognized
as a man of strict integrity and very good business hnbits.
W. H. Riggs came here fi*oai Kentucky, in the fall of 1830, just before the snow
fell, with his brother-in-law, Henry Pitts. They were on the way to the Wabash, with
a drove of hogs, when the deep snow fell, and nearly froze to death on the way back.
Their feet and faces were badly frozen, and they considered themselves fortunate in
escaping death. They settled on the farm where John Newcomb now lives. Mr.
Riggs took a claim on Section 17, and pounded his own corn in a hominy mortar for
two months. He was the first Class-leader of the first Methodist class that was formed
here. He and his wife had been members of the church in Kentucky, and, coming
into the new settlement, resolved to bring their religion with them. His coming here
was largely owing to his objections to the institution of slavery, and he did not mean
that his children should come up under its influence. He and his wife still live here,
and own and occupy a good farm of 200 acres. Their six children have grown up
around them, honored, respected and enterprising citizens. Mr. Pitts traded a horse to
Mr. Clark for his claim, and lived on it awhile. Snowden Ball came here from Ken-
tucky, in 1831, at the age of seventeen, and commenced working on a farm. In 1835,
he married a daughter of Robert Means. He died in 1873, and left a widow and eight
children. Mrs. Ball and three of the children still live on the farm north of the Grove.
^40 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
His brother, Hilleary Ball, came at the same time, the young men accompanying
their uncle, with whom they lived after the death of their father. Mr. Ball was mar-
ried in 1838 to a daughter of Aaron Hildreth, who was one of the first settlers in Arrow-
smith Township. He has been a prosperous farmer, and he and his wife still live here.
Five of their children have grown up and live near them.
Ephraim S. Mj^ers, who is now the oldest resident of the township, came to what
is now Vermilion County from Kentucky, in 1826, when twenty-five years old. After
working around awhile, he married, and farmed two or three years, and then, in 1830,
■came to where he now lives. Only Jonathan Cheney, the Cunninghams, Robert Means,
Benjamin Thomas and a Mr. Clark then i-esided here. He was a hearty, driving, hard-
working man, with a constitution like iron, and a disposition to make the most of life.
Full of tunes — in fact at the age of seventy-seven they are not all out of him — work, hunt-
ing, visiting and other duties were all alike to Uncle Ephraim. He didn't much care which
it was, he enjoyed them all. When the deep snow fell, he had just returned home with
a quantity of meal for his winter's use ; but before the snow was gone he had to pound
hominy like the rest of his neighbors. He says he has hunted in every timber grove
and on every stream and spring from the Little Vermilion to the Mackinaw, and every
species of game known in these pans, from wild-hogs to rattlesnakes. The old settlers
never tire of telling of Myers' hunting exploits. He and Cheney went down to what is
now called Drummer Grove, to hunt, and took along a dog which bore the name of
Drummer. The dog behaved so unreasonably that they killed him ; and ever afterward
the piece of woodland was called Drummer's Grove, and the township in which it stands
took its name from that dog, which, by the way, was not so famous in his life as hon-
ored in his untimely death.
Mr. Myers has been twice married, and is the father of twelve children, most of
whom are living within a few miles of his home. Every male member of his family,
except Ephraim himself, who was old enough to enlist, joined the grand army of the
Union, and marched into Dixie to sustain the old flag. Five of his own sons, a step-
son and a young man whom he had brought up in the love and admiration of the
flag of his country, seven in all, went forth from his roof. One, Jacob, his eldest never
returned to tell the story of his trials and triumphs.
He has a fine farm ot 500 acres, and thinks he can enjoy what he has accumu-
lated for a few years.
Benjamin Thomas came about the same time to Section 27. He died soon, and
his widow continued to live there for some years.
Fielding Lloyd lived early on a portion of the land now occupied by Myers.
Abram Stansbery, one of a large relationship which has numerously settled or
grown up here in the eastern part of the county, came here about the same time, and,
in 1832, while the fright in regard to the Black Hawk war was at its height, he married
a daughter of Jonathan Cheney. A wedding at any time in the new settlement
" caused talk," but this one at a time when it was not known what moment the red-skins
might pounce down on them and carry the tomahawk, the scalping-knife and the fire-
brand through the Grove, caused many remarks. But Abram's faith was strong, and
answered all by (juoting tlie slightly changed apostolic injunction, " Better to
marry than to enlist." At this time, only one house — that of Father Newcomb —
•eighteen miles away, stood between here and Urbana, at Newcomb's Ford. Mr.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUllTY. 541
Stansbery died leaving two grown children and a considerable estate. Edward Stansbery
came here from East Tennessee in 1833. With the neighbors' help, they fixed up
their little cabin and got to living before winter set in, but the next year they all had
the ague so badly that they could not do anything.
He entered the land he had a claim on in 1835, in Section 20, and sold this and
bought another. He died in 1860. His son, W. K., for a long time and still Post-
master at Saybrook, was thirteen years old when he came — just the right age to be
very thoroughly impressed with matters, and with a good memory, his assistance kindly
furnished to the writer of this sketch is hereby gratefully acknowledged. Mr. Edward
Stansbery was for more than fifty years a firm and consistent member of the Methodist
Church ; was one of its earliest promoters here. Of his seven children, only two remain
liere — one son and one daughter. He was a very small man in stature, but large in
manliness, abounding in faith and good works. His brother Ezekiel came here at the
same time and settled on Section 19. He had a good farm of 120 acres. He died
there leaving nine children, two of whom still remain here. E. K. Stansbery had a
chance of schooling such as was to be found in the Grove at that time, and made good
use of it.
The first schoolhouse was built in 1832, between where the mill and the cemetery
now are ; indeed, this schoolhouse and cemetery were the " first beginnings" of Saybrook.
A Mr. Rowland taught school, and a Mr. Harbison followed him. The school was run
by subscription. The teacher and some of the citizens carried a subscription-paper
around, and such as felt able subscribed for one or more children's schooling at $2 per
term. The attendance upon school was not limited to the scholars subscribed for, but
the teacher would not undertake the school unless a sufiicient number of subscriptions
were made to pay him for his services. While lame William Johnson was teaching, the
schoolhouse burned down, and his school was transferred to a vacant house of Mr. Che-
ney's during the remainder of the term. A schoolhouse was then built one mile west
of the present Saybrook, which also burned, when one was built a mile and a half east,
which soon became a third scholastic feast for the " devouring flames." Just why all
these '^ cool retreats " of learning thus burned is not known unless it is found in the
fact that the youths here had such a " burning desire " for education that the buildings
themselves caught the enthusiasm and went up in smoke.
Isaac, another of the numerous name of Stansbery came to the Grove in 1836, and
commenced farming on his brother Ab ram's place, and has lived to see nine of his ten
children grow up to manhood and womanhood, most of whom settled near him. His
son Isaac gave his life to his country, and died at Milliken's Bend.
Otha Owen came here an orphan boy of eleven with his Uucle Elias in September,
1834, who settled and took a tarm on Section 35, south of the Grove and near the
river. He died in 1862. Otha lived with him eleven years, went to school at the old
log schoolhouse near the cemetery until it burned and followed the fortunes of the
others. He well remembers the " sudden change " in 1836. His uncle was away and
his aunt kept him home from school to dig a trench around the barn to keep the water
and slush from running into the stable. When the " change" struck him, he bethought
himself to cut the night's wood. The cold was so intense that he could only remain at
the wood-pile about three minutes at a time ; but the wood had to be cut, or the family
would certainly freeze to death before morning. It was a lively time for the lad, and the
542 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
hour that he spent trying to cut wood without freezing to death will never be forgotten.
He remembers as but yesterday seeing the mail-carrier going by on his way to the next
post office east, which was more than five miles away. lie felt sure the man could not
stand the trip, but believes he did, for he never heard of his death. When he arrived
at age, he entered eighty acres of land where he now lives, in Sections 34 and 35.
He owns 147 acres here and has seen eight of his eleven children grow up around him.
The year 1844, all the flat land of this country was afloat all summer ; not corn
enough was raised to feed the teams on, and small grain was cradled in the standing
water.
Mr. Owen says that the county road before spoken of was laid out on the half-
section line to accommodate those who were trying to build up Saybrook, which was
also the fact in regard to the settlers at Indian Grove, directly north of Saybrook.
p]than Newcomb came to Newcomb's Ford, a kind of a half-way place of enter-
tainment down the river, twenty miles from Cheney's Grove, in 1828. In 1835, he
removed with his family to"Section 17, Cheney's Grove, where he made the first frame
house that was built here. The lumber was sawed with a whip-saw as there was no
mill then running here. He bought the claim of Henry Pitts ; the same on which
John Newcomb lives. One of his daughters married 0. H. P. Vanscoyoc ; one, Jacob
Smith, of Arrowsmith, and one, William Arbogast, of the same township. His son
John lives there yet on Section 17. His son Joseph split rails and made a farm on Sec-
tions 18 and 19, where he still resides. Nine of his eleven children live, most of them
near him.
James Vanscoyoc came from Ohio to Old Town Timber in Padua in 1829. After
living there some years, he came to Cheney's Grove and settled on the Means place.
Five of his seven children are living either in this or the adjoining townships. One
son, Walter, was for some years in business in Arrowsmith, and did much to build up
that village and often occupied positions of trust in the official matters of the town. The
family is recognized as one of the most enterprising and successful in this part of the
county — not in the sense of acquiring large property, for none of them have become
wealthy, but as strong, good citizens and valuable accessions to any new neighborhood.
John Prothero came from Canada to Cheney's Grove in 1840. He located on what
is part of the Haines Cheney farm, and entered the land in 1842. In 1857, he went
to Bloomington and returned here in 1873. He owns a good farm north of Saybrook,
but lives in the village now. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1875, and is
giving his best endeavors to keeping up the reputation which Saybrook has always had
for peace and quiet.
Benjamin Prothero followed him in 1848. He lived with his brother awhile, and
then took up land south of the Grove and east of Cheney's land. He has about five
hundred acres of as fine land as there is in the town, and is a prosperous farmer and a
careful manager.
Both these men married daughters of Jonathan Cheney.
Elijah Ellsworth came from Ohio in 1856, and settled out on the prairie, on the
northeast quarter of Section 24. He has upon bis place the identical log house which
Return J. Cheney was born in after his father returned from Ohio.
J. W. Bowie has a fine farm on the same section, and Jack Cunningham has a
farm on Sections 24 and 25, which he improved in 1859. James Vanscoyoc improved a.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
543
farm in that part of the township in 1860. About this latter date, the township filled
up, and its history has since been one of continued prosperity. Their crops, their
fruits and their herds have been good — success has waited on the farmer's labors every-
where. A few of her best young men put out their young lives in their country's
service. Many have gone West, and a good many yet live among us.
A number of nice farms and good farm-buildings dot the township. The Haines
Cheney farm, now occupied and owned by his widow, just south of Saybrook, is a
beautiful one, with a nice two-story brick house, probably the finest country residence in
the township.
Mrs. George Cheney has 200 acres adjoining, with a large, sightly farmhouse,
excellent barn and good outbuildings and appointments.
Hilleary Ball has a fine farm of 300 acres north of town. He is a neat farmer, has
good buildings and extensive orchards. Mr. Ball has been engaged in cattle-raising largely.
G. W. Biggs, northwest of town, has a fine farm of 300 acres, well fixed with fine
buildings, and every appointment as though he calculated to live there.
Ben Prothero is a good farmer. He has 450 southeast of town, with comfortable
buildings, excellent stock and good crops.
Below will be found, in tabular form, the township officers elected since 1861, the
records failing to show who were elected before that time :
Date.
Votes j
cast.
Supervisor.
Clerk.
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
W.
.....iw.
D.
D.
ID.
:c.
;:::::!?•
174 W
•259>.
250 F.
285;F.
189F.
.J.
J.
J.
[J-
177 W
!J.
H. Cheney 'Thomas Newland.
H. Cheney Thomas Newland.
Harrison 'j. L. Ballard
Harrison J. L. Ballard
Harrison
W. Atkinson.
Warford
L. Ballard....
H. Riggs
Mechling
Mechling
Jlechling
Mechling
J. L. Ballard
, J. L. Ballard
C. W. Atkinson..
, J. V. Lateer
, J.V. Lateer
. H. A. Winter
.H. A. Winter
.H. A. Winter
Ij. M. Carpenter
B. Henderson John Prothero.
B. Henderson C. W. Knapp....
R. Means C. W. Knapp....
R. Means —
. A. Stewart.
Thompson...
A. Robinson.
D. B. Hereford.
D. B. Hereford.
Assessor.
Collector.
T. Newland
T. Newland
George Thompson...
J. L. Ballard
George Thompson...
N. Snyder
M. R Stansbery
R. Palmer
J. M. Stansbery
Henry Ball
R. .J Brewer
W. R. Stansbery
R. Palmer
A. L.Bay
D. R. Trask
W. K. Stansbery
W. K. Stansbery
W. K. Stansbery
W. K. Stansbery
T. Newland.
T. Newland.
George Thompson.
M. B. Sprague.
George Thompson.
N. Snyder.
George Thompson.
C. W. Atkinson.
R. Palmer.
R. Palmer.
J. .1. Ballard.
J. S. Barnick.
M. F. Atkinson.
W. H. Ball.
E. Coile.
James Thompson.
James Thompson.
James Thompson.
E. Coile.
The following have been elected Justices of the Peace : M. C. Young, J. T. Voss,
John Clark, George A. Black, Thomas Kendall, T. F. Bhea, J. B. Henderson, E. B.
Dyer, J. Prothero. J. E,. Means.
The following have been elected Commissioners of Highways : G. W. Riggs,
George Cheney, Benjamin Prothero, J. S. Vanscoyoc, Otha Owen, J. J. Follick, W. H.
Riggs, J. W. Pugsley, F. Mechling, H. Warford, C. Palmer, John Newcomb, James
Rowland, R. J. Cheney, W. A. Stewart, 0. Springstead, P. W. Zook.
SAYBROOK.
For nearly twenty years, the settlements around had looked to other places for
trade, and no attempt had been made to "start a town," as the more modern parlance
544 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
has it. In 1846, Eli Blakesley built a steam saw-mill a little east of where the present
mill stands, and built two houses. Soon after this, a blacksmith-shop was built, and
these convenient and useful things constituted the beginnings of Saybrook.
But it was not until 1854 that J. B. Beckwith commenced the first grocery store
which was known here. He started with about $300 capital, but with abundance of
push and energy. He soon added dry goods to his stock in trade. About 1858,
together with his brother, he put up a steam saw-mill at Lyons, Iowa ; but, a year later,
took it down and moved it to Saybrook and ran it several years. The lumber was
mostly for buildings and fences, and the building of neighboring towns. For a while,
a good deal of black walnut was sawed into silling and lumber for the finishing-off of
houses ; but latterly, it was only made into merchant lumber. A large amount of black-
walnut logs have been shipped away to Indianapolis, to be sawed up there for Eastern
market.
Mr. Beckwith was very successful in business, and is popularly supposed to have left
here with a hundred-fold more than he brought, when he went to California in 1876.
William Beckwith and T. J. Warren formed a partnership for the mercantile bus-
iness, which continued until 1865, but continued in trade until 1870.
Gallager & Harrison opened trade here in 1859, and continued till 1867, when Har-
rison bought out the interest of his partner and remained in trade here until 1877.
Burford Brothers commenced selling goods here in 1869, and, in 1874, went to
Farmer City.
When the railroad was built, grain and lumber became, of course, the two impor-
tant lines of trade. Rev. Mr. Baldwin began buying grain in 1871, before the road
was built. Thomas Kendall entered into the grain trade here in 1872. J. P. Wheeler,
of Boston, had buyers out here. Rhea & Lowery bought for him ; and James R.
Means was in the market as a purchaser for some time. W. H. Beckwith and A. Vinccl
commenced soon, and still continue large buyers, the latter having recently made
arrangements to buy and ship from Taylor's Station, a point half-way between Saybrook
and Gibson City. Overhall & Co. also bought for awhile.
Dr. J. E. Davis, the present hotel-keeper at Gibson, was the first practicing phy-
sician here. He came here before Saybrook was booked, and lived at William Riggs'.
He remained here eight or ten years, when he retired from practice and purchased a
large farm at Drummer's Grove, and for several years was a successful and prosperous
farmer. Dr. Crain was here a few years and then sold out his practice to Dr. Ballard.
For the two last years, Saybrook has exceeded any other station on the line of
this road in the amount of grain shipped on this road. The average for these two years
has been greater than any years before and has been about as follows: 300,000 bu.sltels
of corn, ] 00,000 bushels of oats, 60,000 bushels of rye and other grains. The dispo-
sition of many of the wealthy farmers to feed less of their grain to cattle will account
for part of this increase. From the peculiar nature of her po.sition, the range of country
tributary to Saybrook has not been tapped by any of the new railroad enterprises which
have taken form during the past year or two. Formerly, the grain here went through
to New England ; now the buyers find themselves compelled to sell on track.
The post ofiice was established in 1831, and was held some years by Jonathan
Cheney. It was then called Cheney's Grove. It was served once a week by the route
running through from Danville to Pekin. In 1843, Mr. McMackin was appointed
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 545-
Postmaster; he lived farther west, but was on the same route. The mail used to come
Saturday, and he would carry it over to church and lay it on the table. When the
service was over the people would ■* come around the table " and select their own with-
out the newsboys cry of " 'ere'syour Sunday Tribune! " "She-cago Times! All about
the latest scandal."
M. C. Young was appointed in 1845, and, about 1850, it was brought to Saybrook.
David Polk laid out the town in 1854, and W. H. Beckwith named it. Beckwith was
appointed Postmaster in 1865, and got the name changed to correspond with that of
the village.
W. K. Stansbery was appointed in 1870, at which time, mail was carried twice a
week to and from Bloomington, and once a week east to Ludlow, until the railroad was
built, and then daily each way.
The present record of the business of Saybrook is :
Dry goods, etc., T. S. Collins, D. B. Hereford & Co., Elliott & Bryant; gro-
ceries^ S. H. Jennings, Means & Collins, W. H. Scott, E. A. Stansbery ; hardware
and implements, J. W. Pugsley ; implements, J. F. Walker; drugs, E. H. Shores,
C. McDaniel ; hankers, W. H. Schureman & Co.; lumber and lime, David Hurley ;
grain, A. Vincel, M. Lucas, W. H. Beckwith, L. Reddick, J. A. Myers; miller, M.
Lucas; physicians, i. L. Ballard, H. A. Winter, C. T. Orner, G. W. Barton; lawyers^
William Van Voris, 0. C. Sabin, E. B. Dyer; publishers, T. J. Horsley ; dentists, J.
M. Crigler, B. T. Harrison, William Galloway ; millinery and dress, Mrs. 0. J.
Simmons, Miss Hattie Stansbery, Mrs. Anderson, Miss Galloway ; tailor, J. W. Rod-
man ; jeiceler, G. W. Morris ; hotels, J. W. Fendersmith, Thomas Halloway ; livery,
R. Palmer ; photographer, C. 0. Smith ; blacksmiths, Sohn & Williams, J. W. Tear,
William Cosgrove, Ben Sprague ; wagon-makers, M. W. Blair, Heller & Nelson ; har-
ness, boots and shoes, C E. Moran, S. Carey; eating-house, W. E. Stansbery; butchers,
Magee Brothers; barber, W. T. Mason; gunsmith, Samuel Fendersmith; B. R. agent,
M. M. Stewart; express agent, W. L. Means; trackmaster, Patrick 0' Grady ; teaclb-
ers in public schools, Prof. 0. Springstead, Miss Alice Crisswell, Miss Sallie Hogan.
The Saybrook Lodge, No. 468, Free & Accepted Masons, was organized in
1863. The charter members were P. H. Hart, La. F. Grant, J. G. Davis, W. H.
Guthrie, T. F. Rhea, H. Warford, G. W. Wheeler. The first oflBcers were: P. H.
Hart, W. M.; L. F. Grant, S. W.; T. F. Rhea, J. W.; H. Warford, Treasurer; W. H.
Guthrie, Secretary. There are now sixty-five members. The Masonic Building Asso-
ciation is a trustee for the lodge for the purpose of building and holding its property.
This association owns the upper story of the double brick three-story store in which thfr
Masonic and Odd Fellows' Halls are. The present officers are : P. W. Hart, W. M.;
T. S. Collins, S. W.; J. Moran, J. W.; 0. Springstead, Secretary; J. A. Myers, Treas-
urer ; T. J. Horsley, S. Deacon ; S. R. Wills, J. Deacon.
The Saybrook Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., was organized in 1871. Charter members, T.
B. Crigler, William Van Voris, 0. C. Sabin, G. W. Barton, C. W. McCord. Ton
were added at the first meeting. The officers are : 0. C. Sabin, N. G.; C. W. McCord,
V. G.; William Van Voris, Secretary. The Lodge has always been prosperous. Th&
hall which it uses belongs to the Masonic Association. Meets Thursday evenings.
M6 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
CHURCHES.
Among the first of that pioneer advance-guard of religious teachers, the Meth-
odists, who labored for the good of souls here, the names of Messrs. Zadoc Hall,
Maynard, Britteuheim, Bird, Norman Allen, Mr. Hindal and S. H. Martin are remem-
bered. Father Riggs, who was the first Class-leader here, thinks Mr. Beggs was the first
preacher, and that Mr. Duty, who organized the class, followed him. This class was
organized, probably, in 1833, possibly a year earlier, in the schoolhouse which stood by
the cemetery, and consisted of five members — Mr. and Mrs. Riggs, Mrs. Pitts, Mrs.
Eliza Myers and Mrs. Sarah Thomas. Of this number, only the now venerable leader
and his wife remain to continue the good work they then assumed to perform. Forty-
six years of fitful changes have not changed their " relations " with the church militant.
For many years, the servants of God, the pioneer preachers, held their services
around in houses, and it was not until 1843 that the first M. E. Church was built on
the land of Mr. Edward Stansbery. The circuit then used to embrace the Big Grove
(Champaign), Middletown (Mahomet), Cheney's Grove, Indian Grove, Mackinaw (Lex-
ington), Blooming Grove, Hurley's Grove (Farmer City), and required four weeks to
make the circuit. The new church was a great triumph for the people, and they natu-
jally felt proud of it. It was framed, 30x40, and it never will be known how much it
cost. A " bee " was made to hew, frame and inclose it, and the plastering was done rainy
days. Not much money was contributed or handled in this primary affair. It answered
the purpose very well for twenty years, when it was sold and the large new one was put
up in the village under the preaching of Rev. C. G. Bradshaw. The Saybrook charge
became a station in 1862. The new building was 40x60, framed, two stories high, and
was built by a queer kind of partnership between the church and state, or, rather, the
school district. By this partnership, the lower story was usjsd for the school. The
church, through its constituted authorities supplied a well-qualified principal to conduct
a high school, and two assistants were provided by the district. This partnership did
not work smoothly, and was, indeed, a very unnatural one. After a few years, the
Methodists sold out their interest in the building to the district, and it is now occu-
pied for school purposes only. Five departments are maintained in the fall and winter
terms, and three in the summer, under the efficient management of Mr. Oliver Spring-
stead an experienced and thorough educator.
The present fine brick church of the Methodists was built in 1876, at a cost of
$7,000. It is 40x70, with belfry and towers running up from the corner. It is
handsomely done off, carpeted and pleasantly seated. Rev. John Kumler was in charge
of the church when it was built.
The United Brethren Church, next to the Methodist, was the pioneer religious
•organization here, sending its patient and laborious workers into every nook and corner
of these early settlements.
Rev. Mr. Parks, from Lexington, preached here, irregularly, as early as 1853, and
some of the other brethren before him. Rev. M. T. Chew, now of Decatur, com-
menced traveling this circuit in 1855, and was followed by the veteran, Hiram Stoddard,
in 1857. Mr. Stoddard has been preaching forty-two years, formerly in Ohio, most of
the time as a circuit preacher.
%-
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PRES. ILLS WES. UNIV.
BLOOMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 549
The Randolph Grove Circuit then embraced portions of six counties, and is now
divided into nine circuits. From Randolph Grove, the line extended to Wapella,
Clinton, nearly to Decatur east, to where Bement now is, to Champaign ; thence to the
Upper Wabash Conference, north through Ford to Paxton, west to the Kickapoo charge.
It included twenty-three appointments, and took three weeks of daily preaching in
houses, shops, groves or schoolhouses wherever the people could be best accommodated.
While Mr. Stoddard was on this circuit, there was no time that interesting revivals
of the Spirit were not in effective operation at some points. This was in the Illinois
Conference, and the annual conferences were held west of the Illinois River. In 1864,
the Central Illinois Conference was formed of what was before a Presiding Elder's
district, with Rev. Jacob Kanoyer as Elder.
' Mr. Stoddard formed the class at Cunningham's Schoolhouse in 1857. Abram
Zook was first Class-leader.
Rev. Mr. Van Gordon followed Mr. Stoddard, and Mr. Gomline succeeded. Mr.
Stoddard then returned for two years, by which time the circuit had been divided by
the State road running to Danville. Mr. Warner succeeded him.
Mr. Stoddard continues to reside here at Saybrook, and still preaches ; but, at his
own request, on account of failing health he has been assigned evangelist's work. He
thinks there is no such work as itineracy. Had he his life to live over again, he would
choose it above and before any other field of labor or occupation. Yet how the human con-
stitution can stand such a life appears a mystery. Being out in all weathers, through storms
and extremes of heat and cold, often without an opportunity to change wet clothes before
an appointment, and riding afterward to some other appointment or to lodgings, changing
beds every night — now sleeping in an open cabin, now in a comfortable bed — with every
variety of cooking, preaching three or four times Sunday, and, through the week, almost
daily. It was apparently violating every known law of health. Now, at sixty-six years
of age, he enjoys looking back over a life well spent in his Master's service, with no
regrets except tbe feebleness of his labors — a happy, faithful, pious old man.
The congregation continued to worship in the schoolhouses until 1865, when the
present plain, neat edifice was built— 30x40, and cost $1,800. Edward Byers, D. G.
Tear and John Prothero, Esq., were Trustees, who had the building in charge, and
Rev. Mr. Cornell was Pastor in charge. James Perry was builder. A Sabbath school
has been maintained since the church was built, and for seven years continually, winter
and summer. The school numbers about fifty. Levi Heller, Superintendent.
The Church belongs to the Cheney's Grove Circuit, numbers forty members, and
now in charge of R. J. C. Foulk.
The Christian Church was built in 1871. Joseph Neweomb, P. H. Faught,
Thomas Powlson and M. C. Young were prominent in forwarding the work.
Elders G. H. Adams and Harry Vandervoort have regularly served the Church with
occasional services conducted by Dr. Sabin, Speed Stagner and Elder Tipton.
These regularly-organized churches are supplemented by an active Young Men's
Christian Association, organized in 1879. Rev. James Miller, W. H. Schureman,
John M. Howard and 0. C. Sabin were instrumental in organizing it. They have a
nicely-furnished room, with reading, music, etc. They expect to establish a library. The
officers are not permitted to contract any debt. The officers are W. H. Schureman, Presi-
dent- H P Cummer, Vice President; J. M. Howard, Secretary ; 0. C. Sabin, Treasurer.
' ' ■ u
650 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
INCORPORATION.
An election was held May 28, 1866, for or against town incorporation, which
resulted in the afl&rmative. June 6, an election was held for five Trustees under this
charter. Hamilton Warford, L. B. Grrant, W. K. Stansbery, J. W. Lowery and C. W.
Atkinson were elected. H. Warford was chosen President and C. W. Atkinson, Clerk.
The boundaries were fixed at one mile square, being the south half of Section 21 and
north half of Section 28. A special charter was granted by the Legislature, approved
March, 1867. By this charter the limits were restricted by leaving out the south half
of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 28. Under this the
people elected a President and four Councilmen ; they to appoint an Attorney,
Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor and Collector, and such other officers as were necessary to
enforce the authority and powers conveyed by the charter. Very full powers were
granted. An election was held April 6 for or against the adoption of this charter,
which resulted in sixteen votes for it and none against.
Another election, of course, followed, for the average young American, whether it
be a natural or artificial person, is not satisfied long at a time without an election,
at which H. Warford was elected President, M. R. Stansbery, Police Magistrate, and
W. K. Stansbery, T. J. Warren, J. L. Ballard and Samuel Watson, Council.
After the general incorporation act was passed in 1872, the town, by an election,
accepted that, and since have been under it. A vote is taken each year whether license
for the sale of drinks shall be granted. In the years 1873 and 1875 only, the vote has
resulted in favor of license. About one hundred and fifty votes were cast at the last
election. There are about one hundred and seventy-five voters in the corporation.
BUSINESS HOUSES.
The hotel block was built in 1871 by Alexander McKensie and T. J. Warren for
hotel and store-room. It is frame, 60x80, two stories high and basement. It is on the
south side of the street, while all the other stores are on the other side.
The brick " Union Hotel" was built in 1870 by Thomas Halloway, and has been in
use as a hotel ever since.
The Crigler Block was built by Drs. J. M. Crigler and J. L. Ballard on the corner
of Main and Lincoln streets. It is one of the finest in town — two stories and basement,
the post office and a store on the first floor and offices above. It cost about $7,000.
The three-story and basement brick block on the corner of Lincoln and Cyprus
streets was built by M. B. Rankin up to the third story in 1872. The third story was
built and is owned by the Masonic Building Association. The first story is occupied by
stores, the second by offices and the Young Men's Christian Association, and the upper
by the lodge rooms of the Masons and Odd Fellows.
The next store east was built the same year by the Robinson Brothers, who live in
Ohio. The next one by Dr. C. T. Arnor and T. A. Stansbery the same year. The
next one by Dr. Crigler and Jack Hepburn.
The finest block in town was that built by O. C. Coleby in 1871, right west of the
Union Hotel. It was a double store, brick, two stories and basement, with a fine hall
above. It burned in the winter of 1873, which was the only really disastrous fire Say-
brook has ever had.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 551
Rush Wirt is making a good quality of tile, which is in demand. He uses
the Penfield machine and employs five hands.
RESIDENCES.
Saybrook has several very pretty residences ; in fact, its buildings throughout are
rather a credit to a young village which has grown up in the woods. Hilleary Riggs
built, in 1874, a fine frame house with ten rooms well finished off, costing about $6,000.
It occupies a block standing about in the center, with the grounds in good order and fine
outbuildings.
T. J. Warren built a similar one in 1875, which is nicely arranged, good basement-
story, nice grounds, good barn and a very pleasant location. J. M. Crigler has a neat
cottage on the north side of Lincoln street, with ample grounds, good outbuildings,
fence and shrubbery. It was built by William Lewis, in 1869, but Dr. Crigler has
remodeled and beautified it.
0. C. Sabin, Esq., has a neat, two-story brick residence in the north part of town,
which, with its surroundings, is neatly adorned by a wealth of floral display which is
rare to find in a quiet country home. The ample grounds are diversified by mounds,
trees and rare plants, while along the winding paths the pleasant foliage and bloom of
thousands of God's loveliest ornaments send up their kind return of thanksgiving for
the care which makes them beautiful.
A conservatory on the ground keeps it always within the power of the family to
have the sweet influence of floral assistance in beautifying their pleasant and modest
home. Mrs. Sabin owns a half-section of land in Anchor Township, where the old
Stackpole residence stands.
J. A. Myers has a nice residence in the south part of town. The grounds com-
prise seven acres, delightfully suited to display and decoration. A nice home built by
M. T. Hall, in 1865, now owned by the Brittin estate, upon a five-acre lot, is of the
same order.
Prof Oliver Springstead, west of town, has a beautiful five-acre lot, with a nice
two story brick residence, octagonal in form and neat in appearance ; the grounds are
good. The house was built in 1870.
It is not often, by the way, that school-teachers are able to live in such elegance ;
but Mr. Springstead, fortunately, has " husbanded his resources," and does not intend
to go out to commons in his declining years.
J. R. Means has a nice house, built in 1870, on half a block, which he is getting
into very nice condition.
0. C. Smith has a nice little house, tastefully set off' with a beautiful display
of flowers and shrubbery. Everything about it shows the good taste which reigns
thGrc
NEWSPAPERS.
J. S. Harper was the first to try his fortune in the newspaper line at Saybrook, as
he was in many other places ; indeed, he has been the great newspaper starter of the
day. He commenced the publication of the Saybrook A'ews in 1872, about the time
the railroad was completed, and continued it about a year. He then went to Farmer
City, on account of some little difliculty with the village authorities.
In December, 1872, H. H. Parkinson moved his printiug-ofiice from Lexington to Say-
brook, and began the publication of the Saybrook Banner. He continued the publication a
552 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
year, with the assistance of those ready writers, 0. C. Sabin and Esquire Van Voris,
when he went to Wilmington, having sold his paper to Mr. Sabin, who, in August
of that year, changed the name to McLean County Anti- Monopolist^ a defender
of the special views of those engaged in the " farmers' movement." In January,
1874, he moved it to Bloomington, continued its publication a year and sold it to Mr.
Goff.
T. J. Horsely commenced the publication of the Saybrook Herald October 9,
1875, first as a five-column folio, then as a four-column quarto for one year, then as a
six-column folio. It is a neatly-printed, non-partisan local paper, and seems to be
receiving a generous support.
Mr. Horsely has had a large experience in newspaper work, at Roberts, Chebanse,
Du Quoin, Morris, Aurora and elsewhere.
The Sunbeam, a paper under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, commenced its publication May 1, 1879, W. H. Schureman, manager, the edi-
torial department being in the care of 0. C. Sabin, Esq. Its peculiar field is literature
and the causes of temperance, religion, intelligence and morality.
aHIDLEY TOWNSHIP.
Gridley Township is the largest in the county, being a full Congressional Town-
ship and a half; is nine miles long east and west, by six miles north and south, embra-
cing Township 26, Range 3 east, and east half of Town.ship 2G, Range 2 east of the
Third Principal Meridian. The Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railway runs through the
northern tier of sections, and on the south the Mackinaw Creek runs through three
sections of its southern tier. It is all prairie except the four or five sections along the
Mackinaw, which were formerly well timbered with oak, black walnut, maple, ash,
basswood and such other kinds of timber as grow naturally in this part of the
State. The land is quite level in the northern part, but farther south it is
quite rolling. The soil is rich and deep, fully equal to any in the State. The
township lay wholly within the belt, the even sections of which (except the school
section) were given to the Illinois Central Railroad. That company at once
brought the land into market, and it was rapidly sold to actual settlers. Their terms of
sale were easy, although their prices were kept high. The price was sealed from $8 to
$18, according to distance from a station. The terms were two years interest
in advance, and payments to be made in four equal annual installments after the expira-
tion of two years ; the purchaser to pay to the agent 50 cents per acre for his commis-
sion, if he bought of the agent. As this town had very few settlers, nearly half the
land went into the possession of the railroad on the passage of the act of incorporation.
Ashael G-ridley, then as now a prominent citizen of Bloomington, was agent for the
sale of these lands in the district which embraced all the land between the Illinois River
at La Salle and the southern boundary of McLean County. When the land was all
wild and unfenced it was not an easy matter to tell just where to find the section lines
and corners. And it was necessary for the agent to keep in his employ men that knew
every foot of the ground — knew where the corner-stakes could be found, and could
read the resin-stalk on the prairie " like a book." One of these was a Boston Yankee,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 553
who had served his time on the ocean wave, and came out here to seek his fortune
— G. W. Kent — who afterward became proprietor of the town of Gridley, and named
itafter his employer. When township organization was adopted, the name clung to the
township.
It was formerly helieved that these wild prairies never would be inhabited. That
these lauds might do for cattle to roam over, as they do over the vast pampas of South
America. And as late as 1850, the argument used by Douglas in securing the passage
through Congress of the act granting to the State the alternate sections of land for six
miles on each side of the railroad to be built, was that in no other way could these
vast prairies be settled. For twenty years the land now comprising the township of
Gridley had been in the market without a tithe of it being sold, and less even cultivated.
Nobody wanted it, for they could not make a living from it. This Illinois Central
Railroad, for years after it was built, did not carry passengers and freight enough to
pay running expenses. But as soon as it was built, its lands, in such townships as this,
went off very fast. The terms of payment were made so easy that it induced many to
buy who otherwise would not have thought themselves able to pay ^10 or $12 per
acre. Indeed it was a fact that some were able to pay for their land out of the first
crop of wheat ever raised ; but they never got such a crop again, from that time to
this. But it helped to sell the land and increase the population. Most of the land
was never fenced. The owners early set out hedges, which now form the principal
fencing. Since the first two years' experience, corn has become the principal crop, and
probably mu'^t remain so ; though there is reason to believe now that crops must
rotate, in order to keep up the average yield of former years. A gentleman fully
(jualified to form an estimate, from his long acquaintance and from business transactions
running through fifteen years here — Mr. W. H. Boies — says that an " average " corn
crop is under, rather than over, thirty bushels per acre in the two townships of Gridley
and Waldo (and there are no better corn tracts certainly east of the Illinois Biver).
It would look as though men must find some cheaper way of living before they can get
rich on thirty-cent corn.
The first commercial venture, in the way of shipping produce, was by Kent &
Young in 1859 and 1860. They brought a Buckeye mower onto this prairie, and
cut several hundred tons of prairie grass ; bought whatever else they could, and
baled it and sent it to Peoria. It cost them, at Peoria, $4: per ton. There may be
yet a return to first practices. The raising of grass, as an alternate crop, may prove
advisable.
The first white men known to have made their home in this township were James
Bigger, in 1833; Beuben and Taylor Loving, in the spring of 1835. These men have
passed away and their families are gone, none of them, it is believed, now residing in
the township. At the same time, or in the same year, came Enoch Beem, from Indiana,
lu August, of that year, he was sick with the chills. Partially recovering, he went out
and ate wild plums which were hardly ripe, and died soon after. He was an exemplary
man and devotedly pious. His was the first death inside the limits of this township.
He was buried at Clarksville, a hamlet a little way up the stream, which was and con.
tinned to be until the building of the Chicago & Alton Bailroad, a rival of Lexington
in prospective importance. Beem left a widow and five small children, and some prop-
erty for their support, but not much. Mrs. Beem managed carefully and brought up
554 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
her children. One son, David, lived on the farm, after arriving to manhood. Another,
Reason, was for a long time Postmaster at Lexington.
The same fall John Slown came into the little settlement on the Mackinaw. He
was of Irish descent, and came here from Kentucky, and still lives in Gridley. He is
the oldest resident now living in the town. He rented some land and worked in saw-
mills for a few years. There was no mill on the stream at that time above Kappa, but
others were soon built. The nearest mills where grinding could be done were at
Peoria and Kankakee. When they took their grists to mill, they were obliged to take
their turn ; and it often required two or three days to grind out what was ahead of
them. The land was not in market then, but came into market the following year.
Three years later he built the first frame house in the township. The clapboards were
black walnut and the shingles oak. Pine had not come into use in these wilds at that
time. The inside finishing was black-walnut. Mr. Slown was elected Constable in
18-43; and when the township was organized, was elected Justice of the Peace, and has
continued to serve as such, being elected each term either as Justice of the Peace or
Police Magistrate. In 1862, he enlisted in the Ninety -fourth, under Captain, now
Grovernor, John L. Routt, and served two years. He has always been a firm temperance
man, even when along these timber-skirts nearly every one was accustomed to drink intox-
icating liquors. At the age of eighteen, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
has lived consistently up to his profession. He was the father of eight children — five of
whom survive — one of whom lives near his old home on the Mackinaw. Mr. Slown
now lives in Gridley village, engaged in the furniture and agricultural implement trade.
Notwithstanding the hardships incident to pioneer life, he still thinks they enjoyed life
better then than now.
John B. Messner, known far and wide as a hunter, came to his present home in
Gridley the same year. He had come on to the Mackinaw five years previous, and
married into the Patten family, one of the first to settle in the vicinity of Lexington.
He was long considered one of the most daring and successful hunters among many
who at that time gave much attention to that avocation, either for sport or as a partial
livelihood. He gave the names to the two streams which run into the Mackinaw at
this point — Buck Creek and Turkey Creek. In this following, he met some narrow
escapes, one of which, twenty years ago, nearly ended his life and practically closed his
career as a hunter. While chasing a deer from Rook's Creek, his horse stepped into a
dangerous hole and threw him with such violence that the injury nearly cost him his
life. Hunting, as carried on in the earlier days, has, of course, with the spread of civ-
ilization, disappeared, and there is not enough of danger and adventure in the hunting
of to-day to lure such men as Mr. Messner into it. It was not uncommon for Messner
to kill fifty deer in a single season, running through the late fall and early winter.
One of the singular incidents of his avocation is thus related by Mr. Messner : When
out on a tramp a cold day, he drew off his boots to more carefully approach the deer he
was following. In the excitement of the chase some considerable time elapsed before he
returned to the place where he had left his boots. When he did so, he found them so
frozen that they resisted every effort to draw on, and he was actually obliged to go home
in his stocking-feet. He learned a lesson, however, by this experience. At another
time, a buck which he had wounded, caught him in the nether garments by his antlers,
and nearly destroyed him and his valuable clothing. He has latterly given more
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 555
attention to farming. He has raised a large family of children, several of whom live near
him. He and his son John own 440 acres in Sections 27 and 34 in Town 26, Range
2, and are recognized as good and successful farmers.
In 1844, Jonathan Coon commenced to improve the place where John Slown had
lived, the principal attraction to which was the fine spring of water on the place. He
had been among the early settlers of the county, and had followed building as a
business. He built the first Court House of Pontiac about 1839, a building which
still stands there, showing excellent workmanship.
Adam Coon, the father of Jonathan, Isaiah and James S. Coon, came with his
sons to the county in 1836. He resided two years where Towanda now is, and two
years at Clarksville before coming to Gridley. He died here at the residence of his
son in 1863. He and his sons, while not of the very earliest settlers of Gridley, came
here when no farms had been taken up on the prairie, and largely helped to change the
early wilderness into farms. They were fond of hunting, and still relate many
instances of decided excitement in that line. They at one time found a lynx, an
animal not common here, and killed it. Many people remember the tornado of May
13, 1858. Mr. Isaiah Coon, whose habit is to keep a record of the weather, gives a very
intelligent, minute account of it. It differed from the usual sultry weather tornadoes
which are common, in that it was a steady wind of near two hours' duration, strong
enough to blow down timber, unruof houses and level fences. The track of the
storm's path throush Mackinaw timber was nearly seven miles wide, and is yet dis-
cernible. This is the same storm which took the early settlers of Chenoa by surprise,
and leveled some of their new-made homes.
George W. Cox, who has been long a prominent man in town, came to the county
in 1837, and, in 1842, married a daughter of Taylor Loving, since which time he has
resided in Gridley. In 1844, he broke the prairie, where he now lives. He has been
successful as a farmer, and having received a good education in Maine, before coming to
this State, was looked to by the early settlers as one to look after the public affairs.
Old Sammy Ogden, as he is familiarly called, after living several years in Money Creek
Township, took up the land he now lives on, in Sections 34 and 35 (Range 3), about
1840. He was fond of horses, and racing was a passion with him. He used to attend
every horse-race between Peoria and Le Roy, and usually had a horse that could win.
In selecting the farm he now lives on, he was governed by the fine stream — Buck
Creek — which runs across it. He has been largely engaged in raising and feeding
<3attle, and has been successful. He has a good farm of 280 acres, well stocked, and
gives it good attention.
Jesse Stretch commenced early what is now a very good farm of 240 acres in Sec-
tion 26. Like most of his neighbors, he has fed cattle largely and made it a good busi-
ness.
FARMS.
There are in Gridley a number of large farms, which have been very successfully
managed, and which are worthy of a passing notice.
John Gregory, who, although not one of the very earliest, came here at an early
day, and, by good management, hard work and practical sense, has accumulated what
seems to be a very good share of this world's goods and lands. He owns .something
«ver 2,000 acres, lying in Sections 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 32 and 33 (Range 3), which is
556 HISTORY OF McLean county.
under good cultivation, well fenced, and is considered the finest stock-farm in Gridley.
Mr. Gregory has for many years made the raising and feeding of cattle his principal
business. He had not many advantages in early life, but such as he had, he made good
use of, and is spoken of by those who have long been his neighbors, as a man of larue
intelligence, decided convictions and positive qualities. He was at one time the candi-
date of his party for Representative, and it is believed he would have proved a useful
member. His party was, however, largely in the minority, and the systena of electing
minority representatives had not then come into constitutional use. He resides now at
Normal, though he still owns his large farm. Joseph Houseman for many years carried
on a large stock-farm.
James Moon, a son-in-law of Gregory, owns and occupies the Houseman farm of
900 acres, adjoining the Gregory farm. He is also engaged in raising and feeding
cattle largely. William Alspaugh, another son-in-law, has also a stock-farm adjoining-
Senator David Davis owns a fine, well-watered, rolling farm out on the prairie, three
miles from the Mackinaw, in Sections 14, 15, 23, 26 and 27, embracing 1,540 acres.
Buck Creek runs through it, and numerous springs supply water to the herds. The
farm carries 230 head of cattle, most of which are being grain-fed. The farm lies in
that part of the township which is highest and most rolling, shedding toward the Mackinaw
on the south, and north, toward Rook's Creek; 200 acres are under the plow, 200
acres in meadow and about 1,100 in pasture. There are no hedges on the place, but it
is all fenced with a five-board and cap fence. Some open draining has been done, and
tile are now being put in where needed. Hugh Hynman, a man of large experience in
cattle-feeding is Superintendent of the farm, and looks well after the interests of the
Senator, who does not himself (we may be pardoned for saying; either hold the plow or
drive. There is a neat and comfortable two-story house and a nice, well painted barn»
36x50 feet, and sheds for the storage of all the implements and farm-tools used on the
farm.
Boies & Breese, while largely engaged in other branches of business, farm 900
acres of land, raising corn and feeding stock. Tbey feed from 75 to 100 head each year
and a large number of hogs. They are both men of iron constitution and large capacity
for business and endurance.
J. J. Kemp, who resides in Lexington, owns a fine farm of 1,040 acres in Sections
24, 25 and 36.
Emily Moberly owns a fine farm of 320 acres in Section 11.
H. Hadley has a good farm of 240 acres in Section 9, with good buildings and
excellent improvements.
H. E. Sieberns, who, through nearly the whole history of Gridley, has been engaged
in trade in the village, owns in this and the adjoining township several hundred acres of
land, which is being successfully managed, with satisfactory results.
J. B. & J. P. Messner have an excellent farm of 440 acres near the Mackinawj
in Range 2.
Jacob Hoobler has for twelve years been engaged in raising and feeding sheep on
his farm. He keeps several hundred head of middle-wooled sheep, and has been very
successful in the undertaking.
Michael Vineyard, James Tarman, Joseph Yeagley and George Kemp have large
farms devoted to grain-raising, and Jesse Stretch, Samuel Ogden, and the Coons have
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 557
each fine cattle-farms. By the year 1860, the lands in this township had pretty gener-
ally been brought into cultivation. Very little fencing was done except on the older
farms. Hedges came into general cultivation. At first, wheat-raising was the general
business, but this soon was abandoned, and corn is now the staple crop.
Those living in the southern part of the township trade at Lexington, on the Chi-
cago & Alton Railroad, or at Kappa, on the Illinois Central ; in the northern part, prin-
cipally at Gridley or at El Paso. The coal supply for the northern part of the county
comes from the Vermilion or from Mapleton, no coal having been raised at Gridley.
Several attempts to reach coal have been made, but without success.
Township organization was eflFected in 1858, but the township records have been so
shockingly kept, or rather have not been kept at all, that there is nothing to show who
have been township officers for the first twelve years of its existence. Taylor Loving
was first Supervisor — one of the oldest residents — after whom there was an endeavor
made to name the township at the time of its organization. There followed him as
representatives on the Board of Supervisors, George W. Cox, James McNaughf, C. K.
Drum, H. F. Freed, F. D. Callsen, T. W. Lock, John Slown and M. F. Vineyard.
The names of H. F. Freed, F. D. Callsen and D. L. Hoover appear in the list of Clerks.
As Assessors, Joseph Houseman, J. T. Tarman, A. W. Skinner and T. W. Lock. As
Collectors, C. W. Ballinger, Joseph Wetherby, John Socks, L. G. Russell, H. G. Mc-
Cord, A. W. Shepard. There are no records of any election prior to 1873.
The soldier record of Gridley is a noble one. At that time there were 162 voters
in the township, and the record shows 137 enlistments. All the regiments that were
raised in the county, and the separate companies raised in the neighborhood, had repre-
sentatives from Gridley. The zeal and activity with which her citizens responded to the
several calls for troops was unsurpassed in the county. All through the trying ordeal
for the preservation of the integrity of the government against organized treason, her
citizens carried the banners of their counti-y to the final triumph.
GRIDLEY VILLAGE.
The village — or town, as it is legally known — of Gridley, the only village in the
township, is eight miles from Chenoa, on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, and six from
El Paso, on the Illinois Central, on the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad.
Early in 1856, it was known that the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad would locate a
station in this vicinity, and Mr. G. W. Kent, who had for years been in the employ of
Geu. Ashael Gridley in assisting purchasers of Illinois Central Railroad lands to locate
their purchases on the boundless prairies which stretched from a few miles south of La
Salle to Bloomiiigton, thought that he saw a lively speculation in buying the section of
land which the station would stand on, and build a town. The financial crash ot 1857
partially relieved the mind of Mr. Kent from these oppressive day-dreams of wealthy
accumulations. Taking Thomas Carlisle into pai'tnership, they purchased the entire
Section 4 of Township 26, Range 3, and proceeded to lay out their town. The first
thing which worried the new landed proprietors was a proper name for their town.
The worthy names '• Kent " and " Carlisle " had been pre-empted by other towns in the
State. Carlisle wanted to call it •' Gardner," for his old friend, the then Governor of
Massachusetts; but it was learned that that goodly namf had recently been given by the
late Henry A. Gardner, then a civil engineer on the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad, ta
558 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
a place on that road. They then decided on giving the place the name it bears, in
honor of their long-time employer. The town plat embraces all of the east half of the
southwest quarter and the west half of the southeast quarter of the section, 160 acres,
the streets running at right angles by points of compass. The right of way for the
railroad and its side-tracks was given, and an open spot on either side, aggregating
eleven acres, was left open to public travel and convenience, but not legally " dedicated
to the public " by the deeds of these proprietors. This vacant land, a few years later,
became the cause of long and expensive litigation, of which more hereafter. There
■were thirty-eight blocks besides the grounds mentioned.
The first passenger-train passed through here February 28, 1857. The next
month, the first lot was sold to James T. Acklin, and, a little later, the proprietors built
a small house and blacksmith-shop south of the railroad, where Mrs. Listen now resides.
The first dwelling-house was built the same year by Charles Cochrane, which is now
occupied by J. C. Boies. The first store was built this year for J. M. Mitchell, on the
■corner just north of the depot, and is still occupied by him for that purpose. Mr. M,
is the pioneer merchant, having been the first to bring a stock of goods into the town.
is a gentleman of quiet habits, a descendant of the French Huguenots, and retains many
traits of character common to those heroes. These, as were the other buildings put up
at this time, were built by S. J. Lock, a gentleman then recently from Boston, seeking
a home and work in this new field. He still resides in Gridley, though he has wan-
dered some in other places, and still wields the hammer and shoves the jack-plane.
About the same time, and during the season of 1857, were built the houses of Philo
Sleezer, Mr. Whitney, Mr. Wilbur and Mr. Preston. Mr. Lock, soon after this, " took
to the country," and his mechanical skill was kept fully employed, summer and win-
ter, putting up the small farmhouses which were needed by the unprecedented influx
of farmers for the next two or three years.
The first depot-building, put up this year, also has a " history.'" For some time
after the Peoria end of this railroad was built, there was no railroad bridge. Passengers
■came out of Peoria on foot or by Parmely's buses across the bridge, and took the cars
at this end of the bridge. The depot was built at that place for the convenience of
passengers. When the railroad bridge was made, there was no further use for the
building there, so it was taken down and removed to Gridley. It was placed in a mud-
hole east of the present building, and enjoyed all the privileges and immunities of a
depot until the tornado of May 13, 1858, sent it kiting. The corner of the building
hit against the north rail with such force that it was bent out of parallel several inches,
and, for a year, trains ran around it on the switch. The rail has since been straight-
ened, however, and trains can now run regularly.
Messrs. Carlisle & Kent, in July of this year, transferred their entire interest in
the town and in Section 4 to G-en. Gridley, and he remains the owner of a considerable
number of the lots. Mr. Kent moved his family here in the spring of 1858, into a
house which was near enough completed by the time of the tornado to get the full
benefit of whatever wind could reach it.
The first schoolhouse was built in 1851), by private contributions of Messrs.
Mitchell, Cochrane, Manning, Kent and Young, and cost $105. For some reason not
now fully understood, the citizens living in Gridley Station could not get public funds
for building, although, after the building was up, they could get the teachers' wage-s,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 559
and Charles Cochrane, who came here as Station Agent, was put into the school as
teacher. He was a young man of good education, superior to many who got
" 'stificates" in those days. Born in New Hampshire and educated there, he had
taught in Kentucky, and at Mount Hope, in this county. The first school had sixteen
scholars.
Mr. Cochrane also kept the first lumber-yard. Lumber came from Chicago via
Chenoa for some years, and principally via Oilman, as the railroad company now is in
closer business relation with the Illinois Central than with the Chicago & Alton.
The first hotel was built in 1859 or 1860, by C. K. Drum. Gen. Gridley donated
two lots and $200 toward it, on condition that Drum should put up a house worth
$1,000. The " Gridley House " actually cost several hundred dollars more than was
stipulated.
The first commercial venture engaged in to make Gridley a "shipping point" was
the cutting and baling of several hundred tons of prairie-hay. It proved reasonably
successful. The grain trade has been, since 1859, the principal commercial business of
Gridley. During the earlier years, it was principally wheat. There were no ware-
houses to hold the grain for shipment, and the grain was shoveled directly into the cars,
that is, all that did not scatter on the ground. This was a wasteful method, and men
began putting up small buildings to hold a carload or two. When the load was pro-
cured for the car and a car could be secured for the load, the grain was carried out in
baskets or wheelbarrows. Wheat gi-adually disappeared as a shipping commodity, and
corn became king. Great, long lines of cribs stretched out all around the depot-grounds
to hold the hundreds of thousands of bushels that annually seek a market here. .^The
men who have engaged in this business here, and have annually held the market price
•up to a point where they could command as much grain as is bought at any point on the
line of this railroad are the men who have really conserved the prosperity of this place.
A short notice of these men is appropriate.
James M. Mitchell commenced the purchase of wheat and country produce in 1858,
soon after opening his store here, in fact as soon as there was any to buy. He bought
for Boies & Van Vleet, a grain firm then doing business in El Paso. G. W. Kent, in
1859 and 1860, engaged in the business, and during the latter year built the first grain-
house in town. It was 16x24 feet, and answered the purpose very well in those times.
George A. Coburn built a warehouse the following year, and Mr. Mitchell continued
buying for John Dehner, of Pontiac and Chenoa.
In 1862, Silas E. Brooks commenced to buy corn here for a Boston firm. The ruling
price was 10 cents. They allowed him to buy all he could for 12? cents, he to make
his commission out of that, and they to furnish him lumber for cribs. He employed
Kent to buy for him on a commission, and the two continued buying as long as they
could get it for 10 cents. The corn remained here until 1864-65, and sold for an
average price of $1,03 per -bushel. It seems that some others than "bloated bond-
holders " made something in those days.
William H. Boies, who had been in the grain trade in El Paso for a few years, to
which place he had come from Livingston County, N. Y., was appointed station agent
here at this time, and commenced in a small way the business which has grown on his
hands until he is now one of the heaviest shippers on the line of this road. He rented
the Coburn Warehouse to begin with, and his business soon outgrew that. In 1866)
560 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
he built his present large steam elevator, which has a capacity of 20,000 bushels. In
1869, he formed a partnership with Richard Breese, an Englishman who had for twelve
years been largely engaged in stock farming and feeding. A little incident shows the
transmutations of things in this changeful country : One of this firm recalls how he
bought 400 bushels of corn in 1862 of N. J. Pillsbury, now a Judge of the Appellate
Court in this State, for 10 cents a bushel. It seemed to be a big job for the future
Judge, for it took him nearly all summer to draw it in with a yoke of steers.
In 1863 or 1874, Sykes & Smith were in the grain trade, and built a horse-power
elevator, which was burned in 1878.
C. P. Ayers, for several years a farmer in Livingston County, has been for two
years engaged in buying grain.
F. D. Callsen, at present Justice of the Peace and insurance agent, was engaged,
during several years, in buying grain. This does not claim to be a complete list, but
gives the names of those who have been instrumental in making the Gridley market
one of the very best in the county, and aggregating shipments of from a quarter to half
a million bushels per year.
In 1860, the present schoolhouses were built, and the present depot.
One of the "seven wonders" of Gridley is the wind-mill built in 1874 by Mr.
Martin, of Peoria, for the Franzen Bros. It is patterned after the old Dutch mills
that for ages have pumped the waters and ground the grist of the industrious race
which have made the sea to blossom like the rose. It is octagonal in shape for about
18 feet in height, 32 feet in diameter on the ground, tapering up to about 26 feet at
the top of this first story, which is surrounded by a platform 8 feet wide, upon which
the " engineer" operates the machinery which shifts the wings to the breeze, there being
no fan-tail, as there is on our common American wind-mills, to throw the wings to
windward. Above this, the building is conical, running up to a sugar-loaf top. This
section is shingled. Above this are attached the huge wings, four in number, 33 feet
long and 8 feet wide, made of strong timber frame, covered with high boards and
sail-cloth. Within the wonder increases. The huge timbers, so placed as to give great
strength to withstand the terrible strain which would rack and tear in pieces any ordi-
nary frame in a moment, give to the unpractical eye the impression of a chaos of heavy
beams, braces, posts, girths, girders, sills, in endless number. You dodge and twist
around among them and wonder how or where the architects of this structure expected
to have the grists placed or the stones run. In the second story are three runs of
stones, smut-mill, etc., and all the machinery usually found in any well-regulated grist-
mill, in the amount of space that in most mills is allotted to the stone and a few old
boxes for customers to sit on and warm themselves. In an L are the bolts, meal-bins,
etc. All the shafting, gearing, etc., are of wood, with a few trifling exceptions. By
an ingenious device, the " governor," which is used on all steam-engines to regulate the
escape of steam, is made to raise or lower the upper millstone, according as the motion
of the mill is slow or fast.
The projjrietors find the wind of late years so uncertain that they are now putting
in a thirty-horse-power upright engine so as to be able to about double the working
capacity of the mill.
The town of Gridley was incorporated under the general incorporation act in 1869.
The first election resulted in the choice of H. E. Sieberns, President; W. H. Boies,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 561
George Jewett, D. Sloan and S. L. Martin, Trustees ; M. C. Prescott, Treasurer. These
men put the machinery in motion and adopted such ordinances as were found necessary
to do the business of the town. In 1870, the Board elected consisted of W. H. Boies,
President; H. E. Sieberns, Geo^e Jewett, S. Archer, H. Drum, and M. C. Prescott,
Treasurer. 1872, George Jewett President ; W. H. Boies, S. C. McConnell, B. F. Van
Dolah, and J. E. Jewett, Clerk. 1873, W. H. Boies, George Jewett, W. C. Mack and
F. D. Callsen. 1875, H. Drum, President ; J. D. Webster, Clerk ; W. C. Mack, H. A.
Piatt and V. Meininger. 1876, F. D. Callsen, President; J. D. Webster, Clerk ; Joseph
Gilmore, E. P. Gibbons, Richard Breese, Trustees; D. L. Hoover, Treasurer. 1877,
J. D. Webster, President ; J. A. Taylor, Clerk ; R. Breese, H. A. Piatt, C. H. New-
hauser, Trustees ; D. L. Hoover, Treasurer. 1878, George Frank, President ; R. Breese.
C. H. Newhauser, E. Lugeanbeal ; J. A. Taylor, Clerk ; D. L, Hoover, Treasurer,
1879, George Frank, President ; W. H. Ruckle, Clerk ; E. Lugeanbeal, Isaac Sheets
and Ham. Franzen, Trustees; D. L. Hoover, Treasurer.
The only official salaries paid by the town are for Clerk, $10 per annum ; Treas-
urer, 3 per centum.
J. M. Mitchell was appointed the first Postmaster, and continued in office until the
administration of Andrew Johnson, when he was removed and Upton Coomes was
appointed. In 1869, Mitchell was re-ap^winted and has served ever since.
The gentlemen who have in turn served as agents at the depot are Charles Coch-
rane, G. W. Kent, H. H. Soper, S. E. Brooks, W. H. Boies, E. C. Shearer, W. G. Mess-
ier and George A. Parmely, who is agent at present ; baggage-master, Thomas Liston ;
trackmaster, William Lynch ; engineer, Joseph Hoffman.
Among the earlier business men of Gridley, who has quietly but energetically
attended to his business in such a manner as to make a success of it, is Mr. H. E.
Sieberns, who, in 1863, put up a building and stocked it with a complete stock of goods,
on the corner east of the post office corner. He has been universally successful in
his engagements and has acquired a competency.
The first child born in the village of Gridley was Willie Sleezer, who arrived at his
majority in September, 1878, and feels almost as though he had " grown-up with the
country."
The first death was that of the excellent wife of James M. Mitchell, who died soon
after he commenced business here.
Maj. Houghton is one of the characters who, a few years since, was well known
along this road as a resident of Gridley. He frequently passed back and forth on the
trains, selling his photograph, and interesting the passengers with his bright and intelli-
o^ent conversation. He was less than four feet in height and well-proportioned, with
-fine head and interesting features. He was just large enough to look out of the car
windows by standing on tip-toe, carried a gold-headed cane and dressed the style of a
gentleman of leisure. For several years, he has been traveling with a Lilliputian troupe,
■of which he is the chief attraction.
The schoolhouse is not, perhaps, as attractive, nor is it as expensive, as many more
ambitious villages can show, but the school itself is a good one. Under the charge of B.
F. Howard, the pupils are being attended to properly, and are acquiring a thoroughly
wood and useful education. Pupils enrolled, 120 ; daily average attendance, 103. Miss
Luella Barnum is assistant, having charge of the younger scholars. The course of
562 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
study embraces all rudimentary studies and algebra, botany, physiology, philosophy,
physical geography. The school continues nine months of twenty-two days.
The present business men and firms are: Dry goods and grocenes, J. M. Mitchell
(twenty-two years), H. E. Sieberns (fifteen years), W.^. Mack, George A. Frank, Bloom-
enshine & Seidel, Philip Klein ; drugs and notions^ D. L. Hoover ; books, news and notions^
G. W. Kent; boots and shoes, Chris. Overbach, E. G. Alvord; grain, Boies & Breese, C.
P. Ayers, W. C. Mack, John Smithers ; hardware and tin, D. L. Myers ; restau-
rant, Isaac Sheets; millinery, etc., Misses Boies, Misses Slown & Roberts, Mrs. J. C.
Houghton ; wagon and carriage makers, C. H. Newhauser, E. Lugeanbeal, John
Laufer; livery, M.. C. Drum; grist-mill, H. Franzen & Bro. ; butcher, M. Barry;
harness-maker, G. Inthurm ; furniture and undertaking, Gilmore & Slown, August
Strathman ; lumber, etc., Sloan & Gilmore ; physicians, L. C. McConnell, J. A. Taylor,
Dr. Kruze.
Gridley has four churches — the Christian, the Mennonite (New Ormish), the
Methodist and Congregational.
The first preaching in the village was by Elder Branch, the Baptist clergyman of
El Paso. His services were usually held in Mitchell's store, but he had no regular
appointments here. Next in point of time, Rev. S. W. Cobb, a Congregational minis-
ter, preached for some time every fourth week, in the station-house. The edifice was
not, in all respects, as comfortable to go to sleep in during preaching as are some
churches of the present day, with cushioned pews and all the " modern improvements ;"
nor, perhaps, were the words of the devout men of God so sensational as to call for
publication in the daily papers, nor for telegraphing all over the country, but the com-
mon people heard them gladly. In 1862, Rev. J. A. Johnson, Congregationalist, of
El Paso, commenced preaching regularly in the schoolhouse, and in June, the Church
of that name was regularly organized according to the custom and canon of that
denomination by a council called for that purpose, with eight members. Mr. Johnson
continued Pastor until January, 1863, when Rev. G. M. Conville succeeded him,
remaining until April, 1864. Rev. B. C. Church, filled the pastoral relation for four
years, during which time eight joined the Church. Rev. J. A. Palmer next served the
Church, four years, receiving eleven members. Rev. W. E. Cattin succeeded him for
two years, who, in turn, was succeeded by Rev. H. G. Pendleton, who is now filling the
pulpit, alternating his labors here with the church in Nebraska Township. During each
winter of his service here, protracted eff"orts have been maintained, resulting in bringing
into the Church forty- two additional members. A flourishing Sabbath school, under
the superintendency of Mr. J. M. Mitchell, has an enrolled membership of 120. The
church-edifice, 36x40, was built in 1866 by Tarraan & Ruckle, contractors, at a cost of
about $2,000, and dedicated to the worship of God the same year. The patient and
laborious pastoral work of Mr. Pendleton, is fully appreciated by the people of his
own charge and the community.
The German Mennonites, who have settled in such numbers in the vicinity of
Gridley are, in many respects, a peculiar people. Some of their peculiarities might
well be followed by those who are to the manor born. Politically and socially, they are
non-resistant and take no part in the aifairs of State, never voting or seeming to care
who runs the ship of State or the town-meetings. They carry their religion into every
affair and business of life. If a brother gets into debt and honestly cannot pay, the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 563
brethren contribute to liquidate ; but if able to pay and will not, he is cast out as
unworthy. They will not go to law, but settle all disputes within their own organization.
In 1874, they decided to build a church, but their religious tenets require them ta
build on a firm foundation. Before a blow was struck, every dollar of the money was
collected ; after which a contract was let and the work rapidly done. They have
erected thirty sheds, with doors to them, for their teams, as most of them come from
their farms in the surrounding country, and every team is carefully housed before its
owner commences his religious services.
The church-edifice is 30x40, with an L 16x40, and cost $1,200. Near the church
they erected a dining-hall and kitchen, where a meal is served each Sunday, their serv-
ices continuing during the day. Members take turns in providing the necessary food.
They practice baptism by immersion. They hold, almost literally, to the doctrine '■ If a
man take away thy coat," etc., for they do not permit their members to prosecute a
thief, or even to follow one to recover stolen property. They seem as near free from the
-"■ . of the day as any class of people known in this vicinity.
V The Christian Church was built in 1866; is 36x40. There is also a Church of
the same denomination in the southern part of the township, in the vicinity of Mr.
Gregory's.
The M. E. Church was built in 1871 and 1872. It is 36x50, with a tower in the
center of the front 10 feet square, running up to a spire 80 feet in height.
The number of churches would indicate a probable rivalry and strife that is
nowhere noticeable in reality. The petty rivalries and bickerings which are so common
in small towns seem to be here entirely wanting, and peace and good-will seem to reign
everywhere. Business seems to be reasonably prosperous, and every one appears to have
the general good at heart.
At the time the village of Gridley was platted and recorded, there were left two
open pieces or parcels of ground between the railroad and the platted blocks, which, by
general consent, became public. The original proprietors apparently intended them for
general use in transacting the business of the town. There was no attempt to sell or
lease them, and as soon as the place became of any importance, business men began to
put up offices, elevators and corn-cribs on them. The proprietors, in furnishing their
plats for record, did not dedicate them to the public, and, as far as the record went,
they appeared to be the private property of the proprietor.
In July, 1875, Gen. Gridley caused the plat of the town to be resurveyed and
replatted. Among other changes, he caused the land marked depot ground, south of
the railroad track, then used by various parties for storage of grain, to be laid off into
lots thirty feet wide, and proposed to sell them at a price which would have made the
operation a pretty good speculation. The railroad company procured an injunction in
the United States Court, restraining him from selling these lots. This injunction was
dissolved, however, and Gridley commenced suits in ejectments against all parties,
including the railroad company, occupying any part of the laud in question, The cases
were tried in McLean County and resulted in favor of the defendants. On an appeal
to the Supreme Court, the decision of the lower court was sustained, and the occupants
remain in undisputed possession of the land.
This litigation caused the parties much perplexity and no little expense, and was
the cause of much ill-feeling against Gen. Gridley. He was said to be " rich," and to
564 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
have no respect for the rights of poor men ; that he wanted to shut up the town and
ruin those who were engaged in trade, and remarks that were continually made were far
from complimentary. The fact probably was, that there was sufficient of legal show for
the claim he set up to render it probable that the courts, on a full hearing, would give
give him a verdict, and very few men would decide to give away thirty or forty good
business lots if there was a chance of selling them. Gen. Gridley is probably no excep-
tion to the general rule of landed proprietors.
DANVERS TOWNSHIP.
Danvers is located in the northwestern corner of McLean County. It includes all
of Town 24 north, Range 1 west of the Third Principal Meridian, and one and one-
half miles from the south side of Town 25 north, in the same range, and consequently
contains forty-five square miles. It is bounded on the north by Woodford County, on
the east by White Oak and Dry Grove Townships, on the south by Allin Township,
and on the west by Tazewell County. It is well supplied with timber. Stout's Grove,
which lies farthest td the southeast, is the most important. The timber extends south,
on the west side, to near the middle of Section 19 ; from this point, irregularly east to
within two and one-half miles of the east line of the township ; thence north and
slightly west to near the north line ; thence along the northern part may be found
some little timber. Thus it will be seen that all the northwestern part of the town-
ship is timbered land. Of course, this is not a solid body of timber, for there are
farms in here, many of which have been cleared from these woods. Still may be seen
the cabin built of logs and surrounded by a few small fields, while the forest approaches
suggestingly near. But these are only relics of bygone days, the more comfortable
frame furnishing a desirable home for the successful farmer. The south and eastern
part of the township is prairie, the northern part of which is quite rolling, but the
southern part is only slightly so. These prairie lands are rich and productive, yielding
an abundance of corn, oats, potatoes, etc. There are portions of the timbered land
that are broken and not very fertile, while other parts yield fair crops of wheat, rye,
oats, corn and other products. Cattle and hogs are extensively raised throughout the
township.
Danvers is crossed by the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad, which
enters the township near the middle of the east side of Section 24. From this point,
the road bears northwest until it reaches the middle of Section 1 6 ; thence it follows
close to the half-section line to the west side of the township.
Sugar Creek rises near the southwestern corner of Section 1, and flows south and
west through Sections 12, 13 and 14; thence more southerly through Sections 22, 21,
28, 32 and 33. Rock Creek is a small stream which flows north from the northern
part of the township.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
So large a body of timber as is found here very naturally attracted early settlers.
They soon settled all along the south and east sides of Stout's Grove, the families coming in
so rapidly as to make it almost impossible to trace the early settlement. The first family
was Ephraim Stout's. They were from Tennessee. They came in the full of 1825, or
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HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 567
about that time. They stopped on the southeast corner of the Grove, afterward given
their name. The first house, it is said, that they ever built is standing yet. It was a
h)g house, put up of good hewn logs, and afterward weather-boarded on the outside and
plastered on the inside. It is said to be in a good state of preservation yet. The place
is now owned by Mr. Chastine Mitchell. Ephraim Stout was a large man of command-
ing presence. His early education had been neglected, so that he could not be said to
have much book knowledge ; but his practical knowledge of the world was extensive, and
his ability to judge the qualities of men almost complete. He and all those immediately
connected with him were Friends. This man had a son named Ephraim, who was mar-
ried and came to the Grove with his father. They lived at the Grove a long time, and
then moved farther west, finally settling in Oregon. There were four sons and several
daughters. David Stout, a brother to Ephraim, came the nest year. In the same year,
Robert Drain settled on the easl side of Stout's Grove. Soon after him, and probably
in the same year, James Wilson came from Kentucky. In 1827, Matthew Robb,
Robert McClure and Peyton Mitchell came to the settlement at Stout's Grove. These
all remained in this country and became prominent persons in its history. Robert
MeClure is commonly called " Colonel " on account of his service and position in
the Black Hawk war. Matthew Robb was a prominent man, and was one of the first
owners of the village of Danvers. Mitchell and McClure came from Kentucky. The
former settled in Sangamon County, this State, in 1818. His sons, now living on the
south side of the Grove, remember Springfield when there was only one house in it.
Peyton Mitchell was a minister. He belonged to the Cumberland Presbyterians. He
preached the first sermon ever preached in Funk's Grove. Jonathan Hodge came
in the fall of 182G and made some improvements, and then went back to Sangamon
County after his family. They arrived in the spring of 1827. Jonathan Hodge was
born in North Carolina in 1789, of German parents. He came to Barren County, Ky.,
when a boy, and stayed there until after his marriage. He moved to Sangamon County,
111., in 1821. From Sangamon he came to Stout's Grove, where he reared his family of
four sons and three daughters. Two brothers, William F. and U. S. Hodge, now live
in the village of Danvers, and, as they have been in the township fifty-two years, they
are looked upon as the old settlers of the place, and their stories of "ye olden time " are
listened to with delight by many of the more modern folk. Jonathan Hodge was one
of those men who enjoy themselves most perfectly in the woods chasing game. While
yet in Sangamon County, he indulged his passion for hunting to a considerable extent.
He was often associated with the old Indian chief Shaubena, or Shabbona, who was
well known in all this country, at that time. On one occasion, when in company with
a Mr. Cantrell, Mr. Hodge and his companion fell in with a panther. They watched
her until she went into a hollow log that lay upon the ground. Then they closed the
opening and caught her. It proved to be a female with a number of young ones. They
took the young ones home and kept them for some time, but when the wild disposition
began to manifest itself they were killed for fear of mischief During the operations with
the female, the male made his appearance, but wys gone again before the hunters' rifle
could be turned upon him.
Jonathan Berry came to the settlement, at Stout's Grove, at an early period in its
history, but, after remaining awhile, went off and joined the Mormons. Among the
other prominent settlers, we have the names of James McClure, Samuel McClure, the
568 HISTORY OF IVIcLEAN COUNTY.
Conger family, Joseph Suodgrass, Simeon Hensbaw and Joshua Hobson. These came
from different places and settled at different times in the township, but they all came
comparatively early, and were among the best citizens of the settlement.
The old State road, passing through here, was a matter of considerable importance.
On it, in the western part of the township, Mr. Alvin Goodenough kept "The Way-
side Inn." Mr. Goodenough kept his house for a long time on this public thorough-
fare, but was finally compelled to give it up, as the advance of civilization furnished
more convenient modes of travel than that of the old-time stage-coach. The railroad
now carries the traveler through, without any stopping in the country. The German,
the Yankee and the Southern man find comfortable homes here, and all seem prosper-
ous and contented.
EDUCATIONAL.
This settlemeot, like all others begun more than fifty years ago in McLean
County, had many difficulties to overcome before any perceptible progress could be
made in educational institutions. The first efforts at instruction of any kind that can
be traced at present, were very simple lessons in rudimentary knowledge given at the
residences of the early settlers, and among the " Quakers," as these people are com-
monly known. The first schoolhouse was built before there were any regular schools.
It was made of round and split logs, and was near the center of Stout's Grove. Part
of two logs was hewn away, and afforded light. In cold weather, this aperture wa»
covered with paper. The huge log fire served to enliven the dull routine of school-
hours, while the uncushioned puncheon formed the only settee for both master and pupiL
Archibald Johnson was the first teacher. He taught a subscription school, and
" boarded round." The time of this school is not certainly known, but it is thought to
have been in the winter of 1832-33. He was a preacher, and was quite prominent in
the first meetings held at the Grove by the Cumberland Presbyterians. His price per
scholar, for a term of three months, was $2. He was a good teacher, so far as we can
learn ; but there is a little incident told in regard to this first teacher which illustrates
the sens^itive feelings of early pioneer life, A young man, hearing of the school at the
Grove, and desiring to improve his knowledge of books, made application for admission.
Arrangements were made, and he was admitted. The young man had come from a distance,
and his apparel savored of more cultured society than did the ordinary " homespun" of
the average schoolboy. But this made no great stir until, upon a certain occasion, he
applied to the master for a copy. The masters always " set" copies in those days, and
this was no unusual request. But the muse had possession, and in a fit of poetical
eflusiuu the teacher wrote :
"A man without learning
And wearing fine clothes,
Is like a gold ring
In a hog's nose."
The application was too apparent. The young man left school. The neighborhood
con.'-idcrtd it a great slur upon the young gentleman's character, and the event was
remembered and handed down as a neighborhood sensation, thus illustrating the sacred-
ness wiih which the teacher's poi-iiion was held.
]iyman Porter was the second teacher, and was regarded as an excellent gentleman
and BUwcessful teacher. He remained many years. The third teacher was Hosey
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 669
Stout. He soon went oiF to Nauvoo and joined Joseph Smith's Mormon band. After
the trouble at Nauvoo and the death of Smith, Stout went to Utah. He became one
of the twelve Apostles under Brigham Young. He has continued in Mormonism, par-
ticipating in all their peculiarities, and is said to be still living with several wives.
Matthew Robb was the first School Treasurer. He was also the first Justice of the
Peace, the first Representative from this section, and one of the first Commissioners in
Tazewell County.
At present the schools have multiplied, and stand as well, perhaps, as any in the
county. There is a large population of Germans in this township, and they use the
German language very extensively. This requires the teaching of German, and it is
done mainly in the public schools. Teachers are employed, so far as practicable, who
can speak both English and German ; then they have regular classes in German and
English. Where the neighborhood is composed mostly of Americans, the majority do
not favor the employment of a German teacher, as a matter of course. This leads to
the formation of private schools for the benefit of those who must learn the German
language. There have been a few of these, mostly in the neighborhood of the German
Church, on the south of Stout's Grove.
Further details in regard to the schools of the township are given in the following :
Number of children under twenty-one years, 793 ; number of children between six
and twenty-one years, 652 ; number of scholars enrolled, 445 ; number of schoolhouses,
14. Amount paid teachers, $3,188.37 ; total expenditures, $4,314.96. Estimated value
of school property, $5,600. Highest wages paid per month, $75.
RELIGION.
We are not aware of the manner in which the neighbors of this township regard
its inhabitants, but judging from the number and kinds of church people, we should
regard them as second to none in the proportion which church- members bear to the
entire population. The Friends, the Mormons, the Cumberland Presbyterians, the
United Brethren, the Methodist Episcopal, the Congregational, the Christians, the
Baptists and the Mennonites are all represented. There are, probably, members of other
churches, but we did not learn of any other organizations.
The first to hold meetings of any kind were the Friends. They held them in the
cabin belonging to Ephraim Stout. But the Friends moved away, so that there is no
trace of them now. There was a Mr. Walker, a Methodist preacher who preached
very early, but no society was formed at that time. The first to organize and keep up
regular meetings were the Cumberland Presbyterians. Peyton Mitchell was a minister
of this church ; and when he came here in 1827, he, with some others, soon began
meeting. Thomas McClure, an Elder in this Church, and father of Robert McClure^
the Colonel, came to the settlement in 1828. The McClures, Hodges, and Mitchells
were prominent in this Church. It was not long until camp-meeting was held in the
grove, near the Stout's Grove Cemetery. There were a number of preachers who gave
their aid to this eff'ort. Among these maybe mentioned Gilbert Dodds, Thomas Camp-
bell and John Berry, a few times present; Milton Bird, who afterward distinguished
himself in the ministry ; James Davis and James McDowell. John Berry is said to
have organized the first regularly organized band of Christians here. Mr. Walker also
assisted on the camp-ground. William Brown was also among the early ministers.
570 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
There was a kind of Sabbath school organized as early as 1828. It was little
more than a Bible-class, which met at different houses and spent a portion of the Sab-
bath day in reading the Scriptures. After the building of the schoolhouse, all societies
held meetings in it, each one quitting as it was able to build a church for itself Then
the Sabbath school was taken to the schoolhouse, and continued there until churches
were built, and then each church would have its own school.
The first church-edifice was erected by the Cumberland Presbyterians, about 1834
or 1835, near the residence of Henry McClure. It was a neat frame buildmg and was
used a long time as a house of worship. It was afterward moved to Danvers and put
to other uses. When the society moved from the first old church to Danvers, it left a
number of its members a long way from church. Preaching was held among them on
the south side of the grove and caused a considerable increase in the membership. They
were sufficiently strong to erect a new church. This was done in 1873. The house
was located on the north side of Section 19. It is an elegant country church. 36x48
feet. The cost of building was $2,300. It will probably seat 500 persons. The
present membership is about sixty. The first preacher was William Harris. The pres-
ent Pastor is J. H. Millholland. There is also a cemetery in connection with this
Church.
The Methodists were early here. Their first man was probably the Rev. Mr.
Walker. Zadoc Hall was preaching in the Grove as early as 1834. In December of
this year, three brothers, Jeremiah S. Hall, Israel W. Hall and William E. Hall, came
in. They were no relation to the preacher, Zadoc Hall, but were Methodists, and in
the house of Israel W. Hall meeting was held until the building of the Methodist Church
in the village of Danvers. There is a society of Methodists who hold meetings at
present in the brick -ehoolhouse, north part of the Grove.
The United Brethren had meetings in that first log schoolhouse, built near the
center of Stout's Grove. John Dunham the missionary, who preached all over this
country during the first years of its settlement, was their first minister. We under-
stand that the society never became sufficiently strong to build a church. Messrs.
Shoup and Levick are among the mo.st prominent members at present. They hold
meetings in the schoolhouse northwest of the village of Danvers.
In 1850, the Baptists formed a society in the northern part of the township.
Augustus Cram was their first minister after the organization of the society. Pre-
viously, the Rev. Mr. Bly preached for them, and, for awhile, the Rev. Mr. Sherman.
The organization finally worked farther south, until they built a church in Danvers in
1874.
The Christians began their work very early. Mr. Peeler was the leader in forming
the society. They have a neat country church one and one-half miles northwest of
Danvers.
There are two German Churches in the township, with a large membership to each.
They hold services in the German language and speak in German, generally. They are
sometimes called the Ormish Church, but do not claim that name themselves. In fact,
we understand that there is no church that calls itself Ormish. They all claim to be
Meimonites, and these believe and practice the doctrine and precepts of Menno Simon.
One of these churches is three miles north of Danvers, the other is two and one-half
miles southwest from the same place. The Church north is the older. There were
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 571
members of the Mennonite Church in the vicinity of the present church before the
organization here, but they belonged to an organization already established in Woodford
County. The first of the Mennonites to settle in the township were Peter Conner and
two brothers of the name of Strupher, John and Valentine. The Strupher brothers
are the oldest now living. The first house of worship was built in 1851. It was oue
mile north of the present edifice. It was 28x36 feet and cost about S500. This build-
ing soon became too small for the large congregation, and a new one was built in 1873.
This is the largest structure of the kind in the township, being forty feet wide and sixty
feet long. It cost $3,100. The first minister was Joseph Stuckey. He is still the
man in charge, assisted by John Stelhey. There are at present about four hundred
adult members. These generally follow farming. They come from Pennsylvania and
Europe. But a few are mechanics and some tradesmen. The church southwest of
Danvers was built about sixteen years ago. Prominent among the first members were
Christian and Jacob Naffziger. Their first minister was Michael Kistler. He remained
only two years. After him came Christian Gingerig. He has been here fourteen years.
Their church edifice is 30x36 feet. It cost about $2,000. The number of communi-
cants is 125.
As is well known, the Mennonites are followers of Menno Simon, who lived in
Germany about the time of Martin Luther. They remained in Germany until about
one hundred and seventy years ago, when they emigrated largely to Russia. They there
received liberty to practice their doctrine of " non-resistance." They were not compelled
to enter the army until 1870, when laws were enacted requiring all young men to spend
a number of years in the army. The Mennonites were given ten years in which to
reconcile themselves to their fate or to emigrate. Large numbers began to flock to this
country, and no season has passed without bringing colonies of them to our shores.
Preparations were making for a large immigration to this country in the summer of
1879, but the plague, or black death, or epidemic, of what name no matter, which has
been raging within Russian borders, has put a damper upon them. They cannot get
away and would not be permitted to land at our harbors, in all probability, should they
reach them. They are a worthy class of citizens, and it is to be hoped that they may
be able to find in American institutions a protection of their rights, and in American
soil a fertility surpassing any that they have previously enjoyed, and yielding the neces-
sary elements of a quiet and prosperous home.
THE ROCK CREEK FAIR ASSOCIATION.
This Association originated as a f\irmers' club about ten years ago. John A.
Ewins and Peter H. Vance, two public-spirited, energetic farmers, took the lead in its
formation. Meetings were held semi-monthly. At first they met only to discuss the
best methods of raising crops, tilling the soil, rotating crops, etc. ; presently the ladies
became interested, and the company was enlivened by female wit and loveliness; the
affairs of the kitchen were discussed, and everything pertaining to the farmer's home
received a share of attention. When the fall of the year arrived, the men brought
specimens of their crops ; the results of any particular plan were there laid before the
club. When products began to be brought, the meetings began to assume immense
proportions at once. All could show something. Thus a regular grange was formed
without any assistance from national or State granges ; and they have held out well.
572 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
No political tricksters have been able to capture them, or use the association for polit-
ical purposes. Five years ago, they organized themselves into a regular Fair Associa-
tion, with the title above. They started with fifty shares of stock ; each share was val-
ued at S5. Since that time the Association has met with such marked success that a
share is now worth from S^O to $25 ; the number has not been increased. Their
grounds are located five miles north of Danvers on Section 25, Town 25, Kange 1 west.
The use of this lot was donated by John A. Ewins to the Association for fifteen years.
They have a light board fence inclosing the premises, good wells of water — three
dug last fall — a large commodious amphitheater, a floral hall, stalls for horses and
cattle, pens for pigs and all the belongings of a thoroughly organized and successful
fair. The fourth annual session of this Association was held at their grounds on the
25th, 26th and 27th of September, 1878. There were not less than three thousand
persons in attendance. The receipts were sufiicicnt to pay all the premiums and leave
a large balance in the treasury. From this balance they paid for repairs and a number
of improvements, and then had more than $200 left. The officers of this Association for
the year 1879 are: P. H. Vance, President; John A. Ewins, Vice President; J. J.
Yoder, Treasurer; and John S. Popple, Secretary. The Advisory Committee for 1878
were John F. Carlock, Joseph Wilson and Jonathan Sharp. They publish an annual
catalogue of premiums from which we learn the following : The preamble to their Con-
stitution and By-laws, declares that the citizens of Rock Creek and vicinity organize
for the purpose of stimulating agriculture, horticulture and the improvement of diff"er-
ent kinds of stock, and for the mutual benefit of all classes of society. The Constitu-
tion provides for the name and officers given above. It also defines the duties of
officers, and provides for their annual election by ballot. The by-laws refer to details of
management during the annual sessions. Ten classes were organized for premium-lists.
Class A included horses and mules ; Class B, cattle ; Class C, swine and sheep ; Class D,
farm products ; Class E, textile fabrics ; Class F, preserved and canned fruits ; Class G,
bread and cakes ; Class H, horticulture; Class I, poultry; Class K, manufactured articles.
In the private premium-list, there were ofl'ered for premiums for the best looking baby,
the best lady rider of fifty years old, and for the best male equestrianism, those com-
peting to be over sixty years old.
WAR RECORD AND POLITICS.
Danvers Township furnished at least three men for the Black Hawk war. Levi
Danly helped to bury the Hall family, that were so cruelly murdered by the Indians.
Benjamin Conger was also true to the call for men. Robert McClure was Colonel, and
bis deeds are, no doubt, kept in the records of that summer's campaign. Jonathan
Hodge was not among the troops, but was on the scene of action long enough to be
surrounded by a band of Indians, led by the notorious Simon Girty. This was at the
house of John L. Ament, where one man was killed at the door and the others dared
not show themselves.
There were a number of persons in the Mexican war from this side of the county ;
but of those who went from the present limits of Danvers Township, it is hard to make
a list — John Armstrong and Andrew Hodge being the only persons whose names we
learned. In the late war, Danvers furnished her share of men to preserve the Union.
Clayton Lcvick died from disease contracted in the army. William Shoup was shot at
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 573
Fort Donelson. George Spainhowert was wounded, and died from the eflFects after a
long time. He was said to be the man who shot Stonewall Jackson. Warner Blue
died in the hospital. George Fifer and a Mr. Wilson were shot and killed. Dr. Pierce,
a surgeon in the army, died of disease. It will thus be seen that many sacred lives
were offered on the country's altar. Long may their memories live in the hearts of a
grateful people, and the fourth war, that shall call on the ready citizens of Danvers,
occur only when peace can no more be had by honorable means, and liberty is harassed
by the blood-hounds of despotism.
In political matters, Danvers has usually stood Republican. In all questions of
State or national importance, the Republicans have a comparatively large majority.
Occasionally, party lines are manifested in township elections, but usually they are not
so rigidly drawn in local afiairs. In the Presidential election of 1856, the Democrats
carried the precinct. Mr. Stephenson also carried the township in 1878.
HIGHWAYS.
The old State roads were matters of considerable importance in the early history
of our State. They were the only public thoroughfares. The road through Bloom-
ington to Peoria, from Champaign County, was traveled long before there was a rail-
road in the United States. Now the railroad passes directly along the line of the
old highway, through the township. Then, the stage-coach made occasional visits to
the few inns on the way; now, the engine, with its train of rumbling cars, darts past a
score of villages every few hours. Another very early road leads from the village of
Danvers, along the south side of Stout's Grove. It does not follow lines, but is adapted
to the face of the country. It passes near the old house first erected by Ephraim Stout.
It also passes two churches and one schoolhouse within the limits of Danvers Town-
ship. The section lines are not generally authorized roads. There is not a section line
extending east and west that has any considerable length of road upon it. There is a
road extending east and west, through the center of the second tier of sections from
the south. From the State road north, there are several roads, but they nearly all pass
through the center of the sections. There are several, just a mile apart, extending
through the center, instead of on the section line. From the road south of Stout's
Grove, others lead south. These are all, so far as we were able to discover, in good
condition ; and though the timber causes roads to be laid out very irregularly, it does
not render them undesirable.
ORGANIZATION OP THE TOWNSHIP.
It was from Danvers that the petition to call an election for the adoption of the
township system first started. Ira Abbott was the man who originated the movement.
A petition had been before the Commissioners' Court before, but the measure failed to
carry until the election held according to the prayer of Mr. Abbott's petition. The first
election after the adoption of this system, held April 6, 1858, resulted as follows: James
Ali.son, Supervisor; W. F. Hodge, Town Clerk; George W. Danly, Assessor; Thomas
' McClure, Collector ; John W. Barnett, Overseer of the Poor ; Ira Rowell, Joseph
Fry and Caleb Johnson, Commissioners of Highways ; John C. Haybarger and
Henry I. Deal, Justices of the Peace; Philip W. Roadcap and John H. Swindle, Con-
stables. The ofiicers for 1878, were as follows, being elected on the 2d day of April:
574 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
John A. Ewins, Supervisor; Louis Bourguin, Collector; Isaac Plank, Assessor; Moses
Hastings, Town Clerk; J. J. Yoder, Commissioner of Highways.
VILLAGE OF DANVERS.
This village is pleasantly located on the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Rail-
road, about ten miles west of Bloomington. It is situated on the prairie between Dry Grove
and Stout's Grove. The surface of the country in its immediate vicinity, is sufficiently
rolling, requiring no draining, and makes what is apparently a healthy location. Long
before a railroad was built in Illinois, this little village was a regular station, but it was
on the stage-route from Bloomington to Pekin and Peoria. The town was surveyed by
Elbert C. Dickason. The certificate of the surveyor is dated January 15, 1836. A plat
of the village was filed with the County Commissiqners, and approved by them, March
7, 18'^6. The original survey included a rectangular portion of land from the northwest
corner of Section 23, 72 rods wide and 96 rods long, being longest from north to south.
It was 4 blocks wide and 5 long, with a public square in the center. The village was
owned by Israel W. Hall and Matthew Robb. They ordered the surveying and filed
the plat. The place was then called Concord. But during the remainder of the year
nothing was done to build up the village. Since that time, two additions have been
laid off. The first of these was the McClure Addition. It included five blocks on the
east side of the original village. This addition is located in Section 24. Peter Folsom
was the Surveyor. His certificate is dated December 12, 1851. Charles J. McClure
was the owner. Plat was filed and approved by the Commissioners, December 23, 1851.
It is known as C. J. McClure's Addition to the village of Concord. The second addi-
tion was made by Otis Hall and Andrew Vance, a plat of which was filed with the
County Board, June 10, 1869. This was located on the west side of the original vil-
lage. It is called simply Second x\ddition, and includes a row of five blocks.
It will thus be seen that the village of Danvers (formerly Concord) is one of the
oldest in McLean County. Bloomington had scarcely been in existence a decade when
Danvers was born, and, although it has not grown so rapidly as many of its more
favored sisters, it has had a steady increase during the past ten years. Its location in
the midst of a prosperous farming community, will necessarily cause it to continue to
grow and prosper as long as these interests remain. Its liealthful location with good
school and church privileges, will always make it a desirable place of residence for
retired farmers and others.
The first building erected after the village was surveyed was put up in 1837 by
Nicholas Conger, but he never lived in the house. The proprietors of the village never
lived within its limits. The first actual residents were J. G. Ileyburn and family.
They had been among the earliest settlers of Walnut Grove, in Woodford County. In
the spring of 1837, they moved to Stout's Grove, and remained there one year. I^hen
they came to the village of Concord, which makes the date of first settlement 1838.
Mr. Reyburn kept a grocery store at the time. Afterward, he added other articles to
his line of goods, making a general country store. Soon after Mr. Reyburn, Asa R.
Rankin came in. Then came Hodge & Vance with a dry goods store and a general
country trade. Although Concord was on the old stage-route, there was no post office
established hero until about ten years after the first settlement. The people went to
Wilkesborough for their mail. The first mill was a saw-mill, and was put up and owned.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 575
by Hobson & Havens. They ran it for some time, and then it passed into other hands.
This was the first of the kind in the township. There had been a horse-mill for grind-
ing corn, at an early date, on the farm of Ephraim Stout, near Sugar Creek. John
Guthrie ran the first blacksmith-shop in the village. The first in the township was on
the farm of Robert McClure, and was operated by a Mr. Burt. Mr. Reyburn's was
the first regular store in the township, but there had been a few goods kept before this
by Thomas Drain. Concord continued to grow for ten or twelve years, until it became
a village of considerable trade. But after that time, for more than half a score of
years, it was almost lifeless. Mr. Ira Abbott, the present Postmaster and oldest busi-
ness man in town, came here in ISS-i. At that time, T. J. Bunn, now of Blooming-
ton, and Kaufman, of Pekin, were in business here : but there was a long time after
this that Mr. Abbott kept the only store in the village. From 1854 to 1862, there
were not more than three houses built.
The first post ofiice was established here in 1848 or 1849, but it was called Stout's
Grove Post Office. Israel W. Hall was the first Postmaster. The village was called
Concord until 1861. Ira Abbott was appointed P. M. in 1861, and immediately got
up a petition to have the names changed. A meeting of the citizens was held at Mr.
Abbott's store. It was first decided to call the place Sumner, but there was a post
office of that name already in the State. It was then agreed to name it Danvers, out
of regard for Israel W. Hall, who came from near Danvers, Mass. These are the only
two places in the United States of this name.
Since the beginning of war times, Danvers has had a fair growth for a country
village. It has always operated under its special charter, until recently, when it was
incorporated under the general laws of the State. The incorporation takes in one mile
square. There are, at present, four general stores, kept by Ira Abbott, C. C. Rowoll &
Co., Randolph & Hougham, Nafl'ziger & Crist ; four groceries — C. R. Stuckey, Jacob
Yoder, George Bunn, who also keeps a loan office, M. Sebastion, who also adds boots
and shoes to his line of trade ; Popple Bros, keep hardware and farming implements ; D.
H. Parkhurst keeps a drug store. The lumber-yard is owned by S. W. Baker. The
staff of life may be obtained from Wheeler & Fansom, at their large flouring-mill — at
least, the necessary ingredients may be had there. William Naftziger will accommodate
the traveling public at his hotel on the corner. Miss Williams will adorn the young
ladies so that " catching beaux " will be no difficulty and prepare married women to
keep their husbands at home, if they will patronize her millinery-shop. Meat-shop is
kept by Edward Bunn.
The first school-building was erected in 1852. Who taught the first school in it
we were unable to learn. In 1864, a new house was built. This has continued until
the present. It is a two-story frame, and though somewhat worse for the wear of fifteen
years, furnishes comfortable apartments for their excellent schools. Two teachers are
employed. The Principal, John P. Yoder, has had charge for a number of years, and
enjoys a deserved popularity.
Although Danvers was forty-three years old on the 7th of March, 1879, no attempt
has been made to establish a publication of any kind until quite recently. On the 29th
of March, 1879, appeared the first issue of the Danvers Independent. This journal is
issued every Saturday by Dr. D. C. Gideon and George Bunn, who are editors and pro-
prietors. It is devoted to the business interests of Danvers and vicinity. It is a neat,
576 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
twenty-four column paper, run by energetic business men, and will, as it grows older,
no doubt, receive a large patronage and be a credit to the village.
The Methodists were the first to build a church. They built a house of worship
in 1852. It was 30x3G feet. It is still standing, but is not put to use of any kind.
The meetings are now held in the Presbyterian Church. Preaching is had every two
weeks by Rev. Mr. Van Pelt, of Bloomington. The Methodists have their times of
refreshing and of religious dearth. At present, the society is not large.
The Congregational Church was organized in January, 1862. Their first Pastor
was Jerome D. Jones. They began with about twenty members. Prominent among
them may be mentioned I. D. James, Dr. Parkhurst and Ira Abbott. The church was
erected in the fall of 1862. It is 35x50 feet; cost of construction, $1,600. This was
considered very cheap for the times and the character of the edifice. The present num-
ber of communicants is about fifty. The Rev. M. M. Longley is Pastor. This is
the only Congregational Church ever in the township.
The Cumberland Presbyterians, as noted in the history of this township, were the
first to organize a church at Stout's Grove. The society met in the church at the
(jrove for a great many years ; but after the village of Danvers began- to grow, the
greater portion of the membership was on the east side. It was decided to build in
Danvers. Accordingly, in 1865, a house was erected. This was just at the close of
the late war, when everything was costly. The building cost about S6,000. It was
dedicated in April, 1865. Size of church, 40x50 feet. First preacher in the new
church, J. A. Chase. Since the first, they have had a number of ministers. The pres-
ent Pastor is the Rev. J. C. Van Patten. The Presbyterians have ever been strong
and influential in this part of the county. Besides being the first to organize, they have
been the most permanent and numerous of the English churches. Their house of wor-
ship is the largest in the village. The present membership is about one hundred.
Although the Baptist Church is the most recently built and its membership gath-
ered together at a comparatively recent date, the edifice is one of the neatest churches
to be found anywhere. It was built about five years ago. The Pastor at the time of
building was H. H. Ballard. The house cost $2,700. They have a very fair member-
ship and respectable congregation.
It will thus be seen that Danvers has four organized chui'ches in town, with several
not far ofi" in the country. They certainly have the opportunity to be a religious
people.
THE CEMETERY.
" Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves ilie turf in many a moldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid.
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
When the Cumberland Presbyterians built their first church, in 1834, they very
naturally prepared a burial-place for their dead. This cemetery is located beside the
railroad, about two miles northwest of the village of Danvers. It is the principal place
of burial for all this section of country. There are other cemeteries, but here are
found the resting-places of many of the pioneers. Here, too, with regard to Danvers,
" The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." Many tokens of affection may be seen in
this beautiful country cemetery. It is cozily hovered round by the native forests, and
i
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 677
the only thing that would seem to disturb the slumbering spirits is the thundering by
of the iron steed. It seems quite out of taste to us that railroad companies must carry their
traffic beside the quiet churchyard, where rest the only mementoes of many sacred dead.
Among the many tombs — some with elegant and costly, others with humble and
touching monuments — we noticed only a few. Here rest the remains of Matthew Robb
and wife ; there, those of the Drain family ; and farther along, some of the McClures.
Yonder is a poor fellow who was killed by a runaway team ; while here is an inscrip-
tion in memory of one who died in the Sunny South. Passing on, we find the names
Stevenson, Wheeler, Danly, Taylor, Naffziger, Rowell, Wilson and hosts of others,
inscribed on glistening marble, bringing to mind days long past, and telling of the
sacred memories that still linger in the hearts of the living.
HAMLIN
was a small post village, four miles west of Danvers. It was on the old State road, and
had, at one time, more than " half a score of dwelling-house-s, a blacksmith-shop, two
grocery stores and a saloon." The mail was carried by the stage-coach line, in those
days, from Bloomington to Pekin, and, as this little place was on the route, a post
office was established there in 1861 ; James Dunseth was made Postmaster. The office
was afterward moved a mile farther west, but was still called Hamlin. In 1867, James
Parker was made Postmaster. But the I., B. & W. R. R. began to carry the mail in
1870. The office was then moved still farther west, across the line, into Tazewell County,
and is now at Lilly, the next station west of Danvers, on the I., B. & W. R. R.
WILKESBOROUGH
was a little village on the old State road in the eastern edge of Danvers Township. It
lay on the west side of the Third Principal Meridian. This meridian forms the east
boundary of Danvers Township. Wilkesborough was never a place of much importance.
It had a little store or two and a post office. Mr. J. 0. Barnard was Postmaster.
There was an office here for, perhaps, ten years. It remained until 1848 or 1849. The
exact date we could not ascertain. All this time the people of Concord, now Danvers,
were obliged to go to Wilkesborough for their mail. When the office was discontinued
at Wilkesborough, it was moved to Concord, and called Stout's Grove Post Office, and so
remained till 1861, when the names of the post office and vilUge were changed to Danvers.
The village of Wilkesborough is not now recognized. There is nothing to indicate
to the stranger the previous existence of any such place. Its course has long since been
run. It lives only in records and the memories of those who still cherish fond recol-
lections of the " good old times in McLean County."
MOUNT HOPE TOWNSHIP.
This township occupies the extreme southwestern part of McLean County. It is
bounded on the north by Allin Town.^hip ; on the east by Funk's Grove ; on the south
by Logan County, and on the west by Logan and Tazewell. The surface of country
embraced by these lines is, for the most part, undulating without being hilly, and no
part of the township is so level as to be termed flat. The land is of an exceedingly
578 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
productive character, being well adapted to the raising of corn, rye, oits and the vege-
tables common to this climate. Hogs and cattle in great numbers are raised ; indeed,
Mount Hope Township is noted as a stock region. It is watered by branches of Sugar
Creek which flow through from east to west. These branches aff"ord good stock water
and drainage for the farms lying adjacent; they also afford sufficient water and fall for
mills of moderate power, though they are not utilized for that purpose. The Chicago
Sz Alton Railroad passes through the southeastern part, and furnishes an outlet for the
products of this and adjacent townships. The township is now almost devoid
of timber. Formerly one or two sections were covered with wood, but the pioneer's ax
materially reduced that small area, and it may now be said that this is a region without
groves except the artificial ones planted by the early settlers. The township is
described in the Congressional survey as Town 22 north, Range 1 west of the Third
Principal Meridian, and the north third of Town 21, in same range. The township
therefore consists of forty-eight full sections, or nearly 31,000 acres.
When McLean County was first organized, this township, with others in this part
of the county, was embraced in what was called the Kickapoo Precinct, extending not
only further north and east, but also four miles further south, including within its
boundaries all that part of Logan County now called Atlanta Township. The pre-
cincts of the county were at various times changed in size and shape to suit the con-
venience of the inhabitants, until 1858, when Mount Hope Township was formed, with
boundaries co-extensive with what we now find them.
The township derives its name from a company that was formed in 18o5 for the
purpose of opening up Western lands, of which more hereafter.
FIRST SETTLERS.
In 1824, the Funks had already occupied a considerable portion of the timber
lying along the east branch of Sugar Creek. In those times, the timber-land was the
great desideratum, and it was occupied first. The southwest part of the grove, how-
ever, was vacant, and here the first settlers of Mount Hope Township located. They
came at various dates between 1824 and 1835, from the State of Ohio, several of them
having been acquaintances of the Funk family, and being guided by their advice to this
region. As nearly as can now be remembered, they settled here in about the chrono-
logical order in which their names appear.
William Johnson appears as one of the first Justices of the Peace of the Kickapoo
precinct, and also as one of the three County Commissioners at a later day. Isaac
Baker was a leading man in the early times of this county. The early records of the
county testify to his competence as a public officer. The neat and well-kept record of
the County Court is one of the very few exceptions to a bungling and almost unintel-
ligible chirography, which graces nearly all of the early county records of the State.
The fact is, the office of " C. C. C. C," as Mr. Baker signed himself, was not then
equal to that of Township Clerk at this time, either in emoluments or in time required
to perform its duties. About three days' work at each quarterly session, at $2 per day,
was the allowance of the Clerk of the County Commissiou'jrs' Court — an office which
now rcjquires the continual services of a Clerk and two or three assistants. Then, too,
the county was double the size we now find it ; but it will be remembered that the
whole population did not exceed one of the most thinly settled townships of to-day.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 679
Philip Cline and James Murphy came about the same time. Murphy was one of
the first Justices of the Peace of the Kickapoo Precinct. It is said that Murphy was
a noted hunter in the early times, and made a good share of his living by the use of
his rifle. Indeed, we may well believe that many of the early settlers were experts
with the gun, and that a good many of them were guided to this part of the country
by reports of the abundance of game that was to be found here. Deer, wild turkeys,
pheasants and prairie chickens could be killed in almost any amount; and some of the
stories told by the pioneers, in relation to their hunting expedidons, sound marvelous in
the ears of the younger people. Jacob Moore, John and Robert Longworth, Daniel
Proctor, Ezra Kenyon and Nicholas Darnall were also among those who located here at
a very early date. This settlement was, in reality, a part of the Funk's Grrove neigh-
borhood, and had no connection with the grand scheme of colonization inaugurated in
the central part of the township a few years later.
MOUNT HOPE COLONY.
This was a grand enterprise which originated in Rhode Island, in 1835, and had
for its object the opening up of Western lands, and of settling the same with
respectable and enterprising farmers, mechanics and tradesmen. A charter was obtained
from the State and a company lormed, with a capital stock of $12,500. A constitu-
tion and by-laws wore formed, and everything arranged in the most business-like
shape. The stockholders were men of means and intelligence, and had for their object
not only to make money, but to benefit, financially and morally, some of their poorer
neighbors and acquaintances, who might contemplate emigration to a Western country.
At that time there was a perfect flood of emigration setting in toward this State.
Hundreds of similar schemes were being organized throughout the East ; hundreds of
thousands of circulars, similar in import to what we now see advertising the lands of
Kansas, Nebraska and Texas, were sent everywhere, and the eyes of people in moderate
circumstances and those without means were turned to Illinois.
A provision of the by-laws was, that each stockholder was entitled to 320 acres
of land, to be afterward selected by a competent agent. Each stockholder was also to
have four lots in the proposed town or village of Mount Hope. It was further stipu-
lated that the stockholder should either himself settle upon the land apportioned to him
or cause it to be occupied by an active, energetic farmer, and that, within a specified
time, each tract should be improved to the extent of at least $300.
Accordingly, a committee was appointed, consisting of John C. Cass, Seth Talbot
and two other men of the name of Carpenter, to come out to this place and locate the
land. Twenty-two sections, as nearly in a block, without interfering with the claims of
■others who had already settled, were located in the name of John C. Cass, Agent of
the Providence Farmers' and Mechanics' Emigrating Society. Then William Peck,
their own surveyor, was sent out to survey the lands and plat the prospective town. In
this work, Mr. Peck seems, from the record still extant in the archives at Bloomington,
to have been assisted by Elbert, then Surveyor of McLean County. The town, with
its streets and alleys and public square, was duly mapped out, a stone being planted at
the northwest corner of the public square, from which it was decreed that all future
surveys should be made. Alas for all human calculations ! The stone is about all that
is now left of the once prospective city.
580 HISTORY OF McLean county.
After Mr. Peck had made the survey, he returned to his constituents, made his
report, and then the land, to the amount of 320 acres each, was apportioned to the
stockholders. This still left some 6,000 acres unapportioned, which was to be held
in trust by duly-appointed Trustees. These Trustees were Royal Chapin, John H.
Mason and Asa Pearce. From these Trustees the stockholders received their deeds.
The lands were afterward appraised by disinterested parties, and rebates awarded to such
as happened to draw tracts considered of less value.
Under this arrangement, about fifteen families came out from Rhode Island and
Massachusetts and settled upon their respective tra;ts of land. All the preliminary
arrangements had been made by the spring of 1837, and during that year and the fol-
lowing, the settlements were made. Only three of the stockholders ever came here to
reside permanently. These were John Rathbone, Dr. J. Whipple and Seth Talbot.
But for the crash that came to the country that year, these splendid calculations
might have proved a reality. No scheme was founded on a better basis than the Mount
Hope enterprise, but business of every kind that year was prostrated, and the founders
of the colony had other use for their spare means than the improvement of Western
lands. Times were even Jiarder in the East than the West, and in that one feature
seems to have been the secret of the failure. The weak point in the enterprise was in
having non-residents for stockholders. Had the stockholders all been actual settlers,
who had invested their means in the project, and had they removed to the place, doubt-
less the result would have been different. As it was, most of the tenants sent out soon
became dissatisfied, some returning to their homes in the East, and others seeking new
Eldorados further on. The few who remained, struggled along, but accomplished but
little of the grand work that had been expected of them. A few houses were erected
in the intended metropolis, a school and church were organized by the help of friends
in the East, but beyond this the project was a failure. The lands of the company were
held in trust until about 1854, when a company of gentlemen residing in Bloomington,
of whom William McCulloch, E. H. Rood and Hudson Burr were members, bought the
remaining lands at prices ranging from $3 to §5 per acre, and the Mount Hope Colony
ceased to be.
Perhaps the event which had the most to do with the immediate abandonment of
the company project was the completion of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad
through the eastern part of the township, leaving the nucleus of the company's town
several miles to the west. The road was completed through here in 1853, and was the
means of building up many thriving and substantial towns and cities along its line and
wherever a town was unhappily left outside of its track, it as certainly collapsed. This
was notoriously the "case with the respective towns of Mount Hope and McLean. The
lands of the company, together with all other unoccupied lands in the township, were,
very soon after the completion of the road, occupied by a second flood of emigration
from the East, and the settlements made subsequent to that date were of such frequency
that we do no not attempt to record them.
The next event of public consequence was that of the organization of the township
as a separate precinct. This was accomplished in 1858. In November of the preceding
year, the act authorizing township organization had been adopted by the county, and this
portion of the county had been set off as a separate precinct. The first election in this
township occurred April 6, 1858. At this, first election, Daniel Winsor was elected
HISTORY OF McLEAN COJNTY. 581
Supervisor; Adam Stubblefield, Clerk; Samuel B. Kinsey, Assessor -^ E. H. Valentine,
Collector; Thomas J. Enslow, Overseer of the Poor; Elbridge G. Clark, John H.
Young and Joseph A. Pit'.s, Commissioners of Highways; John Kellogg and James
Palmer, Justices of the Peace. Of these, John Kellogg has held the office ever since,
having held the office of Squire for twenty-four consecutive years, and Samuel B. Kin-
sey, the then Township Assessor, appears in the list of township officers for 1878-79, as
Supervisor.
The full list of officers, as at present constituted, consists of Samuel B. Kinsey,
Supervisor ; Lafiiyette Archer, Collector ; Stacy B. Kinsey, Assessor ; Samuel I. Leach,
Clerk ; A. J. Nelt^on, Edward Stubblefield and Samuel B. Kinsey, Commissioners of
Highways ; John Kellogg and Samuel Y. Ewing, Justices of the Peace ; and William
Carrington and Charles B. Wright, Constables.
The largest number ot votes ever cast at an election was 335, though the number
of voters in the town.i!hip at this time probably exceeds 350.
The politics of the township have always been decidedly Republican, the ratio
being about two to one of the opposition.
A decided cast to the complexion of politics was given by the early settlers of the
colony. They were, with scarcely an exception, rank Abolitionists. Indeed, if tradi-
tion is to be relied on, a regular station of the underground railroad, with agent and con-
ductor, existed in the neighborhood. John Moss was suspected of being connected
with the scheme of aiding and abetting and otherwise assisting runaway slaves in their
efforts to gain their freedom. It is said that in Moss' cellar was a secret chamber, of
which no man except John Moss knew the location or existence until his old house was
removed, when, this same tradition says, it was brought to light. In this dark recess,
during the day, at the approach of danger, the dark objects of Mr. Moss' solicitude
received by way of the railroad during the previous night, were concealed until the
danger was past. The following night, Moss or some other sympathizer would convey
the human chattels to Aunt Polly Mahan's station, at Lexington ; or, if the nights were
long and the roads and weather good, to that equally notorious nest of Abolitionists in
New Michigan, in Livingston, to be cared for in a similar manner by Charles Paget
and his coadjutors.
THE WAR.
With the next important event in the history of this township, the underground
railroads and their necessity passed away, as at one grand stroke the shackles of those
yet remaining in bondage were struck off, and their perilous pilgrimage to Canada thus
dispensed with.
It is not to be wondered at that this township, whose political education had con-
sisted largely in means of bringing discomfort to the slaveowners and their hired slave-
catchers, should take a deep interest in a war which, though not, primarily, waged in the
interests of the colored race, must, nevertheless, result in their liberation. To that end,
Mount Hope made a large and precious sacrifice. The alarm of war had scarcely
Bounded before the able-bodied citizens of the township were seen marching toward the
nearest recruiting-stations, as it were, in scjuads. Most of those who went from this
township enlisted in the Second and Fifth Illinois Cavalry and in the Seventh and One
Hundred and Seventeenth Infantry. Company A of the One Hundred and Seventeenth
was made up almost wholly of Mount Hope soldiers. It is difficult to say, at this time,
582 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
how many actually went from this township, as many went to other towns and enlisted there,
and were never credited to this township. Notwithstanding this apparent loss, the town-
ship was never drafted, and, at the close of the war, had more than furnished its full quota.
Of those who went out to fight the battles of their country and who returned not, are
remembered Daniel Feathers, Adam Hoffman, Michael Kauffman, Nathan Ivinse}^ J.
Ewing. William Stone, John Harley, William Waltman, D. Perstannie, Emanuel
Keeve, D. Brock, Peter Burbank, George Brown, Casper Heckard, John Caton, Caleb
Chapin, William Haughey, William Owen, Clarence Trott, Edward Butts, Emery
Crawford and David Mason. Quite a number of these were killed in actual conflict,
some died in rebel prisons of starvation, and others of wounds or disease contracted in
the army. Their bones lie mingled with the soil of the country which they went out
to rescue from the hands of those who sought the destruction of the Union. The
sacrifice was a costly one, but their country demanded and they gave it willingly.
The township was honored by the selection from the ranks of its brave boys of quite
a number to fill high positions in the army. In Company A of the One Hundred and
Seventeenth Regiment, the commissioned ofiicers were all Mount Hope men. Samuel
B. Kinsey, who had resigned his office of Supervisor, was Captain ; H. W^. Wood, who had
also resigned the office of Constable, was First Lieutenant, and Dennis Kenyon was Second
Lieutenant of the same company. Charles Beath was promoted to the office of Captain of
Company A in the One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment; Benjamin Hieronomous, to
First Lieutenant, and George W. Brown, to Second Lieutenant. F. A. Wheelock and C.
W. Wheelock were both promoted to captaincies in the Fifth Cavalry. A. H. Dillon was
First Lieutenant in the Thirty-eighth Regiment ; James Palmer, Second Lieutenant in
the One Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment, and Austin Rollins was promoted to a
Lieutenancy in the First Missouri Cavalry.
EDUCATIONAL.
Mount Hope Township is noted for its good schools. No interest has received
greater attention than that of education, and the amount expended for the purpose of
educating the youth is greater than that paid out for any other single object of a pub-
lic character.
A lady of the name of Pierce taught in her own house the first school in this part
of the county. She was one of the Mount Hope Colonists, and her house was just
east of the village. The school consisted of a few of the children of the colonists, and
the branches taught were a little reading, writing and arithmetic.
A schoolhouse was built in very early times on Section 32 in Town 21, which was
then in this county, but now in Logan, and near where Atlanta now stands. A school-
house was also built at an early date in Funk's Grove, a little west of the present site
of Funk's Grove Station. These two schools were attended by the children of Mount
Hope Township for several years, when a house was erected in the colony neighborhood.
This was a small frame building, and was erected for both school and church purposes.
The building was erected partly with means obtained from persons in the fJast friendly
to the colonists. It was used for a number of years as a house of worship and as a school-
house. Soon after the village of McLean was laid out, it was removed to that place,
'where it was devoted to similar purposes until its usefulness had been outlived and more
commodious quarters, both religious and educational, had been provided.
^
PROF. OF LANGUAGE
ILLS. NORMAL UNIVERSITY
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 585
At the time the boundaries of Mount Hope were fixed, in 1858, there were in the
township five schoolhouses, mostly of rather an inferior character. At that time, the
school law of the State had been in operation but three years, and a few items extracted
from the report of Daniel Wilkins, then School Commissioner of McLean County, will
be interesting and instructive, as compared with similar items of the present year.
*Extract from Daniel Wilkins' Report, 1858 :
Whole number of schoolhouses 5
Number of scholars 129
Number of persons between 5 and '21 287
Average wages paid to teachers per month $28 00
Whole amount expended for school purposes $671 00
Extract from N. I. Leach's Report for 1878 :
Number of schools in township 9
Number of scholars 436
Number of persons between 6 and 21 517
Number of persons under 21 759
Whole amount expended for school purposes $5,000
Estimated value of school property $13,000
Township school fund - $5,000
The first Township Treasurer was John Longworth, who held the office until 1874,
when the present Treasurer, I. N. Leach, was appointed.
The people of Mount Hope are proud of their school system, of their comfortable
and well-furr.ished schoolhouses and of their efficient school officers, and believe firmly
that they will compare favorably with those of any township in the county.
MILLS.
Mill interests in the early history of the county were considered of much greater
importance than at present. The easy communication between neighborhoods, towns
and cities by means of the railroad has revolutionized almost everything, but nothing
more than that of transforming the grain into flour or meal. To the early settler, one
of the most important items in his calculations was the grinding of his grain. There
were no steam-mills then, and a site for a water-mill was an important thing. The
pioneers were all poor, and, though mill-sites might have been plenty, they could not
improve them. Therefore, numerous devices were invented to convert wheat and corn
into bread. A few were possessed of hand-mills not greatly unlike those in use some
thousands of years ago, and to which allusion is made in the Bible (Matt., xxiv, 41) :
" Two women shall be grinding at the mill," etc. By and by, some of the more fore-
handed farmers brought in a kind of horse-mill, which, though a very primitive affair-, was
considered a valuable accession to the industries of the neighborhood, and a wonderful
convenience. These mills were mostly used for simply cracking corn, upon which the old
pioneers lived. Corn was the staple feed for man and beast, and upon it they all thrived
and grew healthy and strong.
About fifty years ago, Isaac fiaker began the erection of a water-mill on Sugar
Creek in Funk's G-rove, but for some reason, the enterprise was abandoned. It was at
about that time that he was elected to the office of " C. C. C. C," when he removed to
* This includes the portion of Town 21 north, Range 1 west, lying in McLean County.
586 HISTORY OF McLean county.
Bloomington to assume the duties of said oflSce ; and this may explain why such an
important project was allowed to fail.
About ten years later, John Caton erected a small water-mill on Sugar Creek,
which has not yet ceased its busy din. The mill, though a small affair, had, in its early
days, an enviable reputation, and was looked upon as almost an indispensable thing.
Things are different now. Mills are now usually extensive establishments, and furnish flour
to consumers hundreds of miles away. Formerly, it was the universal custom for
farmers to make their monthly trips to the mill with a bag of wheat, and, returning a
week later, find it ground into flour for the family use. Now, most farmers sell all
of their grain at the nearest railroad station. The grain-buyer sends it to the city,
there to be handled and commissioned by the elevator. Then it is bought by one of
those extensive grinding establishments, made into flour, put up in barrels or neat little
sacks, and sold to a wholesale dealer in flour. From there it goes, by way of the same
railroad that carried it as grain, back to the village, where it was formerly bought to be
handled by the grocer and sold to the same man who produced it. Everybody who
touched it in the long round has made a little money out of it, and this leaves us in a
quandary how all this can be done and still compete with good mills near home. Per-
haps some of the late disclosures on adulterated food may yet throw light on the
subject.
The little mill was years ago purchased by Jacob Moore, by whom it is still
operated.
VILLAGE OF MCLEAN.
The year 1852 was an eventful one for the region of country through which the
Chicago & Alton Railroad was built. Along the completed part of the line, sprang up
a score or more of villages and towns heretofore undreamed of The products of the
prairie, in a very short time, from various causes based directly on the completion of
this enterprise, doubled, trebled, and then quadrupled. This required a corresponding
increase of trades to handle the same, and the railroad company gave every encourage-
ment toward the development of the country and the villages along its route. Though
McLean did not at once spring into prominence, it may be said it is, in every sense of
the word, a creature of the road.
The town was laid out by Peter Folsom, then County Surveyor for Franklin Price,
from the southeast quarter of Section 35, Town 22, Range 1 west. A stone planted
in the northeast corner of Lot 1 of Block 1, was planted for the guidance of all future
surveys.
The town was laid out June 20, 1855, but it does not seem to have improved
much for a few years.
G. L. and F. A. Wheelock were in the neighborhood in 1854, and, in 1855,
they moved into the station-house, and transacted the business of the company at this
point. E. G. Clark, a relative of the Wheelocks, came about the same time. The
next persons of importance to locate here were H. W. Wood and John Kellogg. They
came to the place in 1856 — Mr. Wood from Massachusetts, and Mr. Kellogg from Tre-
mont, where he had resided many years previously. Dr. F. P. King, about the same
time, removed from Menard County to this place, and engaged with Mr. Kellogg in the
mercantile trade. The Wheelocks and Wood also opened a store. Perhaps we ^have
made the impression that the above were the first merchants here. That was not
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 587
strictly the case, as John Goodhue had kept a few groceries and notions prior to the
opening of these stores. Mr. Goodhue was also the first Postmaster ; afterward, Mr.
Kellogg was appointed Postmaster, and kept the oifice in his store. Kellogg & King
soon dissolved partnership, and the latter went to Wilmington to take charge of the
Stewart Hotel of that place.
A. H. Dillon, in company with Mark Marion, erected a small warehouse and com-
menced buying grain. J. S. and G. P. Barber soon after built a warehouse and bought grain.
In 1866, Thornton B. Colton erected an elevator,, which was the first of the kind
here ; three or four years later, the building was burned. In 1867, M. G. Haughey's
elevator was built. This building has a handling capacity of about six thousand bushels.
The Mount Hope mills and elevator were built in 1868 ; the mill by Stone, Aldrich
& Co., and the elevator by C. C. Aldrich. The cost of both establishments was over
$25,000. The mill has four runs of buhrs, and the elevator has a storing capacity of
20,000 bushels. These are said to be the most complete of their kiud in Central Illi-
nois. Every convenience and modern improvement that money would buy have been
put in. An institution of this kind is a credit to the town and its founders.
We had almost forgotten that another attempt at milling was made here prior
to the establishment of Mount Hope Mills. In 1865, G. L. Wheelock purchased a
flour-mill at Waynesville and removed it to this place. It was fitted up and run for
awhile, and then sold to Cyrus H. McCormick, who subsequently removed it to Greenview.
The first blacksmith-shop was put up in 1857, by F. A. Wheelock. Mr. Wheelock
was not a blacksmith, but built the shop more for the purpose of starting the business
than for any other. He soon sold the building to George A. Glotfelter, a practical work-
man. In 1859, Glotfelter and H. W. Wood added their wagon and carriage factory,
which is still operated by Messrs. Wood & Stones. Like almost every other branch of
industry, the wagon and carriage business is being monopolized by the large corpora-
tions, and M'essrs. Wood & Stones, though they still do considerable in that line, do
but little compared to their former business.
EDUCATIONAL.
The first school-building was the one mentioned on another page as having been
removed from Mount Hope. The building is familiar to the earlier residents of the
village, but to the new-comers it may not be known that the old Congregational Church and
schoolhouse is still in use in the village, but since 1868 as a carpenter-shop. This his-
toric building was donated by the Mount Hope people, in 1857, to the School District
of McLean and removed to this place the same year. The house, with some refitting,
was the schoolhouse and church for those who chose to occupy it, until 1868, when the
new and substantial building now used for school purposes was erected. This is one of
the most convenient of its kind to be found in towns of like size in the country. It is
a solid frame building 40x60 feet, two stories high ; it contains four large sitting-rooms,
besides halls, recitation-rooms, etc. The cost of the building was SI 0,000. The school
sustained here is a graded one of four departments. A. M. Scott is Principal.
RELIGIOUS.
McLean is well supplied with church facilities, there being in the village three
good church -buildings, occupied by as many organized religious societies.
588 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The Congregational Church organization dates back to the formation of the Mount
Hope Colony ; and though at times the society had a precarious existence, the original
books, with entries regularly made, indicating its removal to this place, and other facts,
showing a complete chain of evidence, are still in existence.
The Atlanta Congregational Church drew largely from the original organization ;
but the root of organization still remained alive at Mount Hope, and, putting forth a
small shoot in later years and being properly cultivated, has grown and thrived of late
years in a very satisfactory manner.
The society recently erected a very handsome church-building, 31x42 feet in size,
costing, including the lot, S2,000. The present membership of the Church is about
thirty. Rev. J. H. Shay, of Bloomington, is Pastor. In connection with the Church
is a prosperous Sunday school of about sixty scholars, of which F. H. Doane is Super-
intendent.
It is claimed for this society that it was one of the first in this part of the State
to espouse the cause of the colored people, then in bondage, and also one of the first to
take advanced grounds against the liquor traffic. When both of these questions were
unpopular, this organization heralded to the world that it would affiliate with no man or
set of men, religiously, who could not adopt their views.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of McLean was organized in 1857. Capt. I. C.
Trott and John Kellogg and a few female members constituted the first class, with
Capt. Trott as Class-Leader. This has bean a most prosperous s jqiety. From the small
beginning indicated, the Church has grown to number about one hundred and seventy-
five. The Pastor is Rev. Thomas D. Weems. The Sunday school connected with this
Church was started in 1857, by John Kellogg, with just three scholars. Mr. Kellogg
was Superintendent, teacher and all for a time. The school now numbers, in regular
attendance, eighty members. A. R. Dillmau is Superintendent.
In 1866, this society built their present neat and commodious building, at an out-
lay of $3,725. It is 35x55 feet in size, and will accommodate about three hundred
sittings.
The Baptists of McLean and vicinity organized a society of that denomination in
1858. This event was brought about by Rev. John Merriman. A couple of years
later, the mutterings of war began to be heard throughout the land, and all kinds of
enterprises, including churches, were at a standstill, and the infant society named was
not an exception. But little was done in the way of church work for six or seven
years, during part of which time no meetings were held. In 1867. through the advice
and assistance of Rev. E. J. Thomas, now of Atlanta, the McLean Baptist Church was
re-organized, and a house of worship erected the next year. The church-building is a
neat frame 24x40 feet in size, and cost the society $1,400. There is no preaching service held
here at present, though prayer-meetings and Sunday school are kept ud. The Sunday
school numbers about forty members in regular attendance, of which Mrs. Henrietta
Clark is, and has been for the last five years. Superintendent. The Sunday school has
the reputation of being conducted on the most approved plan.
Besides the above, two other churches of the Methodist denomination are to be
found in the township outside of the village. The Mount Hope Church, near the
ancient village, was started nearly forty years ago. Some of its original members were
James Murphy, Jacob Moore, Ezra Kenyon and John Longworth. Dr. Daniel Proctor
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 589
and John Stubblefield were among its first preachers. The society built a house of
worship about ten years since. It is a plain frame building about 28x40 feet in size.
About twenty-five members belong to the society. Ee?. Thomas D. Weems is present
Pastor. Sunday school is sustained during the summer, but owing to the distance from
the church at which many of the members live, it is suspended during the winter.
Ebenezer Church is located near the center of Town 22, being on Section 17.
The society was formed about ten years ago and the house of worship erected at the
same time. About fifty persons belong to this organization. Rev. Mr. Shinn is Pastor.
A., p. & A. M.
McLean Lodge, No. 469, was chartered in October, 1866, with B. E. Pumpelly as
W. M.; H. W. Wood, S. W.; Charles H. Hitchcock, J. W. ; E. G. Clark, Secretary;
T. D. Cotton, Treasurer, and James Gibbs, Tiler. Samuel B. Kinsey, Thomas
McGary and M. H. Reed were also charter members.
The present membership is twenty-nine. They have lost by death four, and by
dimission fully fifty.
The present officers are: C. C. Aldrich, W. M.; Clark Snedeker, S. W. ; John
Yates, J. W. ; Samuel I. Leach, Treasurer ; H. W. Wood, Secretary ; D. J. Palmer,
S. D.; A. W. Bascom, J. D., and George Youngman, Tiler.
ORGANIZATION OF MCLEAN.
"The legal voters of the village were notified to meet at John Kellogg's office on
Saturday, May 19, 1866, to vote for or against organization." The first record of the
village, still extant, reads as above. On the day appointed, a meeting was held in con-
formity to the notice and resulted in a vote of twenty-nine in favor of, and four against,
incorporation. The meeting at which this action was taken, was called to order by E.
G. Clark. On motion of Charles S. Beath, if. B. Johnson was elected President of
the meeting and E. G. Clark, Clerk. The oath of office was administered by James S.
Barber, who was then a Notary Public. At this meeting, it was also agreed to hold
the election for officers at the same place on the 26th, being one week later. At that
election, E. B. Johnson, Daniel Tenney, Edward Bonifield, John E. Rawlins and H.
W. Wood were elected Trustees, the first-named being President. E. G. Clark was
appointed Clerk and Collector ; Thornton D. Cotton, Treasurer, and Edward Bonifield,
Assessor. The vote polled at this first election was forty-one. This organization, which
was under the general law of the State, continued until 1873, when, in the mean time
a new general law having been passed, the new act of incorporation was adopted by a
vote of thirty-two to seventeen.
The present officers of the village are : John Kellogg, President ; W. 0. Jefirey,
C. C. Aldrich, Charles M. Noble, Lewis Fay and A. C. Stonaker, Trustees, and H. W.
Wood, Clerk.
TOWANDA TOWNSHIP.
Towanda Township is situated in the geographical center of McLean County. It
includes one Congressional town, and is known as Town 24 north, Range 3 east of the
Third Principal Meridian. It is bounded on the north by Money Creek Township ;
on the east by Blue Mound ; on the south by Old Town, and on the west by Normal.
590 HISTORY OF McLPlAN COUNTY.
The surface of the country is varied and interesting. Towanda Township is not so
level as many parts of Illinois prairie. The surface has sufficient slope to drain itself
without the assistance of tiling, unless it be in a few exceptional instances. The greater
portion of the township is prairie, but there were, originally, two important groves.
Most of the timber has been cleared away, with the advance of civilization and the con-
version of the wild prairie lands into fruitful farms.
The grove lying farthest south, near the center of the township, on the west side
of Money Greek, is known as Smith's Grove. It was so named from David Smith, who
settled there in 1830. The other woodland is known as " Money Creek Timber,'
although Smith's Grove is properly Money Creek Timber. But when the name
Money Creek Timber is used, reference is always made to that portion lying in the
north part of the township. It is the beginning of a large body of timber which
extends down Money Creek, through the township of the same name, to the Mackinaw.
The southwestern part of Towanda lies on "the divide," between the waters which flow
into the Mackinaw and those which flow into Sugar Creek. This is the prairie which
the early settlers considered worthless, but which now is among the most enviable por-
tions of this thriving township.
The only stream worthy of notice is Money Creek. The headwaters of this
little creek take their rise in Padua and Arrowsmith Townships. After passing through
the southwestern part of Blue Mound it enters Towanda near the northeastern corner
of Section 25. It passes in a northwesterly direction through the township, leaving it
near the line between Sections 4 and 5. The remainder of its course lies in Money
Creek and Hudson Townships, where it enters Mackinaw near the line between Hudson
and Gridley Townships.
The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad crosses the northwestern corner of
Towanda, extending directly northeast and southwest. This road was built in 1853,
and soon began to do a large shipping business to Chicago and the Northeast from this
part of the country.
The soil in this township is not surpassed in fertility by any in the county, and the
amount of corn and oats annually produced is immense. This is, also, a good grass
country, and a considerable number of cattle are raised. Hogs abound. At one time,
there was a fair proportion of wheat raised, but it is not now extensively sown, several
failures having deterred the farmers from further efibrts in this direction.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
As is well known, all old settlers were found along the creeks and near the groves.
As a consequence, this township presented two points for early settlement — Smith's
Grove and Money Creek Timber. The former was settled first, so far as Towanda is
concerned. But, by the best authority now attainable, it appears that there was a
settlement on Money Creek almost as early as that made by John Hendrix at Blooming
Grove. Louis Soward and Jacob Harness must have settled in Money Creek Township
as early as 1824 or 1825, near the line between that and Towanda.
The first settlers within the present limits of Towanda Township were John
Trimmer and family. John Trimmer came from Hunterdon County, N. J. He came
across from the Wabash country by an Indian trail, and camped at what was afterward
called Smith's Grove. This was in August, 1826. Few white men were to be seen in
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 591
these parts at that time. It is said that the Trimmer family saw do white man after
they left the Wabash until they came in here. Indians were plenty, and the only play-
fellows the Trimmer children had were young Indians. Soon after reaching their early
home, and while they were still in camp, the father died, leaving the widowed mother
with eight children to provide and care for. She moved from the Grove to the head
of Money Creek Timber soon after the burial of her husband, and there remained.
Of the eight children some are dead, and others have moved away, so that none
are left on Money Creek but Jesse Trimmer, who was but a lad when the family came
West.
After the Trimmers moved away, Frederick Rook came to Smith's Grove. He
was a German, and remained little more than a year, when he left for Livingston
County, and settled on a creek which afterward bore his name.
David Smith and family came next. Smith was of German descent, and came
originally from North Carolina, although he had lived in Kentucky and Indiana. The
family reached the Grove, which has ever since borne the name, in the spring of 1830.
John Smith entered the land where the Jones family now lives. Later, a large tract of
land in that vicinity passed into the hands of the Joneses. The earliest of the Jones
family was N. M. Jones, who still lives, and is quite an extensive farmer and dealer in
fine stock.
Soon after the Trimmers moved to Money Creek Timber, or, at least, about that
time, Elbert Dickason moved to the head of the Timber. He was from Ohio. The
early settlers called him " Major " Dickason. He was one of the most prominent men
in the township in that early day.
In the spring of 1831, Jesse Walden came to the same neighborhood. He was
originally from Kentucky. He came to Sangamon County in this State in the fall of
1828. Mr. Walden rented a farm of Jacob Spawr. He lived three years here.
Afterward, he moved around, living in several places, until he finally settled down near
Smith's Grove.
Between these two settlements might soon have been found Richard Fling. Mr.
Williams, carpenter and builder, who now resides in Bloomington, married Mr. Fling's
daughter.
The growth in population, from this time on, was steady, and, though it was not
so rapid as in late years, it is impossible to trace the individual settlers as they came in
and filled up the few vacant nooks that remained around the borders of the timber. It
is worthy of note that the first settlement out on the prairie, at any considerable distance
from the timber, was not made before 1849 or 1850. The man who first dared to
brave public opinion and prairie wolves was William Halterman. He was born in West
Virginia, and moved first to Ohio and then to Illinois. He settled in the western part
of the township, near a sulphur spring. Doubtless, the spring had more to do in secur-
ing his location at that point than did the fertility of the soil. Those early settlers
who came from the mountains, where bubbling springs gush forth from every hillside
and glittering cataracts dance wildly over huge ledges of rocks, while down the valley
rushes the mighty stream, are not to be mocked for wishing to dwell again beside the
gurgling waters ; but. that a sulphur spring should have peculiar charms, may seem
strange. Had the prairies been able to furnish the old mountain-spring, they would
have been settled long before they were, no doubt. '
592 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The second settler, on the prairie, was William D. Moore, who came into this
from Money Creek Township. He settled on the farm which he now occupies in the
spring of 1853. After the building of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, the
settlement wa,s rapid, and the township has since steadily increased in wealth and
population.
^ ^ EARLY INDUSTRIES.
The first blacksmith-shop was an item of considerable importance to the early set-
tlers. This will become evident when it is remembered that those who first settled on
Money Creek had to go, it is said, all the way to Springfield to get their plows sharpened.
Those were the days when wooden moldboards were in use. The plowman depended
altogether upon his oxen for a plow-team ; but we fancy that a good horse must have
been in demand when a share was dull. David Trimmer ran a blacksmith-shop at the
head of Money Creek Timber as early as 1828. He is said to have " picked up " the
trade, in the first place, but was afterward recognized as an excellent workman, especially
upon edged tools. " Uncle" Henry Moats says that Trimmer made an adz for him
which he kept more than forty years, and that it would cut a nail without making any
impression upon the adz. His customers came from far and near, and he was, no doubt,
a relief to the community.
Another early enterprise was a saw-mill, which was built on Money Creek, as early,
perhaps, as 1887. It was erected by Elbert Dickason and John Pennell. The former
was a resident of this township, but the latter lived just across the line north. This
mill, like nearly all others in this country at that time, was run by water-power. It had
an upright saw and did a vast amount of sawing. Smith's Grove and Money Creek
could furnish as fine a lot of timber as was to be found anywhere. It was never fitted
up for grinding, and as the woods began to be cleared away, it fell into disuse and was
finally abandoned altogether. The flouring-mills built in the village of Towanda were
the first in this part of the country, and they were very short-lived. The people got
their breadstufis at Bowling Green, in Woodford County, also at mills down on the Kicka-
poo, until after the erection of steam-mills in Bloomington. Sometimes, in dry weather,
when the water-mills in all this section of country were unable to run for want of water,
they were compelled to go as far as Ottawa, on the Illinois River.
THE FIRST MARRIAGE
solemnized was that of Jacob Spawr and Eliza Ann Trimmer. This took place Decem-
ber 3, 1826. Mr. Spawr had no license, and a trip to Vandalia to get one seemed a
greater task than was necessary, so he posted notices beforehand, in its stead. William
Orendorff officiated, and made the necessary returns to Vandalia. This first marriage
took place in the same family in which occurred
\ >
THE FIRST DEATH, '
and in the same year. As related in these pages before, John Trimmer died a short
time after the family reached Smith's Grove. He was buried in a walnut coffin made
by hewing out slabs from a log with an ax, and finishing with a jack-plane. The funeral
was attended by their neighbors at Blooming Grove and adjoining settlements.
It is not now remembered who was the first person born in the township. Benja-
min Stretch, who now resides in Towanda, is the oldest man now living in this part of
the country, who was born here. He was born on Money Creek in the fall of 1830.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 593
The family came here the same summer, from Ohio, and Benjamin Ogden and family.
Benjamin Stretch's father, Mr. Jesse Stretch, was a carpenter. He built the first house
on the spot where the McLean County bank now stands, in Bloomington. This was
one of the first business houses in Bloomington.
THE FIRST POST OFFICE
was kept at the residence of William D. Moore. As has been related in the pages
before, Mr. Moore was the first to settle on the prairie, where the village of Towanda
now stands. William G. Bishop had held that honorable position for a number of years,
just over across the creek. This old man seems to have tired of his trust. He took a
day to visit his friend on the prairie. As the chat became free and the folks were
having a pleasant visit, Mr. Bishop informed Mr. Moore that he should like to be rid of
the post ofiice, and that he should be much pleased to have Mr. Moore take it off" his
hands. Mr. Moore remonstrated, saying that he was unacquainted with the routine of
post office work, and further suggesting that he had not the political influence at Wash-
ington, necessary to secure the appointment. Mr. Bishop replied that those obstacles
might easily be overcome, and that he only wished to find a man that would accept the
office. The result was, that, in a few weeks, an appointment came, and Mr. Moore was
duly installed Postmaster. Those were the " good old times," when the office sought
the man, and not the man the office. For why should it be otherwise? Mr. Moore
informs us that all the office paid was $3 or $4 per quarter. We suspect that should
office-holding be again made as meagerly remunerative as then, we might have a return
to "the good old times." When the village of Towanda was laid out and the mail
began to be carried on the cars, the office was brought down to the station and David S.
Kinnan was made Postmaster. Towanda post office is the only one now in the town-
ship.
CHURCHES.
The first preaching was probably done by John Dunham, a United Brethren
preacher, who held meetings at Smith's Grove. John Dunham was a missionary sent
out by the general brotherhood to preach the Gospel wherever an opportunity might
present itself. He preached in various parts of the settlement on Money Creek, as well
as in adjoining settlements. The exact date is not known, but it was early as 1832. In
later years, the Rev. Mr. Dodd preached at Smith's Grove. He was a Presbyterian,
and held services, sometimes in his own house and sometimes in those of the members.
He organized the first society within the present limits of the township. x\fter the
schoolhouse was built in District No. l,they held meetings in it until the building of
their church in the village of Towanda. The Rev. Ebenezer Rhodes, known then as
a New Light preacher, held meetings at a very early day, at the house of Elbert Dick-
asou. Mr. Rhodes was afterward identified with the Christian Church. A large and
flourishing society of the last-mentioned was formed farther north, on Money Creek. It
is possible that the Methodists, also, held occasional meetings. There was a class
formed very soon, the regular place of meeting being at the residence of Jacob Spawr,
across in Money Creek Township. Mrs. Trimmer and her son David were prominent
members. The Baptists, also, began their meetings at Smith's Grove. This seems to
have been the starting-point for nearly all the enterprises in the township. They com-
menced there about the same time that the Presbyterians did. These societies began to
594 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
take definite shape first about the year 1852. The first Baptist minister was James
Cairns. This denomination built the fir.st church in the township, in the village of
Towanda, in the year 1858. The Roman Catholic Church has quite a society in the
southeastern part of the township. They have a neat country edifice, which has been
built recently. The settlement in that neighborhood is made up chiefly of persons of
Irish descent.
At different times there have been other denominations here, but they have never
succeeded in establishing societies which remain at the present time. Among those who
had something of a beginning, may be mentioned the Protestant Methodists and the
Christians.
EDUCATION.
If there were any very early schools, all traces of them are now extinct. The
artificial division into townships did not take place until a comparatively recent date,
and when it did occur, it cut the early settlements on Money Creek near the middle.
The early schools, across in the other township, probably answered for all on the creek
who desired a knowledge of the three R's. The first schoolhouse was built of logs, at
Smith's Grove. In it was taught the first school, but who was the first teacher is not
now remembered. When the township was organized and districts began to be laid off,
Smith's Grove District was No. 1. Its school had been running for some time, and it
continued to be the only school for quite awhile afterward. School lands were sold at
a low figure. Isaac P. Kinnan and William D. Moore were Trustees for about sixteen
years. They divided the townships into school districts as fast as it became necessary.
Throughout there are good schoolhouses, and a general tendency to keep up with the
times, is manifest. An idea of the condition of school work throughout the township,
may be formed from the following: Number of school districts, 7; number of chil-
dren under twenty-one years, 619 ; number between six and twenty-one, 544; number
scholars enrolled, 361 ; schoolhouses, 7 ; amount paid teachers, $2,974.92 ; total expend-
itures, $3,772.06; estimated value of school property, $9,300 ; highest wages paid per
month, $60.
RAILROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
The advent of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, was a great thing tor this
country. This road crosses the northwest corner of the township. As soon as the
farmers had an outlet for their corn, cattle and hogs, they could raise crops with a bet-
ter prospect of selling, and thus the community was stimulated and made to develop its
resources.
Public highways are abundant and kept in good repair. Nearly all section lines
are authorized public roads. In the southern part of the township, there are some
exceptions to this rule. Besides the section lines recognized as public thoroughfares, a
few others are found that do not follow those lines so closely. The most important of
these is, first, a road which lies along the line of the railroad, from the southwest to
near the center of the village of Towanda. Thence it extends east for a short distance
and afterward northeast, crossing Money Creek near the section line between Sections
4 and 5, close by the site of the old saw-mill. Another important highway is a road
connecting the village of Towanda with southeastern points. It enters the township
from the east and passes through the middle of Sections 13, 14 and 15. It passes to
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 595
the center of Section 16, and thence in a zigzag course alternately north and west, to
the village. There are three roads which cross Money Creek. At two of the cross-
ings, the stream is spanned by iron bridges. One of these is on the Lexington &
Bloomington road, just northeast of the village. The other is on the road leading
from Towanda southeasterly.
ORGANIZATION OP TOW^ANDA TOWNSHIP.
Although the Illinois Legislature made provision by which the several counties
might adopt the township organization several years earlier, McLean County did not
adopt it until 1857. Previously, this township was included in Money Creek Precinct.
When the station was made here, many of the people from the surrounding country
moved in, so that the old place of voting on Money Creek was on one side and an out-
of-the-way place. By order of the County Board, the place of voting was changed to
the village of Towanda, September 6, 1856. It was still Money Creek Precinct.
James Gilmore, Sr., Hadley J. Short and Silas Waters were appointed Commissioners
to divide McLean County and to establish township organization. They reported Feb-
ruary 26, 1858, Town 24 north. Range 3 east, of the Third Principal Meridian, was
called Towanda, and constituted a voting precinct. Since that report, many of the
townships have been changed, but this one remains as first organized.
The first election under the new order of things was held April 6, 1858. It
resulted as follows : Supervisor, Nathaniel S. Sunderland ; Town Clerk, Edwin R.
Reeves; Collector, William Halterman ; Assessor, Joel N. White ;. Overseer of the
Poor, Lemuel Kiblinger ; Commissioners of Highways, John Mack, Joseph K. Dod-
son and David H. Cowan ; Overseers of Highways, William D. Kinnan, Elijah Ellis,
Jeremiah Shade, Calvin Barnes and Dennis Whiterago ; Poundmaster, Norman
Finite ; Constables, John L. Baylor and Edwin R. Reeves ; Justices of the Peace,
Willis P. Pepenoe and John N. King.
At present, Frank Henderson is Supervisor and also Township Treasurer ; George
Hilts is Town Clerk ; Cornelius GatliflF and D. F. Riddle are Justices of the Peace ;
Benjamin Stretch, Patrick Merna and A. A. Riddle are Commissioners of Highways.
The Trustees are W. H. Macy, Monroe Barnes and Nelson Jones.
• WAR RECORD AND POLITICS.
The early settlers, though often frightened by rumors of Indian wars, and though
thoroughly scared during the Black Hawk war, never suffered anything from the
Indians farther than a few annoyances in the way of theft. None of the few who
dwelt here at that time, except Frederick Rook and, perhaps, another man whose name
we did not learn, were in the above-mentioned war, nor do we find traces of any in the
Mexican war. Rut when the dark clouds of conflict obscured our national horizon in
1861, Towanda turned out her proportion of men immediately. No draft was ever
necessary. When the last call came for twenty-six men, they met it, though the num-
ber was disproportionately large. The township offered, at one time, $300 bounty.
This, with $300 paid by the county, made the total bounty for entering $600. It was
only for the last call that the $300 was paid by the township. Most of those who vol-
unteered earlier got only $150 from the township. Several brave " boys " offered
their lives on their country's altar. William Sears was shot at Ramsey's Lane. He
596 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
was First Lieutenant, and was in command of his company when they made the charge
in which he was killed. Nathan Sears, William's brother, died from disease. Richard
Russell also sickened and died. John H. Dodd was shot accidentally and killed.
Philip Miller died of disease, and F. E. Wise was killed in the fight at Natchez.
Whether there were others who died from the efibcts of disease contracted in the army,
or that were killed on the battle-field, we have not been able to learn. But enough is
known to make it evident that the patriotism of this township stands unchallenged.
In political matters the township has been pretty evenly balanced, but generally, of
late years, there has been a small majority in favor of the Republican ticket.
THE VILLAGE OF TOWANDA.
This village is located in the northwestern part of the township of the same name.
It includes the southwest quarter of Section 5. This land was entered by Peter A.
Bedeau. The certificate of entry is dated February 18, 1853. The original plat of
the village included only forty acres from the center of this quarter-section. It was
then owned by Jesse W. Fell and Charles W. Holder, who filed a plat of the town
with the County Board, to be recorded December 7, 1854. The original forty acres
was donated by Peter A. Bedeau for town purposes. The remaining part of the quar-
ter-section was sold by Mr. Bedeau to Jesse W. Fell and Charles W. Holder on May 1,
1855. The proprietors imraediately surveyed it and laid it off into town lots. These
were afterward sold to such as wished to embark in business and become residents of
the new town on the prairie. Mr. Charles Roadnight, an Englishman, became the
heaviest property-owner in the village. In fact, at one time, he owned the greater part
of it.
Towanda is pleasantly located on the prairie, less than a mile southwest of Money
Creek. The village is on high land, and, judging from its location and the number of
its physicians, is a very healthy place in which to live. It is situated on the Chicago,
Alton & St. Louis Railroad, about half way between Bloomington and Lexington.
The railroad enters the village at the southwest corner, and passes in a northeasterly
direction through it. It is surrounded by a good farming and grazing country, and has
all the natural facilities for a flourishing inland town. It would have grown much more
rapidly, no doubt, had it not been so near to our ambitious county seat, whose shadow
reaches far out into the surrounding country, chilling the young life-blood in many
smaller towns. The population of Towanda, at present, is about 500.
EARLY SETTLERS.
As noted in the history of the township, William D. Moore was the first to settle
near the present site of Towanda. He is now within the town limits, although he
resides on the northwest quarter of Section 5. Mr. Moore came from Ohio. He
reached Money Creek October 21, 1851. In the fiill of 1853 he moved to his present
residence. This was the first residence within what are now the limits of Towanda ;
although, at that time, no one had ever thought of a village there. The only house
between his and Bloomington was the residence of Mr. Halterman, near the sulphur
spring. Mr. Moore kept the post office, and the mail was still carried on horse-back.
But there was destined to be a great change in a few years. When the village was laid
out, and the cars began to stop at the switch, people came to the railroad to enter into
business. David S. Kinnan built the first residence in what was then the village. He
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 597
and James Alexander built the first warehouse. Mr. Kinnan still resides' on a farm
near the site of the old saw-mill, on Money Creek. Mr. Alexander lives in town. T.
J. Laney built the second dwelling, and with Wesley Fletcher Bishop, the second ware-
house. Mr. Bishop built the third dwelling-house. He also ran a small grocery store.
This was the first storehouse in the village. The first dry goods store was set up by
Frank Henderson in 1857. After running it a short time, he sold out and went on a
farm. He is one of Towanda's strongest men. Wesley F. Bishop was the first station
agent. He served in that capacity before any dwelling had been erected. When the
mail began coming on the railroad, in the winter of 1855 and 1856, the office was
brought down "into town," and David S. Kinnan became the first Postmaster in the
village. Samuel C. Ware is the present Postmaster. He is also Police Magistrate.
EDUCATION.
The first schoolhouse in Towanda was built in 1854. It was a neat frame build-
ing, 24 by 26 feet. It is still standing and is a good building yet. In 1866, the
number of children had so increased as to demand a new and larger building for their
proper accommodation. Accordingly a house was begun and nearly finished, when it
burned to the ground before ever being used. The origin of the fire is not known.
But the good people of Towanda were not to be discouraged by a fire. The next year
a large and commodious building was erected, and it has done good service ever since.
The first teacher in the new building was G. H. Thrasher. Three teachers are regu-
larly employed. Mr. James A. Jones now has charge of the schools. Last year, the
Principal was paid $60 per month, being the highest wages paid in the township. The
School Directors at present are George W. Howard, M. J. Wise and George Hilts.
MILLS, WAREHOUSES, ETC.
A good flouring-mill with two sets of buhrs was soon built by Roadnight &
Strothers. After running it a short time, the builders traded it to Nathaniel S. Sunder-
land. He had been in possession but a short time, when the mill was destroyed by
fire. Mr. Sunderland lost, at the same time, a large warehouse, which burned with the
mill. The property was heavily insured, so that the owner sustained only a partial loss.
After this, Henry Warner built another mill. It experienced a fate similar to
that of the Sunderland mill. It had been in operation scarcely a year when it was
swept away by the fire-fiend. It, also, was insured.
There remains in Towanda a monument to the hopes and ambition of one of her
early citizens. It is known as the "big" building. It is situated on the northwest
side of the railroad, just across from the depot. It was built by Charles Roadnight,
when he was determined to make a large place of Towanda. The house faces the rail-
road and is built parallel to it. It is 50 by 100 feet, and two stories in height. It is
only partly occupied.
J ^ -^ ^ FIRES.
For a small town, Towanda has quite a fire record. Mr. Sunderland's large steam
flouring-mill, and with it his warehouse, were the first victims. The fire next seized
Mr. Warner's new mill and it was leveled to the ground. These were well insured ;
but when Mr. Campbell's dry goods store was burned, he lost it all. His policy had
expired the day before the fire. The burning of the new schoolhouse before it was
occupied at all was another sad fire. Mr. Laney also lost a grocery store by fire.
598 HISTORY OF McLean county.
CHURCHES.
Towanda may be said to be a religious town. It is not to be supposed from this,
however, that everybody belongs to a church, but there certainly is a fair proportion
that do. There are three churches and each has a comparatively large membership.
The Baptists built the first church in the village in 1858. Their first minister was
James Cairns. Before this, the Presbyterians had organized a society and held meet-
ings in the schoolhouse. They built the second church. This church was begun in
1863 and dedicated January 18, 1864. Robert Conover preached the dedicatory
sermon. He was Pastor of the same church continuously until March, 1878. The
Methodists organized in 1857. N. H. Craig was Pastor. They, too, held meetings
in the schoolhouse until the building of their church in 1866. These churches are all
respectable houses of worship ; they do credit to the village. Although other religious
denominations have held occasional meetings here, none have been able to establish a
permanent organization.
INCIDENTS.
There is seldom anything to enliven the dull monotony of life in a country village.
An occasional suit before the Squire, some neighborhood gossip, or the advent of some
small show or unknown lecturer, make up the ordinary sensation. But an accident
occurred in the early history of this town that is still vividly recalled by the older inhabit-
ants. This took place about the year 1856, on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad.
The southern-bound freight, passing through in the night, had exhausted its supply of
water. The train was left standing on the main track, while the engine went down to
Bloomington to the tank. A watch was placed on the track, that the next southern-
bound freight might not run into the caboose on the track. The watch, instead of
attending to his duty, went into a house and there fell asleep. The train came rushing
down the track, and ran into the other one. Three men were killed. Two of these
were literally torn in pieces. Parts of their bodies were strewn all along the track.
Cars were piled up and thrown around in every conceivable shape and direction. The
train had been running at full speed. The third man had been carried along with the
engine. In the morning, when the wreck was examined, he was found crowded up
against the fire-door. His body had been mashed by a freight-car, and then baked by
the fire in the engine. The man was killed by the collision, so that he suff"ered no pain
from the fire. The watch was so frightened when he saw the result of his carelessness,
that he left the country immediately, and nothing was ever heard of him afterward.
Towanda has, at present, three churches, one graded school, two drug stores, one
dry goods store, four groceries, three grain-dealers, two blacksmith-shops, and two
wagon-shops in connection with the smithies.
There are no hotels in the village. When the traveling public stop in Towanda,
they are not supposed to stay overnight. But should any one be compelled to remain,
the good people will house him comfortably in their own dwellings.
There are no lawyers. When cases come up before the Squire, as come they will,
sometimes, a lawyer from Bloomington is frequently seen wending his way to Towanda.
All villages have one or more physicians. Towanda has two ; but they are trying to
starve those by failing to indulge in the necessary amount of sickness.
i
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 599
HUDSON TOWNSHIP.
Hudson Township lies in the northern part of McLean County. It is west of the
center, touching Woodford County on the northwest. It comprises one Congressional
town, known as Town 25 north, Range 2 east of the Third Principal Meridian. On
the north, it is bounded by Woodford County and Gridley Township of McLean ;
on the east, by Money Creek ; on the south, by Normal ; on the west, by White Oak
Township and Woodford County. Hudson is well supplied with streams. The Mack-
inaw Creek is the only large one, but there are several other streams of minor impor-
tance. Six-Mile Creek rises by several branches in Normal Township. These unite in
Sections 17 and 20 and form one stream, which flows in a very tortuous course north
and west, leaving the township near the southwest corner of Section 6. The Mack-
inaw flows westerly along the northern boundary, cutting in and out at several points.
Farther toward the west, it bears south. The northwest corner of Section 5 is left on
the right bank of the stream, while the greater portion of Section 6 is also on the north.
Money Creek flows northwesterly across the northeast corner of the township. A large
branch of the last-named stream rises in the southeast part of the township, and flows
mostly north.
There was originally considerable timber in Hudson, but it was not in large bodies.
The groves that we look for in every township are represented by Havens' Grove. This
was but a small body of timber, lying partly in Sections 20, 28, 29 and 17. The Money
Creek Timber extended along that stream in the northeast. Mackinaw Timber skirted
the northern boundary.
The Illinois Central Railroad extends through the township. It enters from the
north, near the northwest corner of Section 4, where it crosses Mackinaw Creek. It
extends south, in the same row of sections, through the township, leaving one-fourth
mile west of the southeast corner of Section 33.
Like nearly all the others, Hudson reports a good yield of wheat in pioneer times.
It was, probably, superior in the production of that cereal to most other townships of
the county. But it is with it, as with others, the days of wheat-harvesting to any
considerable extent are past. The principal products at present are corn, oats, rye, pota-
toes and kindred crops. Cattle and hogs are produced in abundance. Considerable
shipping is done, both of grain and stock.
The surface of the country is slightly rolling in places, while in others there is a
tendency to too great a level. The soil is black, deep and fertile. Its productiveness
is unsurpassed.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Although Hudson had a few early inhabitants, the township was not settled up as
rapidly as some others, especially during the first four or five years. The first to stop
within its present limits were Bailey Harbert, his son-in-law, Richard Gross, and Mosby
Harbert. When Jesse Havens and company arrived, they found these men and fami-
lies at the grove, on the east side. They were living in cabins. Gross' was made of
split logs, but Harbert's was little more than a pole pen, covered with unshaven boards,
that had been riven with a frow. The boards were held on by poles, as nails were
600 , HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
unknown, and altogether too much of a luxury, at any rate to be wasted on the roof of a
cabin.
Havens came in the fall of 1829. In the summer before, Harbert had raised a
patch of sod-corn and sown ten acres of wheat in the fall. But in the winter, the
Harberts and Gross sold out to Jesse Havens and his son-in-law, Benjamin Wheeler.
They then moved away to Blooming Grove and entered land there, where they
remained.
In the summer of 1829, in Licking County, Ohio, there was much talk of the
great prospects out West. This was particularly the case in the family of Jesse
Havens. A daughter and son-in-law had already spent a year in the new country, and
their glowing reports of fine country, plenty of game and rich soil had the desired
effect on the relatives in the East. Accordingly, Jesse Havens, Benjamin Wheeler, his
son-in-law, and Jacob Moats started West with their families. They stopped first with
those who had sent such enticing words back. This was at Hezekiah Piatt's, at Big
Grove, Champaign County. Here, the emigrants left their families a short time, and
went down to the Sangamon River, intending, if they liked it, to settle there. But
they soon returned and started northwest, with their families. . They stopped a short
time at Buckles' Grove, and then came on to what has since been called Havens' Grove.
Here the Havenses and relations remained. Jacob Moats moved his family to Money
Creek, where he lived till his death, and where his descendants still live.
Jesse Havens was born June 23, 1781, in New Jersey, near the mouth of Squan
River. His father was a Welshman, who spent his life on the ocean. Mr. Havens early
came West. He was one of the earliest pioneers of Newark, Ohio. He enlisted in the war
of 181 2, and participated in the wonderful defense at Fort Stephenson, under Maj. Croghan.
In McLean County, he was a man of considerable importance. He was County Commis-
sioner before the adoption of the township system, and was generally known through-
out the county. He afterward sold out and went to Iowa ; but upon his death, in
1862, he was brought back to Havens' Grove for interment by his son Hiram. Several
of his descendants live at Havens' Grove.
Hiram Havens, a son of Jesse Havens, tells many an interesting story in regard
to early pioneer life. He was quite a hunter and often indulged in trials of skill with
the friendly Indians. He reports many of the savages as good marksmen, although he
never found an Indian that could shoot at a mark with a precision equal to his own.
The Indians would excel in what they called random shooting. They would scarc-ely
ever fail to bring a running deer to a halt, or a flying turkey to the ground. The Indi-
ans made Havens' Grove a kind of headquarters, several hundred often camping there.
They were wild for whisky, but were careful to keep the Sabbath.
Jesse Havens entered most of the land on which the Grove stood, so that other
emigrants beside those of the first company did not come in rapidly. Hezekiah Piatt
came from Big Grove, not long after Havens settled here.
David Trimmer, son of John Trimmer, of Money Creek, and son-in-law of Jesse
Havens, moved up to the southeast corner of the Grove, from Bloomington, where he
had been running the first blacksmith-shop ever in the place. Here he lived a long
time, until his wife died. Afterward, he went to Kansas, where he still resides.
The next after Trimmer was John W. Hatfield, of Bloomington. He remained
for some time, and then went to Eureka and from Eureka to Missouri. These were
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 603
about all that can be traced at Havens' Grove until the formation of the colony which
laid out the village of Hudson.
Not long after the settlement at Havens' Grove was first made, the Hinthorns came
to Money Creek timber on the east side of Hudson Township. They were relatives of
the Havenses, and came from the same part of Ohio. There were three brothers of
them — Adam, William and Isaac. Next came Elijah Priest, who had married Rebecca
Hinthorn ; they arrived in July, 1834. Then Isaac Messer, the United Brethren
minister, moved down from above Lexington. Isaac Turnipseed came to McLean
County as early as 1831, but did not move into Hudson Township until after his father-
in-law, Issac Messer. These names include about all who settled in Hudson Township
early, and had no connection with the colony that located at the village of Hudson.
THE HUDSON COLONY.
The period preceding the year 1837, was an era of speculation in this part of the
country. Schemes of almost all kinds were projected throughout the United States for
the purpose of making fortunes rapidly. The old and sure, but plodding, methods of
making money were abandoned, and expedients of various kinds for the purpose of out-
stripping them were adopted. Patent rights, new discoveries of various kinds, and
mineral springs were tried by individuals ; and the States and the Government partook
of the excitement and projected canals and other public improvements on a vast scale.
In this part of the State, colonization schemes flourished to an unlimited extent. Com-
panies were formed in all parts of the country with a view of settling a locality simul-
taneously and with a common purpose — that of mutual benefit. It was reasonably con-
ceived that with such a concert of movement, many of the hardships and privations
usually incident to pioneer life might be dispensed with, and that the social, religious
and educational privileges of the older settled parts of the country could be immediately
transferred to their new homes. These enterprises were begun mostly during the years
1834-36, and were carried on with varied success. But few ever realized the bright
anticipations of their projectors, but doubtless most of them were in a measure success-
ful. Perhaps the colony of which we write has proved nearer a realization of
hopes of its organizers than any other in this part of the State.
The Illinois Land Association, as it was called, was organized at Jacksonville, in
this State, February 6, 1836, by Horatio N. Petitt, John Gregory, George F. Durkitt,
and a number of others, the three named being appointed a committee of general
superintendence. Nearly all of the township of Hudson was entered in the name of
Horatio N. Petitt. Each member of the colony paid $235 for a share in the enterprise;
for this, he was entitled to receive 160 acres of land, four town lots in the prospective
village of Hudson, and a share in the net profits of the undertaking. Church and
school advantages, were some of the inducements held out to the colonists to embark
in the speculation, and these the Association eventually provided. One of the induce-
ments held out to the colonists, however, the Association was unable to make good, and
that was in regard to the amount of timber to be apportioned to each farm. Twenty
acres were thought to be an amount requisite to furnishing fuel, fencing and building
material for a quarter-section, but when the Association came to purchase the woodland,
it was found that nearly all had been already occupied by earlier settlers, and that they
were loath to part with it even at a fair price. The relative value of timbered land was
X
604 HISTORY OF McLean county.
then much greater than at present. It was not known that just a few feet below the sur-
face of the ground lay millions of tons of superior fuel, all packed away from ages
remote for this very generation. The means of transporting lymber from the pineries
of the north and other parts of the world had not yet been provided. Consequently,
every one who proposed settling here took into account the supply of this very neces-
sary article, comparing its exhaustion all the while with the length of time actually
required to grow a crop of the same. The failure, therefore, of the Association to sup-
ply the amount of timber caused no little dissatisfaction, and quite a number of the
stockholders withdrew and removed to other parts. Some twenty of the original stock-
holders became actual settlers and have proved to be our most worthy and wealthy
citizens. Among these were Horatio Petitt, John Gregory, John McGoun, James
Robinson, Oliver March, James and Joseph Gildersleeve, Jacob Burtis and Samuel
P. Cox.
The originators of the enterprise were, many of them, from near Hudson, N Y.,
and the name was given the village in honor of the one where they had formerly lived.
On the 20th of June, Petitt, Gregory, Cox and a number of others left Jacksonville in
a two-horse wagon, and after a journey of two days arrived at the spot destined to be
the site of the village. The party made arrangements with the few settlers in the
neighborhood for board for a short time, during which time the surveying and platting
was completed. At this time, Jesse Havens and sons-in-law, and one or two more fami-
lies were living in the township, and all except Havens, in one story, one-roomed, chinked
and daubed log cabins. Mr. Havens was one of the leading men of the county, and as
became a man of his standing, had reared for himself an edifice of more than ordinary
pretensions, it being not less than a double log house. In this most of the colonists
found shelter and food for the few weeks consumed in preparations for the apportion-
ment of the lands. By the 4th of July of the year named, Elbert Dickason, who was
then County Surveyor, with the help of some of the colonists, had made the survey
complete, and on the day named the Independence of the United States was celebrated
by the drawing for lots and lands. This accomplished, several of the colonists set out
on their return to their homes to bring out their families, while others immediately
began the erection of dwellings, so that before the cold weather, several new houses
were to be found here. The new houses were all of a better character than the log
cabins of the pioneers, being mostly heavy frame buildings; and the township in a short
time took on a greatly improved appearance. The next year several more new houses
went up, and all of the indications were favorable for a thriving town and settlement.
The hard times, however, which usually follow a period of speculation came on that
year, and not only did it put a stop to this scheme, but to all others of a similar charac-
ter throughout the West, and, from 1837 till 1850, progress in this particular locality
was very slow. Occasionally a new settler made his appearance, but in the dozen years
but little perceptible change, either in population or improvements could be observed.
Much of the land entered in the name of Horatio Petitt has since been many times
transferred, though a few of the farms still remain in possession of the original colonists
who still reside in the township.
SCHOOLS.
According to promise, the company erected, a couple of years after the establishing of
the colony, a schoolhouse in the village. This was a frame building and was used as
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 605
schoolhouse and church for many years. It is still standing and is still used for school
purposes. The same year, S. P. Cox donated a piece of land from his farm, and a school-
house was erected there. In this latter mentioned house, the first public school was
taught that year, Cordelia Shope being credited with being the pioneer teacher.
The causes which checked immigration brought progress to a stand-still for the
next twenty years, of course had their effect on all other enterprises, including the
building of schoolhouses, and for twenty years only two more were added to the number
erected the first year. The years 1854 and 1855 brought events which have
been the direct causes of the rapid development of the school system of this sec-
tion. Our readers need not be reminded that in the year 1855 was established the sys-
tem of free schools which now prevails in this State, and which is the boast and pride
of all of its intelligent citizens. The best school system, however, would be of little
use in the best and richest country, if there were none to be educated. During the
twenty years following the establishing of the colony, but few additions had been made to
the population of the township, and the few educational advantages seemed to be about all
that could be afforded or that were desired. About this time, however, the railroads were
completed through this county — *the Illinois Central immediately through the township ; the
Chicago & Alton within a mile of the southeast corner, and the Toledo & Peoria a few
miles north of the north line — not only " brought a new lease of life " to this part of
the county, but infused the life-giving principle into every department of industry,
society, religion, politics and education. They brought with them, not only the facili-
ties for improving all these, but the people themselves, and that of a most desirable class,
and from this very date may be calculated the real prosperity of the township. Very
soon additional educational advantages were in demand, and the school law opportunely
gave them the authority to put such enterprises in operation. The citizens of this
township have always taken a lively interest in any means for educating the youth, and,
as a consequence, we find facilities not surpassed by any township of equal population
in the county. A few figures from the report of the County Superintendent of Schools
will give the reader a better idea of the condition of schools, than any other means at
our command:
Number of schools, 9 ; number of persons under twenty-one and over six, 495 ; number
of scholars enrolled, 415; total value of school property, $4,000; highest wages paid
teachers, per month, $50 ; whole amount paid for teaching, $2,540.92 ; whole amount
expended for school purposes, $3,467.75. An encouraging feature in the above report
is that 84 per cent of all persons between six and twenty-one years of age, were last
year in attendance at school. Taking out those over eighteen, it would probably dis-
close the fact that not more than two or three per cent of those between six and eighteen
received no schooling within the year specified.
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.
The first preaching done in the township was by John Dunham, the United
Brethren Missionary. He preached at various places in the grove. When the society
of United Brethren was formed on Money Creek, those of that faith, in this neighbor-
hood, united with it and attended meetings at the regular place of preaching on Money
Creek. As a result, there was no society formed in Hudson Township, at a very early
date, as most of the early settlers were United Brethren.
606 . HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The first to organize a society were Methodists. The first Methodist preacher that
ever held services was, probably, Rev. Mr. Latta, of Bloomington. David Trimmer was
the leading spirit in Methodist affiiirs. The society increased, and built a church just
■west of the village of Hudson. This was a small church, but served as a place of meet-
ing until the building of the present house of worship in the village. In early times,
sectarian feeling did not run so high as it has sometimes since. Latta used to preach
occasionally at Jesse Havens'. Mr. Mitchell, of Stout's Grove, also preached here
early. He was a Presbyterian, but we learn of no Presbyterian .society in these parts.
Around Hudson, and to the north, there is quite a strong society of German Bap-
tists or Tuukers, or, as they call themselves. Brethren. The first persons of the Breth-
ren's faith, to settle in the township, were John Y. Suavely and wife. They came from
Indiana, and settled three-fourths of a mile northwest of the village of Hudson, in the
east edge of Havens' Grove. Mr. Suavely and wife still reside on the same place.
When they first moved here, they were not members of any church. Mr. Snavely had
been reared in the Meunonite faith, but on becoming interested in the subject of religion,
they visited Indiana, and were there received into the Church of the Brethren. On
reaching home again, they gave their credentials to the church already organized in
Woodford County. A brother of J. Y. Snavely came next. He and his wife joined
the church in Woodford County. There was also a sister, Elizabeth, who belonged to
the same fraternity. These five, John Y. and Moses Y. Snavely and wives, and the
sister Elizabeth, were the only persons of the faith in the community for a long time.
They held their membership in the Woodford County church, where they attended
meeting. In 1865, two more were added to their number — Abram Blough and wife,
from Pennsylvania. In 1866, Thomas D. Lyon and wife and three daughters added
their influence to the small society just starting. Soon after Mr. Lyon and family came,
they organized a society. The organization was effected in 1868, under the supervision
of James R. Gish, of Woodford County. At this time, Thomas D. Lyon was ordained
Elder, and John Y. Snavely was elected Deacon. Mr. Lyon has had charge of the
• society ever since. He was born in Hardy County, W. Va., March o, 1821. His
father was Michael Lyon, and his mother's name, before her marriage, was Louisa
Stingley. Her father was a native of Germany. Michael Lyon is of Irish extraction.
He is still alive, living with his son at the village of Hudson. Thomas D. Lyon lived
in Hardy County until 1864. October 26, 18-13, he married Mary Clark, of the same
county. Her ancestors were like her husband's, her father being of Irish descent, and
her mother a German. Mr. and Mrs. Lyon have been members of the Brethren's
Church from their youth. They have had nine children, eight of whom are still living.
Five daughters are married, and all live within a radius of two miles from their father's
home, in Hudson Village. Three of these daughters married brothers — sons of John
Y. Snavely. The three boys are younger, and not married. Mr. Lyon has presided
over the church interests of his flock with eminent ability and success. For fifteen years,
he has been able to observe a steady gijowth. He has had the satisfaction of seeing his
charge increase from a dozen to more than three-score. With no meeting-house at first,
they held services in the various schoolhouses in the neighborhood. Now they have a
comfortable church, the only difficulty being a lack of room to accommodate their grow-
ing congregations. The church was built in 1875. It is two miles north of the village
of Hudson. It is a comfortable house, 32x48 feet. It has a basement, and is heated
I
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 607
by a furnace. The building is characteristic of the people, being plain, but substantial.
It has no cupola, and has a side entrance. The cost of the building was $2,000. It
proves too small for the purpose. It might do if it were not for the semi-annual com-
munion, which the Brethren from all parts make it a point to attend. On these occa-
sions, large numbers are unable to gain admittance. Previous to the building of the
church, the communions were held for some years in a large shed, erected at the resi-
dence of John Y. Snavely.
The officers of the church, at present, are: Minister, Thomas D. Lyon; Elders,
John Y. Snavely, Henry Forney, John L. Snavely ; Deacons, Abram Blough, Samuel
Stutzman, Moses Y. Snavely, John Forney, William Blough; Clerk, Francis M.
Snavely.
WARS AND POLITICS.
Hudson bad no men in the Black Hawk war. There were but few in the town-
ship, and these were too old or too young. As a reminiscence of the Black Hawk
war, we clip the following from the Bloomington Pantagraph : *' The first man buried
in Hudson Township was Mr. Solomon Lewis, a veteran of the Black Hawk war.
Lewis was a soldier in Capt. Brown's command in the regular army, stationed near
Danville. When the Black Hawk war broke out, in the spring of 1832, the company
were ordered to report at Fort Willburn, a military post near where the city of Peru
now stands. On the march thither, Capt. Brown camped at Havens' Grove, where
Lewis took sick, and was left at Havens' House, where he died and was buried. When
the war was over, Capt. Brown, on learning of the untimely end of his brave soldier,
detailed a Sergeant and twelve men to pay the last honors of war over their comrade's
new-made grave. The Pantagraph is under obligations to Mr. George P. Ela for the
foregoing facts."
We did not learn of any who went from this township to the Mexican war, but,
during the '' late unpleasantness," Hudson furnished her full quota. Not only did she
furnish men to go to the front ; she left her sons on the field of battle. A strange mor-
tality was visited upon the Hudson troops. We were told that about thirty persons
from this township went out never to return. We were sorry that we could not ascer-
tain the names of all the brave men who fell on Southern fields and died in Northern
hospitals. William H. Chadbourne died from the effects of disease ; Wellington R.
Sanders was shot at Vicksburg, Miss. ; William Jones died of disease ; Erwin Clark
was shot at the battle of Corinth ; Shepherd Richardson was also shot and killed ;
James Richardson died from the effects of disease ; Alfred Burtis and his brother,
James Burtis, both died at Camp Butler before reaching the scebe of action ; Michael
Bare, Francis M. Gastman and Walter Stuckey all died in the service ; in like manner,
Robert Huston, Jacob Guyer and Jacob Reynolds were sacrificed in the Union cause.
These were all citizens of Hudson and were from the prominent elements of her society.
Besides these, there were a number of young men working for the farmers in the
country, who volunteered, and died in the South, but whose names are now forgotten.
They rest in their soldiers' graves, bereft of personal honors, but forming an essential
element of the nation's glory.
In political matters, Hudson is Democratic. When national or State questions
come up, and discussions run high, and political feeling is thoroughly aroused, they
turn out a good vote here, the Democrats generally carrying the day by a good majority.
608 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
In township elections there is not much party strife, one ticket generally being all that
there is in the field.
RAILROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
The Illinois Central Railroad, which was completed through the township in 1854,
is the only one crossing its territory. This road did much to settle up the prairies, and
although it has often tried to trample on the interests of the community by exorbi-
tant freights, it has always relented when the people began to haul to and from
other roads. There is a considerable amount of grain and stock shipped by it, and the
people would realize much difficulty if it were cut off. At the time of building, there
was a great rush to get the road completed within the specified time. Everybody that
could be had was employed for a time on the portion of the road in the immediate
vicinity of Mackinaw Creek. A large force was kept constantly employed night and day.
Provisions and feed sold high. The farmers made money then, but it did not last long.
Most of the section lines are public thoroughfares. Diagonal roads are not numer-
ous. One of the most important roads is one leading from the village of Hudson to
Normal and Bloomiogton. It follows the section line between Sections 33 and 34, and
then turns toward the railroad track. Another road that does not follow section lines
altogether may be found passing on the line between Sections 32 and 33. North of
this, it follows the east edge of Havens' Grove, but finally finds its way back to the sec-
tion line. There is another diagonal, zigzag road through the north tier of sections. It
comes in from Money Creek Township, and crosses the Mackinaw near the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad. The roads are kept in good repair, so far as we were able to learn. The
oblique roads described, with those following section lines, furnish all the necessary out-
lets for farmers and others wishing to cross the country. There are several small
streams bridged by wooden bridges, but we found none made of iron.
ORGANIZATION.
There was a voting precinct at Hudson for a long time. The voters from White
Oak used to come over to vote here; but in the adoption of the township system, Hud-
son included only one Congressional town. When the first election thereafter was held,
April 6, 1858, it resulted in the election of the following township officers: James H.
Cox, Supervisor; Henry Conkling, Town Clerk ; Alfred S. Weeks, Collector; Warren
Coman, Assessor ; John W. Hatfield, Overseer of the Poor; Jacob H. Burtis, Jr.,
Stephen Arthur, Benjamin Wheeler, Commissioners of Highways; Hiram Havens and
James Nighbarger, Justices of the Peace ; Isaac Messer and Enoch A. Gastman, Con-
stables. It will be seen that many of the earliest settlers were represented in this list
of officers, and by comparison, that some of the same elected twenty-one years ago, are
officers yet. The present list of public servants is as follows : Alfred S. Weeks, Super-
visor ; Thomas Lewis, Town Clerk ; Edgar Sager, Collector ; John Ferguson, Assessor ;
George W. Gastman, Daniel Gonder, Jesse Piatt, Commissioners of Highways ; George
W. Gastman and Dr. James Johnson, Justices of the Peace; Frank Evans, Constable.
HUDSON.
The village of Hudson is located on the Illinois Central Railroad, six miles north
of Noriyal. It is pleasantly situated, being near the eastern edge of Havens' Grove, in
the prairie. In the immediate vicinity of the town, the laud is rather level, but the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 609
surrounding country is good. Portions of the village are very pretty. The surface is
rolling, in many places, and. when covered with the green grass of spring, it is not
inferior in beauty to many parts of more pretentious cities.
Hudson originated with the formation of the colony which settled the prairie east
of Havens' Grove. Consequently, it is one of the oldest villages in McLean County.
Bloomington was quite a small place when Hudson took its rise. The comparison is
not now much to the benefit of the latter ; but when the amount of labor and energy
that has been bestowed on the former is taken into consideration, we are not surprised.
But Hudson does quite a local trade. The crossings of the railroads at other points
have left it at the mercy of the single road sometimes ; but this has been overcome by
the energy of its merchants, who do not propose to be imposed upon. Salt was, at one
time since the building of the Illinois Central Railroad, hauled from Bloomington ; but
is not necessary now.
Hudson has two churches, which are quite creditable to so small a place as it is —
a Baptist and a Methodist Church. The Methodist Church is the descendant of the
one whose church-edifice stood, for a long time, down by the grave-yard, west of town.
When that building became too small foi- the accommodation of the membership and
usual congreo-ations, the more commodious one in town was erected. This occurred
DO 7
in 1856, when a house 40x56 feet was erected. The present membership is not so
large as it has been heretofore, although there are quite a list of names still on the
books. The present Pastor is the Rev. T. R. McNair, who has had charge of the
Methodist Church at Towanda and \yhite Oak, also.
The Baptist Church in Hudson, although not as early organized as the Methodist,
is in quite a prosperous condition, and bids fair to hold its own. In the first organiza-
tion, there were only thirteen members. Prominent among these may be mentioned J.
H. Cox and wife, Samuel P. Cox and wife, Andrew Armstrong and wife, James Ambrose
and wife and John Graves and wife. The first meetings were held in the schoolhouse.
These services were conducted by Benjamin Thomas and A. S. Denison. These two
men united their elforts in a protracted meeting. This was in 1855. A. S. Denison
organized the first church, and served as its Pastor the first two years. After him,
James Cairns took charge. He remained a long time. It was during his pastorate that
the church was built. This church-edifice is a handsome frame building, 36x40 feet.
It was erected in 1859 and 1860. The cost of construction was $2,000. The present
membership is about eighty. As illustrating the hold which the Pastor, Mr. Cairns,
had upon his people, it is stated that, when he left Hudson for Fairbury, sixteen of the
members moved with him and went to the same place. The present Pastor is the Rev.
S. G. Miner. The ministers in charge since the first organization, and their order, have
been as follows : A. S. Denison, James Cairns, Rev. Mr. Sturgeon, John Sawyer, E. J.
Thomas, S. G. Miner.
The business interests of Hudson are looked after by several firms. Cox & Aldrich
run a large general store on the corner near the depot. They also carry on a drug store
and lumber-yard. They own one of the elevators, and operate the other. They deal exten-
sively in grain of all kinds, their principal shipments being of corn and oats. Some rye
is also handled. Carlock & Brothers keep a general store. A. Bistorious is a dealer in
groceries. Adam Schoberlein adds boots and shoes to a line of groceries. H. Hasen-
winkle owns the mill. It has three runs of buhrs, and does a very fair business. There
610 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
are three blacksmith-shops. Thomas Calem operates one, William Lupton another, and
William Hurshey the third. He also keeps a carriage and repair shop and a wagon-
shop. John Jewell runs another wagon-shop.
MOSAIC LODGE, NO. 628, A., F. & A. M.
This Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge at its annual session, held in October,
1869, by Harmon G. Reynolds, then Grand Master of the State of Illinois. The name
selected by the brethren, though a very appropriate one, as applying to individuals, can
scarcely be considered so when applied to this Lodge. The name Mosaic, as originally
applied to the pavement of King Solomon's temple, signified that " human life was
checkered with good and evil," and, while this Lodge has had some ups and downs, it is
peculiarly noteworthy that the organization has pursued the even tenor of its way,
seeking notoriety neither by great display or a noticeable lack of good works. In
regard to membership, it has " held its own" since its organization, seeking to build into
its temple only such timber as the Master Architect would approve. And so we find
that, in 1879, it numbers about thirty members. The first Master was George W.
Jewell. The present officers are : Daniel Gonder, W. M. ; D. H. French, S. W. ; M.
F. Moats, J. W. ; George Stoll, Treasurer ; R. H. Dement, Secretary ; F. R. Johnston,
S. D. ; John Jewell, J. D., and J. A. Miller, Tiler. With but few changes, the above
brethren have held the offices for nearly the whole decade of the Lodge's existence.
The night of meeting on the " checkered floor," is on the Friday on or before the
full moon of each month.
Hudson takes pride in her schools. The building is the same one erected by the
colony at the first organization of the village. Although it is thus somewhat antiquated,
it affords comfortable apartments for the aspiring young people of the village. There
are two teachers employed. Hudson, like the other small towns of McLean, reaps a
large benefit from the State Normal University, at Normal. Graduates from this insti-
tution teach Hudson's schools, and yet the village is smaller than the aspiring young
alumni of that institution usually prefer to select as the scene of their pedagogical feats.
Miss Nettie Cox, a graduate of the Class of 187*7, is now teaching here. She is the
daughter of the merchant whose business proclivities are the life of Hudson.
DALE TOWNSHIP.
Dale Township is in the western part of McLean County. It is one of those town-
ships which cuts off bits from several of the early settlements. It has no grove of
importance lying entirely within its boundaries, although there is considerable timber
in little patches, the largest entire grove being Hougham's, or Harley's.
Dale includes one Congressional town, designated Town 23 north. Range 1 east
of the Third Principal Meridian. It is bounded on the north by Dry Grove Township,
on the east by Bloomington, on the south by Funk's Grove, and on the west by Allin
Township. On the north side, it cuts into Twin Grove, taking off' a strip of timber
about one and one-fourth miles long, and one-half mile wide. On the east side there is
some timber, and in the southern part is Hougham's or Harley's Grove. Across the
northwest corner. Big Slough and another little stream pass. Brooks' Branch of
Sugar Creek rises near Covell. The largest stream through the township is the branch
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 611
of Sugar Creek which comes from Bloomington, and cuts off quite a large triangle from
the southeast corner of the township. Dale is well watered. It lies in a kind of valley
or swag in the prairie. The north side is higher, and so is the southeastern corner,
occupied by Shirley and vicinity. The valley extends in a southwesterly and north-
easterly direction.'
The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, main line, crosses the southeast corner
of the township, coming in from the northeast, near the northeast corner of Section 25,
through the corner of Section 36, and then through Section 35. The Indianapolis,
Bloomington & Western Railroad crosses the northeast corner of the township, passing
in a northwesterly direction through Section 1, and cutting off a small corner from
Section 2. The Jacksonville Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad
enters the east side at the middle of the east side of Section 12. It passes southwest,
through Section 13, and then turns almost directly west, and so continues through the
township. It will thus be seen that Dale is well crossed by railroads. The I., B. &
W. cannot be said to be of much advantage, but the two branches of the C, A. & St.
Louis Railroad furnish two shipping points within its limits — Covell and Shirley.
The soil is black, deep and fertile. There are some portions which it is necessary
to drain. Occasionally, a natural pond may be seen, and considerable of the land is flat.
But there is an immense amount of corn, oats and potatoes raised. At the small station
of Covell alone, we noticed 35,000 to 40,000 bushels of corn in the crib. Cattle are
raised, and hogs abound. The facilities for shipping are excellent, and many things
conspire to make the farming community comfortable and independent.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The early history of Dale is closely allied to the history of other townships, par-
ticularly to that of Dry Grove Township. Twin Grove was first settled, so far as can
now be ascertained, by Stephen Webb and William McCord. William McCord,
Stephen Webb, George and Jacob Hinshaw left Tennessee in June, 1827. They came
west and north until they reached the Ohio River, having no trouble and a pleasant
journey. From the Ohio, they experienced difficulty and trial on every hand. The
swollen streams often caused them much delay. On these occasions they would be com-
pelled to ferry their goods across in canoes, and swim their horses and cattle. When,
at last, they reached Cheney's Grove, George Hinshaw said he would go no farther.
The others came on and settled at Twin Grove. William McCord remained until the
spring of 1831, when he left for Woodford County. He there settled in Panther
Grove, being the fourth family in that settlement. The cabin that he built is said to
be still standing.
Stephen Webb still lives at Twin Grove, but not on the original farm. The
descendants of Hinshaw may be found in the same neighborhood.
At about the same time that the Hinshaw-McCord company came West, Elander
Hurst and Matthew Harbert came to Twin Grove from Sangamon County, this State.
Harbert was the first to own the Daniel Munsell place, but this was in Dry Grove
Township. Elander Hurst settled on the southeast side of the Grove, in Dale.
Just west of Mr. Hurst was a Mr. Ellis, who came to the Grove very early, but
the particulars of whose life we failed to learn. He afterward moved north, to the
Galena lead-mines.
612 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
In 1830, then, we find in Dale Township the following families, along the south
side of Twin Grove : Beginning at the southeast corner, we find Mr. Hurst; going
west, we come to Mr. Ellis first, then the residence of William McCord, and just west
of this, the old farm first occupied by Stephen Webb, but at this time occupied by
Benjamin Hinshaw. Here was a line of four residences. They were the only ones in
the township with the exception of Robert H. Johnson's family, at Hougham's Grove.
These on the north were not without their neighbors, for a number of families were on
the north side of the Grove.
At the date last mentioned, a company of emigrants from Butler County, Ohio,
arrived at Twin Grove. They reached their destination October 9, 1830. The com-
pany was composed of the following gentlemen and their families : Samuel Beeler,
William Beeler, Francis Rockhold, George Beeler and Isaac Ryneerson. They all set-
tled in a row, on the south side of Twin Grove. The company had sent out before and
bought the land, and came this year to occupy it. They all lived and died here with
the exception of Francis Rockhold, who still lives in Missouri. Their descendants are
among the most prominent citizens of these parts, and are familiar to all who are
acquainted with the history of the neighborhood.
In the same company was a young man of the name of Jesse Hill. He was a
Kentuckian by birth, but moved to Indiana at the age of nine. He was here in Mad-
ison County when the company of emigrants came along. He was of an adventurous
spirit and engaged with them. They were to give him money enough to return when
he had gone as far as he wished. Mr. Hill married the daughter of Col. Beeler, and
remained in Illinois. He worked in the neighborhood at various places, spending most
of his time for awhile at well-digging. He soon entered a piece of land, built his
cabin and took his Nancy home with him. Mr. Hill still lives on the south side of the
grove, at a lovely place where he is sheltered from the northern gale in winter, and yet
enjoys all the comforts of the southern breezes in summer. He has several children in
this country, and some boys in the West learning what pioneer life means.
The first to venture out into the edge of the prairie, were Isaac Barker and Dea-
con Tompkins. They came from Ohio and went into the prairie on the southeast of
the grove. Oliver Pease soon moved to the township, from Dry Grove. Others began
to come in rapidly. The settlement was soon large and all the paraphernalia of an old
settled country began to appear.
So far we have dealt with the single settlement at Twin Grove. This is not the
only one, but it was the most important at first. We have not mentioned all those
who came in to Twin Grove, but we have endeavored to give a fair idea of the manner
of the first settlement. The details of early neighborhood history, at this late date,
are meager and hard to obtain.
The first settler at Harley's Grove, or what was formerly called Hougham's Grove,
was Robert H. Johnson. He was a Virginian by birth, but at a very early age he
removed with his parents to Jackson County, Tenn, Here he remained for a
number of years, when he again moved, this time to Overton County, in the same
Slate. In 1814, he married a Miss Potter. He started to Illinois in 1828. He first
stopped at Blooming Grove. Here he met a warm reception. The old-time sympathy
manifested itself in the liveliest manner. George Hinshaw had built a cabin for the
family at what is now called Harley's Grove. This cabin had no shutter to the door,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 613
so that Funk's hogs that had been in the woods eating the mast, found it a comfortable
sty. When Johnson took possession, they were unconscious of the number of animals
that would dispute their right before morning. It is reported that a large drove of
hogs made their appearance after the family had retired for the night, and demanded
admittance. The wary dog disputed with them the narrow pass afforded by the door-
way. The pioneer, aroused from his slumbers, managed to apply the fire-wood in such
a judicious way upon the poor creatures' noses as to cause them to beat a retreat. In
the mean time the wife, who was always on the alert, cast the fiery darts of a
righteous one out at the opening, where a chimney should have been, and made it
impossible for the enemy to enter by that route. On the next day, the Funks appeared
on the scene and things were adjusted in a more amicable way. The Johnson family
lived here, the only inhabitants of the Grove, for some time. They had plenty of game
at hand, and had many an adventure with the deer and wolf. Mr. Johnson had not
entered the land, so that some years after his first settlement, a man of the name of
Hougham entered it and bought Mr. Johnson's improvements. Hougham owned a
large portion of land in that vicinity and was for a long time the only person there.
Johnson went north to Twin Grove, and met his death by accident, in 1837.
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.
The first sermon preached in Dale Township is not now remembered. The Rev.
Mr. Latta, of Bloomington, often preached on special occasions at such places as
seemed to demand religious services. Mr. Jesse Hill remarks that the first regular
preaching in the township was held at his house. It occurred on this wise: Mr.
Hill was digging a well at the prospective residence of Mr. Elias York, on the east side
of Twin Grove, in Dry Grove Township, when Rev. Mr. Royal came along. Said he,
" Dou you ever have any preaching in here?" "Yes," rephed Mr. Hill, "a funeral
sermon occasionally." " Do you wish any regular preaching?" continued Rev. Royal.
" Now, sir," said Mr. Hill, " if you will occupy my cabin, down there, you are welcome
to it." The minister accepted the proffered cabin and left word in the neighborhood
that he would be there in one week from that day, which brought the sermon on Thurs-
day. At the hour appointed, he was promptly on hand. Services were held in the
little cabin, whose unchinked walls presented a hole-y appearance and whose simple
benches and unpretending stools furnished the only means of sitting. There were
several persons present, and, at the close of services, a class was formed. When Mr.
York finished his residence, the place of preaching was changed to his house. This
formed the Methodist Church in the south of Dry Grove Township. The class was
always kept up after the first meeting, but the place of meeting has been all the time in
that cownship, until the removal of the church to the Cemetery in 1877-78. If the
reader will refer to that township, he will there find a more complete history.
There was an early organization of the Christian Church at Twin Grove, but it
was across the line north. Many of the members of that Church lived in Dale Town-
ship, but the first organization of a church inside of what is now Dale, did not occur
until 1859. At what is known as the California Schoolhouse, something more than a
mile north of Shirley, this first society was organized December 4, 1859. It was
organized by the advice and consent of the Grassy Ridge Church in Bloomington
Township. There were thirteen original members. Jonathan Park was the minister ;
614 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
be continued so to act until the society was moved to Shirley. The following are the
names of the first list of members, who became such December 4, 1859 : Jonathan
Park, Barthana Park, Sidney Park, Alevilda J. Park, John J. Denham, Minerva E.
Denhara, Andrew J. Denham, Mary W. Denham, Elzira F. Quinn, Hannah Smith,
Mary Jane Lane, Hardin Boulware, Florinda F. Boulware. The meetings were held
in the schoolhouse ten years. Jonathan Park was their preacher. He was the pioneer
settler of that part of the prairie. Of course, when he came to McLean County,
nearly thirty years ago, it was then looked upon as being an old settled community, but
notwithstanding all that, he tells us that when he stopped where he now is, there was
not a farm between him and Brown's Grove.
In the southeast corner of Dale Township, there lived, until quite recently, a trio
of ladies noted for their old age. These were Ann McNitt, Mary Boulware and Eliza-
beth Quinn. The latter is still living.
Ann McNitt was born December 29, 1786, and died May 15, 1878. It will thus
be seen that she was in her ninety-second year at the time of her death. She came to
Illinois about 1852. At that time, her husband was still living. Recently, she has
lived with an adopted son, Mr. James Gr. McClelland, about three-fourths of a mile
west of Shirley. Mrs. McNitt came originally from Pennsylvania. There she was
born before the Constitution of the United States had ever been framed. At the time
of the war with England, she was twenty-six years old. Before Robert Fulton first
tried his boat on the Hudson, she had reached womanhood ; and when the first cars
began their puffing on the American continent, she was growing old. And yet this
hale old lady has lingered on the shores of time, enjoying good health, almost to the
present time. Mary Boulware, or Aunt Polly Boulware, as she was familiarly known,
lived to be even older than her associate just cited. She was born May 12, 1786, and
died February 16, 1879. It will be seen from this that she was almost ninety-three
years old. Her early life was spent in Madison County, Ky. There she claimed the
attention of this world before the Northwest Territory had been organized. She came
to Illinois in 1853. Her husband was living at that time. He died in 1864, in the
the seventy-fifth year of his age. He was some three years younger than his wife.
After the death of her husband, she lived, most of the time, with her son, James F.
Boulware, who lives one and one-fourth mile west of Shirley. Mrs. Boulware con-
tinued in good health until the last sickness. She had a few seasons of sickness, but, as
a rule, she and Mrs. McNitt retained much of their early vigor. The third and
youngest of the trio is Elizabeth Quinn. She is ten years younger than those who
have lately passed away, and might have been looked upon by them, at one time, as
quite youthful. And yet, to the vast multitude of mankind, she is an old person
indeed. She was born April 23, 1796, almost four years before the death of Wash-
ington, and long before a Napoleon shook the world with his wonderful campaigns.
Kentucky had not been long a State, and Tennessee was admitted to the Union in the
same year.
EDUCATIONAL.
The early educational intelligence in regard to Dale Township is meager in the
extreme. The early settlement which has been spoken of at Twin Grove had its school,
but it was across in Dry Grove Township. Jesse Hill relates the difficulties often met
in getting up a school. On one occasion, he signed for a scholar himself, and afterward
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 615
gave his right to a neighbor who had children to send, and received in return two
baskets. Thus trade was carried on, and the children educated. The first school
taught within the township did not occur until so comparatively recently that its time
and place are not of much importance.
The present condition of the schools is good, so far as we were able to learn. The
following will illustrate the growth of the public-school system in the township : Num-
ber of persons under twenty-one years, 568 ; number of persons between six and twenty-
one years, 364 ; number of scholars enrolled, 278 ; schoolhouses, 7 ; amount paid
teachers, $2,218.64; total expenditures, $4,107.61 ; estimated value of school prop-
erty, $7,350 ; highest wages paid per month, $50.
WAR RECORD AND POLITICS.
We were unable to learn of any in the Black Hawk war, except William Lash
and James Phillips. Mr. Lash was a noted fighter. He was also in the Mexican war.
He would never take any insinuations in regard to the demeanor of the troops among
which he was serving. It is related, that at one time in Bloomington, a man insinuated
that the Mexican soldiers did much else than fight. He had directed his remark to
Mr. Lash; but had not more than finished his remark until a heavy rejoinder from the
soldier's fist landed the man in a place of quiet, from which he scrambled up and left
the company without bidding them a last adieu. Mr. Lash was the only man in the
Mexican war from Dale, so far as we were able to ascertain.
In the war of the rebellion, there was the proportion from Dale that was required
from all. Many brave soldiers who fought in the Union cause, looked back to their
homes in Dale. They seem to have been fortunate, most of them, for the list of the unre-
turning is not so long as that furnished by many townships in our fair State. We did
not hear of a single person shot in the field; but there were some who suffered
that worse fate, death in the hospital. Wallace Kinkaid died of the small-pox, and
Thomas Stanton died of the measles. Charles Morgan, William Harvey and Edward
Harvey also died in the service of the United States. If there were others, we failed
to find their record. The full details of these horrible wars can never be learned on earth.
If, in the hereafter, there shall be a reckoning of the affairs of this world, may the
unknown braves who sleep in deep oblivion, with their deeds unsung and their names
unknown, receive a just recompense of reward.
In political matters, Dale Township stands very close. For some time, the majori-
ties have not been large. It cannot well be said to be Republican or Democrat.
RAILROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, main line, was built through the south-
east corner of the township, in 1854. Shirley was made a station, and the township
had means of shipping from that early date. But thirteen years after this, the Jack-
sonville Division of the same road passed almost directly through the township from
east to west. Covell was made a station immediately, and, being near the center of the
township, off"ered better means for shipping grain, cattle, hogs, etc.
The public highways are numerous enough to answer all the purposes of the farm-
ing community. The roads do not cleave to the section lines with the tenacity often
noticed in prairie townships, although quite a number of section lines are authorized
616 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
highways. There is a highway that follows the track of the C, A. & St. L. through
the southeast corner. Tt leads from Bloomington southwest. On the second section
line from the south, there is a public road which comes in from Stanford, on the west.
On the east side of the township, it turns north, then east, and then northeast through
the woods to Bloomington. It is the Stanford road to Bloomington. On the north
side, there is a well-traveled, important road, leading from the south side of Twin Grove
to Bloomington. It cuts through the center of the north tier of sections. It was on
this line that the first settlements in the township were made. Then there is a road
from Shirley west. There are quite a number of small streams that are crossed by
these roads. At these places, bridges are generally found, but none of iron. In some
places, it is difficult to make a good road, on account of the difficulty of draining, but
most of them 3re in good repair.
ORGANIZATION OF DALE TOWNSHIP.
When McLean County adopted the township system, Dale was organized with the
present name, and held its first election for township officers April 6, 1858. The result,
as recorded in the County Clerk's office, was as follows : Richard Rowell, Supervisor ;
Oliver J. Fish, Town Clerk; John D. Lander, Assessor; Edward Wilson, Collector;
Jacob Johnston, Overseer of Poor; Daniel Kent, Henry Merriman, Isaac Mitchell,
Commissioners of Highways ; John Mitchell, Alfred Fowler, Constables ; James M.
Ward, E. Moberly, Justices of the Peace ; A. D. Benjamin, Overseer of Highways.
The officers of the township at present are as follows : A. J. Wilson, Supervisor:
Jacob Brigham, Town Clerk ; Edward Wilson, Assessor ; A. R. Freed, Collector ; Vassal
W. Tompkins, James W, Quinn, Aaron J. Moore, Commissioners of Highways ;
Charles Dunk and C. M. Reed, Justices of the Peace, and William A. Campbell, Con-
^^^^^^- SHIRLEY.
This little village is situated on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, six miles
southwest of Bloomington. It is located in the prairie. To the west is Harley's Grove ;
on the south, some distance, is Funk's Grove, and northeast is Blooming Grove.
The spot on which it is located is higher than much of the surrounding country, partic-
ularly that to the north and west. When viewed from these directions, Shirley seems
high and dry. The surrounding country is fertile and the farming community seem in
easy circumstances, but the little village of Shirley does not grow very rapidly. It is
too near to Bloomington, no doubt, so that most of the farmers go up to the city to do
their trading.
There was a switch put down at Shirley when the railroad was first built, but the
village was not surveyed till a much later date. In the summer of 1859, the west
half of Section 36 and the east half of Section 35 were laid off into lots, irrespective
of half-section lines. This was done by George P. Ela, who was then Deputy Surveyor
for McLean County. Ela's certificate is dated July 8, 1859. The plat of the village,
filed in the Recorder's office, bears the certificate of George P. Ela, County Surveyor,
and is dated September 14, 1866. The village was laid out and surveyed for John
Foster. This survey included 2j^^\ acres in Lot No. 2, and 23 acres in Lot No. 7 of
Section 35, east half
But there were some improvements long before this. The first residence was built
by Emly Moberly. It is still standing, but Mr. Moberly now lives in Bloomington.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 617
The second dwelling was erected by Hiram Quinn. The first house that was used for
storehouse is now occupied by the Methodists and Presbyterians as a place of worship.
It is called the Union Church. The Funks and the Quinns were the most important
element in the early history of Shirley. They are still interested here.
Beside the Union Church, mentioned as being the first storehouse, there is another,
erected by the Christians. The Union Church has no regular services at present. The
two societies — Methodists and Presbyterians — united their strength and fixed this build-
ing up so that it aiFords tolerably comfortable apartments, but the societies are not
strong.
The Christian Church was first begun by Rev. Alexander Hutchinson, who held
meetings in the schoolhouse at Shirley in the fall of 1868. There was quite a revival
inaugurated, so that they began to build, and finished their church in 1869. At this
time, the society of Christians, formed at the California Schoolhouse ten years previously,
were transferred to the village and united with those just beginning. The church is
36x56 feet, and cost $2,800. At present, there is no regular Pastor. Jonathan Park
still lives just north of the village, but does not now preach. The society has a good
membership for a country church, and a pleasant house of worship.
We did not learn the particulars of the first school, nor the name of the first
teacher. The school-building now standing was erected in 1^69. It is a large, two-
story frame. It has a large room and two recitation-rooms on the first floor, with a
large hall up-stairs. The good people of Shirley must have calculated on a more rapid
growth than time has furnished, so far. Only one teacher is employed now, and ten
years have gone by since the house was built.
There are quite large elevators in the village, owned by Funk & Douglas. There
are two storehouses — one brick and one frame. The brick store is not operating now.
It is owned by John Foster. The other store is owned by William B. Lane. Hiram
W. Quinn and Benjamin F. Quinn have the house rented and keep a general country
store.
The post oflice is kept in the station-house, by J. L. Douglas, who is also the
agent for the railroad. A blacksmith-shop is run by R. M. Browning. Charles Dunk
runs a carpenter-shop and metes out justice to the community.
Foster's brick residence, on the east side of the railroad, is the most prominent
dwelling in the town, as the Fosters are the big men of the place.
COVELL.
A little cluster of residences on the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago, Alton
& St. Louis Railroad, near the center of Dale Township, is called Covell. The only
buildings of a public character are a blacksmith-shop, a store, the elevators and a
church. The station is situated in the level prairie that occupies so large a portion of the
center of the township. Although the place consists of but few houses, yet it must be
a lively place for shipping. If it ships other things in proportion to the amount of corn
we saw cribbed up there, it certainly does a heavy business for a place of its size. We
understand that there is now one-third as much corn here as there is in Bloomington.
The elevators are owned by Linebarger & Brother, of Stanford.
Covell was surveyed by George P. Ela, County Surveyor. Date of certificate of
survey, October 15, 1867. This survey included 52^*^ acres from the northeast corner
618 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
of the northwest quarter of Section 21. The plat was filed, and town laid out by John
L. Rowell. This was just at the time of the completion of the railroad through the
township.
The first residence here was built by Mrs. Campbell, in the fall of 1867. In the
same fall, A. P. Hefner built a shop and lived in one part of it for awhile. His daughter
was the first child born in the place. The first building of any kind was a warehouse.
In this same fall of 1867, W. G. Witherow built a house and kept a grocery store.
Piper & Soulty now own this building, but Mr. H. G. Bomgardner keeps a general
country store in it. Mr. Bomgardner is also station agent. A. P. Hefner still runs
a blacksmith-shop. There is no schoolhouse in the village. The district is large, and
a number of the patrons live to one side, so that the schoolhouse ia some distance to the
southwest.
There is a very pretty country church at Covell. It was built in the summer of
1867, by the united efibrts of the Methodists, Baptists and Old School Presbyterians.
Each was to have the church one-third of the time. Prominent among the Methodists
were William Rogers and Martin Newton. Their first minister was Elder Barger.
Their present Pastor is Col. Johnson. Among the Presbyterians may be mentioned
Robert and Crawford Campbell, David Hart and Dr. Mills, now of Normal. The Rev.
Robert Criswell was their first minister. Thomas Cutting, John Freed and Mr. Ballard
were Baptists. They had preaching occasionally, but no regular pastor. There has
been one noted revival since the building of the church. This occurred under the labors
of Revs. Criswell, Byerly and others. Criswell continued to preach for the Pres-
byterians for some time. Byerly was a Methodist. The Rev. Mr. Evans now preaches
for the Baptists. The building is 32x48 feet. It cost $2,500.
FUNK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.
To write the history of this township without making the Funk family the central
group would be like an attempt to present the play of " Hamlet with Hamlet left out."
We are therefore sure our readers will not feel disappointed or displeased if this chapter
partakes largely of the biographical with members of this family mentioned most
prominently. Indeed, we are quite certain that those acquainted with the history of
the town will fully appreciate the propriety of such a presentation and would criticise
us justly were we to write otherwise. The Funk estate, at the death of Isaac Funk,
who is the central figure of this group, covered about 20.000 acres, or nearly two-
thirds of the township. For this reason, therefore, if for no other, should the name
figure prominently in the history of this part of the county. But, as we shall presently
see, the name extends as high as the lands do in length and breadth.
Two years after the first settlement had been made in the county, this region had
not yet been occupied by any white man. In the spring of 1824, Isaac Funk and his
brother Absalom came to McLean County, and they, with William Brock, with whom
they had resided for a short time in Sangamon (.ounty. Brock had been in McLean
County (or rather in what is now McLean, as the county had not then been formed),
and by his representations of the fine country about Old Town Timber and Blooming
Grove, a tour of inspection was taken, resulting in the selection of the grove
BLODMINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 621
now bearing the Funk name as their future home. On their arrival at the grove, the
Funks declared that this location was all that could be desired, and, though by persua-
sion of Brock they continued their survey of the country to Old Town, yet their first
impressions of this grove were not changed, and even Brock was forced to acknowledge
that he had either overestimated his former choice or that Funk's Grove was so much
superior that part of the charm of the country further up the creek had been obscured.
It was finally agreed to settle here, and arrangements were at once made to lay claim to
large tracts of the lands lying in and about the grove. The Brocks erected a little log
cabin at the south end of the grove and began keeping house in the pioneer style, and
Absalom Funk, being then unmarried, boarded with them. The land in this part of
the State was not then in the market, and settlers simply squatted on the lands which
they designed afterward to purchase of the Government. Land was plenty then, and
no one thought of disputing the slender title. Brock and the Funks claimed as much
as they thought they could enter and then went to work to prepare for its entry
when it should come into market. None of them had any means, but all had plenty of
ambition and a good amount of well-developed muscle. The father of the Funks had
been very wealthy, but, during the war of 1812, had loaned large amounts of money
to different persons, and the hard times which always follow a war coming on, his
debtors were driven to bankruptcy, and he was, in consequence, ruined. In the fall of
the year named, Robert Stubblefield, a brother-in-law of Isaac and Absalom Funk, also
from Ohio, came out and settled at the north end of the grove, and then the Funks went
to live with them. The Stubblefields have been an influential family in this part of the
county and second only to the Funks. The family is a large one and, without an excep-
tion, they have been remarkably successful in their various callings.
It may not be generally known that Adam Funk, the father of Isaac, Absalom and
the other pioneers of that name, ever came to this country, as he died in 1832 ; and
but few now reside in this part 'of the country who lived here at the time. Adam
Funk was a native of Virginia, but had lived for a number of years in Fayette County,
Ohio. In 1824, his wife having died, he removed, with his other two sons, to this
place, and resided, until the marriage of his son Isaac, with his son-in-law, Robert
Stubblefield. In 1826, Isaac Funk was married to Miss Cassandra Sharp, of Peoria,
then called Fort Clark. From the very first, Isaac Funk was the acknowledged leader
in politics and every public enterprise, and his reputation as a shrewd business man was
not long confined to McLean County, or even the State. Though he met with some
reverses and was obliged to undergo many hardships incident to a new country, his
energy and pluck were always equal to every occasion. He believed in the old saying
that, what is worth doing is worth doing well, and having fixed upon stock-raising as
a business, he pursued it with the same spirit that, had his mind been turned specially
to politics or religion, would have made him one of the foremost in either. Mr. Funk
never left even the details of his business to hired help, but looked after the most trivial
matters. His own eye saw that his stock was well cared for, and when they were to be
marketed, always accompanied the herd to their destination. In the early times, it was
essential that the strictest economy should be practiced by all, and whether this trait
was natural with Mr. Funk, or whether he acquired it by the force of habit, he always
practiced it. He was distinguished by his plain clothes after he had acquired a fortune.
His outfit in this respect would not compare favorably with that of most young men
Y
622 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
who receive a salary less in amount than would have fed a dozen of Mr. Funk's steers.
As a result of all of Mr. Funk's economy and industry, at the time of his death he was
one of the wealthiest men and largest land-owners in Illinois.
Until the organization of the Reijublican party, Mr. Funk was always a strong-
Whig, and as such was, in 1840, elected to the Legislature of the State from this dis-
trict. The agitation resulting from the organization of the Republican party, brought
out in Mr. Funk a latent power, of which few were aware that he possessed. In
his career as a legislator, he showed no special marks of prominence. He was always
accredited with performing the work assigned him with the same care with which he attended
his cattle, but it was not dreamed that the plain, plodding farmer would yet make the
walls of that same house ring with applause, and that hundreds in every State should
acknowledge his strength of character, as well as his goodness of heart. He sympathized
deeply with the downtrodden race, and when the war of the rebellion was inaugurated,
his great and loyal heart was stirred to great deeds and words. In 1863, he was in the
State Senate, when a bill was before that body having for its object the aid of the
Sanitary Commission. There were in the Senate at the time several members who were
opposed to the bill, and Mr. Funk had set his heart on its passage. The opposition,
though not openly antagonizing the bill from avowed hostility to the real object of the
appropriation, yet urged economy, and by various pleas and pretenses, well known to
legislators, sought to deprive the measure of some of its most important features.
Though Mr. Funk was an uneducated man, he was yet quick to detect the real grounds
of the opposition, and this so worked upon his mind that, though he had never attempted
a speech before, his natural eloquence burst forth, as it were, spontaneously in one
of the most telling speeches of the session, a few extracts of which are here given. Mr.
Funk said :
Mr. Speaker : I can sit in my seat no longer and see such boys' play going on. These-
men are trifling with the best interests of the country. They should have asses' ears to set off
their heads, or they are secessionists and traitors at heart. I say there are traitors and secession-
ists at heart in this Senate. Their actions prove it. Their speeches prove it. Their gibes and
laughter and cheers here nightly, when their speakers get up in this hall and denounce the war
and the administration, prove it. I can sit here no longer and not tell these traitors what 1
think of them, and while so telling them I am responsible myself for what I say. I stand upon
my own bottom. I am ready to meet any man upon this floor from a pin's point to the mouth of
a cannon upon this charge against these traitors. I am an old man of sixty-five. I came to Illi-
nois a poor boy. I have made a little something for myself and family. I pay $3,000 a year in
taxes. I am willing to pay $6,000, aye $12,000; aye I am willing to pay my whole fortune, and
then give my life to save my country from these iraitors that are seeking to destroy it.
Mr. Speaker, you must excuse me ; I could not sit longer in my seat and calmly listen to-
these traitors. My heart, that feels for my poor country, would not let me. My heart, that
cries out for the lives of our brave volunteers in the field, that these traitors at home are
destroying by the thousand, would not let me. My heart, that bleeds for the widows and
orphans at home, would not let me. Yes, these villains and traitors and secessionists in this
Senate are killing my neighbors' boys, now fighting in the field. 1 dare to tell this to these
traitors to their faces, and that 1 am responsible for what I say to one and all of them. Let
them come on right here. I am sixty-five years old, and I have made up my mind to risk my
life right here on this floor for my country.
Mr. Speaker, these traitors on this floor should be provided with hempen collars. They
deserve them. They deserve them. They deserve hanging, I say. The country would be bet-
ter oflF to swing them up. I go for hanging them, and I dare to tell them so right here to their
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 623
traitors' faces. Traitors should be hung. It would be the salvation of the country to hang them.
For that reason I would rejoice at it.
Mr. Speaker, I beg pai-don of the gentlemen in the Senate who are not traitors, but true,
loyal men, for what I have said. I only intend it and mean it for secessionists at heart. They
are here in this Senate. I see them joke and smirk and grin at the true Union man. But I
defy them. I stand here ready for them, and dare them to come on. What man with the heart
of a patriot could stand this treason any longer ? I have stood it long enough, and I will stand
it no longer.' I denounce these men and their aiders and abettors as rank traitors and secession-
ists. Hell itself could not spew out a more traitorous crew than some of the men who disgrace
this Legislature, this State and this country. For myself, I protest against and denounce their
treasonable acts.
I said I pay $3,000 a year taxes. I do not say it to brag of it ; it is my duty — yes, Mr.
Speaker, my privilege to do it. But some of these traitors here, who are working night and
day to get their miserable little bills and claims through the Legislature, to take money out of
the pockets of the people, are talking about high taxes. They are hypocrites as well as traitors.
1 heard some of them talking about high taxes in this way who do not pay $5 to support the
Government. I denounce them as hypocrites as well as traitors. The reason that they pretend
to be afraid of high taxes is, that they do not want to vote money for the relief of the soldiers.
They want, also, to embarrass the Government and stop the war. They want to aid the seces-
sionists to conquer our boys in the field. They care for taxes? They are picayune men. They
pay no taxes at all and never did and never hope to, unless they can manage to plunder the Gov-
ernment. This is tn excuse of traitors.
The whole effect of the speech is impossible to describe. Frequently, his ponder-
ous and honest fist came down upon his desk with a crash that made the walls resound,
and that made the objects of his wrath wince. The speech was received with applause
and cheers, which the speaker was unable to suppress, and, when he sat down the gal-
leries and the floor joined in a prolonged applause. The speech in full was printed in
most of the papers throughout the North, and Mr. Funk received the hearty congrat-
ulations of loyal men from all parts of the nation.
During the whole war, while he lived, his whole mind was given to aiding his
country in its struggle for preservation. But he did not live to witness the triumph of
the principles for which he so earnestly pleaded. He died on the 29th of January,
1865, a few months before the surrender of the rebel army. His wife, with whom he
had lived happily for nearly forty years, died within a few hours of her husband, and
they were both buried in the same grave, in the Funk's Grove Cemetery, in which the
father of Isaac Funk had been interred thirty-three years before, he also being the
first.
At the time of Mr. Funk's death he was a member of the Senate, which was then
in session. Upon the public announcement of the sad event to that body, Hon. J. W.
Strevell, then a member of the same House from Livingston County, pronounced the
following appropriate eulogy :
Mr. Speaker : There may be other members upon this floor, whose more intimate and
peculiar relations to the deceased better fit them to pay a just tribute to his memory than
myself. But his immediate neighborhood to my district, and the endearing ties which I have
reason to know existed for many years between him and a large portion of the good people I
have the honor to represent, make it at least proper that I should pay an humble but atfection-
ate tribute to the memory of the departed.
Lone before it had ever occurred to me to meet Senator Funk personally, I had, by hear-
ing those who knew him in early times relate so many little incidents and reminiscences of him,
which go to make up the sum of a great life, become almost familiar with his character. He
624 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
was one of the pioneers of Illinois ; and it is not singular that a character so marked and pos-
itive as his should leave its lasting impress upon those around him and upon the destinies of his
State. He knew Illinois in its infancy. He was familiar with it when the old stage-coach was
the most rapid means of communication with its distant borders. Bui he lived to see the infant
State of his adoption grow to be a giant, embracing within his parental arms two millions of
children, from all countries and climes. He lived to see the old stage-coach give place to the
iron horse, majestically coursing through his own broad acres, carrying the blessings of com-
merce wherever civilization is known. All this he was blest to behold ; and in all this develop-
ment he had borne a part. Ages may roll away, and the name of him who was but yesterday
habited for tlie grave, and confined to its narrow portals, may be forgotten, as all names must
be ; yet the influence of his character and life upon the destinies of Illinois will be felt to the
remotest day. Whoever does not know that Senator Funk deserves to be classed among the great
men of his time, does, in my judgment, but poorly comprehend the true elements of character.
Probably the most wealthy man in the United States, save one, who wat exclusively devoted to
agriculture, he was a representative man of his class. Nor was he distinguished for wealth
alone. Plis patriotic utterances in the hour of his country's darkest gloom, will long be remem-
bered and cherished by a grateful people. His fame was not bounded by State lines, nor indeed
by county. Many across the broad Atlantic will read and lament that the Christian, patriot
and agricultural king is dead. True, he had none of the embellishments of learning or art,
which so well adorn true greatness, and which, too, are so often mistaken for it. But in com-
mon sense — which really is most uncommon — in penetrating sagacity, in fidelity to right, and,
above all, in genuine kindness of heart, few were his equals. It is only a few»days since a pub-
lic measure came up in this House about the propi'iety of which there was some doubt, and he
opposed it. Few, perhaps, have sought the reason why he did so. "Because," he said, "it
would be doing for himself what he did not do for his hired man." Ah! here is the rule of
justice and judgment which obtains at the tribunal where he has gone, and where we must go —
" Do unto others as ye would that they should do to you," for with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again. The last time 1 ever saw Senator Funk, he came into
this House to consult with his esteemed colleague at my side, and to ask me to join a portion of
my district with his county, in restraining some evil practice of gaming. Little did we then think
that these halls would no more echo the sound of his voice. So inscrutable are the ways of God
to man. It was then very perceptible that his health was much disturbed. In reply to a ques-
tion, he said he was far from well. Even then, the grim monster was struggling for his prey.
But the proper limits for these few remarks will not allow of any special detail. I would gladly
linger over his memory and his virtues.
Illinois will wait long for the coming of another such as he. But 1 am glad to believe that
the enemy did not find him as one wholly disarmed. He marched out of his strong fortress
unseen by mortal eye, with the calm dignity so peculiar to his nature, and surrendered up to
the King of Terrors. He had, I doubt not, long since learned that
" Who builds on less than immortal base,
Destines all his joys to death."
But how instructive this lesson to us. Neither wealth, nor place, nor power could save
him from the grave ; for if wealth could beguile death, then he had no need to die.
How unspeakably sad, and yet more beautiful than any creation of romance, was that
other death so closely connected with his. The golden cord that binds one heart to another in
the world is seldom so strong that it will not bear to be broken. But in this instance, that cord
had grown to be life itself. Scarcely had he entered the valley of the shadow of death before
she who had been the loved companion of more than forty years of joy and sorrow, without any
apparent disease, left all, and followed in swift pursuit. Nearly half a century ago, they started
out on life's journey, hand in hand, and now, at the end, they peacefully lie down together and
draw the drapery of death around them. Erelong they will rise triumphantly, to hail Him
Who has conquered death, and the brightness of Whose coming will dispel the gloom of
the grave.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUIITY. 625
Mr. Funk left no will, but a well-understood wish was carried out in all its details
by the heirs. No administration was entered into, but all of the children, nine in
number, met and divided the vast estate in a perfectly amicable manner, without even
the advice of any outside party. Just before his death, Mr. Funk had erected a very
fine family mansion on the site of his old house. This, in the apportionment, was set
apart to the youngest son, who bears the father's name. A biography of other mem-
bers of the family will be found in another part of the work.
Of the five brothers who came out in 1823, 1824 and 1825, only Robert survives.
There were originally nine children, six boys and three girls. None of the other members
of the family prospered as did Isaac. Absalom, who died in 184:0, had prospects almost
equally bright ; but his comparatively early death came before the most prosperous
times of this section were fully realized.
It is said of John Funk, who came out in 1825, that he was utterly oblivious to
lands, cattle or money, except just enough of the last-named to have a good time. He
was always sure of a living from his two brothers, " Ab. and Ike." At the stores, it
was known that John never had anything to pay with, though he would buy with the
same confidence as would his two well-to-do brothers. At the end of stated periods,
Isaac and Absalom would call for their bills, and as regularly would the merchants pre-
sent John's accounts, which Isaac and Absalom good-naturedly liquidated. John never
made any inquiry about his bills with a view to settlement, but it is supposed he fully
expected to pay them himself The Funks, Stubblefields and Brock, as before inti-
mated, claimed the most of the land adjacent to the timber, and when it came into
market, entered the same. The township, therefore, did not settle as rapidly as some
others, because there was no more timber-land, and the value of the prairie was not
appreciated until a later day. However, when the Illinois Central Railroad was char-
tered, one-half of the vacant land was given to that company as a consideration for the
building of the road. The balance of the unoccupied land was at once raised to $2.50
per acre, at which price it was soon bought. The Chicago & Alton Railroad, completed
through this section in 1852, further increased the value of lands, and thus hastened
their sale, so that, by about 1856, all of the township of Funk's Grove had been
entered. The building of these roads was the real basis for the prosperity of this sec-
tion. Prior to this, the markets for the products of the farm were Chicago and Peoria,
and supplies had to be hauled long distances by wagon. The roads have brought mar-
kets almost to the very doors of the producers, and goods are as cheap as in the large
cities.
MILLS.
The timber of this township is very fine. Unlike most timber along the little
creeks, which is usually of a small, stunted growth of oak and basswood, the timber
along Sugar Creek at this point, is of a heavy growth of walnut, maple and oak. A
saw-mill was built here at an early date, for the manufacture of the trees into lumber.
The large farming and stock-raising operations carried on by Isaac Funk, required a
large amount of lumber for fences, sheds, etc.
The mill was put up by Isaac Funk mainly for his own use. Later, Col. J. Straight,
of Indianapolis, bought of the Funk family 1,200 walnut trees, and brought to the station
a mill for the manufacturing of them into lumber. An amount exceeding 2,000 cars has
been sawed and sent to New York, where there is a large demand for the product for
626 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
making furniture. The beautiful forest is rapidly passing away, and, in a short time)
the best part will thus have been consumed.
Before the building of the railroads through this country, there were two special
inducements for building distilleries. There was a large surplus of corn which it was
difficult to market, and the consumers of the product of the still were plentier than at
present. It was not counted a disgrace to patronize the tavern, which was then the
dram-shop; and a small distillery in the midst of a farming community was accounted a
gK)od thing for those who brought there their grain for sale, and took back a jug or a
barrel of the product. To accommodate those who might wish to patronize such
an institution in either way, Robert Funk built a small distillery on Section 17, in about
1840. We are bound to say, however, that the distillery was not a great success. In
a few years it was allowed to run down, and the copper stills were sold as old copper.
To the credit of the old-time distillers, it is said they made a better article than is man-
ufactured by the more pretentious establishments of the present day.
EDUCATIONAL.
The first schoolhouse built in this township was a small log aifair, erected on the
site of the Methodist Church, west of Funk Grove Station. It was built upon the
mutual assistance plan, the neighbors meeting at an appointed time, bringing their axes,
saws and such other implements as they happened to possess. This was about 1827,
and the Funks and Stubblefields, of this township, and several persons at the west end
of the grove, in Mount Hope Township, were concerned in its erection. It is described
as being about twenty feet square, covered with clapboards held in place by weight-poles ;
as having a clapboard door hung on wooden hinges; puncheon floor and puncheon seat-s.
and with desks made by boring auger-holes into the wall, inserting wooden pins therein,
and laying on the pins boards hewed from walnut logs. The warming apparatus was a
huge fireplace extending one-half of the whole length of one side of the house, into which
could be rolled logs requiring the strength of two of the largest boys to carry. The
arrangements, however , were the crowning invention of that time. On two sides of the
house, the halves of two contiguous logs of the wall were cut out the whole length of
the building. Across these openings, at short intervals, were placed small sticks, upon
which paper greased with hog's lard was pasted. This made a translucent window,
admitting the rays of light, and, at the same time preventing the children from looking
out, and obviating the necessity of blinds. Nothing in modern use, except real stained
glass, compares in utility with the windows of this schoolhouse. The fastening to the
door, too, was ingenious, and deserves description. The latch was a wooden bar, similar
to those now in use on gates or barn-doors, and was placed on the inside of the door.
To enable one on the outside of the door to raise the latch, an auger-hole was bored
through a few inches above the latch, and through this a leather thong was drawn, and
tied to the latch inside. Doubtless this invention gave rise to the saying, " the latch-
string is out," as it was used on the doors of most of the cabins at that date.
In this temple of learning, Andrew Biggs and Andrew McMillan taught some of
the first schools. One of these taught the first, but we are unable to settle the honor
more definitely on either. A little reading, writing and ciphering constituted the full
course of study at the Funk's Grove Academy. Jonathan Dow was one of the pioneer
teachers at this school, and, from some of his peculiarities, must have been related to
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 627
Lorenzo, of evangelist fame. It was the custom in those times for the teacher to
" board round," but Dow preferred to board himself at the schoolhouse. He lived
entirely on vegetable diet, nearly all of which consisted of apples, potatoes and corn-
cakes, which he had stored in large quantities beneath the floor of the school- room.
It was the custom then at Christmas to demand of the teacher a treat, and in the event
of any hesitation on the part of the master, he was barred out of the house. The boys,
however, never found Dow outside, as he boarded there, and, when Christmas came that
winter, the master assumed to have the advantage of the boys, and declined to stand
the apples and cider demanded. But the boys were not to be baffled so easily, and
with a preconcerted action seized upon the teacher and dragged him, squirming and
kicking, from the house. Rushing inside, they closed the door, and another parley
ensued, without the effect, however, of bringing the obstinate Dow to terms. At last,
after a short council of war had been held by the boys, thej opened the door and
allowed the master to enter. He thought then he had won the day, but the movement
of the boys was only a little strategy to again get him in their hands. He was accord-
ingly again grabbed and carried to the creek which ran close by. The ice was cut, and
they were about to immerse him in the chilly flood, when he gave up and promised to
treat. Then were disclosed the stores of apples, cider, potatoes and hominy beneath
the puncheon floor. All helped themselves to the viands ; a good time was had ; the
parents praised their boys' pluck in whipping out the master ; and then the school pro-
ceeded as before.
A few years later, a schoolhouse was erected in the southeastern part of the town-
ship, in the Kickapoo Creek settlement, and owing to the large tracts of land held by
the families heretofore named, and the sparsely-settled condition of the township, no
other schools were organized for more than twenty years, though the old buildings, with
the puncheon floors, seats and desks, long before that time, gave way to better houses.
As indicating the progress made in this township, in 1858, there were reported
two schools, with fifty-two pupils ; in 1868, five schools, with two hundred and eighty
pupils ; and at this time again ten years later, six schools, with about three hundred
scholars. In 1858, the total expenditure for sustaining schools was a little less than
three hundred dollars, while in 1878, it was nearly as many thousands.
RELIGION.
Were we to judge this township by the number of church spires, we should say
that there is but little of the article here, as the large township contains but one church.
However, the people here are not without all of the church privileges requisite to a
high standard of Christianity. The church mentioned is near the center of the town-
ship, and this furnishes accommodations for all in its vicinity ; while churches at McLean,
Waynesville, Shirley and Heyworth count among their strongest supporters citizens of
this township. The Methodist Church of Funk's Grove was organized at a very early
day. The little log schoolhouse mentioned above was built for religious as well as edu-
cational purposes, and here, at about the same time, the church was established by
Adam Funk, Robert Funk, Robert Stubblefield, John Stubblefield, Mrs. Brock and a
few other women. It may be said that the church at the time was a family affair, as
the parties were nearly all related, the two Stubblefields named having married sisters of
Robert Funk. The society worshipped in the little log schoolhouse and its successors
628 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
until 1866, when the present comfortable house of worship was erected. It is a good
frame building, 36x50 feet in size,'and cost $3,500. The country in the vicinity of the
church is sparsely settled, there being so many large farms ; and the number of mem-
bers does not, at present, exceed thirty. Sunday school is sustained during the summer,
but during winter it is suspended. Rev. Mr. Shinn is the present Pastor.
DESCRIPTION.
Funk's Grove Township is bounded on the west, north and east, respectively, by
Mount Hope, Dale and Randolph Townships ; and on the south by DeWitt County.
This township consists of all of Congressional Town 22, Range 1 east, and the north
third of Town 21, in same range. It is one of the best watered townships in the
county, seeming to be the natund home for stock of various kinds common to this cli-
mate. Indeed, this has long been a notorious stock region. The Kickapoo and
branches of Sugar Creek flow from the northeast to the southwest. The land is of a
first-class quality, well adapted to the raising of corn, rye, oats, wheat and vegetables of
various kinds. The Chicago & Alton Railroad, built in 1852, passes through the north-
western corner, afi'ording at the station and at McLean an outlet for the vast products
of this section. A switch is the only improvement at the station, and was located at
the request of Isaac Funk, and for the accommodation of his estate.
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP.
There is not a railroad coming into Bloomington, which carries its passengers
through a prettier country — a country more attractive to the eye, and one which would
attract the attention of strangers more quickly — than does the La Fayette, Bloomington
& Mississippi Railroad as it passes through Old Town Township. As one travels over
this road, he gets a very fair view of almost the entire township. This road extends
east and west through the center of the third tier of sections from the north. The
rolling prairies stretch far away to the north, while on the south may be seen, extending
the entire length of the township, the irregular edge of the Old Town Timber.
This township derived its name from the belt of timber which crosses its southern
border. This grove is some eighteen miles long, and two to three miles wide. It fol-
lows no water-course, but passes directly east and west, without regard to the " lay of
the land." It derived its name from the old Indian town on its northern border. Old
Town is an exact Congressional township, and lies just south of the center of McLean
County. It is designated Town 23 north. Range 3 east of the Third Principal Merid-
ian. It is bounded on the north by Towanda Township, on the east by Padua, on the
south by Downs, and on the west by Bloomington Township. It is crossed by the head-
waters of Kickapoo Creek. The little stream enters from Padua, at the southeast cor-
ner of Section 13. It flows west to the northeast corner of Section 22, and thence
south to near the southwest corner of Section 33. All the northern part of the town-
ship is prairie, with the exception of Island Grove, a little patch of timber near the cen-
ter. The prairies are rolling, and are covered by fine farms and elegant residences.
The soil is good, ard yields largely of either corn or oats. Corn is the principal product.
Oats come next. Potatoes and grass do well. A large portion of the corn is shipped,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 629
but not all. A considerable amount oF hogs and cattle are shipped. Very little wheat
is produced. Beside the La Fayette, Bloomington & Mississippi Railroad already men-
tioned, Old Town is crossed by another. The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western
Railway. This road crosses the southwest corner of the township, entering from the
southeast, near the southeast corner of Section 32, and leaving near the southwest corner
of Section 30. There are two flag-stations in the township — Holder, on the east side,
on the L., B. & M. R. R., and Gillum, in the southwest, on the I., B. & W.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
When emigrants began to come into McLean County, it was not long before every
grove had its cluster of pale-faces. Not only do we find that every cluster of trees
brought early settlers, but larger belts were soon surrounded. The first settlement of Old
Town Timber was begun farther east than the present limits of the township of the
same name. But it was not long until a settlement was made on Kickapoo Creek. In
the spring of 1826, William Evans built the first cabin ever erected in Old Town. He
came from the settlement at Blooming Grove. He went to work, and, by the spring of
1827, he had enough prairie broken to permit of quite a crop. But all his hopes were
destined to be overthrown. In September, 1827, there came a hurricane which demol-
ished his crops, swept away his fences and destroyed his dwelling. After so severe a
disaster, he was too much disheartened to rebuild his scattered improvements, so he
moved to Blooming Grove. It will thus be seen that the first attempt to establish a
dwelling in this populous and beautiful township, was a failure. The elements were
against it, and who could prevail ? The same hurricane that dealt such a heavy blow
to Mr. Evans, destroyed much of the Old Town timber. Where it passed through,
the forest was leveled to the ground. There still may be seen a few trunks of the large
trees that were uprooted by the gale. The present growth of timber has sprung up
since the storm.
The next man to arrive at Kickapoo Creek, in this township, was, probably, Will-
iam Maxwell. He came from North Carolina about 1829, or, possibly, as late as 1831.
He lived on Kickapoo Creek until his death, which occurred in 1837. He had three
sons. They all moved away to Iowa. One daughter now lives in Le Roy. Her hus-
band's name is Henry Dickerson. John Bishop came in 1830. He is now living in
Bloomington. In 1833, William Bishop arrived. His wife, the mother of Dr. Bishop,
in Bloomington, is still living. At about this time, John Hendryx came. He is not
the man who first settled in Blooming Grove, but quite another person, and is no
relation. He had several children, the most prominent of whom is Mrs. Lewis Case.
On the 26th of July, 1833, Lewis Case and family moved into the little settlement
begun on the Kickapoo. Mr. and Mrs. Case are now the oldest settlers living in the
township, though there are others living in different parts of the county who lived in
Old Town before they did. The Cases came from Seneca, N. Y. Mr. Case was born
in 1809, and Mrs. Case in 1810. They have four daughters now living, but none
reside in the township. When Lewis Case came, he found Isaac Haner here. Teams
were scarce in those days, and even a good pair of oxen were not always to be had, so
Mr. Haner had yoked his cows, and with those prepared the soil for the seed. In the
fall of 1833, Archibald Martin arrived. He afterward moved over into Padua Town-
ship, and died there. In the fall of the same year, Abner Case and family came. Abner
630 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Case was the father of Lewis, and moved into his house when he first arrived. Mrs.
Case loves to tell the story of their winter's residence in the cabin. Lewis Case and
family, the family of Abner Case, of Charles Lewis and of Thaddeus Case all lived
within the narrow limits of one small cabin. This cabin had but one room, and that
was not more than fourteen feet square. A. log house was the best kind for this sort of
crowding. The logs were bored into and pins driven in, which supported one side of
the bedstead. One leg was all that this primitive style of bedstead required, the places
of the others being taken by two sides of the wall. The trundle-bed then did its best-
service, for it was not possible to find sleeping-room for thirteen persons within a space
fourteen feet square, and this partly occupied by household goods, without the double-
layer system so easily introduced by a trundle-bed. Trunks and boxes of all kinds had
to be perched on wooden pins in the wall. And yet those were days in which the
fabric of life was fraught with as much joy as are the more recent times, with all the
luxuries of a more advanced civilization. How many of the poorest in our midst would
dare to brave the hardships of pioneer life ? But the necessity of such trying circum-
stances is now past. Even the frontier settlements in the Far West are not compelled
to endure the trials and privations that were once common in this country.
' In 1834, James Cowden came from Kentucky. The family located in the
isouthwestern part of the township, and some of the descendants still reside there. Paul
Lebo came later, probably about 1837. He first stopped in Padua, but afterward came
into Old Town. He was killed by the falling of a tree. The accident occurred in the
Old Town Timber, just south of Lewis Case's residence. Mr. Lebo had succeeded in
getting the tree partly down, but it had lodged in another tree. On cutting the second
tree, he started to run, and, just as he was about clearing the length of the tree, one of
the upper branches struck him on the head and crushed his skull. His son was on the
ground at the time, and witnessed the accident.
The Campbell family came in 1837. Mr. Campbell was born in Ireland, but came
to this township fi-om Bourbon County, Ky. He was what they called a rich man, in
those days. He brought with him $1,400 in money. He had four sons. They own
considerable land in the southeastern part of the township, and are prominent citizens
of that locality.
From this time on, the immigrants followed each other in such an irregular way
that it would be impossible to trace them. It was a long time before the northern part
of the township was settled. Although the prairie was as charmingly located as it
could be, the early settler did not venture upon it. There were a few who had made
their homes on the prairie in 1854. In this year, the first of the settlement now in the
northeast corqer of Old Town and adjoining townships was made by John R. Benja-
min, who came from Columbia County, N. Y. He belongs to the Friends, and was
the forerunner of the settlement formed by them.
EDUCATIONAL.
The first school in this township is very vividly remembered. There are no
doubts as to its location, or who was the teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Case were
anxious to see their children enjoying the benefits of a good education. There were
others, too, that longed to get their little ones within the limits of some educational
institution. But the want of a building made it difficult to begin. It was thought
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 631
that the smoke-house, belonging to Mr. Case, might suffice for the present need ; but
on farther consideration, it was concluded to use the spare room in his barn. The barn
was a new one ; and, though the thought is diverting, doubtless furnished more com-
fortable apartments than many of the first buildings erected especially for school pur-
poses. The school was taught in the summer, and, of course, no fire was necessary.
The horses could occupy one side and the school the other — at the horses' heads.
This barn is standing yet ; and the marks on the old barn-door, which answered as a
kind of schedule, long remained to tell the story of regularity or irregularity of the
members of that little school.
The teacher of this little fliock was Callista Stanton. She had eight pupils. As a
compensation for her services, duly and faithfully performed, she received the munif-
icent sum of $1.50 per week. This was the summer of 1838. Miss Stanton was a
very fairly educated lady. She remained in the county and continued teaching for a
long time. What remuneration she afterward received for her labors as " school ma'am,"
we do not know, but it is to be hoped that the directors never concluded to reduce her
salary on account of "hard times." After this, a log schoolhouse was built, and a
male teacher employed. Schools multiplied and houses were built, until now there are
eight districts instead of the one in 1838. How many children there were then, under
twenty-one, we do not know, but not, probably, more than 25 ; now there are 407.
The number, then, between six and twenty-one, was about 15 ; the same heading now
shows 264. The number of pupils then enrolled wan 8 ; at present there are 221.
No school buildings had then been erected, while seven beautiful schoolhouses now
furnish the youth of the township comfortable apartments in which to pursue a course
of instruction, without the necessity of sheltering themselves either in smoke-houses or
barns. The total amount paid their teacher, had she continued teaching for nine
months, would not have reached §50. The actual amount was $15. Now the town-
ship pays annually, for teachers, $1,966.07, with a total expenditure of $2,897.06 per
annum. The estimated value of school property is $3,100. The highest wages paid
for teaching is $45 per month.
CHURCHES.
The first to hold meetings here were the Methodists. There had been preaching
at the residence of Mr. Frank en barger, in Padua. Mrs. Case tells how thankful she
was when they got an ox-team and wagon, so that they could go to meeting. Not
everybody could afford a wagon in which to ride to meeting. It was a luxury that was
to be appreciated. There was soon a sufficient number of members around the resi-
dence of Lewis Case to justify the formation of a class. This class met at the cabin
on Sundays for prayer and class meeting, their regular circuit preaching being held
during the week. The Rev. Mr. Royal was the the first circuit preacher. Circuit
preachers traveled over vast scopes of country and established places of meeting wher-
ever there was an opening. They preached a greater portion of the time, and, conse-
quently had to make many of their appointments on week-days. The members of
this first class were Abner Case, Jane Hendryx, Mr. and Mrs. Cusey, Eliza and Paul
Lebo, Mrs- Hartley and Rachel Case. A number of the young men who came to
prayer and class meeting here, finally became ministers. William Orange held a pro-
tracted meeting in the cabin. It was continued a long time and resulted in the addi-
tion of many new members to the little class of eight. The cabin, the residence of
632 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Mr. Lewis Case, continued to be the place of meeting for thirteen years. The Presid •
ing Elder on this district when the meeting was first organized, was John Sinclair.
Quarterly Meeting was held at one time in the same barn in which was taught the first
school. Peter Cartwright, the renowned pioneer of Methodism, used to preach at Old
Town Timber, but he never preached at Mr. Case's cabin. There are quite a number
of Methodists in the southern part of Old Town, but their place of meeting is in
Downs. They have a church and a large and flourishing society there.
The Methodists built a church at what is known as Benjaminville — a clump of
houses near the northeastern corner of the township. This was built in 1859. It is a
neat little building, 20x32 feet. The society flourished and did well in Benjaminville,
but when the L. B. & M. K. R. came through only a mile and a half south, and the
little town of Holder was laid out, they thought it would be better to move the church
to Holder. Accordingly, in 1873, it was taken down to the station. But the church
was sold, in 1877, to the United Brethren, who still own it. The Methodists then
built a church in Padua Township, east of Benjaminville, where they now hold serv-
ices. This society of United Brethren was organized recently. Its pastor is Rev.
F. R. Mitchell.
The Protestant Methodists first held their meetings in the schoolhouse near Scam-
mon Rodman's. They had a great revival there. A society was built up, and as a
result a church was built. It is called Pleasant Grove Chapel, and is located on the
northeast corner of Section 27. It is 28x38 feet, and was built about sixteen years
ago. Among the prominent early members, may be mentioned Messrs. Rodman,
Fogle and John Brown. There is a very fair society at present, with the Rev. T. J.
Gregory as Pastor.
The first and only Christian society in the township was begun about twelve
years ago, in a schoolhouse west of Benjaminville. They began with about twenty
members. Robert Moore and Harrison Horine were Elders. They organized the
Cnurch and were the only preachers for a time. In 1869, they built a church in Ben-
jaminville. The cost of construction was nearly $2,000 ; size 30x42 feet. The com-
ing of the railroad had the same efi"ect upon the Christians that it had upon the Method-
ists. They, too, moved their church to Holder. The society is not as strong now as
it has been. Some of its members have died and others moved away. The Rev.
Robert Moore is still Pastor, although they have had others.
In the northeastern part of Old Town and adjoining townships, there is one of the
strongest settlements of the Friends that is to be found anywhere in the State. John
R. Benjamin may be regarded the father of the society. In 1854, he came from
Columbia County, N. Y. There were very few settlements, at that time, on the
prairie. There was an opportunity for making a selection. He bought the south half
of Section 1 and the northeast ((uarterof Section 12, adjoining. In the spring of 1856,
two other families came — Joseph Marot and Timothy Benjamin, a brother to John R.
Benjamin. Marot moved to Padua, but Joseph Benjamin occupied the northwest
quarter of Section 1. Abner Moore, their first minister, came in the spring of 1858.
He was a New Yorker, too, and came from near Rochester. After his arrival, they had
regular Sabbath services. For this purpose, they used the upper story of a building
erected by Mr. John R. Benjamin, and used as a shop below, but with a fair room
above. In this hall, they held their meetings for a year and a half They built their
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 633
first church in 1859. It is three-fourths of a mile south of the northern line of the
township. This became too small, and was moved off the church lot, and is now used
for public meetings of all kinds. It is a frame house, 24 by 32 feet. The second
church was built in 1874. This, too, is a frame church, 32 by 42 feet, and cost
$1,8U0. From the first, the society has continued to grow, and has increased to about
twenty-five families. At one time, Sidney Averill taught a Friends' school in the hall
over the wagon-shop. He was a preacher, and exercised himself in both teaching and
preaching. Before the building of a church here, the members used to go to Putnam
County, to attend Quarterly Meetings. Since 1875, the Quarterly Meeting has been
held here twice a year. They hold one in Indiana, and one in Putnam County, this
State. These are the only Quarterly Meetings held anywhere in the States of Illinois
or Indiana, and, as a result, these meetings are attended from long distances.
At the southeast corner of Section 1, and just across the line, in Padua Township,
several dwelling-houses were built. Mr. Benjamin built a wagon-shop, and a store and
blacksmith-shop were afterward set up. Then came the three churches, so that the
place was called a town. No organization was ever effected, but it is known as Benja-
minville. There is now a store and blacksmith-shop, with several dwelUngs. There is
not much demand for a village. Holder is only one and a half miles south. Both are
quite small, most all trading being done in Bloomington.
WAR RECORD AND POLITICS.
There were very few inhabitants here during the Black Hawk war. We
found no soldiers of the Mexican war. The late war called out the full strength of the
township. There were no drafts. Of those who lost their lives from service in the
army, we learned the names of none but Henry Mannen and Samuel Fogle. There
probably were others, but they rest in their unknown graves, with no one to herald
their deeds abroad or " draw their frailties from their dread abode."
Since the organization of the Republican party. Old Town has been Republican.
This township alone gave Lincoln 100 majority. Since that time, the Republicans have
not held their own, or what would be, perhaps, a different thing, the opposition has
developed more strength. But on all national or State questions, where party contest is
direct, the Republicans carry by a greater or less majority. Party spirit does not gen-
erally run very high. All are amicable and disposed " to bear the evils that they have,"
etc. In township elections, only one ticket is put in the field. This is composed of
Democrats and Republicans, little attention being paid to parties so long as the candi-
dates are able and willing to discharge the duties of their respective oflSces according to
the best of their ability, and for the good of their constituents.
INCIDENTS.
The first child born in Old Town was Disa Maxwell, and the next was Chloe
Bishop. The former was born in 1831. The first marriage was solemnized in 1835.
The parties made happy were Alice Hendryx and William Brewer. The husband after-
ward died, and the widow married William Hartly. She now lives in Bloomington.
The first death is supposed to have been that of a little child about a year old. This
was in 1834. Mr. Case split out slabs from a basswood-tree and made a coffin. He
planed it, and, after considerable labor, made it appear quite pretty, but it was white.
634 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
To blacken it, the ladies took straw and burned it, and made a paint of the ashes. They
were surprisingly successful, and had the coflSn nicely colored.
The Old Town settlers suffered frequently from prairie-fires. No one, who has
never witnessed a fire on the prairies, can form any just conception of it. There is
nothing that seems more like the indignant breath of the Almighty, or reminds one
more forcibly of that passage of Scripture, " The elements shall melt with fervent
heat," than does the onward rush of a prairie-fire as it gathers strength from a sweeping
gale. It bounds on with a speed equal to that of the swiftest horse, and often overtakes
the traveler on the road. We were not informed of any losses of property from these
tornadoes of flame, but we learned that Abner Case, in fighting the fire in order to
extinguish it, lost one eye.
Game was plenty, and there were a number of hunters along Old Town Timber.
The hunters used to make the ruins of Mr. Evans' cabin, that he left on the creek, after
the hurricane of 1827, a place of rendezvous. Wolves were numerous on the prairie,
with turkeys and bees in the woods.
Some of the customs in the domestic economy were unique, and suggest the adapt-
ability of the pioneers. In salting meat, they used troughs made from logs. For a
wash-tub, the ladies frequently used one-half of a salt-barrel. The barrel was sawn
through the middle, and thus furnished two to the barrel. The wheel and the loom
were the necessary furniture of every dwelling, and to make them often required a vast
amount of work. Trees had to be cut down and split into timbers of the proper dimen-
sions, and then hewed and planed and mortised until things would fit all round. Mrs.
Lewis Case reports her first wash-board as follows : A stick of wood of moderate size,
split in the middle, then smoothed off a little with a plane, then sawed across to a
short depth, and tolerably close together ; after this, alternate spaces between the
saw-cuts, chiseled out with a narrow chisel. This leaves a board on which a pioneer
woman could wash and get her clothes clean, by a rough usage of the hands and careful
management of the clothes.
A sad afiair occurred only a few years ago, which gives another text from which to
preach a temperance sermon. Frederic Hendryx had had some trouble in his family ;
he went to Bloomington, became intoxicated and started home ; he got hold of a
revolver and declared that he would shoot his wife. When he reached home in this
condition, his wife became frightened and started to run ; she had only reached the
gate when she was shot by her husband. All the large children were frightened off the
place ; but when the people came to the house next morning, they found Mrs. Hen-
dryx lying dead at the gate with her little child in her arms. The child was alive and
had been asleep. Farther search revealed the fact that, after killing his wife, Hendryx
had gone to the straw-stack and there shot himself, so that the morning found them
both dead.
RAILROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
The La Fayette, Bloomington & Mississippi Railway was completed through this
section in 187L The cars began running in the fall of the same year. The Indianap-
olis, Bloomington & Western was finished a short time before. The former extends
through the township on the half-section line, two and one-half miles from the north
side ; the latter crosses the southwestern corner. These roads both received aid in the
way of bonds. Bloomington subscribed heavily ; but Old Town owes them nothing.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 635
While it is questionable whether they have been of any material benefit to Bloomington,
there is no doubt about the advantage which the country derives from them. They
take the farmers' grain and stock, right at home, almost. They increase the value of
land, since any one who wishes to farm can have ready means of transport for his pro-
ducts ; and any one desiring a country residence, can have it with about all the conven-
iences of a suburban villa, and at a much smaller cost. These influences cause a
thorough development of all the resources of the country. In contrast with the present
facilities for shipping grain, Mr. Case mentions the fact that he has hauled wheat all the
way to Chicago and sold it at 38 cents per bushel.
There are forty-one miles of authorized roads in the township, excluding twelve
miles on the outside lines, kept in repair by other townships ; these are generally kejjt
in good condition. The prairie is sufficiently rolling to permit the drainage of all roads
that need it. There is one iron bridge ; it spans the Kickapoo. The old State road
from the Big Grove to Peoria, crosses the township a short distance ; it runs along
the north line of the township a short distance ; when near the southeast corner of Sec-
tion 33, it turns obliquely north and west, through Sections 29, 30 and 32. There is
another old road that follows no lines on its course ; this is the road to Cheney's Grove
from Bloomington. With the exception of these two roads, all follow section lines, most
of which are regularly laid out as public thoroughfares.
ORGANIZATION OP THE TOWNSHIP.
With the other townships of McLean County, Old Town began her separate organized
existence in 1858. It will be seen that some of the men who were elected at the first town-
ship election — April 6, 1858 — are now oflScers of the township. The return made to
the County Clerk in 1858 was as follows: Scammon Rodman, Supervisor ; Lindiey
Hefling, Town Clerk; Samuel Noggle, Assessor; Frederic R. Cowden, Collector; John
B. Chores, Overseer of the Poor ; Chalkley Bell, Samuel Sunderland and Elihu Rogan,
Commissioners of Highways ; John Rowley and James A. Savidge, Justices of the
Peace ; Gilbert Tompkins and Samuel Mitchell, Constables. The present officers are :
James Rayburn, Supervisor ; J. M. Dooley, J. J. Cowden and J. Fleming, Commission-
ers of Highways; Jeremiah Whitcomb and J. D. Rowley, Justices of the Peace; Gil-
bert Tompkins, Constable ; Scammon Rodman, Dennis McBarnes and Archibald Camp-
bell, Town Trustees; J. M. Dooley, Town Treasurer; 0. G. Dooley, Assessor; S. C.
Fuller, Collector.
HOLDER
is a station on the La Fayette, Bloomington & Mississippi Railroad, on the east line of
the township. It is on the prairie just north of the small stream that is the principal
source of Kickapoo Creek. Holder was surveyed in October, 1871, by W. P. Ander-
son, County Surveyor. Charles W. Holder was the owner of the village, and had it
surveyed. It comprised, at first, forty acres — twenty acres in Old Town and twenty in
Padua. The portion in Padua was located in Section 18 — ten acres in the northwest
corner of the southwest quarter, and ten acres in the southwest corner of the northwest
quarter ; but this has been bought back and belongs to the adjoining farms. So, also,
has the ten acres on the south, in Old Town. Ten acres is all that is left. This is the
southeast corner of the northeast quarter of Section 13. F. I. Bradley has been the
station agent from the first. There was never a post office in the township until this
636 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
oae was established here. Fleming Brothers keep a general country store. They also
buy and ship grain. William P. Anderson is also a grain-dealer. More corn is shipped
than anything else. There is a considerable shipment of hogs and cattle to Chicago by
way of the Illinois Central. G. A. Rowley has blacksmith-shop. There are two
churches. The history of these, may be found under the heading " Churches," in the
general history of the township. There are but few dwellings in Holder, but it does
an amount of business more than proportioned to its size.
GILLUM
is a flag-station on the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railway, in the southwestern
corner of the township. It is on the section line between Sections 31 and 32, near
the center from north to south.
LAWNDALE TOWNSHIP.
Township 25 north. Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian. Lawndale is
a full Congressional township, but, owing to the fact that its northern tier of sections lay
along the " correction line," they are, on an average, a half mile longer from north to
south than the standard section, and it makes the township six by six and one-half
miles. The name given it was by " natural selection," and was suggested from the
topographical appearance when in a state of nature. An elevation which but for its
continuous stretch would properly be called a mound, extends from the northwest cor-
ner of the township through it to the east center. From this lidge, the slope toward
the northeast ends in almost a dead level, which stretches away for miles to Indian
Grove in Livingston County. Toward the southwest the decline is more gentle and
more undulating. Free from any break or unpleasant appearance, the early settler
must have looked with real pleasure upon the slope stretching away to the Mackinaw
Timber, to the extreme southwestern corner of the town, a scene not easily forgotten by
one who viewed this beautiful nature's lawn, now thickly studded with houses, orchards,
hedges and all the insignia of healthy cultivation, before a furrow was struck or any-
thing to disturb the eye nearer than the curling smoke of three or four cabins along the
stream in the distance. That such beautiful dales should lie open to settlement fur
twenty years after being brought into market, must ever remain to the younger ones
who read these pages, in a great measure a mystery. Standing on this elevation, one
cannot fail to partially realize the fear that hung over poor Maj. Darnall's mind on
that desperate winter's trip from the Mackinaw to Indian Grove. With but slight help
from a tropical imagination, one can almost see hope, fear and dread despair by turn
taking possession of him, as his faithful horse flounders through the deep incrusted
snow on that never-to-be-forgotten ten-miles trip. No military leader ever led an
army on doubtful engagement more fully impressed with the magnitude of the respon-
sibility of his every move than was Maj. Darnall on that lonely, trying ride to his snow-
bound little family. For the first five miles, his way led gradually up the rise of land,
the Indian Grove not being in sight until he had completed the first half Hardly
knowing whether he would ever see the trees which surrounded his home, he pressed
on in the terrible snow until this height was gained, after which the way was more easy
by the natural declivity of the land, but the difficulty largely increased by the fatigue
'"}• -^.vi. t> riuiM^-l-"
CcOl^C
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 639
of his faithful horse. It is not to be wondered at that his relatives on the Mackinaw
were so uneasy as to try soon after to make an unsuccessful trip of discovery. The
endeavor was abandoned, after making only a portion of the distance, from sheer inabil-
ity to go on.
The Henline Creek flows from near the center southwesterly to the Mackinaw,
which only runs across the southwestern corner of the township. Lawndale was all
prairie, except portions of Sections 31, 32 and 33. The name was suggested by Hon.
John Cassedy when the township was organized, and readily accepted. The timber
along the stream is of the varieties usually found in this portion of the State — oaks,
black-walnut and hickory predominating. Along this the early settlers lived without
for ten years being troubled by tax-gatherers, neighbors, or other attendants to civiliza-
tion. They purchased timber-land, but enjoyed the free use of all the prairie-land they
wanted, not thinking it worth buying. When the first prairie-lands were bought for $1.25
per acre, the timber-lands were held at, and in fact, some actually sold for from $35 to
$60 per acre. With no coal to burn, no Osage orange for fencing, and herds of cattle
ranging at will over the country, before the days of cattle ordinances, it was hardly
thought safe to commence a farm without a piece of timber-land to furnish fencing and
fuel. The first settlement made in the township was by the Henline family, some of
whom, with their numerous descendants, still reside on the lands that they first brought
into cultivation.
Three brothers of the name, who were of German descent, John, George and
William, had grown up in Boone County, Ky., and in the fall of 1828, started from
that place for this State. It was at a time when Illinois was attracting a considerable
immigration, thousands of families leaving the State to better their condition where
they could find cheap land and plenty of it for their usually numerous families. Many
of them had become dissatisfied with the effects of slavery, and, with their moderate
means, felt that they preferred homes in a free State.
The Henlines came as far as the western boundary of McLean County and
remained a few weeks, when John went farther and made a home on the southeast
quarter of Section 30 of the present town of Lawndale, about two miles from the
stream, on Henline Creek, which took its name from him. He was crippled while on
his way from Kentucky, and never recovered ; but this did not prevent an active fron-
tier life. Here he lived, and his family grew up around him, and died in 1869. His
wife was a sister of Major Darnall, who was the first settler in Livingston County, at
Indian Grove, and who, at this writing, still lives there. His sons, David, William B.
and Martin, young boys at the time of their journey hither, became the large landed
proprietors of this and adjoining townships, and for many years were known as the
leading live-stock men of this part of the county.
In later years, reverses came to them as to thousands of others, who have seen the
accumulations of industrious lives swept away by adverse circumstances. William, a
brother of the pioneer, made a home on Section 32, nearer to the Mackinaw ; and
George, another brother, near by. These three brothers were the only residents of the
present Lawndale at the time of the " deep snow " and of the " Black Hawk war "—
two of the principal early events of our history.
They will never tire of telling, nor will the reader of reading, of the events of the
time. Never in the history of the State was such a snow known as fell early in the
640 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
winter of 1830-31. The snow fell without wind, and is said to have been fully four
feet deep, followed soon by a rain, which was in turn followed by a severe freeze, keep-
ing the snow from drifting and making it almost impassable. Game of all kinds suf-
fered death by starvation, and what seemed at first a real help to the settlers, in the ease
with which they captured game and meat, became a loss before spring, in the destruc-
tion of that which they largely depended on.
During the time of the snow, the Henlines found it necessary to feed some of the
wild hogs, to " keep them along," and picking corn was accomplished industriously by
poking the snow away from the stalk and fishing out the ear, about as we hunt young
potatoes when we do not wish to pull up the vines. It was not very rapid picking, but the
boys did not have to go to school, and the number of head of stock to feed was not many.
Up to the time of the Black Hawk war, there were Indians in this vicinity, and
so far from being considered dangerous company, were rather encouraged in their visits.
The Henlines returned on a visit to Kentucky in the fall of 1830, to procure farm
implements, stock, etc. Mrs. H., having an eye to future barrels of apple-butter, pulled
up a few yearling apple-sprouts, which she carefully wrapped up in cloths, " heeling them
in " with earth, and brought them to the Mackinaw. What Phoenix has been doing for the
prairies, she did for the early settlement ; and there never was a prouder fruit-grower in
all McLean County than was Mrs. Henline when she first picked apples from the
orchard which her forethought had given, and which her children and children's chil-
dren still gather from.
FORT HENLINE.
One of the matters about which memory lingers and much has been said was the
'' fort " which was built at Henline during the Black Hawk war. So far as the writer
knows, no written or printed description of this frontier work exists, and it was his
good fortune to get from the lips of one who was active in military operations of this
" department," Mr. George Spawr, who still lives with his son in Lawndale, a descrip-
tion of the formidable fortification. Capt. Merritt L. Covel, of Bloomington, was chief
in command, and the men of this frontier followed his orders without a murmur. The
fort was at John Henlines house, on Henline Creek, about two miles from its mouth
and about one hundred and ten rods from the present Evergreen M. E. Church. Log&
were cut about the length of a rail-cut and split in two. A trench was dug, about
three feet deep, and these split logs were firmly set in the ground, perpendicularly, so as
to form a perfect protection against anything in Indian warfare. The inclosure
thus made was about four rods by six, giving plenty of room for all to collect if necessary.
A similar one was built at Rook's Creek, for the protection of that neighborhood.
Mr. Spawr was one of the mounted guard who ranged the country from the Mackinaw
to the Vermilion. About the time of change of guard, Capt. Covel instructed two of
the soldiers to give a false alarm, to see whether the militia would come to time in good
order, and really for fun, possibly. Spawr gave the alarm, and such another " breaking
for the timber " never was known in these parts.
The only Indians in the neighborhood were the Kickapoos, at Oliver's Grove, who,
with reduced numbers and long abstinence from warlike adventure, were really more afraid
of the whites than the whites were of Indians. They seemed to reason thus : Living
here alone, without arms, and almost surrounded by white settlements, within a day's
march of civilization, they could be made an easy prey to any hostile demonstration the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 641
whites might, from revenge or from sheer desire for blood-letting, engage in. The
whites, with a century's experience before them, could hardly be expected to be free from
anxiety. They could not well anticipate this disposition on the part of the Kickapoos ;
hence the mutual fear.
Happily, the " vigorous prosecution " of the war in the northern part of the State
soon relieved the settlers on the Mackinaw from all fear, and, in a few weeks, they were
permitted to return to their crops without having seen any actual war. The defeat of
Black Hawk removed the last fear of Indian war from this State, and sent in a tide of
immigration which lasted till the great commercial crash of 1837.
Martin Batterton came here from Madison County, Ky., where so many of the
settlers of McLean came from, in 1833, coming on horseback. He was a cousin of
the Henlines, and after looking at the country concluded to make it his home. He
purchased the claim of Nicholas Darnall and returned to Kentucky for some tools, with
which he went to work. He was skilled in the use of tools and became the handy
mechanic of the settlement.
In .1835, the land " came into market," as the settlers say — that is, the United
States was slow in making surveys, and settlements ran far ahead of land offices — but
on that year the surveys had been made and land offices opened, so that land could be
entered and title secured. In many places, there was a good deal of strife in securing
land, but here no one attempted to jump another's claim, and, consequently, nobody
failed to get the land he lived on, if he wished to. The settlers in Lawndale secured
title to their land and purchased such as they wished at the minimum price.
Martin Batterton entered the northwest quarter of Section 32, and built a house
upon it, in which he now resides. He married the following year, and an interesting
family of children have grown up around him. His only son, who served faithfully in
the war for the Union, and was afterward editor of the Vicksburg Herald, was acci-
dentally killed in 1865. His daughters are married, the one to T. B. Kilgore, one of
the most prosperous farmers in Lawndale ; the other to A. J. Moon, a successful mer-
chant in Lexington.
John Smith came to the Mackinaw in 1834. He took up land and, later, entered
in Section 30, southeast quarter, where his son, Shelton, still resides, who is well-known
as an enterprising and public-spirited man. Shelton well recollects the first school which
was taught in this neck of timber, as he was about eleven years old and was one of the
pupils. The teacher was an Irishman, well-educated, but retaining plenty of the " rich
Irish brogue." He taught in what is now known as the Chinese plan. Pupils studied
aloud, and teacher, hickory in hand, marched around, shouting his orders like a militia
captain on parade day, making himself heard by the superior strength of his voice.
He only taught till Christmas and left, it is supposed, in consequence of a determina-
tion on the part of the school to " bar him out," according to the custom of the times.
Hunting was the great sport in those early days. Deer and other game were so
plenty that it made matters very interesting.
The " sudden change," so often spoken of by the old residents, was, in many
respects, a strange phenomenon. Late in December, 1836, the weather had been warm,
and the ground was covered with wet, the mud being thin from recent rain and thaw-
ing. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, a western wind sprung up, and was so cold that
the thin mud and slush commenced to freeze at once. Children who were returning
642 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
from school were frosted, and the mud froze to their shoes, so that it was almost impos-
sible to walk. The small streams were so frozen over, in about twelve minutes' time, that
it was almost impossible to cross. Small animals, unused to such matters, were frozen
in the mud ; many were picked up and carried in to save their lives, after they were
unable to extricate themselves. Without any weather bureau, and without the aid of
telegraphic reports from all along the line, it was difficult to fix the storm -center, area
and origin of this peculiarly severe streak of weather ; but from such information as
could be learned, it seems to have come from the regions of the usual sudden changes
— the history and direction of which are now very accurately understood — to have trav-
eled in an east by southeasterly direction, at the rate of from twenty to thirty-five miles
per hour, and that its center was nearly that of the center of the State.
Thomas Smith soon after this took up land on Section 29. William Henline was
the first to build a brick house in town, though this happened several years after the
date of which the present is a record. From this (1837) until the railroad age (1851),
very little can be said of this settlement, more than of hundreds of others all over the
West. The general crash which followed the speculative era of 1835 and 183G, the
political doctoring immediately following, a bankrupt State, saddled with a debt which
seemed to be irredeemable, all tended to prevent immigration. Certain it is that very
little change took place in the real-estate market of Lawndale. The score or two of
citizens who inhabited the future town were not of a speculative turn. They held the
timber-line close, occupied the prairies back of it freely, raised a few cattle that there
was a market for, raised a little pork for sale, and found a market for it at Bloomington,
Pekin or Chicago. They did not want to sell their timber-land, and did not want to
buy the prairie ; did not encourage immigration; indeed, they now veiy unanimously
believe that their time would have been a happier one, with fewer regrets and less
trouble, had the ante-railroad era continued. They became thoroughly conservative in
regard to the influx of new neighbors, from the little experience they had soon after the
time that the land upon which they lived came into market — a crowd of hungry specu-
lators, with all kinds of wild-cat bank bills appeared, ready to buy them out, or, if possi-
ble, to find where there was an available tract of timber-land to be purchased of the
Government. They would " prospect " for " corners " by the day, and, with compass in
hand, run lines all over to find what the settlers refused to tell them. There was no end
to the devices of these " locusts " to find out where certain lands could be found. It
was very natural that the residents should be unwilling to show them any accommoda-
tion.
THE RAILROAD AGE.
Though Lawndale never had a railroad, and some of her citizens undoubtedly think
them the sum of villainies, their present prosperity is, beyond question, owing to the
building of these great highways. Hon. John Cassedy, with whose name the growth
and development of the township has been so identified in its every interest, came here
from New York City in the summer of 1851, determined to be a fanner. A sketch of
his life, and of his experience, is well worthy of preserving, not more as a memento to
a faithful public officer, than as a preserving of certain incidents and customs that never
will be repeated in the time to come, however much history may '' repeat itself"
John Cassedy, at the age of eighteen, had received a common-school education ;
had helped his father to clear a timber fiirm in the wilds of Michigan ; was tall, rather
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 643
slender, not remarkably robust, physically, but mentally of a cast which, as was said of
the discoverer of America, would have constructed a new world if he had failed in dis-
covering one. He returned to New York City, the place of his birth, to accept a clerk-
ship which had been offered him, devoting his earnings to assisting his father in the
maintenance of the family until his majority. At the age of twenty-three, he had saved
from his earnings about $250, $160 of which he paid at the broker's office of Jacob
Little & Co., then famous in Wall street, for a 160-acre land warrant; first stipulating
that, in case he did not locate it, they would buy it back for $150. He took a railroad
ticket to New Buffalo, a point on Lake Michigan, once quite important, but now for-
gotten, except by those who, coming to Chicago about that time, found that the terminus
of the Michigan Central Railroad ; putting the remainder of his fortune in gold, with
his land warrant, which he dreamed was his farm, into a belt around his body, he struck
out afoot to find a farm. He knew that the Illinois Central Railroad was soon to be
built, and that it was to pass through Bloomington ; and, after much study and some
considerable doubt about locality, decided to get as near that line of road as possible.
The land, for fifteen miles each side of that line of proposed road, had been withdrawn
from market when he got to Danville. The fifteen-mile exemption covered the town-
ship of Lexington. He procured from the land office at Danville, a plat of Town 25, Range
5, which adjoined the railroad land, and also a plat of Town 26, Range 6 (Indian Grove),
intending to locate his land warrant somewhere on the former, and, with $50 of his
money, get a forty-acre piece of timber in the latter, for he found no timber-land still in
the hands of the Government in the former.
Arriving here, he made the acquaintance of Shelton Smith, with whose aid he soon
selected the quarter-section he wanted on Section 18, where he still resides ; but to get
his timber land was a more difficult matter. He knew that there were two forty-acre
pieces in the Indian Grove timber still subject to entry. One of these he must have or
he could not take the prairie farm, for a prairie farm with no timber land to look to for fuel
and fencing was, at that day, practically valueless. Striking out across the country for the
Grove, he could not make out the corners so as to find out the particular forties which he
wanted to inspect. If he let the residents of the Grove know what land he wanted to
buy, there was nothing to prevent their getting ro Danville ahead of him and entering
it, as he was on foot. They all had land to sell at $40 per acre, but, unfortunately, he
could not buy more than one acre at that price, and must depend on his mother wit to
find the cheaper land. Another trouble he met was that, learning he was from New
York, and still wearing the soiled " Broadway suit," they recalled the sorrowful experi-
ence with some Yankee peddler who had recently depleted the cash of the Grove neigh •
borhood by selling some new-fangled Yankee invention, which worked very well in
model, but which utterly failed to realize the fortune which the imaginative speculator
had portrayed. They did not want any Yankees in there, and all with one accord began
to make it difficult for him. By strategy, he got sight of his forty, and went to Dan-
ville and entered both tracts. At that time, standing on the land of Section 18, he
could see the roofs of Pleasant Hill, a few houses along the Mackinaw, and, from the
high land north of his house, could see the roof of Ben Walton's house, in Belle
Prairie, just then being built. From his farm east to the Indiana line, over the Grand
Prairie, there was not probably a house or an inclosure. He returned to New York and
continued in the employ of the company that he had clerked for, who sent him to North
644 HISTORY OF INIoLEAN COUNTY.
Carolina to superintend a mine, where his strong democratic notions in regard to the
right of one man to own and sell another received a decided weakening. In 1855, he
returned to Lawndale to live, broke up his land, built a house and went to farming.
He raised three crops before there was any chance to sell his corn. In 1860, it became
necessary to sell some. He hired a man to shell, which cost him, with the hands he
had to employ and board, 3 cents per bushel. Shelled 1,200 bushels, hauled it to Lex-
ington, hired three cars and sent it to Chicago, and waited for returns. They came, and
it did not take much ciphering to make ou"^ that his corn in crib just netted him 7 cents
a bushel. Such was farming, even after railroads were built. Mr. Cassedy is a man of
large information, positive convictions, and, everywhere and under all circumstances, true
to those convictions. He was the first Supervisor elected from the township. Ten
times elected to that important ofiice; five times served as Chairman of the Board.
Has continually served his town in other official positions. Has served the county with
great credit in the Legislature during the most important General Assembly, when the
Revision of 1874 was adopted, and has never been a failure anywhere. Politically, he
was a Democrat originally, but joined the Republican party early in its history, and has
stood firmly by that party since. But it is, perhaps, less as a partisan than as a clear-headed,
progressive and earnest friend of right and home interests that he holds the reputation
which he does. Not always over-nice in the terms which he uses, he sometimes aroused
animosities, particularly when in the Legislature, which, fortunately, led to nothing more
serious than a challenge he once received after a wordy crossfire in which it would seem
that he had said something to arouse the ire of a city member. The message was sent
by a page of the House, and was probably intended to frighten the country member.
Cassedy read it, coolly picked up his pen and wrote this reply: "Sir — Yours
received and accepted. Place of meeting, on the top of the State House dome ; time,
12 o'clock to-night ; weapons, pistols for two, coffee for one. P. S. You won't need
any coffee. Resp'y, J. C," and returned it by the same page.
During the years from 1854 to 1857 inclusive, Lawndale was pretty generally
settled up with persons who owned the land they settled on. Among others, the follow-
ing appeared here during that time: J. W. L. Matheny, settled on Section 5 ; he was'
the first blacksmith in this part of the country, and his house was the home of the
Methodist ministers who served their generation on this prairie. He took a deep
interest in the Sabbath school and indeed in every good work. Meek and retiring, he
never sought public notice, but earnestly followed where conviction led, even to the
battle-field.
George W. Hanks built on and improved the southwest of Section 6, after which, he
moved to Yates Township, and has recently died. He was a man of enlarged views,
public spirited, and in all respects a good citizen.
Joel Smith came on to the southeast of Section 5, from Ohio, and still resides there, a
trusty, good citizen. John F. Smith on the southwest of Section 4.
James T. Ayers, a public-spirited, pious man, improved a farm and resided here
until he enlisted in the army. He was a local Methodist preacher, was full of good
works, and his influence all for the right. His son lives in Allin Township. John
Burdett came here from Kentucky and bought land in Sections 9 and 1 6. In company with
Dr. J. W. Yoemans, then a practicing physician at Pleasant Hill, he bought three
acres of land near the Henline stream, half a mile below the old fort, and eighty rods
HISTORY OF McLEAN COJNTY. 645
west of the Evergreen Church, upon which they erected a steam grist-mill, the first and
only one in the township, about the year 1853. They put in one run of stone and later,
bolts, and for a time did very good work. Dr. Yoemans afterward moved to Pontiac,
where, in 1866, he was appointed Postmaster, and soon disappeared in consequence of
being charged with complicity in the murder of Mr. Yoe.
S. Withers, living now on the Shelton Smith farm, bought and improved on the
northeast quarter of Section 9. H. H. Hughs moved here from Kentucky onto the
southwest quarter of Section 1 0, and died here. His wife was burned to death while burn-
ing off some rubbish. S. L. Greenwood took up and improved the southeast quarter of Sec-
tion 10. J. R. Moon improved a farm on Section 16, where he died. James B. Williams
came from Ohio to, and settled on the southeast quarter of Section 8. He was a local
preacher and lives now near Pleasant Hill. James Wilson, from Ohio, settled on Sec-
tion 25. John Hawthorne, an Irishman, took up and improved a farm on the south-
west quarter of Section 28. Joseph Hamilton, from Ohio, a man of many good qualities,
took up and improved a farm on Section 3, and T. A. Hopkins on Section 4.
The township has always been and is yet a large corn-producing one. There have
been occasional trials of some other cropping. Very early, wheat was a great crop, and
occasionally a crop of barley and of flax has been raised. Oats has proved a good crop,
and the little wheat which has been sown late years has done well. For a number of
years, cattle raising and feeding was the great business. During the war, it was very
profitable, but latterly many have suffered losses and the feeding of cattle is nearly dis-
•continued. The corn is now sold off or fed to hogs, which branch of farming has, one
year with another, proved most profitable.
David and William B. Henline have for many years been the largest owners of
real estate and the largest farmers in the township. They early bought large tracts of
land and successfully managed it for many years.
L. R. Wiley, one of the early settlers on the Mackinaw, whose house stands on the
township line in such a position that he sleeps in Martin and washes and eats his meals
in Lawndale, owns and works 440 acres in Sections 27 and 33. He is a good farmer,
and, with the aid of his boys, now grown up around him, works it well.
Hon. John Cassedy owns and works 600 acres in Sections 4, 7 and 18. He
formerly fed cattle largely, but now only feeds about two car-loads (thirty-two head) per
winter. He has a good, plain house and very comfortable feed yards, sheds, etc. He
keeps his business well in hand and is successful.
George Davis, a wagon-maker, living in Lexington, has a good farm of 320 acres
in Section 14, and James Wilson a like farm in Section 25. These farms are both in
the hands of good tenants.
S. Weeks has a fine farm on Sections 13 and 24, with fine buildings, neat and
tasty grounds, hedges well trimmed, everything showing thrift, care and close attention
to business. He has been a successful cattle-feeder, and still continues in that line. T. B.
Kilgore has a good farm of 320 acres in Section 26, and is esteemed by his neighbors one
of the best farmers in Lawndale. He is a man of great energy and thorough attention
to his business, and fairly successful. J. T. Starkey, John White and M. W. McNab,
while perhaps making less pretensions to large business, are neat and successful farmers.
646 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
CHURCHES.
In the earlier days, like many others, the community was not blessed with stated
religious teaching from the pulpit, and there was not a disposition to seek spiritual
guidance. It is told of one circuit-rider who thought he had a call in this " neck of
woods," that when he rode into the neighborhood, the boys mistook him for one seeking
an opportunity to trade horses, and seized him by the bridle, and, nolens volens, pressed
him to the stable to trade horses. His protests against trading were only esteemed a
well-assumed shyness to appear too anxious to trade. In the year 1851, a small build-
ing was put up at the timber near where the residence of Benjamin Taylor now stands.
It was a small house, but comfortable. There was no regular preaching, but the Meth-
odists and United Brethren occupied it occasionally. When there was to be preaching,,
the minister would advertise it by marking on the building with a coal at what time he
might be expected. As he seldom failed to meet an engagement, he had a full turn-
out from miles around. Revs. Messrs, Calhoun, Craig, Frank Smith, A. Winset and
others, preached in the little chapel at different times. In 1856, politics ran high and
party spirit was not exactly toned down hereabouts. Some of the Methodist preachers
were more than suspected of being " Abolitionists " in very thin disguise. "Abolitionism "
did not rage in this country. "Bleeding Kansas" and "Topeka Constitution" were
not terms of endearment. When one of the preachers preached and prayed in favor of
bringing their religion to the polls, and such other generalities, some of the hearers
thought it was political preaching, and went out and made a battering-ram out of a
good-sized sappling and bombarded the house of worship in real earnest. The preacher
escaped without much injury ; but not so well the bombarders, for the blood of the martyrs
is the seed of the church, and Lawndale soon after became in political sympathy with that
kind of preaching.
The Methodist Church now standing on Section 5 (at the southeast corner) was
built in 1865. Service had been held for some years by the itinerant preachers of
that denomination, and, in 1860, an organization was formed in that part of the town-
ship, services being held in the schoolhouses until the church was built. The building
is 24x36, plain, and cost about $2,000. J. W. L. Matheny and H. H. Scott were the
leading spirits in the enterprise. It belongs to the Pleasant Hill Circuit. Rev. Messrs.
Carmack, Day, Hart, Frank Smith, William Underwood, Stevens, Jones and Rogers,
have officiated successively.
The " Evergreen " M. E. Church, a neat and commodious building, 24x40, about
eighty rods east of the center of Section 30, was built in 1868, at a cost of about
82,700. The men to whom, among many others, only in less degree, the building of
this edifice is due, were Shelton Smith, David Hitch, J. T. Starkey and John Cassedy.
This belongs to the same circuit and the same ministers have preached there.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION
was effected in 1858. The first officers elected were: John Cassedy, Supervisor; T. S.
Smith and J. T. Ayres, Justices of the Peace; John Burdett, Clerk; H. H. Hays, J.
R. Moon and Alfred Heath, Commissioners of Highways ; J. H. Burdett, Assessor,
and J. R. Moon, Collector. The town was divided into four road-districts. John
Cassedy was Supervisor for ten years and Shelton Smith, J. W. Vawter, T. B. Kilgore
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 647
and Cyrus Benson have served the town in that capacity. The Justices have been, in
addition to those first elected, John Cassedy, J. T. Starkey, Malcom McNab, Silas
Wilcox, S. M. Smoats. The following have been elected Assessors : Joseph Hamilton,
J. F. Myers, W. H. Myers, S. M. Smoats, 6. W. Kirker, and these Commissioners of
Highways, J. W. Vawter, A. B. McNab, H. H. Scott, R. M. Vance, Hugh Neal, J.
Benson, H. W. Warner.
Politically the town was Democratic until 1860, when it was a tie on Presidential
candidates. Since then, Republican by about fifteen majority until the "farmer's move-
ment" took shape, since which it has usually given a small majority against the Repub-
lican ticket.
The Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry took a strong hold among the farmers
here, as well as in almost all the farming communities. Notwithstanding the determi-
nation to the contrary at the opening, it soon assumed a political cast, and after its short
run, went the way of other organizations whose objects are good, but which have only
the general good at stake. Human nature seems to lack the ability to carry on those
purely social and unselfish associations.
SCHOOLS.
By 1852, there seemed, for the first time, a necessity for common schools. The rush
of immigration consequent upon the railroad age had commenced. In that year the
township school organization was effected. At the close of 1851, not one-quarter of
the township had been sold ; but in three years from that time, land was held at $8 per
acre, which was a rapid advance, but not beyond a just value. The school section was
upon the creek, and was coveted as early as this for a cattle range, having, for most of
the year, a good water supply. In 1855, the school land was sold at a low figure, and
was really of no great value to the schools, compared with what it would have been if
kept for ten years longer. "The Swamp-Land Fund," which was intended as an addi-
tion to the common-school fund, has not, in this county, proved, directly at least, such
an addition. Complaint is made, that the County Court, previous to the adoption of
township organization (and this complaint was one of the principal reasons for adopting
that system in this county), had diverted the proceeds of the County Swamp- Land
Fund, to secure the location of the State Normal School at or near Bloomington.
There never was any general complaint that the Normal School was not, in all respects,
a worthy and a valuable institution, and really a desirable acquisition, but that its ben-
efits were largely local. But the great complaint was, that the using of the fund in
that way, was a diversion from the common-school fund. The law required that these
" swamp " lands (many of which are known to be the very best farms in the county)
should be " drained " and sold. The draining was never done except on paper, and
one of the great benefits which would have accrued from a general system of drainage
was never received.
In April, 1866, the town was divided into five school districts; and, in 1878, into
nine. From the last report of the Treasurer, Cassedy, the following figures are taken :
Number of districts, 9 ; number of teachers employed, 13 ; whole number of children
under twenty-one, 518; number between six and twenty-one, 357; whole number
enrolled in schools, 272 ; average number of months taught, 8 ; amount paid teachers,
$2,127.53 ; paid for other expenses, $1,277.20 ; total amount paid, $3,404.73 ; amount
648 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTT.
of school fund, $4,077. The township furnished her full quota of men to serve in the
grand army of the Union for suppression of rebellion. Indeed, it is believed that
more than the full number were really supplied. The circumstances were all against
getting full " credits " to a township like this. Many of the younger readers will hardly
understand what this means, and an explanation is here given for their benefit (the
reading of which may be " skipped " by those who were supervisors during that trying
time, and those who were in mortal fear of a " draft," for such are presumed to fully
understand all about it). During the filling of the first calls of the President for men,
all enlistments were from pure patriotism, or from a laudable desire for military renown
from honor or promotion. Men rushed to arms from every township of our common
country, without ever thinking whether they had a residence, caring only to know
whether they had a country. Many transient men enlisted who had no home. In
Lawndale there were many new comers, their sons and hired men staying with them
perhaps only a few days, and then hurrying to arms without knowing or caring where
their residence was. No company or part of a company was raised in town, and many
who went to the centers of enlistment, were marked on the rolls as being residents of
the place where they enlisted. As time went on, and the demands for men became
more urgent, men were always around the business centers, who were shrewd enough
to induce men to credit to their place of enlistment instead of their own homes. Thus
Lawndale and similar towns never got credit for the men who went to the army ; and
when a draft was ordered, it became a source of great trouble and anxiety on the part
of those who had the township affairs in charge, to hunt out and get credit for those
who had enlisted.
The men from Lawndale enlisted in most all the various regiments which were
raised in the county. Some of the first into Capt. Patten's company, of the Twentieth .
Others into Oglesby's Eighth. Several into the " Normal " and the Ninety fourth.
Some going into the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth, which was raised in Livingston
County, and of course into many others. The town should, without further delay,
make up, for preservation, a record of those who nobly served and heroically died for
their country's cause.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
PADUA TOWNSHIP.
Padua Township is in the second tier of townships from the southern line of the
county, and the third from the east line, being joined on the north by Blue Mound, on
the east by Arrowsmith, south by Empire, and west by Old Town. The surface of the
soil is gently rolling, being higher and more rolling along its northern sections, and
along a portion of the southern. The high ridge frequently spoken of in these sketches
as lying along the line which divides the townships in 24 from those in 23, is plainly
discoverable along the northern part of Padua. Indeed, it extends from Normal almost
due east nearly to Gibson, in Ford County, and fairly divides the head-waters of the
Money Creek, the Mackinaw and the Vermilion north, from those of the Kickapoo,
Salt Creek and the Sangamon on the south. Such " divides" are not uncommon, and
are always sought out by the " second settlers," that is, those who came in the second
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 649
immigration wave, after the timber line had all been occupied ; and the farm-seeker
would only take such lands as his judgment told him would not be liable to overflow,
and would need no draining. In this view the judgment was hardly correct ; for it is a
well-known fact now that all through these uplands are spots which are greatly
improved by tile draining. A similar, though less marked and less uniform, ridge runs
from the head of Old Town Timber almost due east, to the county line, five miles south-
east of Saybrook, keeping almost exactly on the line between Townships 22 and 23.
These two ridges hold within their bounds all of that portion of McLean County lying
east of the Kickapoo, in Town 23, Ranges 3, 4, 5 and 6, and embraces the valley of the
Sangamon River for the first twenty miles of such valley.
The remarkable thing about this valley is that it is bounded, as above stated,
almost exactly north and south, by the township lines of these four Congressional town-
ships, the north branch of Salt Creek only seeming to find a way across the southern
boundary.
It was here, at the point where the timber grows upon this " divide " between the
Kickapoo and the Sangamon, that the Indians made their habitations and lived in their
Old Town home, as is more fully set forth in another portion of this work ; and near
the corners of the towns of Padua, Arrowswith, Empire and West, are still to be seen
the old fortifications by which they expected to protect themselves from the dangers of
" civilization." The township of Padua derived its name from the postoffice of that
name within its borders, and was selected by the Department, or, rather, by some official
of the Department, for there seemed to be no one living in the neighborhood who had
an ambition to have his name perpetuated by post offices. It is six miles square, being
a full Congressional township, and had, at its original settlement, about six square miles
of timber, covering very nearly the six southern sections.
It has no considerable stream running through it.
The La Fayette, Bloomington & Western Railroad, which, since its construction,
is known by the title of La Fayette, Muncie & Bloomington, runs through it from east
to west, having on it, Holder, on the west line of the township ; Padua, near the centre ;
and Ellsworth, near the eastern line ; Benjaminville, a hamlet, with its church, post
office and blacksmith-shop, before railroad times, on the prairie, near the northwestern
corner ; and its wooded counterpart, familiarly called " Stumptown," on the timber line.
With a singular disposition to make the local name as horrid as it could well be, the
christening powers added the name of Saint Clairsville, as the name of the precinct
where the people from this whole country went up to vote in the olden time.
St. Clair would have been, as the name of the good preacher who, after Peter
Cartwright, had charge of the Elder's district, an appropriate name for the field of his
labors ; but he who suggested, sanctioned or authorized the tacking of the " ville " onto
the good Elder's name and that of Friend Benjamin, has lain himself open to being
called a " villain."
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
In the absence of any official record, and now that the oldest citizens have passed
away, it is not positively known, but there is good reason to believe, that John W. Daw-
son, who was also of the first in Blooming Grove, was the first to settle in that part of
Old Town Timber which lies within the present bounds of Padua. Dawson came with
his old friend, John Hendrix, from Champaign County, Ohio, via Sangamon County, to
650 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Blooming Grove, and made the first settlement in McLean County in 1822. Four
years later, or fifty-five years ago, he sold his claim there and set up his lares and penates
and what little else he had, in Padua, on the farm now occupied by John Wirt. Daw-
son sold his Bloomington claim to Benjamin Cox, who died before he removed his fam-
ily to it. His son David became the owner of the place. From this, it appears that
the settlement of Padua was only four years after that at Bloomington. Mr. Dawson
was the father of ten children, who are either dead or scattered from the home of their
childhood. He moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa, and died there. In 1829, James Van-
scoyoc came from Ohio and took a claim where his son-in-law, Marks Banks now lives. He
was a man of energy, and helped greatly in bringing to subjection the wild lands of Padua.
He remained here about twenty years, and then moved to Cheney's Grove. Of seven
children, five grew up and settled around him in this and the adjoining townships.
William R. Goodheart, father of SheriiF Goodheart, of McLean County, after
many wanderings, came here to live in 1827. He only remained here about three years
and then took up his abode in Bloomington. He had, perhaps, seen more of the world
than any man who was known hereabout at that time, or, very likely, since. Born in
Scotland, after living awhile in Holland, he ran away and went to sea ; was captured
by the French ; and, taking the matter as easily as possible, he enlisted under the first
Consul, and followed the French eagles through seven years of campaigning ; stood
sentinel on the porch of St. Peters, in Rome ; and was present at the burning of Mos-
cow. While the Scotch are famous for being found in every clime, and inhabit places
in every corner of the globe, he was probably the first Scotch Presbyterian who ever
helped the French infidel hold the keys of the Vatican against the Pontifi", who is popu-
larly credited with being the ecclesiastical successor of St. Peter. This exemplifies one
of the strong peculiarities of the Scotch. He subsequently enlisted in the British serv-
ice and came to America to help subdue the States, but was captured in Perry's victory,
and, preferring service in the American cause to being exchanged, he enlisted under
Harrison. He lived in Ohio awhile after the close of the war, and then came to
McLean County and tried the Mackinaw awhile; came to Padua, then went to Bloom-
ington, where he died in 1842. He became a devoted member of the Methodist
Church, and was licensed by Cartwright as an exhorter. His life was a varied one,
full of the most startling incidents. Born in the land of John Knox, growing up with
the Dutch, bearing arms for infidel France, serving commercial England, fighting for
Young America, braving the hardships of frontier life in McLean, making the first
brick that were made in this county, enlisting late, but with the spirit of a trained sol-
dier under the banner of the cross, he devoted his latter years to a fervid and effective
preaching of the Word. He was the father of ten children, most of whom grew up
around him to honor the memory of his gnarled life and triumphant death.
Jeremiah Greenman came from Ohio to the Dawson place in 1831. He entered a
farm and remained here until he died, in 1843. Nine children were born to him, eight
of whom grew up. One was killed in . the battle of Prairie Grove, and the youngest
son, Jeremiah, after serving his country in the war for putting down rebellion, returned
to care for his widowed mother. A few years since, he sold the farm to Willis Whight-
man, and removed to Kansas.
Jesse Frankeberger came here from Ohio in 1829, and settled on the farm now
occupied by his son Frank. He was a local preacher of the M. E. Church, and the
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 651
preaching services, especially quarterly meetings, were frequently held in his barn. He
was a man of strong good sense, and a good manager. He owned and managed a large
farm, and preached wherever he was wanted all over this part of the country, from the
Mackinaw to Monticello, in the houses or barns or groves, wherever he could collect a
few together, riding miles to attend an appointment, and returning home without a
dinner. Politically, he was a strong Democrat. He remained upon his ftirm here until
1858, when ho went to Bloomington, where he died at the age of eighty. He
was three times married, and was the father of eighteen children, twelve of whom
are now living, only two, however, in Padua — Frank and Mrs. Allen Hendrix ; the
others are scattered all over the West. His widow recently died here at a good old
age.
Adolphus Dimmick came here in 1832. He was originally from Tolland County,
Conn. He took up a claim near what is called Stumptown, and lived there until
1845. His family are all dead, except his wife, who married Mr. Ireland. She still
lives on the farm which she helped to make, which is in charge of her nephew, John
Livingston.
Josiah Horr, who has been, and still is, reckoned an influential man iii the history
of Padua, came here from Lewis County, N. Y., in 1836. His wife was a Cheney,
which probably decided his coming here. He still lives on the ground he first entered
has 350 acres, which he and his son are farming. He has repeatedly served his town
as Supervisor, and in other official capacity, to the general satisfaction of his neighbors.
He lived first on the Dawson place, but soon got into his own cabin. The Padua post
office was long held at his house, but was moved when Ellsworth was established at the
station. There has hardly been a year since he came here with his lather that he has
not been in some minor official position — being a man of strong mind and clear percep-
tions, good education and sterling honesty.
John Bishop, who has lived for some years in the " Stumptown " neighborhood,
came to the timber about this time, but first settled further west. Quite a large family
grew up about him, several of whom gave their services, and one his brave, young life,
to his country's cause. This family, like the other Bishops in this part of the county,
are highly respected for their ability and worth.
John Hendrix came to Old Town Timber from Huron County, Ohio, in 1836, and
took a claim where the " Cheney's Grove Road " crosses the Kickapoo. In 1854, he
came to Padua, and died here in 1857, leaving a comfortable property to his children,
who, with his grandchildren, grew up here. Of his six children, three are now living.
One was the unfortunate subject of the startling tragedy which, by his own hand, closed
the lives of himself and wife in a moment of mania. Another, Allen Hendrix, is too
well known in every township in McLean County to need anything more than the men-
tion of his name here to recall a hundred incidents and recollections to the mind of
nearly every reader. After living awhile with his father in Old Town, he went to
Bloomington and built four houses near where the L. M. & B. R. R. depot now is in
Pone Hollow.
He has lived in Padua twenty-one years, on the farm one-half mile south of
Padua Station. He married a daughter of Rev. Jesse Frankeberger, by whom ten
children were born, nine of whom are living. Mrs. H. is a woman of great personal
worth, attractive both in appearance and in the excellence of mental powers and firm
652 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Christian character. Several of her children live near. A son, Lewis, is a large and
prosperous farmer. Another, William B., has served several terms as Coroner of
McLean County, and as a Justice of the Peace in Bloomington.
Mr. John Hendrix, the father of Allen, should not be confounded with Mr. John
Hendrix, who was the first settler in the county. The latter came from Champaign
County, and it is not known that he was a relative of the Huron County man.
Allen — we think no secresy is violated in so stating — is a Republican, and proba-
bly no important convention or caucus of that party has been held in the county for
twenty years without his presence. No one who knows him will question his fixed-
ness of opposition to whatever he antagonizes.
Owen Cheney came here with his father, Jonathan Cheney, who, it will be remem-
bered, lived here awhile before settling Cheney's Grove. Owen married Maria, a
daughter of J. W. Dawson, and commenced early to make a farm out on the prairie.
He was a man of energy, and, though dying comparatively young, left a considerable
property.
His son, Hon. J. H. Cheney, now living in Bloomington, the Vice President and
Treasurer of the L. M. & B. R. R., owns a large faim in this township, near Ellsworth,
and is largely engaged in cattle-feeding and trading. His annual sales of cattle and
hogs are large, and his business capacity is of the highest order.
William Hanison, another son-in-law of Dawson, commenced a farm here about
the same time, and still lives with his son on the farm near Ellsworth.
William and Frank Evans, sons of William Evans, who was one of the first set-
tlers of Blooming Grove, early took up farms near the timber, and have raised large
families here.
David Brannaman came here with Josiah Horr, and took up a farm near him at
Stumptown. He had seven children. His son Addison lives still on the place.
I. B. Jackson, now living at Cheney's Grove, took up a farm near here first, and
has quite a large family living around here.
Henry Burne came from Ohio and settled on " Bald Hill " about the same time.
He died here and his children are scattered. His sons, who live in Martin Township,
are among the best farmers of that town and are respected and successful.
John Arrowsmith purchased the place and still lives on it, his children living
around him. His son, the present Supervisor, lives on the farm which was entered
about thirty-five years ago by Archie Martin (his father-in-law). Mr. Martin died
about fifteen years ago, leaving a family of six children and about five hundred acres of
land. The children still reside here.
Henry Arrowsmith, a brother of John, has a good farm in that part of the town-
ship, his children living around him. Henry Bump, who came from New York, set-
tled on the farm now occupied by Thomas Mitchell, near the station.
The earlier settlements in the northwestern part of the township, around about
Benjaminville, were made by a number of members of the Society of Friends. John
Benjamin, a brother of the present County Judge, commenced his farming operations
out on the prairie twenty-five years ago. He gave the name to the post oflSce there and
owns 1,000 acres of land around it. He is an excellent man, a good farmer and a citi-
zen of great worth and influence, maintaining the early simplicity which marks the
sect. His children have settled around him, and there seems no reason why he should
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 653
not be conteated and happy. His land is of the best ; the buildings, stock and appoint-
ments all very good.
Henry Bedell, from New York, settled near Mr. Benjamin in 1859 ; is like him in
religious belief and practice. He has half a section of fine land, is a good farmer
and most excellent neighbor — his eight children living near him. No higher tribute
can be paid him than that of one who has long lived near him, who said, in the blunt
way which carries with it the conviction of truth, " Henry Bedell is a credit to the
community, an honor to the name. He is a Quaker, and a good one."
Friend Abner Moore, a preacher of the Society, lived there several years. He
died, leaving a son and three daughters. He was a very old man, but greatly esteemed.
His son James has recently sold the old homestead, for $52 an acre, which does not
look much like " hard-pan " prices. If it indicates anything it is that good farms are
not as much affected by shrinkage in prices as poor ones.
Dr. Hinton came here from Ohio about 1844, and began the practice of his pro-
fession. He was a well-educated and skillful physician. He owns about one thousand
acres of land. His son Alvin has succeeded to his father's practice, and has a large
and successful practice in this and the adjoining townships.
Jonas Krum, father of I. R. Krum, grain-dealer at Bloomington and at Arrow"^
smith, settled near the mill at Stumptown about thirty years ago. He carried on a
considerable farm until his death, about 1860.
There are besides these, who are regarded as the early settlers, the names of sev-
eral others which properly belong here. Richard Swan and Mr. Gibbs settled early,
near the timber. James Ganoe, John Campbell and William Orange, a little later.
Later still, James Welch, Thomas Kennedy, Matthew Richardson and James Reed, ia
the northern part.
Joseph Jennings, from Tazewell County, has a fine farm of 400 acres, which he
bought of Mr. Hamilton, east of Benjaminville, about 1860. The buildings are first-
rate — two good houses and three barns — with 1,200 trees on the place. He is a good
farmer, very industrious and successful.
Ashley Merwin has a fine farm of 240 acres, upon which is a nursery and large
orchard. George Brigham came here from the northern part of the State, in 1846.
He has a good farm near the middle of the north line of the township.
Thomas Kennedy has an excellent farm of 240 acres, in the western part of the
town. He came here from Funk's Grove, in 1863. The buildings, orchards and fences
are in excellent condition, and the farm shows a careful and successful farmer.
James White owns 200 acres of land in Section 17, which he bought in 1857. It
is a fine farm, with good buildings and excellent orchard.
Jonathan Spencer has a well-improved farm in Section 17, upon which he has lived
eighteen years. He has a fine, new barn, and first-rate stock, having a decided weak-
ness for good horses. A thrifty man, with a family of nine children, ought to be, and
is, deemed a success.
CHURCHES.
Besides the Friends' meeting-house, there are within the township three Methodist^
a Christian and a Baptist Church.
The first regular Quarterly Meetings here were held in Frankeberger's barn, by Peter
Cartwright and John St. Clair, Presiding Elders. The former is well known, the latter not
654 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
fio well, but quite as favorably. He was a most excellent man, and the few who are now
here that formerly knew him, speak of him in terms of profound admiration. At a
camp-meeting once, when the services were at the most interesting point, a heavy and
very threatening cloud collected, and, with awful peals of thunder and terrific lightning,
approached. The tornado was too well known by these dwellers along the timber edges
at this time. Fear seemed to seize every heart but the pious Elder's, who, with no indi-
cations of other than a fear for the final condemnation of the impenitent, discontinued
his sermon, and asked the whole congregation to unite with him in a prayer to Him who
holds the winds in the hollow of his hand, for the aversion of the coming storm. With
tones as free from feeling as if he had been in his chamber, he sent up the petition of
the congregation, that if it was the Lord's will the storm might pass by, that the re-
ligious services then in progress might be permitted to continue, to the glory of Grod,
and the up-building of His Kingdom. Whether in response to the prayer of faith or
not is not given to finite minds to decide, but the storm divided and passed away. The
effect upon the audience was beyond the power of pen description. The whole
congregation shouted as they sang a hearty thanksgiving, and each one felt as if stand-
ing on holy ground. They retired to their tents to continue clear into the middle of
the night hallelujahs of praise. It was the most remarkable soul-stirring scene ever
witnessed in this part of the country. Some of the earlier preachers here were Mr. Frank-
eberger, William Royal, John French and Squire P. Chase. The first class consisted
of eight persons, with John French for leader. They were : Mr. and Mrs. French, Mr.
and Mrs. Swan, Mr. and Mrs. Frankeberger and two daughters.
The first M. E. Church was the Old Town Chapel, near the southeast corner of
the township, south of where Ellsworth now is. It was built about 1845, and is about
30x38. Jesse Frankeberger, Ezekiel Arrowsmith and Andrew Jones were largely
instrumental in building this house. An M. E. Church was built in 1860, at Benjamin-
ville, under the active energies of James White, Joseph Murphy and others. It was
removed to Holder, and sold to the United Brethren, after which the Methodists built
Harmony Chapel, in 1877, two miles east of Benjamin ville, on Jennings' land. It is
32x40, plain and neat, painted and carpeted. This was under the pastorate of Mr. Job
Ingram, now of Downs, and W. B. Rucker, Seth Middleton Jennings, White and others
were active in supplying the long felt need. Asbury Chapel was built at Stumptown
about 1869, and cost about $1,900. David and Alfred Frankeberger, and Lewis
Hendrix were the leading spirits. The house was dedicated by Presiding Elder
Buck.
The Baptists have in years past held an important position in the southern portion
of the township. Their house of worship was built about 1843. Elder Whitney
preached here several years. Elders Fiske and H. H. Ballard also officiated frequently.
There were about twenty-five members at the time of building. Archie Campbell, Mrs.
Esther Ireland and Elder Whitney were the most energetic in this work. Mrs. Ireland,
now apparently nearing her end, has long been a stay of the church, by her example,
her earnestness, doing personally all that any woman could, her purse always open, her
faith always strong. Her nephew, Mr. Livingston, and Charles Ingell are live workers
in the cause. The Christian Church had on organization before Ellsworth was laid out,
and held meetings in Center Schoolhouse. Elder Speed Staguer and Mr. Robinson
have preached, and Oscar D. Campbell officiates at present.
Cfk<^^-^-^
MONEY CREEK TP.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
657
The township is usually Republican, when party lines are strongly drawn, but the
people have a fashion of v-oting independently. The following is the list of township
officers who have been elected since township organization was adopted :
Bate.
18-58
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
187i
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
Votes
Cast.
Supervisor.
165
170
119
.Josiah Horr
Josiah Horr
Josiah Horr
.James Wirt
H. R. Arrowsmith.
Clerk.
George Brewer.
George Brewer.,
.J. H. Campbell.
C. H. Hobart...,
C. H. Hobart...,
.Josiah Horr iC. H. Hobart.
.Josiah Horr 'C. H. Hobart.
Ir;i Stout
C. H. Hobart.
Ira Stout
Ira Stout
Ira Stout
203
209
207
145
183
192
267
230
287
.Josiah Horr
Marks Banks
B. Marot
Josiah Horr
W. R. Anderson..
Josiah Horr iJoseph Pierce
S. D. Vandervoort
A. J. Wampler
A. J. Wampler
A. .1. Wampler
.Josiah Horr
David Moore..
P. V. Weidnor
P. V. Weidnor
William O'Neal j.J. Holdren
P. V. Weidnor 'A. .J. Wampler
P. V. Weidnor A. J. Wampler
Charles Holdren A. J. Wampler
W. A. Arrowsmith. ..|a. J. Wampler
W. A. Lebo
W. A. Lebo
W. A. Lebo
E. P. Glasscock...
E. P. Glasscock...
I). Frankeberger.
D. Frankeberger.
J. H. Walker
George A. Yost —
John Whitcomb ...
John Whitcomb ...
George A. Yost
W. C. Lacey
William O'Neal ...
James Hancock.,..
David Moore
J H. Pierce
D. Frankeberger ..
I. B. Jackson
William Rockwell.
David Moore
Collector.
R. Percey.
R. Percey.
R. Percey.
H. Barnes.
George Greenman.
J. W. Heacock.
Charles Sackelt.
S. D. Vandervoort.
H. H. Ballard.
A. J. Wampler.
H. H. Ballard.
C. 0. Rider.
Oliver Holdner.
C. 0. Rider.
The following have been elected Justices of the Peace: T. N. Hoflman, John
Bishop, Josiah Horr, James Smith, H. H. B;illard, D. 0. Stout, D. Frankeberger, G.
W. Crutchler, F. La Rue, H. T. Edwards, James A. Doyle.
The Commissioners of Highways have been: B. Fetheroff, S. Graver, A. Merwin,
A. Frankeberger, J. R. Benjamin, S. Stanger, William Harrison, Sylvester Stanger,
Thomas Starr, T. B. Jackson, Wilson Vandervoort, James Welch, Levi Branson, John
Creel, J. B. Moore, Ed. Code, D. P. Carlisle.
In 1867, by a vote of 79 to 49, the township voted to subscribe $25,000 in ten
year's 10-per-cent bonds to the La Fayette, Bloomington & Western R. R. Co. Soon
after, the township voted $5,000 additional to the same road. These bonds are due
next year, and a proposition has been made to issue in lieu thereof, thirty new bonds,
payable five of them each year, for six years, which will probably be accepted.
PADUA STATION.
At the time the railroad aid was voted by the township, it was supposed that the
station would be near the center of the township. When the road was completed, how-
ever, one station was placed on the western line and one near the eastern, where certain
" influential " men had land. This is said not to have been satisfactory to Allen Hen-
drix and his neighbors, near the center, and they set about " coercing " the officials to
provide for them. They did this by a pertinacious system of coaxing, badgering,
threatening, begging and buying ; they finally got a station by agreeing to put up the
buildings, which was done on Allen Hendrix's land in Section 17 ; he, with Thomas
Mitchell, Joseph Jennings, James Moore, A. R. Coe and A. Mervin were principally
instrumental in securing this concession. When the station was established, the post
office was called Padua, the name which had for years been used by the office at Horr's.
658 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Samuel Rodman was first appointed Postmaster. Alpheus Webber moved his store from
Stumptown to the new station and sold it to Samuel & Scammon Rodman, who contin-
ued in business till 1877, when they sold to W. I. Merwin, who is now in trade, is Sta-
tion Agent and Postmaster. Cheney, Rodman, Merwin, and some others, have been
engaged in buying corn, and the latter had a steam-power hay press in use for awhile,
until it burned.
The Padua tile-factory was erected by Samuel Stoops & Co., in 1878. They have
two kilns with a capacity of 20,000 pieces, and use the Tiifany machine which will run
from six to eight thousand per day. About S2,000 are invested in the buildings and
machinery, and eight men are employed. Sales are ready, and the tiles, which usually
run from two and one-half inches to six, are said to be as good as any. They use steam
power, and require four days to properly burn.
ELLSWORTH VILLAGE.
Ellsworth was laid out on the lands of Mr. Ellsworth, J. H. Cheney and A. B.
Ives, of Bloomington, in 1871. The land of the former lay north of the railroad;
Cheney's south of the road and east of the principal street, and Ives' west of that. A.
J. Wampley bought the first lot that was sold ; he purchased, in 1871, on the Ives land.
The switch and depot were put in the next year, and the post office established, Wamp-
ley being first Postmaster, a position which he holds yet. Wampley at once opened up
a general stock of merchandise, and continued there until 1878, when he moved his
store and house across the street to lots bought on the Cheney land. John Campbell
moved his store and stock of goods from Stumptown, in 1872, and has continued in trade
since that time. Harry Vandervoort and Joseph Pierce put up a store and opened in
the hardware and implement trade, in 1873. In 1877, they sold to Holdren, who
added drugs to his stock, and continues in trade.
W. L. Sapp, James Reed and Mr. Arnold associated with themselves twelve other
farmers, and subscribed $100 apiece to commence the " Club " store in 1872. Mr.
Van Gundy was employed to conduct it. The next year, Reed & Van Gundy bought
it out, and after another year Reed retired, and Van Gundy has continued in the busi-
ness since.
In 1874, Dr. Patterson, who had been here in practice a year, coming here from
Heyworth, put up a small store and put in a stock of drugs, which he has continued to
run in connection with his practice.
The same year, Mr. Rockwood put in a stock of groceries in the building used by
the "Club" store, and Joseph Starkey moved his store from a place three miles south-
east, popularly called " Confedrit X Roads " (from a real or fancied prevailing opinion
that some of the citizens there held opinions not dissimilar from those so eloquently
championed by Rev. Mr. Nasby, Deacon Pogram and Saint Bascom), which he contin-
ued to occupy for a few years. August Flint has a wagon-shop ; A. Jacoby a harness-
shop ; H. T. Colwell, a shoe-shop. Dr. L. H. Scaggs has been in the practice of medi-
cine for some years.
David Hitch, who had had considerable experience in milling, built a grist-mill
with two runs of stones, the citizens subscribing $1,000 toward it. After running it
awhile, he sold to S. F. Myers, who is doing a very lair business. Stumptown was just
in the edge of the timber. A steam-mill was built there as early as 1854, by Horine &
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 659
Harrison. After running it awhile, they sold to Fisher & Gibbs ; they to David Hitch,
who was in trade with Webber, who put in a good grist-mill and sold to Hobart, who,
in turn, in company with Mr. Dickinson, put the machinery into the Le Roy Mill.
Webber & Hitch were selling goods, and John Campbell, also. James Holdren had a
blacksmith-shop, and John Selman a wagon-shop. These all took to the prairie when
the first proud snort of the locomotive was heard at Ellsworth, and Stumptown became
like "Sweet Auburn," a deserted village.
Benjaminville contained a store carried on by Mr. Hollinshead, a blacksmith-shop
by Mr. Burrows, and the Friends' meeting-house, built in 1862, with sheds, etc., for
comfort as well as worship, at a cost of $1,000.
WEST TOWNSHIP.
The township of West is the second from the east in the southern tier of town-
ships. It embraces a Congressional township and a third, and is described as Town 22
north. Range 5 E., and 12 sections off the north end of Town 21 north, Range 5 E. of
the Third Principal Meridian. It was originally all prairie except about 300 acres in
Sections 6 and 5, where the extreme eastern point of the Old Town Timber runs out on
the line between West and Arrowsmith. Topographically, it is one of the most curious
in the county, being, as you pass from the northern to the southern boundaries, a suc-
cession of high ridges, amounting almost to hills, and valleys. Along its northern end
a high ridge extends entirely across the township from Old Towa Timber nearly to
Cheney's Grove, forming the southern boundary of the valley of the Sangamon, and is
a pleasant succession of hillocks and vales, not too abrupt for general cultivation, and
making a delightful contrast when viewed in connection with the pleasant valleys on
either side, and the broad stretch of level country stretching off to the east into Ford
County. The surface, as if by " unanimous consent," makes a gentle der-livity to the
south, reducing gradually both its elevation and its unevenness for two miles, reaching
a dead level, which forms the head of the east branch of Salt Creek, which is about one
mile in width, and extending without any seeming variation in its monotonous plain
entirely through the township from west to east, and apparently forming a portion of
the stretch of level land which runs due east from Randolph's Grove, through and
beyond the eastern border of the county, more nearly a perfect plain here than on either
side, of unsurpassed richness, but too flat for thorough cultivation in wet seasons. It
was intended to drain this thoroughly, but the cumbrous machinery of our drainage
laws were past the ability of such mortals as undertook it, and the attempt was aban-
doned until our wise legislators succeed in forming a drainage law which can be executed
by common people, without going to the Supreme Court with every acre drained.
Farther south, and extending like this valley across the entire township, is an elevation
less high and more even than the one at the north ; and beyond this is the flatter land
which forms the southern end of the township. Across the southeastern corner of this
latter the branch of Salt Creek runs, being here increased by numerous branches to a
stream of sufficient size to supply the wants of the herds at all seasons of the year.
There were no early settlements in this township. It was not until about 1850
that the first sod was turned, and much of the land was unplowed as late as 1865, when
660 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
the boys came "marching home " to find, many of them, that it was too crowded in the
old homesteads and " swarming " was the order of the day. This " swarming " wave
coming principally from the West soon filled up the country that until then had remained
uubroken. Tazewell, Fulton and other western counties, sent many of their young-
men in here. West is pretty liberally supplied with railroads. The Indianapolis,
Bloomington & Western runs about three-fourths of a mile across the southwestern
corner. The Springfield branch of the Illinois Central — formerly the Gilman, Clinton
& Springfield — runs two miles across its southeastern corner, cutting Sections 1,11 and
12 (T. 21—5), and has two stations on it, Weedman and Kumler. The Havana, Rantoul
& Eastern runs across on the half-section line of sections, numbering from 19 to 2-4
inclusive, haviug two stations, Sabina and Delana.
INDIANS.
When the first white settlers made their way into this locality they found a band
of Indians in assumed possession of quite a tract of country, though in reality their
chiefs had for them some years before traded all of this land to the Government. They
were, however, permitted to occupy the country until such time as it was wanted by
actual white settlers.
An Indian town was not such a substantial affair as the towns and villages of the
county to-day, being but the rudest cabias and tents made ot bark, skins of animals
and slender poles. Therefore, an Indian town was not necessarily permanent, and we
have no evidence that this Kickapoo village had existed in this locality more than
a few years. The probability is that it was a band that had moved from some other
place upon the appearance of the lawful owners of the country. At I>anville, a few
years previous, a tribe of the Kickapoos were occupying the timber along the Big
Vermilion, and, upon the approach of the whites, they removed to the interior of the
State, aud from evidences ia possession of H. W. Beckwith, Esq., of Danville, but
little doubt remains that this was the same band. As soon as the whites had settled
to some extent in the neighborhood of Old Town Timber, the Kickapoos, feeling that
they were being somewhat crowded, removed their town or camp to the banks of
Mackiuaw, near the present site of Pleasant Hill ; thence, after a i'ew years, to Indian
Grove, in Livingston County; and, in 1832, to Oliver's Grove, in the same county. At
the last-named place they lived a year or two, when they removed from the State and
were lost as a distinctive band or tribe, being merged with other kindred tribes at the
reservations beyond the Mississippi.
The early white settlers speak in the most kindly terms of their early red neigh-
bors*. They were kind, honest, temperate and religious. Of course they were very
ignorant, poor, and not over nice in their habits, though a few of them were credited
with being neat in person and habits and of being possessed of some education, such
as obtained only in good schools. Of this last class were notably Aunt Nancy and
Aunt Peggy. They are remembered by some of the early settlers as very decent looking
and good-mannered S(iuaws who made considerable pretense to book learning. On one
occasion, they went to hear the pioneer preacher, Peter Cartwright, discourse on religion,
and when asked how they liked him, replied, "Oh, he talks very well, but he has no
education." In the library of Mr. Beckwith, of Danville, is a copy of the first paper
published in the State in 1818, called the Illinois Magazine. In this paper is printed
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 661
a sermon delivered by a Christian Indian to this same band of Kickapoos while they
still resided near Danville. The sermon was translated into English by Gurdon S.
Hubbard, who was then an Indian trader at Danville, and furnished to the magazine
named for publication. For good, sound sense and good rhetoric it is not often
excelled by the more enlightened white divines of to-day. Mr. Hubbard says the
sermon waslistened to with close attention, and seemed to be well understood and
appreciated.
In house-building, they approached more nearly to civilization than most others of
their race. While living in this vicinity, some of them provided themselves with houses
or cabins as good as some of those occupied by the whites. It is true, most of their
dwellings were of a very primitive character ; but Mrs. Paist, who was here in 1822, nnd
then a little girl, informs us that several of their cabins were graced with a second story,
and were, in many respects, quite comfortable. The women cultivated patches of corn,
beans, potatoes and other vegetables, and in the line of agriculture, excelled most of
their white neighbors, though the men considered labor of that kind below their dig-
nity, their business being the pursuit of game, with which the forests and prairies of this
part of the county abounded.
During the trouble with the followers of Black Hawk, in the northwestern part of
the State, the Kickapoos remained friendly to the whites, and, though the excitement
consequent upon that war caused some suspicions even at this distance from the seat of
war, and though quite a large number of soldiers were raised for the war in this county,
the friendly Kickapoos remained true to their professions, and no outbreak occun-ed.
At one time, Machini, who was the chief of the band, proposed a great war-dance, at
which many of the settlers became very much frightened, and prepared for defense.
They, however, did not understand the import of the demonstration, for, as afterward
understood, it was not a menace, but simply the celebration of some past event. Indeed,
Chief Machini, to express his friendship for the whites, invited a number of them to
take part in the evolutions peculiar to the occasion. Some of the whites, however, fear-
ing that this might be a ruse to entice them from their homes for the purpose of murder-
ing them, discreetly "sent their regrets." The Dawsons and Orendorffs, however,
attended, and were entertained in as kindly a manner as possible. Machini invited
John Dawson to take part in the exercises, and, thinking to please the chief, he entered
into the contortions with zeal. Mr. Dawson imagined that he understood the step quite
as well and could sing far better than the chief himself; but he had sung but a few
stanzas of the " he aw haw an a haw he haw,^' when the chief musician, who was
Machini himself, shouted, " Stop !" Then turning to Mr. Dawson, in a very grave
and somewhat injured manner, said : " Friend Dawson, you dance much good, but you
no sing good." Mr. Dawson thereupon ceased his harmony, and confined himself to his
muscular exercises. The war-dance passed off without any other disagreeable incident,
and Machini thereafter explained that Dawson's singing confused him. In these dances,
the women took no part whatever, but were simply spectators.
When the first white man came here to reside, there was upon Section 5, upon
the high land which lay beyond the point of timber, the remains of the old Indian fort
which, though much talked about by those who make Indian history a study, still seems
to be very little known by the citizens of the county in general. The land upon which
it stood was surrounded by a fine growth of blue grass, showing that at one time the
662 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY,
prairie grass had been killed out by cultivation, or by being very thoroughly tread over
by man or beasts.
It is a well-known fact that prairie grass has not the quality of propagation, hav-
ing no seeds and no root power of procreation. In these respects it is anomalous. It
is not known that any other plant lacks these two essential principles of preservation
and propagation. Once kill the roots of a single square rod of prairie grass and to the
end of time that particular piece of land will never be covered with a growth of prairie
grass again. When in the course of events this destruction occurred at and around
the old fort, blue grass came in and remained as long as the land was kept in pasture,
which was till about the year 1867. This was famous grazing ground, and Isaac
Funk selected and entered it as he did other such lands in this part of the county. It
still remains in the family, it being the property of his son Greorge. Until it was put
under the plow, the remains of the fort were plainly seen. A recent visit to the
ground, in company with Mr. S. H. West, shows that the plow has pretty nearly oblit-
erated the last fading lines of this most important landmark. But the importance of
its position as a strategic point, as such defense was understood by Indians, will never
be effaced.
In another portion of this work, under its proper head, will be found a very full
account of the military events which called this fort into being, and the results it
effected ; it remains here to describe only its exact locality and position.
In the timber were numerous breastworks behind which, with the friendly alliance
of the trees, a last stand could be made in case the defenders of the Old Town rights
stood in need of them, but just outside of the timber, fifty rods from the west line, and
not more than fifteen rods from the north line of Section 5, stood the works of the
fort proper. The land seemed formed by nature for this particular defensive purpose.
So elevated as to command, in a clear day, before civilization had dotted the country
with hedges and groves, a clear view of from fifteen to twenty-five miles from the east
clear around to the southwest, and north, northeast and northwest a somewhat less
extended view. The earthworks themselves were about ten rods by fifteen, with the
corners rounded, being longer from north to south, and having the western lines run-
ning past each other to admit entrance. A passage-way extended down the hillside
west to a stream of water to prevent the cutting off of this needed supply. The works
were about breast high. It is evident that the attack was expected from the way of
the east, as no one would think of attacking the wily Indian through their natural
covert, the timber. On either side, south and north, were the burying-grounds so long
used by the Indians. These have in years past been ruthlessly dug over to secure the
silver ornaments which were buried with their dead in great numbers. The ground
was dug over and over, and hundreds of silver rings, bracelets, etc., were taken out..
The bones are now lying on the surface, and at one time it was very common for the
boys of the neighborhood, after each rain, to collect on the ground to find whatever of
silver trinkets had been uncovered by the rain. In the dry, gravelly knolls around
were buried their corn and provisions, for they never seem to have learned the habit of
selling their crop before husking-time, and hauling it off to the nearest railroad, to
enrich the " middle-man."
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 663
EARLIER SETTLEMENTS.
The first settlements in West were made in the northwestern and southeastern cor-
ners of the town. Henry West in the former, and John Weedman in the latter, are
excellent samples of the educated, industrious, business farmers which the " second wave "
of immigration brought to these parts ; men endowed with such qualities as to prove a
success anywhere. The Crumbaughs, having reduced an " Empire " from wilderness to
fruitful fields, went to " West," and verified the old saying, with slight variations —
" Westward the Crumbaugh of Empire takes his way : " only in this particular case,
Westward was toward the rising sun. James Love, James Spear, Mr. Murphy and
Mr. Rice were the first settlers in West — Mr. Love near the north line, in Section 4,
Mr. Spear near the west line in Section 6, and the other two near him.
Mr. Love came in 184:8, and lives here still on the land he first took up. He has
160 acres, with fair buildings, and is comfortably fixed. James Spear came in 1849,
from Ohio, and died in 1859, leaving a widow and five children. Mrs. Spear afterward
married David Bean, who has a half-section in Section 11, and her children all, with
one exception, are settled around her. James has eighty acres in Section 11 ; is a
young man of sterling qualities and respected by all.
Henry West came to this county in mature manhood, in 1850, from Kentucky.
He was at that time forty-six years old, and had, by the careful habits and strict bus-
iness ways, for which he was so well known both here and there, acquired enough to
buy him a comfortable farm, when he could find one that suited him. The reasons for
leaving Kentucky were such as operated to induce so many of the pioneers of Illinois
to come here. Land was getting too high there for men of moderate means to hope to
put their children on good farms. He also had a strong desire to get his family out
from the influences of the institution for which he had no admiration. After coming
here, he looked around awhile.
The year 1851 was one of those rainy seasons which used to occur with consider-
able regularity every seven years. The years of floods, which are well-remembered by
the present generation, were 1844, 1851, 1858, 18fi9. It will be seen that each sev-
enth year was, for a time, the rainy one. It has been said that 1837 was a similar one,
but no record of such has come under the observation of the writer, unless the financial
flood may be taken as such, for it swamped more men than all the others combined.
We know that the year 1830 was, but the heavy and long-continued flood came in the
-winter in the form of snow. This remarkable coincidence of the repeated seventh year
of flood and the enforced idleness of the land called to the minds of religious people
and teachers the Levitical law laid down in Leviticus, chap, xxv, 4-7 verses, wherein
the Lord directed the children of Israel when they should have come into the land to
which he would bring them ; that they should let their fields rest untilled and vines
undressed each seventh year, and should not even gather what crops or fruit grew spon-
taneously on that year ; that their teams, servants, maids, and, probably, women, too,
should rest. The line of argument which would follow from these repeated seventh-
year rainy " dispensations of Providence " can be so easily imagined or remembered
that it need not here be repeated. It was boldly insisted that the law of the Lord was
unchangeable, making wise the foolish, and that this country would never prosper until
that law was fully obeyed. Probably it will not be doubted that, if, after coming into
664 HISTORY OF MoLEAN COUNTY.
this glorious county, which was literally flowing with a superabundance of milk and
honey — the cows had only to be driven in from the boundless pastures, and the bee-trees
to be hunted — the people had given each seventh year to the kind of rest, good works
and missionary work, and the land and teams to such rest as the Lord had required of
Israel, they would have lasted longer, lived more contented, and increased in those qual-
ities which tend to higher and better life.
The rainy season warned Mr. West that he must look for high land, and, after a
good deal of search, he found what suited him in the southeast quarter of Section 5,
where Mr. Hedrick now resides, belonging to N. T. Brittin, a man of large wealth
and acquisitive habits, living a few miles west, in Empire. He soon closed a bargain
with the proprietor, but when he came to get his deed, Brittin " kicked out," and
wanted $50 more. This incensed West, whose notions of honor were of the highest
Kentucky order, and he determined to have no more to do with Brittin, but could not
find another place that suited him and he was obliged to pay the Yankee the price.
Mr. West continued to live here until 1869, buying land as he was able, until he
had acquired 2,800 acres, lying in Sections 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 17, 20 and 21. He was the
first Supervisor of the township, and continued to represent it in the Board of Super-
visors as long as he remained a resident.
The town received its name from him, but not by him. The naming occurred in
this way: At the first town meeting, in April, 1858, Mr. Simeon H. West, then a
young man, proposed to call the town Pottawatomie, from the Indians, whose fort still
stood on the hill in that township. He explains this mistake by saying that, though the
Indian residence was so well-known and so much talked about, there was an alarming
ignorance in regard to them ; that an old citizen had informed him that it was that tribe
which had its home here. The mistake was a very natural one, as will appear from the
Indian history at the end of this sketch. When his proposition was made, he learned
for the first time that it was the Kickapoos who lived here, and, on his motion, the name
of Kickapoo was given to the township. At the first meeting of the Board of Super-
visors, the Board was informed that there was already a township by that name in Peoria
County, and, on motion of some member of the Board, it was named from the Super-
visor from that town.
Mr. West was largely engaged while here in stock-feeding and driving. He never
believed in selling grain. When he determined to marry again and reside in Blooming-
ton, he gave each of his children a good farm. Mr. I. H. West, Mrs. Hedrick and
Mrs. Cawby, still live on the lands their father thus provided for them.
Henry West was a man of strong, robust constitution, firm will, fixed purpose, and
kind and afi"ectionate in his family. This latter trait was the more marked, perhaps,
than any other.
He still resides in Bloomington, but owns considerable land in this township.
Simeon H. West lived here with his father a few years and spent some years in travel.
He was traveling through Kansas when " Ossawatomie Brown," Jim Lane and the Free
State men were hunting the " Missouri Sheriff"," and " Border Ruffians," and "Atchison,
Stringfellow & Co." there, trying to overcome the "elections" which the Cincinnati
directory had figured so largely in. He had been an Emancipationist in Kentucky, but
a States' Rights Democrat in Illinois. He fell in" with parties of both sides there, fre-
quently, but was easily able to :!onvince both that he was not there to interfere in the
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 665
Kansas war. He went twice to California, and spent considerable time there. His
time was for some years after his return given to improving his place, since which
he has devoted more time to attending to township and county affairs, having been for
many years the Supervisor from this town. With enlarged information, he has taken a
leading position on the Board, and has given much attention to the matter of delinquent
taxes, one of the toughest questions which the present generation has to deal with. He
lives on a fine farm near where his father first bought, with convenient buildings, well
surrounded with groves, evergreens, orchards and well-kept fields. He has formerly run
a heavy cattle business, but, like most of the farmers hereabout, now usually runs what
cattle he has through the winter light, and grass-feeds for a fall market. For some
years now he has thus fed about one hundred head each year. A public-spirited many
and one who seems well appreciated by his neighbors. Politically, he is decidedly inde-
pendent, and never finds a party that holds him in traces long at a time.
Harrison Barnett settled on Section 3, in 1854. He died in 1863. His son lives
on the farm, and has fine, perhaps extravagant, buildings for a 160-acre farm.
Daniel Barnhart came here in 1854, and purchased a farm on Section 10, and still
resides there. He is a good farmer and has an excellent farm. J. T. and L. A. Crum-
baugh, of the plethoric, progressive family in Empire, about the same time took up'
farms on Sections 7, 18 and 19, along the line of Empire, and still reside there. They
are good farmers, energetic and public-spirited. Have driven a large cattle. business and
are still doing a safe one.
Father Thomas V. Warnsley, now of Heyworth, had a farm here about the same
time. He remained here ten years, preaching around as opportunity offered, and then,
in the absence of so many of the younger preachers in the army, there were not enough
to half fill the appointments, he accepted an itinerant appointment from Conference. He,
while here, preached both in the houses, and by his daily walk and conversation. Mr.
McFarland and Mr. Coleman each had farms along the western border, at that time.
S. L. Bishop, M. M. Craig and Robert Rutledge, of Downs Township, each had small
farms in Sections 17 and 20, which, some years after, they sold to J. Gr. Moore, who
came here from Pike County, in 1872. Mr. Moore owns the south half of 17, and the
northeast quarter of 20, in West, and about 900 acres in Belleflower, which is kept
mostly in grass. He is a man of large capacity for business and work, and is regarded
a successful one. He keeps from three hundred to four hundred head of cattle, but,
like his neighbors, he prefers to grass-feed, stall-feeding being nearly abandoned.
G. W. Hedrick, whose father was one of the earlier settlers in Randolph's Grove,
came here from Padua, about 1866, and lives on the West homestead. He has 520
acres, and has followed cattle-raising pretty extensively, and very successfully.
John Weedman, Sr., came into this part of country about 1844, from Randolph,
and lived seven years at Hurley's Grove, now Farmer City, in DeWitt County, with his
three sons, John, Amos and Isaiah. In 1851, he entered 160 acres on the southern
line of this county, where Weedman Station now is, and considerable in DeWitt. In
1853, the different members of the family entered 1,000 acres more in West (21-5),
along Salt Creek. This was among the first land entered in this corner of the county,
and among the very finest. The excellent living water of this stream makes the land
desirable for cattle-farming ; indeed there is none better in the county, though not taken
so early as that in the northern part of the township. The little clumps of native
■66Q HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
timber along its banks made a fine shelter. Amos Weedman built on Section 11, and
remained there eight years, when he sold to John, and went to Hurley's Grove, and
bought the Hurley farm for $80 per acre. He is now Sheriif of DeWitt County. In
1851, John Weedman, Jr., began farming operations here, built a house and commenced
turning the sod. The first year he lost his team and all his cattle by sickness. It did
not exactly break him up nor discourage him. He has been remarkably successful in
his business, having now 1,000 acres of laud, a considerable town property and his
banking business at Farmer City. He has carried on stock-raising and feeding largely,
formerly stall-feeding 200 head in a winter, but now prefers grazing, though from habit,
perhaps, he thinks he must feed a couple of car loads. His house is a neat and commo-
dious country home of modern build, with veranda nearly encircling it, with neat and
tasty surroundings, and the farm well-fenced, well-tilled, well-stocked and well (stream)
watered. About nine years ago, when the railroads which center at Farmer City were
building, he engaged in banking business there, and laid out an addition to the town of
100 acres.
E. McCord came here in 1853, and commenced a farm on Section 11, but did not
remain here long.
Isaiah Weedman owned considerable land in West, and lived here several years.
He entered the military service and was killed at Holly Springs.
In 1854, Melvin Lowery and W. L. Drybread came from Indiana, and settled
where the latter still resides. Mr. Lowery moved West some years after.
Dr. Cheney, of Le Roy, came here from Ohio, and entered land in 1851, where
Mr. Hamilton now resides. He was a man of energy, and carried on his farm success-
fully, and attended to a large medical practice here for ten years. He then sold to John
Hamilton and went to Le Roy, where he engaged in trade, and did much to build the
substantial part of that young city. He met financial reverses, however, and saw the
accumulation of many years of hard work swept away.
John Hamilton, since he bought the Cheney farm, has been largely engaged in
stock-raising. He has kept from three hundred to twelve hundred sheep. For awhile
he lived in Bloomington, to put his children in school while there. Mr. J. B. Lewis,
now in the bank at Farmer City, was in charge of the farm. Mr. Lewis was one of
the most esteemed and useful citizens during his residence here ; was continually called
on to do the work of the town ofiices, being a good accountant, and a safe, accu-
rate and faithful man.
West has been rather given to furnishing the surrounding cities with bankers,
besides Mr. Weedman and Mr. Lewis at Farmer City. Joseph Keenan, who is prob-
ably the most extensive business man in Le Roy, was for years a resident of this town.
He had a good farm on Section 31, upon which he resided before he began banking at
Le Roy.
Mr. Clark, father of the Clark boys, came here from Morgan County in 1853, and
Itought the Lucas land, a half section in 27. He brought with him the first herd of
thoroughbred short-horns ever brought into this part of the county. They were pur-
chased of D. A. Brown, of Sangamon County, and were white, which was the prevail-
ing popular color twenty-five years ago.
J. M. Moon came here twelve years ago from Mendota, La Salle County, whence
he had formerly come from De Kalb County. He purchased the south half of Section
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 667
10, where he still resides, the north half and southeast quarter of Section 12, and the
southwest quarter and west half of northwest quarter of Section 7, in Belleflower.
The home farm he works ; the other is rented to four tenants, who raise corn
mostly. For several years Mr. Moon ran a butter dairy of twenty cows, and for awhile
fed cattle largely. He had been a business man for several years before he tried farm-
ing. He has a good farm with fair buildings, and is reckoned a successful farmer. He
has recently laid a mile of tile drain on his home farm, and believes if they are properly
laid, by applying the level to every three pieces when laid, that it cannot fail to be of great
advantage to the wet lands. He says he has cut more than thirty miles of open ditch
with machines. He is a man of intelligence and good business qualifications. He ha^
tried raising flax somewhat, and thinks it promises to Be a success. He prefers mixed
farming to any one branch alone.
George W. Snook, one of the best farmers, and universally considered one of the
best citizens in West, came here from Maryland in 1868. He owned a section of land
in the northern part of the township for a number of years. He now lives on and
owns a fine farm in Section 23, where he has fine buildings and a well-managed farm, a
railroad depot and a store, and is extensively engaged in the grain trade. He has prac-
ticed grain raising, never having invested in the cattle business much.
I. M. Hoifman has a good farm of 120 acres in Section 35. He is a good farmer,
a careful manager, and has things looking nice around him.
William Biggs has a good farm on Section 2, is a good farmer, and keeps matters
in good shape ; a good citizen and public-spirited man.
W. J. Kimler came here from Bloomington in 1867. He was a grandson of Mr.
Orendorff, one of the earliest settlers in the county. He has a fine farm of 200 acres,
with good buildings, hedges, etc.
Rev. John Kumler owns a considerable farm in Section 36, and in 1 and 12,
(21-5). He is now at Bloomington, at the Wesleyan University, where he has an
appointment by the Conference of the M. E. Church. His farm is in charge of renters.
Kumler Station is on his farm. There are two good houses and a fine barn.
I. K. Orendorff entered land in Sections 36 and in 1 (21-5), and about 1858, his
sou Perry came onto it to make a farm. He is a good farmer, has good buildings, and
considerable fruit. He has 240 acres close by Kumler Station.
Stephen E. Clarno, an old resident of Logan County, who came across the Sanga-
mon River with his father in 1819, when there were only three families between there
and Fort Clark, purchased 400 acres of Mr. Ball, in 1875, along Salt Creek, just north
of John Wedman's residence, paying for it $40 per acre, cash. He built a large barn,
and, after living there a year to see whether he liked it, he sold his farm in Logan and
bought 280 acres more, and built a large two-story house — large enough to entertain a
good many friends at once. He had been a great traveler ; had gone all over all the
Western States and most of the Territories, trying to find the best place he could find,
and, when he found this one, he believed he had got about as good a farm as could be
found. It lies for a mile along both sides of the stream, which here has water enough
at all seasons of the year, is clear, with gravelly bottom. Here he and his family feel,
as well they may, content to work out their time earning a living and laying up a trifle
against a time of need. The old gentleman was laid hold of by the citizens of West,
after he had been here one year, and elected Supervisor. One year satisfied him,
668 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
however, and he retired on his laurels. He is a good farmer, and calculates he has got
enough for his four children (he has buried nine), so that each can have a good farm.
The land lies in Sections 2 and 11.
Gary Buford, Vice President of the First National Bank of Farmer City, owns
Section 3, a splendid tract of land. His children live on it.
Thomas Warton has a good farm in Section 33 — 240 acres. James Kincaid, 160
acres in Section 32 ; Henry Grizzell, 240 in Section 33 ; and William Scott, 80 in Section
28. These men have been here since about 1853, and have good improvements and are
good farmers. Corn-raising and stock-grazing and feeding have been the principal lines
of farming. Some years since, considerable broom-corn was raised, but this crop has
been discontinued. Some are now raising flax, but as there is no sale for the straw, it
is not very largely grown. Some small fields of wheat are seen, and oats receive more
attention. Corn and stock remain the staples.
RAILROADS AND STATIONS.
The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad was built by large local town-
ship stock subscriptions, in 1870. This township voted $20,000 subscription, and 10
per cent bonds were issued. The road only runs across the .southwestern corner, about
three-fourths of a mile, with no station in it. Empire Station is just west of the town-
ship line. Half of the bonds have been paid, and the balance come due in three and
eight years from now. West has never gone into any contest of the legality of these
bonds, and makes the best of what seems to have been a rather one-sided bargain. It
never has objected to paying whatever it agreed to, though a case may arise soon
wherein it may try titles with the railroads. She pays her taxes closer than any
township in the county. There are no delinquent taxes to be fought over in the
Courts.
The stock of the town in this railroad has been wiped out by the recent sale of
the road, under a decree of foreclosure, for $1,000,000, which, it is believed, is just
about enough to pay the lawyers for wrecking it and the enormous legal (and illegal)
expenses which follow such a proceeding in Court, and the back taxes due. By a
timely motion on the part of the Board of Supervisors, an order was entered of record
that no deed should issue for the road until taxes were paid.
The Springfield Division of the Illinois Central Railroad — formerly the Gilman,
Clinton & Springfield — runs across the southeastern corner about two miles. No bonds
were voted for this road. It was built in 1871 and 1872. The stations are Weedman,
near the southern line of the township, and Kumler, near the eastern. At the former,
Lee Watt is station agent. R. M. Ewing has a grocery store, and Mr. Bumcrots a
blacksmith-shop.
Capt. James Steele, from Menard County, is buying grain. He had been teaching
school for eighteen years, and camo here two years ago to work up the grain-trade. He
has bought about 100,000 bushels per year. The most of this grain is sold on track.
Halliday Brothers, o! Cairo, have been large buyers, taking the white corn to Cairo and
the yellow and mixed to Chicago.
The M. E. Church was organized here some years ago. This spring, Messrs*
Kissack, Hellor, Weedman, Steele and Reed were elected Trustees, and will build a
church on land procured from Mrs. Dodson this summer.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 669
At Kumler Station, C. D. Belleville has a store, Frank Rawlings a blacksmith-
shop, and Mr. Thrashor buys grain. This station is of recent origin, and not so much
grain is bought in here.
The Havana, Rantoul & Eastern Railroad, narrow-gauge, was built in 1878 (see
Empire for its history). About $7,000 were subscribed to the stock in this town. It
runs straight across the town from west to east on the half-section line, half a mile north
of the center of the township. Two stations are on it — Sabina, on the line between
Sections 20 and 21, and Delana, on the line between 23 and 24. No depots
havp yet been put up. Keenan & Barnum, two grain-dealers at Le Roy, buy
grain and have a grocery store at the former, and Gr. W. Snook at the latter. About
one hundred thousand bushels of grain have been purchased at the two stations this
winter.
This road was built as a matter of self-preservation to get lower freights and less
hauling. There seems to be a difference of opinion whether it has accomplished all that
was claimed, some asserting that grain has been from 2 to 4 cents higher in consequence
of it, while others say it is a great convenience, yet it has not increased the price of
grain to the farmer one cent. Of course, the men who put their money into it only
expect to get the return indirectly, and there seems to be little reason to doubt that it
will result in an increase of the value of the farms in the central part of the township
m'ore than the $7,000 invested in it. Very little but grain or lumber is carried by this
road, passenger traffic is light, and, as yet, no stock shipments. The grain is carried to
the eastern end of the route, where it is reshipped on to Wabash cars at a point fifteen
miles east of the Indiana State line.
In 1870, a vote was taken in West Township, which resulted in a donation of
$25,000 to the Decatur and State Line R. R. This road has not been built for reasons
very fully set forth in the Anchor Township article, and the time for issuing the bonds
expired by the terms of the act under which the aid was voted July, 1877, and it was
generally supposed that the subscriptions made in this and other counties had fallen by
these terms. An act of the Legislature, passed in 1877, extended the time for issue
three years. The plan for building this road has been revived, and it may yet trans-
pire that the towns which voted bonds will have to stand it or fight the matter in the
courts. The temper of the people of West is to contest it, and it is likely the chance
will be aflForded within a twelvemonth.
CHURCHES, ETC.
The United Brethren Church, on Section 2, was built in 1871. It is 34x40. The
men who were, in a great measure, instrumental in accomplishing the work were Samuel
Bright, Daniel Barnhart, Daniel Bean, J. P. Roby, Mr. Slingoff and Mr. Morris. Service
is maintained every alternate Sabbath. Messrs. Morris, Fisher, Mitchell and J. W.
Gilbert have officiated in turn since the chapel was built.
Mount Olive M. E. Church was built about 1869, west of the center of the town-
ship, through the active aid of the Clarks, Hamands, Grizzell and others of that denomi-
nation who live in that vicinity. A Methodist Church is to be built at Weedman the
present summer. The town still owns its school section, and has it leased and under
cultivation, waiting for higher prices than the present. Until Township organization, resi-
dents here used to go to Le Roy to vote.
670
HlrfTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Below will be found a list of the township officers elected since township organiza-
tion. It will be seen that Henry West was continuously elected Supervisor until his
removal from town, and that his son, S. H. West, has been retained in that position
much of the time since, though not usually in political sympathy with the majority in
the township, a tribute alike to the good judgment of the citizens and the wise and
valuable services of the Supervisor. Mr. J. B. Lewis, also, during the early years of
the township history, was almost continually in the official service of the town until he
removed to Farmer City to engage in banking pursuits :
Date.
1858
1859
1860
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
"Votes
Cast.
Supervisor.
Clerk.
Assessor.
Collector.
38 Henry West John Hamilton Rev. T. E. Wamsley.. John Weedman.
32 Henry West J. B. Lewis H. Croskey John Weedman.
27 Henry West J. B. Lewis H. Croskey John Chirk.
37 Henry West J. B. Lewis J. Hamilton Wm. Rosencrans.
48 Henry West J. T. Crumbaugh Louis Barnett D. Barnhart.
25 Henry West J. T. Crumbaugh S. H. West Wm. Rosencrans.
29 Henry West J. B. Lewis John Weedman J. Hamand.
52 Henry West J. B. Lewis John Weedman J. B. Lewis.
123 Henry West J. B. Lewis William Rosencrans.. J. B. Lewis.
92 Henry West W. J. Kimler L. A. Crumbaugh ...J. B. Lewis.
72 J. B. Lewis W. J. Kimler G. W. Snook J. B. Lewis.
90 J. M. Moon D. M. Dickinson G. W. Snook J. B. Lewis.
84 William Biggs H. E. Wentworth E. Barnhart J. B. Lewis.
140J. B. Lewis W. J. Kimler Samuel Healea John Clark.
126S. 11. West W. W. Hammond G. W. Snook Uohn Clark.
108 S. H. West D. M. Dickinson John Hamilton James Kincaid.
52 S. H. West D. M. Dickinson R. Robertson James Kincaid.
105 S. E. Clarno D. M. Dickinson R. Robertson James Kincaid.
178S. H. West W. J. Kimler R. Rocertson James Kincaid.
108S. H. West W. J. Kimler S. Healea JAlex. Daniels.
98 S. H. West W'. J. Kimler S. Healea Alex. Daniels.
The Justices of the Peace who have been elected are H. R. Coleman, M. H.
Cawby, William Rosencrans, George Hedrick, L. T. Delaplain, E. Dickinson, R. Rob-
ertson.
Commissioners of Highways elected are M. H. Cawby, S. M. McFarland. Isaiah
Weedman, H. Barnett, J. T. Crumbaugh, J. Hamilton, R. J. Rutledge. J. Oliver,
James Love. J. B. Lewis, D. Barnhart, H. Williams, John Clark, W. L. Drybread, G.
W. Snook, I. Beckelhammer, L. T. Crumbaugh, S. Healea, J. B. Savage, J. M. Hoff-
man, David Hart.
Some pages back, the confusion in regard to the Indian tribes was alluded
to, and the statement was made that that confusion was a very natural one, and
that the mistake which so annoyed Mr. Simeon H. West, in his attempt to rescue the
name of the primeval inhabitants of this town from oblivion, was not so much of a
mistake, after all.
The statements following are given on the authority of Hon. Perry A. Arm-
strong, of Morris, Grundy Co., who is the highest authority in all matters pertaining to
Indian history and tribal complications in this part of the State.
The Kickapoos, Pottawatomies and Miamis, more than a century ago, formed an
alliance, offensive and defensive, against the Illini, who were the first inhabitants of
this region of which history gives any authentic account. The Illini — meaning supe-
rior men — were a confederation of the Peorias, Moinguienas, Kas-Kaskias, Tamaroas
and Cahokias. In 1700, their great Chief, Chicago, went to France, and waS received
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 671
with the distinguished consideration which the French always showed the Indians, and
which was the secret of their success in deaUng with them.
Against this confederation the allies first-named above began a war of extermina-
tion,— probably coming here from the east, — which was long and eventful, and ended
in the tragedy of "Starved Rock," in La Salle County, in 1774, a year before the
beginning of the American Revolution.
This defeat of the Illini, who had held the prairie State so long, left the allies io
undisputed possession of a large portion of the eastern half of the State ; but, true to
their robber-like instincts, they immediately fell to quarreling over the conquest. In
this latter struggle, the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies were united against the Miamis.
To settle the whole matter, it was agreed that each contending party should select three
hundred picked men, who should meet each other in mortal combat, the contest to
determine on the result of the combat. The opposing bands met on the banks of
Sugar Creek, less than a year after the affair at Starved Rock, and by the terms agreed
on, the duel opened at sunrise and lasted till the going down thereof When the sun
set on this exciting day, only twelve warriors remained able to do battle, seven of which
belonged to the Kickapoo and Pottawatomie side, and five to the Miamis ; and the lat-
ter retired to their old homes east of the Wabash, which left this portion of the country
in undisputed possession of the two tribes, who amicably divided the country on the
line of the old Indian trail running near Oliver's Grove. This trail was distinctly vis-
ible until the land came into cultivation. When this boundary line was established,
the Pottawatomies retired to the Fox River, and the Kickapoos occupied this region.
The amicable relations of the two tribes were never broken, the former never coming
south of Rook's Creek, in Livingston County, which was not quite the southern limits
of their possessions. It will be seen that the two tribes were not only on very friendly
terms with each other, but were frequently together ; and, in all probability, the Pot-
tawatomie tribe has occupied the very ground which the people of West now cultivate.
The township might well have borne the name first suggested twenty-one years ago.
ARROWSMITH TOWNSHIP.
Arrowsmith Township was named by the Supervisors after Ezekiel Arrowsmith,
who was the first Supervisor and one of the early settlers. It contains thirty-six
sections, being a full Congressional township, and is known of record as Town 23 north,
Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian. It is almost entirely prairie, having
originally about one square mile of timber in Sections 31 and 32, where the eastern
extremity of Old Town Timber lies along the line of Arrowsmith and West, giving
to eich a little patch of woodland, which was so highly prized by those who first com-
menced settlement here. There was in addition a small bunch on Section 24, " Smith's
Grove," which hardly grew to the importance of being called timber-land. In its gen-
eral topographical appearance it is not unlike Padua, which is upon its western border,
having the same high ridges along its northern and southern sides, a trifle more elevated
and uneven, the well-rounded hills being a somewhat more prominent feature in its land-
scape, and the level of its valley being somewhat more undulating than in the former.
Under the head of Padua (which see), a fuller description of the peculiarities of the
^l
672 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Sangamon valley is given, which need not be repeated here. The Sangamon River, by
its numerous rivulet feeders, becomes a considerable stream in its course across the
township, although not large enough to make it sufficient for mill-power. The town-
ship is bounded on the north by Martin, east by Cheney's Grove, south by West, and
west by Padua, and is second from the eastern and southern boundary line of the
county. Owing to the lack of timber it had few early settlers, and correspondingly
fewer early incidents of importance.
EARLY SETTLERS.
So far as the facts in regard to the earliest settlement in this township are at hand,
it seems that the sons of Jonathan Cheney were the first to take up claims and live in
what is now Arrowsmith. The land around the head of the timber was attractive on
account of its grass. All around the old Indian fort, the blue-grass had come in after
the prairie-grass had been killed out. The first year of Jonathan Cheney's residence in
the county, he had driven his cattle here for late pasturage. Undoubtedly attracted by
this fine pasturage, his sons, when they began to look out homes for themselves, looked
this way, for, in 1833, two or three of them had taken claims in this township. Thomas
lived for a while in Section 31, where he had a little patch of about ten acres fenced in.
He did not remain on it long, however, as a few years after he sold it to Daniel Hall,
and joined his brother Owen, in Padua, in building a mill. He afterward went to Cali-
fornia. Cassel Banks, father of Marks Banks, of Padua, rented this land one year.
David Hall came here about 1837, and settled on this land in Section 31. Here
■h^ and his sons, Piyor and Daniel, built their cabins, and remained here until the old gen-
tleman died. Pryor removed to California, and Daniel, Jr., died here, his children
living around here. Their sister married Mr. Maurice. William Cheney took up the
land in Section 30 aboul the same time, and, in 1835, Abijah Westover came from New
York and bought Cheney's claim, and, in 1839, married a daughter of Aaron Hildreth.
About 1850, he went to California, and thence to Australia and returned, and finally set-
tled down in Johnson County, Mo. His wife still remains here, and keeps the hotel at
Arrowsmith, and is now the oldest resident of this township, having come here with her
father in 1836. Her daughter married Mr. Cundiff, and lives on the Mackinaw, and
her son Sherman is engaged in the grain and lumber trade at Arrowsmith.
Aaron Hildreth came here from Lewis County, N. Y., in 1836, and settled in Sec-
tion 31. He had three sons and two daughters ; one daughter married Abijah Westover,
as stated above, the other married Hillery Ball, of Cheney's Grove; both are still living.
The sons went West, and Charles married Miss Owens, and remained on the homestead
for many years, a prosperous and successful farmer. When he died, he had 600 acres
of land. Aaron Hildreth died here in 1851, and his wife in 18-49. A. C. Jones came
here from Ohio, in 1839, and settled on the line between this town and Padua. For
some years his residence was across the line on Section 25 of the latter; afterward he
Jived on this side of the township line. His daughter married Mr. Cline, who was the
first one to engage in business at the station here, after the railroad was built, and still
continues a prosperous merchant. Mr. Jones had five sons, who are all dead ; two of
whom died in the service of their country. He now lives in the village, a hale and hearty
old man, enjoying the advantages of a frugal life commenced in the privations which are
consequent on settlement in a new country. He has seen the wide prairie of Arrowsmith
, , __>,i^*a'«^':&i^>
J^f M
MONEY CREEK TR
<^L^
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 675
•changed into productive farms. Samuel Arrowsmith, the father of the present race of
that goodly name, came to this county with his three sons, Ezekiel, John and Henry,
and made his home a little west of the present town. Ezekiel came here onto the farm
he now resides on, in 18-12, in Section 30. He has 23(J acres of land. He was the
first Supervisor of the town, and is esteemed one of her best citizens. His house was
early the place of religious meetings in this part of the township, and his early interest
iu the prosperity of religion has not been chilled by the increase of his worldly interests.
All these were in the southwestern corner of the town, that being the first inhabited in
con.sequenceof the nearness of the woodland. St. Clairville was the voting precinct, and
these worthies, that is, the masculine and mature portion of them, had to go there to
develop the highest prerogative of the backwoodsman, to vote for " Tippecanoe," or
little " Van Van Van." Xo one of them in this " neck of the woods '" ever got a chance
to vote for Jackson.
The handiest mill to the settlement was that built by Thomas and Owen Cheney.
Others before them had put up mills, and used the common prairie bowlders, yclept
'• nigger-heads." The Cheney's were progressive men, and would have nothing but the
very best buhr stones. So they sent a team to St. Louis to bring them in. Chicago
could not furnish any such material in those days.
Mr. John B. Thompson, after his marriage in- 1841, made his home with his father-in-
law, and, some years after, his aged father gave up his home on the Mackinaw and came
here, and spent his last days with him. Mr. Thompson commenced selling goods at the
place which was known as " Nasby's Cross Roads " about I860, and for a time did a
large busmess there, selling $20,000 worth per year. He also kept the Lenox Post Office,
which had been kept by private families about there for thirty years. When Arrow-
smith village was begun, he moved his store and post-office here in 1873. Abram
Stansbery was the old mail-carrier, who long supplied the Lenox office and carried the
mail from Bloomington on horseback to Cheney's Grove and thence on to Danville.
One of the Indian burying-grounds of the Old Town was in Arrowsmith, and Mr.
Thompson tells how, for a long time, people used to dig up the Indian remains to get
the silver trinkets that were buried with them, such desecration being continued as long
as there were any trinkets to be found. Xo law was supposed to exist against this
resurrection, as under the old-time notion, this was the '-white man's country." About
this time, the settlement at Cheney's Grove on the east began to swell over the town-
ship line. In 1838,William Arbogast commenced afarm on Section 13, where he lived until
his death. Of his children, one, J. L. Arbogast, remains on the homestead which his
father made into a farm, the rest having found homes in Kansas.
Jacob Smith, who has for more than thirty years been recognized as a prominent
man here, having several times been elected Supervisor and frequently to other important
township offices, came into this township to live in 18-1-4, and took up the land in Sec-
tion 2-4, south from and opposite the Argobast place, where he now lives. He had
wandered around a good deal. He came to the Mackinaw Timber in 1833, with his
mother; went back the next year to Indiana. The next year, returned, and, a year
after, made his home at Cheney's Grove, where, for years, he worked the land of the
patroon until he saved enough to enter a little land of his own, when he came to his
present farm. He has been fortunate, rather it should be said, careful, in his matters,
though not as greatly prospered in his family as many of those hardy old pioneers who can
676 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
point to a dozen or more children and three or four score of grandchildren. Of his
seven children, three only survive.
Garrett V. Wall came here from Vermilion County in the winter of 1845, and
took land in Sections 19 and 20, in the west part of the township. He married here
and lived there thirteen years, when he sold out and went to Kansas. He returned and
has since lived at the village, carrying on his trade. He is a Mason, a man of large
information and good abilities.
Elias Owens, from Ohio, in 1848, bought a house of Thomas Martin near Le Roy,
and moved it to a farm east of Hildreth's, and Thomas Fry and Gabriel Stein came
into Section 19 in 1850. Owens is dead. Fry went to Old Town, and Stein to Mis-
souri. By this time, 1851, the passage of the bill to build the Illinois Central Rail-
road through Bloomington, closed to market all land lying between the west line of
this township and Bloomington, and, of course, every one who wanted to buy land near
the latter, then a growing young town, rushed into the towns of Range 5 in a hurry.
The entire town soon filled up. Its history from that time (except what refers to the
village) is a continued story of prosperity. The hills and the valleys send forth the
story of plenty, and the barns and houses show that the men of Arrowsmith have made
good use of the natural resources of this goodly land. There are many excellent farms,
a short notice of a few only can find room here.
John Marsh came here with little but energy and good judgment, about 1850.
He owns 700 acres of land near the head of the Sangamon, with good out-building&
and one of the best houses in town. He keeps about five hundred sheep and trades
largely in cattle, feeds a few, and raises grain. The farm is well watered and neatly
and successfully managed.
S. T. Bane, joining him on the west, also along the river, running up to the town-
ship line, has about six hundred acres with good buildings. He feeds cattle, and is a
good farmer, having as good a farm as one need wish for. He has been there about
twenty years.
John Slingoff has half a section in Section 34. He is a grain farmer, and with
several children whose help he uses, manages to work his broad acres well, and produces
some few thousands of bushels each year to sell.
A. C. Hazele, on Section 34, has a good grain farm, fair buildings and good sur-
roundings. He is a good farmer and good manager.
T. W. Maurice, on Section 21, has 240 acres. A nice grain farm with good
barn and comfortable house. He is a good farmer, thrifty, intelligent and successful.
David Hileman has 260 acres in Section 22 and adjoining it. Has lived on the
land from its first cultivation; is a clean, neat farmer; has good buildings, hedges, etc.
He is a public-spirited man and good citizen.
Philip Hileman, on Section 20, has a fine grain farm of 280 acres, with fine house
and good crops, almost universally.
Anderson Young lives in the village; his farm is just northeast of his residence.
One-fourth of the village was laid out on his quarter-section. Good buildings and a
good farmer. He has a very fine tract of land.
I. C, A. S. and T. P. Bane have 580 acres in Sections 3 and 10, fine rolling
land, well improved and well cultivated. They are enterprising, thriving, industrious
young men. They have been in the habit of working and trading together, but the
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
677
former, now married, concluded to be satisfied with his more recent partnership, as it
promises to be a success. They have dealt largely in cattle.
Sabina Sackett has a fine farm in and adjoining Section 17. He is a first-rate
farmer, has a nice house and says he is bound "to have one of them 'ere things" called
a barn, and is putting up one of the best in town. He has fed cattle some, but does
not make it the chief business.
Ezekiel Arrowsmith has 200 acres where he has so long resided, and is considered
one of the best farmers.
M. Pemberton, in Section 27, has a large farm — grain and stock; is also engaged
in buying and shipping.
James R. CundiflP has 136 acres in Section 27, with good buildings. He has five
acres of black-walnut grove now growing. They stand about one rod apart. He con-
siders them the best timber to raise on the prairie, especially on dry land, for the rea-
sons they grow quick, nothing will kill them out, timber very valuable, and the nuts —
when people become accustomed to them — will find good market. Mr. C. is a good deal
more than three-quarters right.
The town is usually Republican.
The following list shows the Township officers who have been elected since 1858,
the year township organizations took efiiect :
Date.
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
18791
Votes.
Supervisor.
54
81
97
73
96
56!E. Arrowsmith...
47i.James Ellis ,
....I.James Ellis
.... Jacob Smith
:. Jacob Smith
•John McDowell.
■ John McDowell ,
iS. F. Bane
W. Vanscoyoc...
Jacob Smith
W. Vanscoyoc...
W. Vanscoyoc...
LSSJP. Hileman
107| Jacob Smith
113iT. W. Maurice ..
95T. W. Maurice ..
11 8j John Marsh
139T. W. Maurice...,
129 J. A. Larimer....
170JJ. Robinson
173:R. Porter
183 T. W. Maurice....
98
93
Clerk.
Assessor.
A. Fenstermaker..
A. Fenstermaker..
S. O'Neal
P. Hileman
A. Fenstermaker.
A. Fenstermaker.
A. Fenstermaker ..
O'Neal
Fenstermaker,
Fenstermaker,
Fenstermaker
Fenstermaker
Fenstermaker.
Fenstermaker.
Fenstermaker 'Samuel 0' Neal .
W. Stansbery G. W. Rayburn.,
G. Barnes JW. W. Moore...
Robinson G. W. Rayburn
Robinson I Jam es Crosson..
W. Barnes iA. Brannaman
W. Barnes
E. Cline....
W. Payne.
A. Brannaman...
James Crosson...
A. Brannaman ..
M. Thompson |A. Brannaman .
W. Payne
W. Payne
G. Atherton .
S. Mills
C. Bane
A. Brannaman
A. Brannaman
J. M. Stipp
J. M. Stipp
A. Brannaman
Collector.
J. Fenstermaker.
F. Kimler.
P. Hileman.
J. F. Payne.
Hugh Birney.
S. F. Bane.
J. F. Payne.
James Crosson.
Alex Coss.
J. W. Barnes.
J. W. Barnes.
John Foust.
J. W. Barnes.
J. L. Arbogast.
W. W. Moore.
Thomas Clary.
S. E. Cline.
J. M. Stipp.
S. E. Cline.
A. H. Webber.
B. Cornell.
The following; gentlemen have been elected Justices of the Peace : Walter Van-
scoyoc, D. Gr. Tear, W. H. Thompson. Jeremiah Reed, J. R. Lewis, A. G. Barnes, J.
M. Thompson, James Crosson. And the following Commissioners of Highways : Isaac
Cornell, Jacob Smith, R. Porter, 0. H. P. Vanscoyoc, Thomas Fry, Henry Hickman,
John Marsh, James Cundiff, John Coss. H. R. Rayburn, R. C Watson, J. M. Green,
John Deutsch, W. C. Jones, J. R. Lewis, William Spencer.
At a special town meeting, June 3, 1867, held, according to notice, to vote
for or against subscribing $25,000 to the capital stock of the La Payette, Bloomington
& Western Railroad. The vote resulted : For such subscription, 76 ; against such
678 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
subscription, 12. A.t a special town meeting, February 19. 1868, to vote for or against
$5,000 additional subscription to the capital stock, the vote resulted, 41 for to 3
against such additional subscription. Ten-per-cent bonds, running ten years were issued
for this $25,000, and they are now just about due.
An election was held August 17, 1869, to vote on the question of giving $15,000
to the Decatur & State R. R., which resulted 23 for to 85 against such aid. The bonds
that were issued in aid of the L., B. & M. R. R. were issued before the road was built.
The terms upon which they were voted, included a stipulation that the road should
establish a depot in the town. It was agreed that there was no authority to issue until
such depot was established, and that hence the issuing was illegal. It was believed that
the three years' interests that was paid before such depot was established could be
recovered. A suit was the result, which, after costing the township a few hundred dol-
lars in the way of expenses, lawyers' fees and fee-bills, was discontinued, the Court
holding in a similar case that bonds were good.
ARROWSMITH VILLAGE.
Arrowsmith was surveyed and platted in 1871. Railroad communication was
opened in 1872. The land upon which it was laid out belonged to Mr. Young, Jonas
Fry, James Crosson and M. Ulmer — ten acres each. The men were required, or per-
mitted, as it were, to convey to the certain persons who had the care of the railroad
officials, land enough upon which to start the young town for $17 per acre, in order to
•get the station located in the center of township where it naturally belonged.
S. E. Cline put in the first pair of scales here, late in 1871, before trains were
running on the railroad, so that he enjoys the reputation of being the father of the
town. Cline and James R. Larimer at once commenced buying and cribbing corn. In
the spring of 1872, the switch was put in and depot erected. John A. Larimer and
Mr. Jones put up the first store north of the railroad and east of Main street. Garrett
V. Wall moved in the small house next north of the drug store adjoining his present res-
idence. W. H. Thompson moved his store in from " Cross Roads " in the beginning
of 1873, and continued to sell goods; indeed, before this time, he had quite a reputa-
tion for selling. The post office had been previously moved. During 1872, Mr. S. E.
Cline built the residence now occupied by him, and Mr. Wall put up the one now used
by him as a residence — both of these were on Young's quarter of the town. Mr. R.
S. Krum, brother and representative of J. R. Krum, grain-dealer of Bloomington, put up,
in the southwest quarter of town, the first residence that was built here, and about the
same time put up the small grain office which now stands in the rear of his present
store. He has been continuously in the grain trade to the present time, and proposes
to stay. No man has done more for the interest of the young village.
In 1873, A. B. Ives and Walter Vanscoyoc built the present large steam elevator,
40x50, which was occupied by Cline & Larimer. It has been in use ever since, and is
now in charge of Mr. Ives' son. Seth Mills moved his dwelling-house and black.smith
shop the same year, in from the " Cross Roads." He still occupies them, and has built,
since, a new .shop; and Mr. J. A. Larimer built a residence on Main street south of
the railroad. W. H. Thompson built a dwelling on Main street north of the railroad,
and W^ alter Vanscoyoc, who now lives at Saybrook, built one which he occupied for
some years. Mr. 0. G. Atherton, same year (1873) built the store he now occupies.
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 679
and put in a stock of drugs, books, etc. He has since enlarged the building to accom-
modate his family residence, and continues to occupy the building yet. Cline & Lar-
ioier put up the building now occupied by Cline as a store, and put in a full line of
general merchandise for a country store. Mr. Larimer, in the spring of 1875, with-
drew from the partnership, and entered into a partnership with Robinson, which con-
tinued until 1879.
In 1872, Levi Heller put up a wagon-shop, which he used for a year, and then
sold and built another. In 1873, Edward Wright built and occupied the " granger "
store on the corner north of the railroad, with a full line of goods, and, after a year,
sold to A. H. Webber, who still continues in trade there. Mr. T. W. Maurice, Jr.,
built the saddler's shop, and built a dwelling which he still occupies. August Mantle
built a dwelling, and in company with Peter Hileman, who built the store used .by them,
went into the hardware trade. Isaac W. Wheeler built the nice hotel in 1874, and
soon died. Mrs. Westover now owns it and keeps hotel. She is now the oldest
resident of the township. A. T. Ives has occupied the elevator since 1874. The follow-
ing is the business directory of Arrowsmith in the spring of 1879: General merchan-
dise, S. E. Cline, J. A. Larimer, A. H. Webber ; groceries and provisions, R. S.
Krum ; drugs, etc., W. H. Thompson, 0. G. Atherton ; hardware, tin, etc., August
Mantle; harness, T. W. Maurice, Jr.; restaurant, Milton Sharpless ; blacksmiths,
Seth Mills, John Mills; wagon-maker, Mr. Blake; grain, Sherman Westover, I. R
Krum, John Deutsch, J. R. Cundiff, J. R. Larimer ; elevator, A. T. Ives ; carpenters,
Nathan Hawk, William McDaniel, A. Lake; millinery, etc., Mrs. McDaniel, Mrs.
Jones; hotel, Mrs. Westover; physicians, 0. P. Paulding, M. D. Hull; Postmaster,
J. A. Larimer; station agent, R. L. Thomas.
The trade of Arrowsmith has been of a more permanent character and more gen-
erally prosperous than most of the new railroad towns. Nearly all those who com-
menced trade here have continued and are prosperous. Only one general assignment,
for the benefit of creditors, has been made in the seven years of business. Trade is
drawn from ten miles away, on the Mackinaw; and as a grain -shipping point, no station
on the line of this railroad has done more one year with another. Only two years in
its history has it been exceeded by any.
During the grain year just closing, the trade has not been quite as much as an
average. There has been an average of about 800 car-loads, of 375 bushels each,
making, in the aggregate per year, 300,000 bushels, 90 per centum of which is usu-
ally corn. Dealers here, as at other points on this road, find themselves compelled to
sell on the track, as the system of special contracts, given to large dealers, renders it
impossible for them to ship for their own account. Much of the corn goes to Cleve-
land; but the difference between the rate of freight which dealers here would have to
pay, and what those parties which buy of them here have to pay, would amount to 8
cents, which would "cut off the profits."
The village is neatly built, the houses being of a neat, substantial and inexpensive
character; but are, in comfort and taste, better than are usually found in new railroad
villages. A. H. Webber has, perhaps, the neatest one — one which was built by Mr.
Hileman — now deceased. Esquire Thompson and Mr. Cundiff have each very pleas-
ant homes.
680 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
WHITE OAK TOWNSHIP.
The township of White Oak is one of the most interesting in McLean County ; it
is the smallest in area — containing a little over seventeen sections of land — being a trifle
less than half a Congressional township. . Its population, in 1 870, was 5B2, 9 less than
shown by the census of 1860. At the present time, its population is probably about the
same as in 1870 ; but as most of the other towns in this county have gained largely, it
is doubtless true that White Oak now contains fewer inhabitants than any other town
in McLean County. It has remained about stationary ever since its land was all taken
up, about the year 1860.
White Oak Grove, from which the town derives its name, is a very large tract of
timber lying on both sides of the Mackinaw River, nearly twelve miles in length from
east to west and from four to eight from north to south. Very little of the Grove lies
in this township — barely a few hundred acres — the balance being in the towns of Kansas
and Montgomery, Woodford County.
White Oak Grove contains quite a number of romantic spots. There are several
picturesque views, more striking, perhaps, than any others in this part of the State*
A little north of the township line, in Kansas, may be found very high ridges, giving
fine scenery, while even from the high prairie rolls in White Oak, beautiful views are
visible. Indian Point, a little west of the Carlock farm, is an historical spot, the fav-
orite camping-place of the Indians. The Indian trail was plainly to be seen when the
first settlers arrived, and is still visible on the bluffs of the Mackinaw, a little below
Forneyville. This trail came from the Wabash, touched the north side of Cheney's
Grove; from there to Money Creek, not far from Towanda ; from there to Indian Point ;
thence to the Mackinaw, below Forneyville, and so on to Fort Clark, now Peoria.
There were other trails, but this one was very distinct and often traveled by the Indians.
The history of the township of White Oak is almost inseparable from that of the whole
Grove, and we shall once in awhile find ourselves on the Woodford County side of the line
without being aware of what we are doing. The northern part of the Congressional
township, of six miles square, forms the township of Kansas, in Woodford County,
while the southern portion is White Oak, in McLean County ; and the county line
between the two townships is such a jagged "struck-by-lightning" sort of an affair, that
we shall certainly be pardoned if we are on the wrong side occasionally.
The early settlers regarded White Oak Grove as one settlement, the later divisions
having been brought about in 1841 and subsequently, rather violently, or, perhaps we
should say, without the actual consent of those most interested.
It appears that settlements were not made along the Mackinaw at as early a day
as they were made in the southern part of McLean County. We find Blooming, Ran-
dolph's and Funk's Groves had each several families as early as 1823, while it was five
or six years before any are reported as being in White Oak. Doubtless this was owing
to the fact that the settlement of this State was then proceeding from the south toward
the north, and the early pioneers felt that the Mackinaw Timber was rather a frontier
settlement.
The pioneers of the other groves in McLean County preferred to live together,
being anxious to build schoolhousos and have the social and religious advantages of
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 681
•well-settled communities, rather than be scattered too far apart. Probably the presence
during these years — from 1823 to 1829 — of large numbers of Indians along the Mack-
inaw had something to do with this state of aifairs. These Indians were regarded as
friendly, but no one knew just how far to trust them. In fact, in 1827, troops were
-called out to protect settlers living north of the Illinois River, and it required consid-
erable courage to locate many miles in advance of a strong settlement.
The southern portion of White Oak Grove — that which forms the north part of the
present town of White Oak — must have presented an interesting appearance to the early
prospectors. Here was a magnificent body of timber, fronting upon a beautiful tract of the
finest prairie to be found in the State. A few miles in the rear was a stream well stocked
with fish ; while the Grove was a noted resort of deer, turkeys and other wild game of
the period. Here the pioneer might reasonably look forward to a long season of good
hunting, while he could, at the same time, avail himself of all the advantages to be
derived from timber and prairie adjoining in such large bodies that neither would be
likely to be at once taken by new settlers.
The correctness of this reasoning, so far as it relates to wild game has been provea
by the fact that two deer were killed in this neighborhood as late as 1874 ; while, at
the present time, White Oak Grove possesses wild turkeys and more game than any
other timber of Central Illinois, though the Mackinaw does not furnish fish as it did
fifty years ago.
Smith Denman, the oldest man living in White Oak, was its first pioneer. He
settled here in September, 1829. During the same year, Thomas Dixon arrived, and,
also, Littleton Sandford.
In 1830, Elisha Dixon. John Brown, Samuel and Robert Philips settled here. In
the spring of 1831, three brothers, John, James and William Benson, settled near each
other, on the south side of the Grove. A year after that, Abraham W. Carlock made
his home about one hundred yards west of the McLean County line, in Woodford.
During the same year, Zachariah Brown and Orrin Robinson made their settlement.
Reuben Carlock came in 1833.
Other settlers, also, arrived before this time, so that by the end of 1836, there was
a goodly number in and about the Grove. Some of the above-named should be cred-
ited to Woodford County. Several of the early pioneers had lived in other portions of
McLean County before taking up land here.
The Bensons were sons of John Benson, of Blooming Grove, and came to that
settlement with their father in 1823. They took a prominen,t part in the affairs of that
settlement. Their father is often referred to in its history. He taught school at the
southwest side of Blooming Grove several terms, was first County Treasurer of Taze-
well County and was one of Blooming Grove's best men. He removed to White Oak
in 1842. Here he passed the last years of his life — a remarkable instance of longevity ; he
died in 1874, having been ninety-six years old. He lived in the " Benson Settlement,'
with his three sons, his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren — 115 in all, most of
whom were living in the same neighborhood.
Mr. Benson was a genuine pioneer. He lived in Kentucky in his boyhood, until
1798, when his father removed to Southern Indiana. In the war of 1812, John Ben-
son fought with Gen. Harrison at Tippecanoe. In 1820, he removed to Illinois. He
was one of the best specimens of the early pioneers, having been a man of some
682 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
education, while he was, at the same time, a hard-working, industrious settler. His mem-
ory will be gratefully preserved by our community as well as revered by the large fam-
ily which he founded. His three sons, who settled in White Oak, were " chips of the
old block " — men most admirably fitted for the work they undertook. In fact. Smith
Denman, the Dixons, the Browns, the Phillipses, the Carlocks and all the pioneers were
first-class men.
Here was organized, naturally, at an early day, one of the pleasantest communities
to be found in the West. The early settlers were well-disposed persons, and their
descendants are of the same disposition. It is not saying too much to state that
nowhere in McLean County can its equal be found. The present generation is largely
made up of people who were born here or who have lived here from their childhood,
and they have nearly all fallen into the good ways of the settlement.
The town possesses five churches, with seat-room enough for more than all its inhab-
itants— something that can be said of but few towns in the United States. Its inhabit-
ants are mostly a church-going people. They are honest, moral, religious, social, eco-
nomical, are not in debt, have no paupers, do not go to law, are generous to each other
in misfortune, have no aristocracy, pay their bills — in short, form a strictly well-reg-
ulated, we might almost say a model, community.
Here we find, more marked than in any other town in the county, the simplicity
and good habits of our early settlers, uncontaminated by modern degenerate practices.
There are no large villages near enough to attract the attention of the younger people,
and they find amusement and sociability at home, and grow up purer and better than
would be the case were they convenient to a city. Besides this, we should mention the
fact that the population has changed less than any other, is made up more of the fam-
ilies and descendants of the first settlers, and is mingled less with foreigners than is the
case in most towns. Fortunately, the foreigners living here are nearly all of the relig-
ious, careful, economical class, whose manners and customs are largely in harmony with
those of the balance of the communitv.
The family connections of the Bensons, the Carlocks, the Browns, the Phillipses,
and those of a few others of the old families, form some remarkable circles of relatives,
living in good circumstances, moral — nearly all of them religious — bringing down to
the present generation the best qualities of the early pioneers of this county, they are
among the very best specimens of the " good old times " that can be found in McLeans
County. Their influence has affected the whole neighborhood favorably, and the hon-
esty and good conduct of the people of the township have given it an enviable reputa-
tion. " Little White Oak " is the favorite of the balance of McLean County. Its
history should be written with more care than we can give, as it abounds in most inter-
esting events. Unfortunately for us, we can devote but little space to the fractional
township now under consideration. We hope the history of the whole of White Oak
Grove, without regard to the present township lines, will be written by some person
who can do justice to the whole Grove.
The deep snow which came late in 1830, and stayed until February, 1831, found
only seven families at the Grove — Elisha Dixon, Smith Denman, Thomas Dixon, John
Brown, Hamuel and Robert Phillips and Littleton Sandford. Elisha Dixon arrived the
very day the snow commenced falling. There were over forty days in which snow fell,
and it was thirty-six inches deep on a level in the Grove. In some spots where drifts
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 68 S
formed from prairie winds, the drifts were from ten to fifteen feet deep. As none of
the settlers had been here over about a year, and most of them less than that, they
were not as well prepared as were those who lived at Blooming Grove and other old
settlements, and there was considerable suifering. This story has been so often told,
and is repeated so much elsewhere in this book, that we will give it little space in this
chapter.
The sufferings of this little band of pioneers, however, deserve more particular
record, it being almost the beginning of history, as far as White Oak Grove is concerned.
At the time of the Black Hawk war, in 1832, several of the bravest men volun-
teered in Capt. McClure's company, and served through the campaign. Among the
number were John Benson and Mr. Phillips, and there were several others.
After the news of the defeat of the troops from McLean and Tazewell Counties at
Stillman Valley, the whole of this region became panic-stricken, and there were fre-
quent " scares " along the Mackinaw, that in after days were often made sport of,
though at the time they occurred they were terrible. There was so much reason to
dread the Indians that a company was called out to guard the " frontier " of McLean
County, and they patrolled the " border" for sixty days, most of the time, however^
being farther east and northeast than the territory under consideration. The people
living a few miles north and east were much more frightened than the residents of
White Oak Grove.
Among the settlers who were in the township of White Oak, or in the Grove very
near the present township, in the year 1841. we find the names of Smith Denman,
Thomas Dixon, John Dixoo, Joseph Dixon, Elijah Dixon, Elisha Dixon, James Ben-
son, John Benson, William Benson, Silas Garrison, Reuben Carlock, George Carlock,
A. M. Carlock, Abner Peales, John Hinthorne, Samuel Kirkpatrick, John McGee,
Stephen Taylor, Isaac Allin, Richard Rowell, Frank Rowell, R. C. Brown, Jeremiah
Brown, Orman Robinson, Zachariah Brown, John W. Brown, John Denman, James
Phillips, Lewis Stephens, D. M. Stephens, Jared D. Franklin, John Hinshaw.
This indicates a very fine settlement for this early date, and shows us that th&
timber-land was probably all taken that was situated convenient to the prairie.
When the county of Woodford was formed, in 1841, there was great interest along
the border of the new county. The territory was all in McLean, but it was denied by
the latter county as well as by the persons who were engineering the movement for the
new county of Woodford. There is no doubt that all the district south of the Mack-
inaw River belonged naturally to McLean County, while nearly all its residents would
have preferred to remain. In arranging the division, however, it was found necessary
to adopt a line other than the river. We have two different accounts of the reasons
for making such a broken line as the boundary became. One is that the McLean
County managers, being Whigs, did not wish to endanger the small Whig majority of
the county, and allowed several Democratic families to remain in Woodford, taking just
enough Whigs to leave that party in the majority in McLean. The other story is that,
in making the division, the Democratic families preferred to remain in Woodford, which
was likely to be of their own faith, while the Whigs came as willingly into the Whig
county of McLean. Certain it is, however, that the residents of Kansas Township
have not remained satisfied with the county in which they live. Most of them, with
those inhabitants of Montgomery who live south of the Mackinaw, are in sympathy
684 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
with McLean. They trade mostly at Dan vers, Hudson or Bloomington. In time of
high water, they cannot cross the river to reach Metamora, their county seat, without
considerable trouble, though since the erection of a bridge at Forneyville, in Mont-
gomery, and one in the northern part of Kansas, they are much better accommodated
than formerly.
A majority of the legal voters of the town of Kansas petitioned the Woodford
County Board of Supervisors, September 12, 1873, to be annexed to McLean County,
giving good reasons for the change. Woodford County was not willing this should be
done, though McLean County would no doubt agree to the proposition at any time.
If a railroad is ever built through this township from Bloomington to Eureka, as
has at times seemed probable, it will render it easy for many of the inhabitants in
Woodford, who reside south of the Mackinaw, to travel conveniently toward their
county seat, while the White Oak people can much more readily reach Bloomington.
Within the last few years, the village of Oak Grove is starting up in the central
part of White Oak. W^e find there now the Town Hall, built in the early part of
1878 ; the post office, two stores, a hotel, a wagon-shop, two blacksmith-shops, a physi-
cian, and about twelve families are residing there. All this has happened within the
last three or four years, and the indications are very favorable for the building of quite
a nice little village, either with or without a railroad. The only wonder is that a village
has not been commenced here earlier, as the wants of the surrounding country will
easily sustain quite a town. There is no trading-place of any importance nearer than
eight or ten miles, and the roads are often so bad that the necessities of a farming com-
munity require towns much nearer together than we have had them in the past. Oak
Grove may be regarded as a permanent town. It will draw to itself most of the
elements from the rich surrounding country that go toward the formation of a village,
and will become a town of considerable importance.
Were we writing the history of the towns of Danvers and Montgomery as well as
of White Oak, we should give a sketch of the Rock Creek Agricultural Society, whose
remarkable success in establishing a well-attended fair, away from any town or village,
has attracted a good deal of attention. These fair-grounds are southwest of the town
of White Oak a few miles, but the citizens of this town take an interest in the insti-
tution.
White Oak Township was organized in the spring of 1858, the first election having
been held April 6, 1858. The name of the town was a fortunate selection, as thereby
this fraction of a township, the smallest in the county, has obtained a name that entitles
it to the historical record of the whole grove. White Oak has always possessed a large
share of influence in the councils of the county at large — much more than some of the
newer and larger townships have been able to secure. The town has had no debt,
or, if it ever bad any, it was only of a very temporary nature. In 1878 was built
a town hall, at the village of Oak Grove, White Oak being one of the few towns in this
county that can boast of this useful public building.
At the township election, April 1, 1879, Albert Wright was chosen Supervisor;
Samuel Lantz, Town Clerk; W. H. Wright, Assessor; James E. Harrison, Collector,
and Jesse Chism, Road Commissioner.
White Oak started its free schools in 1837. Reuben Carlock was the first Town
School Treasurer, and continued in office fourteen years. The first School Trustees in
HISTORY OP McLEAN COUNTY. 685
the same year, were Isaac Allen, Josiah Brown, Ormon Robinson and Elisha Dixon.
At first, there was but one school, which was attended by an average of fifty scholars.
It was seven years before the next school was started. At that time, the school matters
were managed in the school district of what is now the two towns of Kansas and
White Oak acting as one township ; at present, in White Oak alone. There are now
five school districts, though some of the support comes from adjoining towns. The
number of pupils enrolled in this township alone, in 1878, was 123. The total number
of children in the school was 144, being about one-third of the total population.
The amount of the township school fund was $2,858. The estimated value of the
school property is $3,150. The present School Treasurer is Samuel Lantz. The total
amount of money expended for school purposes in the year ending September 31, 1878,
was $1,410. White Oak is a very small town, and, of course, does not furnish large
figures, but we notice that if the children of Bloomington attended school in the same
ratio, it would require desk-room for at least 1,000 more pupils.
White Oak is a Republican town. In the olden times, it was a Whig neighborhood.
It is noted, however, for the spirit of toleration existing between the members of the
diff"erent political parties. This town sent a large number of soldiers to the late war,
several of whom laid down their lives in the service of their country. Could the full
war-record of White Oak be compiled, it would be of more interest than anything we
have given in these pages, and would show that its sous have been heroes in the cause
in which they volunteered. There are living in this township quite a number of the
veterans of the war, who are among its most respected citizens.
We have mentioned that White Oak is rather remarkable for the piety of the fam-
ilies within its borders, and we might state that, from its early settlement, this remark
would hold true. Religious meetings were started early, and at first at private houses.
The first sermon was preached at the residence of Mr. Smith Denman, by Rev. Mr.
Royal, a Methodist minister. The second was by a man of the name of Beach, a Bap-
tist, who also preached at Mr. Denman's. In the grove near this residence, a great
many camp-meetings have been held at diff'erent times.
The first church in the township was the Christian Church, at the edge of the
grove in the northwest part of the town, and was erected about 1850. A few years
after this, the Methodist Church was built near Mr. Denman's, at the edge of the grove.
Some time after, another Christian Church was built, about half a mile east of
Abraham W. Oarlock's. All of these churches are near the township lines, and as near
the county line, and quite a portion of their support comes from Woodford County.
They help give White Oak its good name, and we are glad they are on the right side of
the line.
A few miles south of the grove is the church of the Presbyterians, which is the
most central, perhaps, of any in the town. Near Winton Oarlock's is the Ml. Zion
Church of the United Brethren, making the fifth in White Oak Township. The total
value of these churches is over $10,000. They will seat more people than the
total population of the township, something that can be said of the churches of but
few towns in the county. There are a number of families of Unitarians, Universalists,
a few Second Adventists, and some members of other denominations in the township.
White Oak being a farming township, with only one small village, barely three
years old, has, of course, no manufactures. As early as 1833, one of its citizens —
686 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Thomas Dixon — built a mill on the Mackinaw, which did some service. This mill,
however, was not in this township. Some years ago, the steam saw and grist mill,
known as the " Western Mills," were built in the township, near its northern line, the
only manufacturing establishment in the township of much importance. They have
never proved very profitable.
We find the town of White Oak may be classed as one of the most prosperous of
any in this part of the State. When we make this statement, we include its moral,
social and financial condition, all of which are on a remarkably good basis. Our report
of its early history and present state may be imperfect, but we have endeavored to
make it clear to our readers that White Oak is, in every respect, a good town.
DRY GROVE TOWNSHIP.
Dry Grove Township was so named from a grove in the southwestern part. This
grove was long known as Dry Grove. Who first gave it the name, we do not know-
All the groves in the county were named early. The reason for calling this Dry Grove
may probably be found in the fact that it is on high ground, without any stream of
water running through it. The township bears the same name that was given it at the
first organization in 1857. It lies in the northwestern part of the county, and includes
one Congressional town. It is bounded on the north by White Oak, on the east by
Normal, on the south by Dale, and on the west by Danvers Township. It is known as
Town 24 north. Range 1 east of the Third Principal Meridian. As will be seen by
this the Third Principal Meridian forms its western boundary, separating it from
Danvers Township.
Besides the grove mentioned above, there is another in the southeastern part of
the township, called Twin Grove. These skirt the southern border, forming almost an
unbroken line of timber nearly across the southern side. On the north there is no
native forest; but the many clusters of forest-trees planted by the industrious farmer,
together with the orchards, give the countrj'^ the appearance of a woodland. This is
upland prairie. It lies in very good shape for farming and pasturing. A few flat
places where the water might stand, have been drained at a small cost. Corn and oats
are raised to a considerable extent ; hay and meadows are abundant ; stock is raised
largely. On the south side, along the timber, the products are the same with
some wheat ; but wheat is not extensively cultivated. The old settlers tell
us of the wheat raised forty and fifty years ago, but the country has undergone a
change since that time in regard to the adaptability to wheat-growing. This seems to
be the history of all new settlements. The black rich soil that one sees in passing
through this township, is enough to make an old farmer feel like stopping and going to
work. There certainly can be no discount on the fertility of the soil. One branch of
Sugar Creek takes its rise in this township. There are numerous branches of this
stream from the center, east and northeast. They unite in one and leave on the south
side near the center of Section 33. There is also a small stream flowing; northwest
from the northern part, and one on the west rises near the railroad, and flows in a zig-
zag course to near the northwest corner. The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Rail-
rfiad enters the township one- fourth mile west of the southeast corner of Section 35.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 687
It passes diagonally north and west through the township, leaving from the middle of
the west side of Section 19.
There is not now, nor has there ever been, so far as we know, any post office or
village within the limits of Dry Grove Township. The nearest was the old post village
of Wilkesborough, just across the line, in Danvers Township. There has been no call
for any such thing, its proximity to Bloomington being of more advantage than the
building of halt" a score of villages. The trains on the I., B. & W. R. R. do stop at
Twin Grove, when they have a passenger to that point, anc' there is a switch there
where farmers may load grain, but there is no station-house nor regular station.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The two groves on the south side of the township oifered as many points for settle-
ment to the pioneer. It is no wonder that these hardy, hunting men should select the
places that they did for their early eiforts at civilization. These woodlands are still
attractive. They are [on the upland. There are no marshes nor swamps in them.
The ground is rolling and soon dry after the rains. In early spring, the grass is seen
peeping out from under the leaves, clothing the woodland with a carpet of green before
the somber prairies put on their summer's garb.
The first to enliven the township with a white man's home, was Peter McCullough.
He came from Flemingsburg, Ky., and settled in the grove in 1826. Peter McCul-
lough was a noted character in early times. He was a man of remarkable shrewdness
and decisiveness. His son William McCullough is well known in the general history
of the county, both as an honored and respected citizen, and as a brave and efficient
soldier and officer. There are several of the descendants of Peter McCullough still
living in the county. He kept a kind of inn for some time, and many anecdotes might
be told in regard to the primative modes of entertainment.
The next man in the township was Stephen Webb. Mr. Webb came originally
from North Carolina, but moved early to Kentucky and then to Tennessee. From
Tennessee, he came to Illinois with William McCord and George and Jacob Hiushaw.
Their trials and hardships make quite a long story. The journey was made under the
most discouraging circumstances, and show hardihood, pluck and perseverance. After
reaching this country, some stopped in one place and some in another, Mr. Webb finally
locating his claim at Twin Grove, within the present limits of Dry Grove Township.
This was in 1827.
Mr. Webb has resided in the township ever since. He still lives at a place he has
occupied since pioneer days. He was born May 8, 1797, and is, consequently, getting
along to an extreme old age. He has a number of children residing in the county.
In 1828, Henry Vansickles came to Dry Grove. He was from Pennsylvania, and
came to the county and stopped at Blooming Grove in 1826. He remained a long-
time, but finally sold out and went to Iowa. All the family of children, except the
wife of Charles J. McClure, have gone to various parts of the West.
After this, settlers began to come in quite rapidly. It is not now possible to trace
them in the order of their arrival.
In 1830, we find at the Grove, on the west, a number of families ; Jacob Hin-
shaw, George and Reuben Carlock, Josiah Brown, Thomas Tanner on the south side ;
James Helford, Henry Vansickles, William Gilson, John Dixon and Peter McCullough
688 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
on the north side. Then, in 1831, there came to the same Grove Walford Wyatt, Asa
Hiitton and Abraham Hays.
In 1830, there were at Twin Grove the following families: Stephen Webb, Mat-
thew Harbard (who lived on what was afterward known as the Daniel Munsell place),
Landay Hurst and a Mr. Lucas. In the fall of the same year, George Beeler came to
the Twin Grove, from Butler County, Ohio.
Ormond Robison came to Dry Grove in 1832. He remained but a short time,
but moved to White Oak Grove in 1835. At this time, John Enlow came to the east
side of Twin Grove. He stopped on the prairie and went to farming immediately. In
1837, the MuQsells came from Indiana.
By this time, the settlement had increased to respectable numbers. They began to
leave off hunting and sports, and settled down to the ordinary routine of rural pur-
suits. Many of the earliest pioneers began to feel restless under the restraints of more
advancing civilization, and hied them away to the more congenial atmosphere of deer
and turkey, the wolf and panther, the Indian and buffalo.
EDUCATIONAL.
The citizens of Twin Grove and Dry Grove suffered all the inconveniences
usually experienced by the original inhabitants of any country. The few who dwelt
within convenient distances of one another were not, at first, suflSciently numerous to
support a school. So far as can now be ascertained, the first school taught in the
township was held in a log cabin on the farm that Jacob Hinshaw bought of Abraham
Carlock, when Hinshaw first came to the settlement. The teacher was Daniel Crooks.
His was, as all others at that time, a subscription school. The number of pupils or the
amount of money the worthy teacher received for his services, we know not ; but it
would not be in accordance with the spirit of the times to suppose that he more than
earned a sufficiency for family necessities.
It is probable that the first schoolhouse in the township was at Twin Grove. The
exact date of its erection we were unable to learn, but it was quite early in the history
of the settlement. The first teacher here was James Garten.
About the time of the building of the schoolhouse in Twin Grove, the progressive
spirit manifested itself at Dry Grove. The pioneers concluded that the private resi-
dence on Mr. Hinshaw's place was no longer sufficiently ample, commodious or dignified
to serve as the educational edifice of the community. It was not hoped that anything
superior to good, hewn, straight logs could be obtained, but there would be an improve-
ment ; so they decided to build. A meeting was held to decide upon the location.
Those on the west side contended that the schoolhouse should be in the middle of the
grove, as they were all settled around it in the edge of the prairies. But those on the
east said " No." They maintained that the greater bulk of settlers was on the east
side, and that there would be more discommoded by placing it in the center than by
locating it farther east. The west end people could not be persuaded to accept a com-
promise where they considered themselves plainly in the right. The eastern folks were
no less emphatic in their assertions that the west end minority wished to control the
majority, and bring a great inconvenience upon many. When it was ascertained that
neither side would yield, they split. One party built their house in the eastern
part of Dry Grove, and the others built theirs a little west of the center. During the
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 689
first winter, school was taught in both houses, but the division worked the greatest harm
to each party. Neither could keep up school afterward for want of the union that they
lust in building. This story is told illustrating the fact that sometimes the usual har-
mony of the frontier settlements gave place to local strife. It is not to be supposed
that the contest was bitter, or that any acted maliciously, but we do learn that men
then as well as now, would hold out for what they conceived to be their rights. The
first teacher in the center school was George Hopkins ; the first in the east end was
Daniel Crooks. Mr. Warlow tells many incidents of the school that he attended at Dry
Grove, some time after this, and taught by Milton Williams. This man had come to
the Grove quite early from Richmond, Ky. He afterward moved to Oregon with all his
fiimily, except Col. William McCullough's wife. Milton Williams taught at Dry Grove
for some time. He kept a loud school. Every boy and girl tried to see how much
noise it was possible to make, and those who have taught school know how great the possi-
bilities are in this direction, even in the ordinary school of to-day, where noise is sup-
posed to be at a discount. What a happy jingle those loud schools must have presented 1
There could have been no laws against whispering, for only the merest blockhead would
have attempted such a thing. The frequent command to " keep quiet," so common
now in every school, would have been out of place altogether. And yet, there is but
little doubt that he was
" In his noisy mansion skilled to rule,"
for the birch was applied without ceremony to all who refused the mild scepter of
" moral suasion."
Schools have multiplied and improved till now many neat buildings declare the
interest manifested by the people in education. Further details of the present standing
of school matters in the township may be found in the following : Number of pupils
under twenty-one years, 554 ; number of pupils between six and twenty-one, 370 ,
number of pupils enrolled, 241 ; number of schoolhouses, 8 ; amount paid teachers,
$2,241.03 ; total expenditures, $3,455.39 ; estimated value of school property, $4,450 ;
highest wages paid per month, $50.
Among the earliest of the churches was the United Brethren's organization.
John Dunham preached all over this country at a very early date, but we hear of na
organization in Dry Grove until after the arrival of David Mason. Mr. Mason bought
out the old schoolmaster, Milton Williams. Mason was from Ohio, and came about
1836. The organization of the church did not occur until two or three years after-
ward. A Rev. Mr. Davis was the minister that organized the society. For some time,
there were but few members, and the society was quite feeble, but after a protracted
efibrt by the Rev. Abraham Eccles, during which a revival of considerable importance
was gotten up, the society was more prosperous. Beside Mr. Mason, Mr. Harmon
Gillespie and Philip Rodcap may be mentioned as prominent supporters of the church.
The United Brethren built their church in 1850 and 1851. It was 24 by 36 feet.
It was put up by the members of the society. The only cash outlay was for such
things as must necessarily be bought. They hauled their own saw-logs to the mill and
had them converted into lumber, with which to build their church. From this fact, it
is not possible now to give the cost of this church. It still stands, and furnishes the
necessary conveniences for religious services. The society is not very strong at pres-
ent. Rev. J. W. Fisher is Pastor.
690 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
The Christian Church is the strongest at Dry Grove. It was organized by James
Robinson and Amos Watkins. They held their first meetings at the residence of
Samuel Barker. The house was a cabin, just across the road from where Mr. Snod-
giass now lives, in the eastern side of Dry Grove. These pioneer preachers lived on
Panther Creek, in Woodford County, and came down to this grove to preach, and start
a church, if possible. They were successful. This was in 1842. Belonging to the
first list of membership, we find the names of John Harbard, Abraham Staggers,
William Beeler, Samuel Harley, Stephen Webb, Francis Johnson, James Ward, George
M. Hinshaw and others. After the first organization, the church experienced a season
of inactivity. For some time, the cause was at a low ebb. But they revived again,
and built their first church in 1850 and 1851. It stood on the site of the present
church, and cost about $600. It was 30 by 40 feet. With the progress of the society,
this house became too small, and was replaced by another of more spacious dimensions,
in 1864. This building stands on Section 33, near the southwest corner. It is just
in the south edge of the timber. There is a neatly-cared-for and elegantly-orna-
mented cemetery in connection. Here rest many of the earlier settlers. This is a
frame house, 40 by 50 feet. Total cost of building and fitting up, ready for dedication,
$2,525. It will seat, comfortably, 350 persons, though there are often a greater num-
ber in it at one time. The present Pastor is the Rev. George W. Minier, who preaches
semi-monthly. There is a large congregation and nearly two hundred members.
There is a meeting of some kind every Sabbath, and a large Sunday school is kept
running most of the time, in connection with other services.
The Methodist Church, that has for a long time been of considerable prominence
in the Twin Grove neighborhood, was first begun in Dale Township. But it was soon
brought over the line. The first meetings, in Dry Grove Township, of this church,
were held at the residence of Blias York. The prominent members of the first class
were Elias York and wife, Elizabeth Rock hold, wife of Francis Rockhold, and a Mr.
Overton and wife. Overton was a son-in-law of Elias York. Prominent among the
early ministers were Robert McClun and old Father Goodheart. In 1837-38, there
■was a great revival among the Methodists, at this point. They were also joined by
the United Brethren, Father Mason being one of the prominent workers.
The church-building was erected in 1864. It was located on the east side of
Section 34, about one-half mile north of the township line. The original cost of
building, exclusive of inside fixtures, was about $2,100. It is 34 by 50 feet. At the
time of building, Rev. William C. Johnson was Pastor. They had just had an effective
series of meetings, and the church was in a prosperous condition for a country church,
there being more than a hundred members. Among these early members were Samuel
Brown, Daniel Munsell and wife, John Gillespie and wife, and Mr. Gillespie's mother,
Carlisle Munsell and wife, Mary Henry, R. E. Strimple and wife and mother, Thornton
McFee, William Derryman and wife, and Jacob Johnson. The first Board of Trustees
for the house of worship, consisted of R. E. Strimple, Daniel Munsell, Carlisle Mun-
sell, Samuel Sill, James P. Elliott, John S. Gillespie and Thornton McFee. The house
is a neat, country edifice, having been recently repainted and fitted up anew. In the
fall of 1877, it was moved from the old site one-half mile south, so that it is now in
Dale Township. It was moved to the Twin Grove East Side Cemetery. This cem-
etery is one of the oldest in the neighborhood. It is not under the supervision of any
:m::
-J//--
CHENEY GROVE TP. ^^y^
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 693
church organization. An association, bearing the name of the cemetery, has it in
•charge.
In the history of this church, there have been several stirring revivals. The one
of most remarkable results was that known as Berkholder's revival. This took place
soon after the church was built. There were more than one hundred joined the church
during those meetings. There were seventy received into full connection on a single
day. Lately, there has been quite an awakening, under the efforts of Col. Johnson, of
Bloomington, who is the present Pastor.
EARLY INDUSTRY.
The first settlers at Dry Grove had to endure the usual hardships for lack of mills,
shops, and such other enterprises of a public character that are always necessary for the
happiness and enjoyment of any community. The lack of milling facilities was felt
more keenly, perhaps, than the want of any other single thing. The great distances
which it was necessary to traverse in order to reach even a water-mill were enough
to discourage the most determined. During the deep snow of 1830 and 1831, all were
compelled to provide for themselves. The particulars of this ever-to-be remembered
winter have been so often rehearsed that it is needless to dwell upon them here.
It seems that this taught all to bo prepared to make their own meal. The usual sight of
the front .yard included a mortar and sweep for the pounding of corn. As nearly
all families lived in the woods, a mortar was generally made by chopping down a tree,
cutting the stump off so as to make it level, and then burning a basin from the top. In
this the corn was put, and pounded by a heavy pole with an iron wedge in the end, and
swung from the upper end of a sweep similar to the kind often seen used in drawing
-water from a well. These were common all over this country, and were made so by such
times as occurred during the winter of 1830 and 1831.
The first to erect a mill of any kind within the present limits of Dry Grove Town-
ship was Matthew Harbard. This was a horse-power "corn-cracker." It was on the
Daniel Munsell place. Here the farmers brought their corn and had it ground. They
had no sieves. The manner of separating the hulls from the meal was varied and
often unique. It was useless to bring wheat to these mills, for they " could not do the
subject justice." It is said that sometimes wheat was ground in a coffee-mill, if the
family happened to be so fortunate as to own one. Those were the mills that were
nailed to the wall. The next mill was built where King's mill now stands. It occu-
pied the old red building which still stands on the same spot. This was a saw-mill, and
was not erected until long after the early settlement. At a still more recent date, Mr.
Kino- built a large flouring-mill, with three sets of buhrs, at the same place. For some
time he did a large business. A few years ago, he took out his machinery and moved it
to Kansas. The building and the apparatus for sawing stood unused all the time. But
we learn that Mr. King has recently returned, and expects soon to have the mill running
again.
The first blacksmith-shop was operated, at an early date, by James Gilson, on his
brother's farm on the north side of Dry Grove. He discontinued the shop and left the
country after a short time. He was considered a first-class smith. Old Mr. Mason had
a large family of boys. A story is told by Mr. Hinshaw illustrating the remarkable suc-
cess Mr. Mason had in bringing up a number of hands to help him subdue the wilderness
cc
694 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
and make it •'blossom as the rose." Mr. Hinshaw says that in passing through the
Grove he came upon Mr. Mason and nine sons, who were all chopping on one log. The
father had taken his station at the butt of the log, and arranged his sons in the order of
their ages on the log with him. The oldest was next the father, and the youngest at the
top of the tree. These were all large enough to do good work, and enjoyed themselves
in a race to see who would be the soonest done. What a number of axes that man must
have had ! And what a serious time they must have had when they all began to grind !
WARS AND POLITICS.
In the Black Hawk war. Dry Grove was well represented. Col. William McCul-
lough enlisted as a private in the company commanded by Merritt Covel. His great
courage, spirit and daring are well known by all. James Phillips, Thomas Brown and
Berry Wyatt were under Col. McClure. Col. McCullough was on the battle-field of
Stillman's defeat, and there supplied himself with a gun which a hostile Indian was
wont to use against the whites. McClure's command did not reach the scene of action
in time " to save the day " nor participate in the flight. We are thus saved the pain
of chronicling any disaster to these men on that occasion. But they were in the field,
ready to go at their Captain's command, and the simple fact that they had no oppor-
tunity of dealing the enemy a heavy blow, should not detract from them any honors.
They went at the call of an emergency and left their friends and relatives, not knowing
whether the Indians would visit their home while they were gone, or whether their own
scalps would be trophies strung to some chieftain's neck.
In the war with Mexico, Dry Grove claims honors, too. Among those who went
to Southern battle-grounds, we learned the names of Benjamin Wyatt, A. J. Mason,
John Cranmer, Allin Palmer, J. S. W. Johnson and Thomas Johnson. These all went,,
and returned again unhurt by Mexican balls, and unharmed by the ravages of disease.
The call of 1861 met a hearty response, and, during the four years of war that followed,
the sons of her soil fought in many a battle and bled on many a field. Robert John-
son died in the hospital ; John Brooks died in camp ; ^Villiam Winn also died from the
efi"ects of disease ; Samuel Randall was thrown from a boat and drowned. If there
were others who offered their lives in support of a cause dear to their hearts, we were
unable to learn their names. There has been a goodly number of men in every one of the
three wars which have occurred since the first settlement of the township. May the
memories of the men who responded so readily at every call for the defense of kindred
and home, long be cherished by those for whom they hazarded their lives, and may their
deeds of valor be told to generations yet unborn.
Politically, Dry Grove has always been Democratic, until within the last few years.
But for some time, the Republicans have been in the ascendency. In township elec-
tions, party-lines are not so closely drawn.
ROADS.
The first road through the township was the State Road from Danville to Fort
Clark (Peoriaj. This was located by Robert McClure, Daniel Francis and a Mr. Phil-
lips. It is followed very closely by the I., B. & W. Railroad. It crosses the south-
west corner of the township, and is one of the most important roads in it. It is com-
monly called the Peoria road, and is a much frequented thoroughfare. All the overland
travel toward the West passes this way. It was on this road that Peter McCullough
HLalOKi" Of McL£A5 COUNIV. 695
kept his "way-side inn. Until the building of the I.. B. & W. Railroad, in 1870, a
re<rular line of coaches wae run across the country irom Bloomington west. Thk road
is kept in good repair, and, as it passes obliquely west and north, it famishes the shortest
route to points off in that direction. Another important road crosses the northeastern
comer of the township. It leads from Bloomington northwesterly. It passes obliquely
through Sections 24, 14. 11. 10 and 3. The road Ls thrown up, being pretty well
graded and drained, where draining is necessary. Beside these diagonal roads, most of
the section lines and some of the half-section lines are regularly authorized highways.
They are kept in good repair. There are many small streams in the township, but
these are nearly all bridged. Where the Peoria road crosses Sugar Creek they have an
iron bridge.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.
Before the adoption of the township - - r j. this lay in Bloomington and Concord
Precincts. The early officers were not distinct from the officers of those precincts. On
the adofjtion of this system, December 3, 18.57, Town 24 north, Range 1 east, was
called Dry Grove, and constituted a township for political purposes. At the first elec-
tion, held April 6, 1858, the following officers were elected: Supervisor. Elias Yoder •
Town Clerk, Alexander Forbes ; Assessor. Samuel C. Deal ; Collector. Abraham Harri-
son ; Overseer of the Poor, David Sill ; Commissioners of Highways, Eleazer MunseU,
< W Harlin. John L. Shorthouse ; Constables, William D. Harbard, Michael 3.
Sill ; Ju-tice- of th^:- P-;= ■ Mthlon S. '^\'i ^oa, Samuel H. Brown; Overseers of High-
ways, Simeon Lantz. J. Phiilij- l\ - ^ ]\I ;ri-»l!.
MOVEY CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Although Money Creek Township was settled very early, before there had been
any considerable settlement in what is now McLean County, and almost as soon as the
advent of John Hendrix to E'- ruin.' Gr-v.-. no villaL'es now dot its prairies r'T hover
along its streams. There is not evtn a j -t ffi-^r vrithin th- present limits ' f the town-
ship, and very little remains of Clarkivix.e. the 'Vur. place that has ever a-^c^uLu-jd the
dignity of even a hamlet.
Money Creek Township is located in the northern part of the county, being in the
second tier from the north. It is directly north of the center. It is bounded as fol-
lows: On the north by Gridley, on the east by Lexington, on the south by Towanda,.
and on the west by Hudson Townships. It comprii-es one Congressional town, and Ls.
designated. Town 25 north, Range 3 east of the Third Principal Meridian. The soil
is rich and productive throughout the greater portion of the township. The surface is
covered bv a cun.^iderable belt of timber. In the .southwestern comer, and from the
center, extending southeasterly, there are some fine prairies. There is, also, a small
portion of prairie-land in the northeastern comer. Money Creek enters the township
from Towanda at Section 32; after passing in a north, and slightly northwestern direc-
tion, it leaves in Section 18, but curves back east into the township again : finally leaving
between Sections 6 and 7. Mackinaw Creek CTOSses the northeastern comer of the
township, flowing northwest. It enters at the southeast comer of Section 12. and
leaves near the middle of Section 5. Along Money Creek and Mackinaw, there was,
696 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
before it was cleared *away somewhat, very fine timber for this country. The old saw-
mill on Money Creek did a vast amount of sawing in an early day, and there is consid-
erable timber yet. This accounts for the early settlements made here. This township
is also crossed by the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Raihoad, which enters at the south-
west corner of Section 33, and leaves at the middle of the east side of Section 1 3.
The principal products are corn and oats. Wheat is cultivated to a limited degree.
Hogs and cattle are raised to a considerable extent.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
" Old Louis Soward," as he is universally known among the few who remember
him, came to this country from Ohio. He was one of those jolly old frontiersmen who
enjoy themselves best away from the haunts of civilization. One to whom the trials
and vicissitudes of pioneer life were preferable to the restraints of more advanced society.
He was a great hunter. In those days deer were plenty ; they might be seen in droves
at almost any time. Turkejs abounded in the woods of the Mackinaw and Money
Creek. Wolves nightly indulged in their melancholy lamentations over the scarcity of
prey. Bees, too, were plenty in the woods. "Uncle Louis" was a great hand at
scenting bee-trees, and often brought home vast quantities of sweets for family use. He
was a great story-teller. Many of his stories are repeated around the firesides on Money
Creek, and many a hearty laugh is had at the ready wit of this early pioneer. Mr.
Soward had a family of four boys and three girls ; but with all the family, he left the
township at quite an early day, for the wilds of Wisconsin. The exact date of Mr.
Soward's arrival is not now known. It was prior to the settlement, farther up, by the
Trimmer family, and as they came in 1826, the Sowards must have come as early as
1825. It is thought by some that they came even earlier.
Jacob Harness, a brother-in-law of Louis Soward, came, also, from Ohio, and, it is
thought, about the same time. He sold his claim to John Pennell, another Ohio man>
and moved to Mackinaw Creek, in Lexington Township.
In 1826, Jacob Spawr, then a young man, took a claim on Money Creek. He
worked for Mrs. Trimmer, who was then a widow, and, in the fall of the same year,
married her daughter. His father, Valentine Spawr, came to the creek the next year.
The Spawrs were from Pennsylvania. Valentine Spawr had been a soldier under Gen.
Wayne.
In 1829, John Steers and the Van Buskirk family came to Money Creek. Van Bus-
kirk lived here until he died. Some of his descendants are still living on Money Creek.
A daughter married Mr. Henry Moats, and lives just west of the schoolhouse in District
No. 3. In the spring of 1830, Mr. M. N. Barnard moved in and bought Mr. Steers' claim.
In the spring of 1830, the Moats family came. Jacob Moats was born in Penn-
sylvania September 16, 1785. His father was a German, who came from Germany and
settled in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. When Jacob Moats was still a young man,
the family moved to Licking County, Ohio. They were all farmers. There Jacob
married Sarah Hinthorn, who then resided in the same county of Ohio. Miss Hin-
thorn was born in West Virginia, near Wheeling. When forty-four years old, Jacob
Moats started West with his large family of nine children. It took five weeks to reach
the Big Grove. Here they stopped for a time. They rented a house of David Smith,
who afterward moved to Smith's Grove, in Towanda Township.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 697
In coming West, there were several families in the train with which the Moats
family came. From the Big Grove they were accompanied by Jesse Havens. They
came to Hudson first, where Havens bought out Baily, Harbert and Moats, another of
the Harberts. This was in the fall of 1829. But spring found the Moats family on
Money Creek. From here they never moved, and the family of children grew to man-
hood and womanhood in this neighborhood.
The old Mr. Spawr had sold his claim to Jacob Moats, and on this he lived until
his death, in 1844. Of his nine children, four died in the fall of 1840. They all died
within a short time. None of the doctors were able to understand the disease or arrest
its fatality. Three girls and one boy, ranging in age from sixteen to twenty-six, were
carried away within four weeks. Two others were taken with tjie same disease, but
recovered. One other brother died afterward. The remaining four children married
and settled on Money Creek.
Henry Moats, the oldest of the family, is now the oldest old settler living any-
where in this part of the country. The Moatses have always been an important ele-
ment in society, taking the lead in church maiters, and giving liberally of their means
to the support of whatever they considered beneficial to the neighborhood.
In 1830, Jesse Stretch and Benjamin Ogden came to the settlement, from Ohio.
John Ogden came in 1832, and stopped down on the Mackinaw. Benjamin Ogden
bought out Louis Soward.
Among the others that came, in a short time, may be mentioned Dr. Ethan McAf-
erty, who came from Ohio and began in the forks of Money Creek and Mackinaw ;
William Wilcox, from the same State, who went to the same neighborhood ; John R.
Wiley, William Young, and a number of others. Id 1836, the Bishops came. Will-
iam G. Bishop held the first post office.
The early settlers went for their mail to the town of Mackinaw, now in Tazewell
County. After they had gone such a long distance, they had to pay 25 cents for each
letter. The post office was pretty soon established at Bloomington, and then they were
somewhat relieved, for the post office was not more than fifteen miles away. Finally,
there was a mail-route established from Ottawa to Springfield, by way of Bloomington,
and Money Creek received an office, being on the route. The mail was carried on
horse-back, the carrier making one round trip a week. When Mr. Bishop gave up the
office, and Mr. Moore, of Towanda, was appointed. Money Creek lost the only post
office she ever had, and she has never been able to get another. But she does not need
it. Hudson, on the west, Lexington, on the northeast, and Towanda, on the south, fur-
nish all the necessary facilities.
CLARKSVILLE.
Abour forty-five years ago, James Clark laid out the village of Clarksville. There
was an effi)rt made to establish a village, and at one time it was thought that Clarks-
ville would become a flourishing town. It was located on the north side of Mackinaw
Creek, in the northeastern part of the township. The town was finally abandoned. A
few dwelling-houses and a church are all that is left to mark the spot.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
was taught in a house erected for school purposes, about forty-five or forty-six years
ago. This house was built of logs. For windows, it had openings — where a log had
698 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
been cut away. These were covered with greased paper. During the long winter-days,
these semi-transparent slits furnished all the light from without. Whenever the huge
log-fire could be made to burn with sufficient brilliancy, it may be supposed that the
youth suifered nothing from want of light. But, unfortunately, this was seldom the
case. The chimney was built of mud and sticks, and it failed to " draw." Mrs. Henry
Moats, who was then a young girl of thirteen, tells us that the memory of that old
house is terrible. The first winter in it was one of absolute suflfering. The fire-place
would " smoke " so badly that the schoolroom was continually filled with it. Their eyes
grew red, they caught bad colds, and their heads would ache continually. They suflPered
from cold, too. Slabs, hewed from logs, served as seats.
The first teacher was Lindsey Scott. He came from Tazewell County, near Pekin.
What he received, we were unable to learn ; but one thing is certain — be got his board,
for he " boarded round." As near as can be remembered, he had twelve to fifteen
scholars. These, at $4 per scholar, for three months, would give $48 to $60 for the
term, beside his board. This is probably somewhere near the actual facts. It must be
remembered, farther, that those were the days when the teacher began school as soon as
he reached the house in the morning, and closed only when the approach of night
showed that the children must be going or that darkness would overtake them on the
road. The Testament and spelling-book were about the only texts in general use. Those
who aspired to a knowledge or " 'rithmetic," generally had a book ; but grammars and
geographies were unknown. This first schoolhouse was located on the east bank of
Money Creek, in the midst of the earliest settlements.
The old log schoolhouse has long since passed away. The children who went to
school in it are now old men and women, or have passed away with their early teacher.
New and more inviting buildings now furnish comfortable apartments where the young
people can delve into the mysteries of science, or puzzle themselves over mathematical
questions, without danger of freezing or having their eye-sight impaired for want of
light. Schools are generally in a good condition, and the people take a just pride in
sustaining them. Some of the leading facts in regard to the educational work of the
township may be learned from the following : Number of children under twenty-one
years, 583 ; number of children between six and twenty-one years, 394 ; number of
scholars enrolled, 302 ; number of schoolhouses, 7 ; number of school districts, 8 ;
amount paid teachers, $2,511.31; total expenditures, $3,702.40; estimated value of
school property, $3,900 ; highest wages paid, $60.
CHURCHES.
The first preaching on Money Creek was by Isaac Messer, a local preacher, belong-
ing to the church of the United Brethren in Christ. The meetings were held at the
residence of Mr. Valentine Spawr, who was noted as coming to Money Creek in 1827.
Peter Spawr — a son of Valentine Spawr — had married one of Mr. Messer's daughters,
and in that way Mr. Messer became acquainted on Money Creek. For a long time, he
made semi-monthly visits to these parts, and gathered the people together to hear the
preaching of the Gospel.
A society of about a half dozen United Brethren was formed in 1832. Prom-
inent among these were Jacob Moats and wife, and Jesse Havens and wife. The Rev.
John Dunham organized the class. After the organization was effected, meeting was
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 699
Tield at the residence of Jacob Moats, until the building of the church in 1856. The
first regular circuit preacher was James P. Eckles. In 1856. the United Brethren built
^ neat, substantial church. It is located about one-third of a mile north of the south-
east corner of Section 30, and still serves as their, place of worship. The Moatses are
among the strongest members. It is largely due to their influence, that the church
was built where it is ; and their means have been the principal source of support.
The Methodists had an organization in working order, as early, perhaps, or nearly
so, at least, as that of the United Brethren. Jacob Spawr and wife, and old Mrs.
Trimmer, with her son David Trimmer, were the prominent members, and the only
ones, so far as remembered now. Jacob Spawr's residence was the usual place of meet-
ing. James Latta, a Methodist preacher, held meetings there as early as 1830.
They built a church one-quarter of a mile east of the present schoolhouse, in Dis-
trict No. 3, but after the village of Towanda sprung up, they abandoned it, and united
■with those farther south in building a new church in the village. The old building
•was sold and used for other purposes.
The first members of the Christian Church, of any prominence, were M. N. Barn
ard and Young Bilbrey. Preaching was held at each of these men's houses. Their
first preacher was James Robinson. He preached here as early as 1835, and has con-
tinued his services, semi-occasionally, ever since. The Christians built a church in
1857, the next year after the building of the United Brethren's Church. This sub-
stantial country church is located on the southeast corner of Section 20. The Christians
have quite a large membership. The Rev. Ebenezer Rhodes assisted them in the
building up of their society. The Christians, Methodists and United Brithren are the
principal denominations in the township. If there are others, we were unable to learn
anything in regard to them. Taking the township as a whole, the United Brethren are,
probably, the most numerous. They have three organized classes — one at Hefner's
schoolhouse, another has a church at the old site of Clarksville, and the other meets in
their church, just north of Towanda. The Methodists and Christians are by no means
scarce.
PROGRESS.
The people on Money Creek manifested the true spirit of progress. They built
schoolhouses and churches. They erected mills and secured a post office ; and if they
built no towns, it was not for the want of an attempt. Mr. Pennell and Mr. Baylor
ran the saw-mill, just across in Towanda Township, and George Wallace built a flour-
ing-mill on the Mackinaw. When this mill was built, they had an old-fashioned " rais-
ing." Those were the days when the jug went around, and everybody indulged. They
had a fine time, but no one became intoxicated. This mill was like its neighbors, it
•depended upon the force of the running stream for its power. It was near the site of
•Clarksville, and was built about 1836. But when dry weather came, the neighborhood
-was compelled to go ofi" long distances to mill. Sometimes they went down to the
Murphy mill, on Kickapoo, and sometimes they were compelled to go all the way to
Ottawa. Wallace gave up the mill to a Mr. Denson. Denson died with the Asiatic
cholera in 1855, and after this, the mill went down, and nothing has been heard of it
since.
Jacob Spawr was made Justice of the Peace. Justices had but little to do in
'.those days. Lawsuits were seldom carried on, and marriages were necessarily few.
700 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
WAR AND POLITICS.
We found no soldiers that were in the Black Hawk or Mexican wars. In the early
days, the settlers were often badly scared by rumors of danger, but farther than this,
they were not disturbed. In the late war. Money Creek furnished her quota of men.
They oflFered a number of brave men on their country's altar. Among those who were
killed on the field of battle, were the following: Arthur Busick, John Kriger, James
Arbuckle, Davidson Dodson, and two persons of the name of William Trimmer. Ques-
nell Rayburn and Joseph Stretch died of disease contracted while in the service of
their country.
In the first settlement of this country, the two parties were Democrat and Feder-
alist ; then came the Whigs, and later the Republicans. In early times, the township
was Democratic. Latterly, it has been pretty evenly balanced between the Democrats
and Republicans. Within the last few years, quite a number have joined the National
Greenback ers.
MURDER.
Two and a half miles northeast of the village of Towanda, but within the limits of
Money Creek Township, there was found, one morning in October, 1876, the body of a
man, in the field of James Donohue, about forty rods from the railroad. The body
was first discovered by Mrs. Strode. She thought it was a " tramp " asleep, and so
reported the matter at home. The boys went out and found the man dead, lying on his
face. They reported, and immediately sent for Coroner Hendricks. Dr. Smith, of
Bloomington, held the post-mortem examination, and found that one ball had entered
behind the jaw, and passed back of the trachea, down below the heart. Another ball
had passed through the body just below the ribs and toward the left side. An examina-
tion of the skull showed a fracture on the back, as though he had been struck with the
breech of a pistol. There was also a mark on the skull at one side, and a piece gone from
the ear, which went to prove that the man had been struck. From papers on the body, it
was found to be that of Albert Anglen, He was from Grafton, W. Va. He had let-
ters in his pocket from a young lady in Flora, Colo. It was ascertained that he had
been an exemplary young man, and had been respected by all of his acquaintances.
With the body was found a pair of boots, lying to one side, that he could not have
worn. These were recognized by a shoemaker at Shippey, 111., as being a pair that he
had mended for Karl Klusty, a Bohemian. Klusty and Anglen had been working at
Shippey. They had passed through Towanda a few days before, and it is supposed that
the Bohemian murdered the young American for his monej'. The revolver probably
belonged to the American and was snatched away from him while his attention was
drawn toward something else. The men had slept over night at a straw-stack near. A
great many arrests were made, but none proved to he the man sought. Quite recently,
it has been ascertained that Karl Klusty has arrived in Bohemia, and is there under
arrest, where it is hoped that he will meet with the punishment he so justly deserves.
HIGHWAYS.
In the early history of this settlement, Indian trails were the only roads. There
was a very prominent trail passing through the settlement, which connected the Wabask
with the Illinois. Indian paths, of course, followed the most direct and convenient
course. The first road made by white men did the same. Many of these became
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 701
regularly-established highways, and, as a result, we find the township crossed in all direc-
tions by roads that follow section or half-section lines but little. In townships that are
composed of prairie-lands almost wholly, we naturally look for roads on every section
line, but, where there has been a considerable amount of timber, it is not so. Accord-
ingly, we find a number of section lines that are not authorized highways.
The principal road through the township is the Lexington and Bloomington road.
It enters the township from the southwest, with the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Rail-
road. Afterward, it passes a short distance north, and then one mile east ; thence one
mile north and one-fourth mile west ; thence one-half mile north ; after that, one and
one-half miles east ; one and one-fourth miles north again, and from this point, in a
northeasterly direction, through the remainder of the township. Another much-traveled
road, is the one leading north from Towanda village. It follows the section-line between
Sections 31 and 32 and 35 and 29 ; here it meets the road extending across the town-
ship, on the north side of the second tier of sections, from the south.
A strangely-zigzag road passes north, through the second tier of sections, from
the west. It extends through the township, and though it makes many turns, it never
passes outside of the second tier of sections.
There are a number of oblique roads, the most noticeable being the following : A
road, beginning one-fourth mile north of the southwest corner of Section 15, and
extending northeasterly, crossing a branch of the Mackinaw on an iron bridge ; a road
beginning at the southeast corner of Section 2, and passing partly in a zigzag course,
and partly in a northwestern direction, through the old site of Clarksville, to the north-
ern line ; from the iron bridge on the branch of the Mackinaw, first due north three-
fourths of a mile, and then in a zigzag and oblique direction to the northwest.
Although the roads of Money Creek are thus seen to cut the farms in many places,
they furnish shorter routes to market, and any inconvenience is thus overcome by a
positive benefit.
The origin of the name Money Creek, is shrouded in mystery. There are two
theories afloat, that we hear of —
" Ever since the days of Capt. Kidd,
The Yankee thinks there's money hid,"
and ever since the oldedt settlements, there has been a legend afloat in regard to the
hiding of some money at Smith's Grove, by some one, who died and left it buried
there. It was told how great wealth might possibly be found there. As this story
was circulated very early, it may have given rise to the name as applied to the creek.
Again, it is said that some Indians found a piece of money along the creek, and
gave it the name of Money Ci'eek, from this fact.
DOWNS TOWNSHIP.
Downs Township occupies, in the southern tier of townships, the fourth from the
eastern border of the county, and is described as Town 22 north, Kange 3, and the
northern two tiers of sections of Town 21 north. Range 3 east of the Third Principal
Meridian. Downs was principally a prairie town, having no timber except Diamond
Grove, a small collection of timber on the Kickapoo, in Sections 5, 6 and 7, and
702 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
skirting of " Old Town Timber," along the northern border of Sections 1, 2 and 3, and
" Johnson's Point," a small grove in Section 25 — covering in the aggregate scarcely
four sections of the forty-eight which constitute the town.
The Kickapoo is the only creek in Downs, running for about three miles across its
northwestern corner. " Blue Branch " and " Jacoby's Branch " run through the
town, and the Long Point Creek, a branch of the Kickapoo, forms in the southern
part.
The land in the northern half is high and considerably rolling, containing some of
the finest farms in the county. The southern portion is more flat, and contains fewer
which attract the pleasureable attention of the traveler.
The timber here was good, and several mills were built early along the Kickapoo for
sawing it into lumber. Before any mills were built, the hardy pioneers whittled out
the first lumber with whip-saws, a process slow enough, and so gone out of date in this
part of the country that many of the readers of these pages will wonder what whip-
sawing is. The log to be sawed was first hewed to a partial square, so that it would
remain in position and could be lined with a carpenter's line, and then raised upon a
frame erected for the purpose, high enough for one of the sawyers to stand erect under
it; a pit was dug deep enough so that the '• man below," or pit-man, could do his work
without inconvenience. The saw was not unlike a common cross-cut saw, except, of
course, the teeth, which were set for rip work. One man stood on the log, and one
underneath, the pit-man being obliged to cover his face with a silk hankerchief, or some
similar covering, to prevent the sawdust from ruining his eyes. The sawyers were
obliged to follow the lines, and it required no small amount of skill to make very decent
boards. Two hundred feet a day (board measure) was a big day's work for two men,
about what a good mill will cut in ten minutes. Still, this is the way our fathers made
their first lumber, and the way still practiced in boat-yards and in countries where tim-
ber is so scarce that there is no demand for mills.
In 1868, under the pressure of the popular railroad arguments, Downs voted
$10,000 stock in the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad. The road was
built, and runs, for about five miles, across the northeast corner of the township, from
northwest to southeast, cutting Sections 5, 4, 10, 11 and 13. The station on Section 4
is the only railroad station in town.
This road was recently sold out under foreclosure of mortgage, and the stock-
holders get nothing for their stock. The Court, however, found a way to allow law-
yers' fees, amounting to $32,000, for their labors in cleaning the stockholders out. The
records of the township do not show that the lawyers have yet " declared a dividend "
on the stock owned by Downs.
There were several mills put up on the stream ; none of them lasted a great while,
though. The difficulty was to get a dam which would stand the pressure of spring
freshets and the rainy season.
John Eice had a mill which, by constructing a long " race," had about seven feet
fall. It was built about 1840, and had the old-fashioned " flutter " wheel and gate.
Hon. John Cusey run this mill for some time. He says that he has sawed as high as
four thousand feet in twenty-four hours, though this was far above the average capacity
of the mill. It was customary to saw logs for the half, or small lots for 50 cents per
hundred feet. Much of the lumber went to build Bloomington, and some of the houses
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 703
stand there yet. In the absence of pine, which now forms every portion of the houses
built, the buildings were made entirely of hard wood — home-sawed lumber. The clap-
boards and casings were of black-walnut, the frame of oak, hewn out, and the joints,
braces, etc., sawed. No " balloon " buildings were built in those days. The floors were
ash, and the lath either bass wood or oak, split with an ax by laying the pieces on a
plank, so that the entire board would hang together when put on the wall, and separated
to the required distances by driving wedges in until they were nailed. The shingles
■were of oak or black-walnut, shaved. Such shingles, if properly laid, would last forty
years, or until they were, Hke the " Deacon's Masterpiece," worn out.
Severe Stringfield had a grist-mill further down stream, near the southwest corner
of Section 5. It was built about 1831. It was about 16x20, one story high, and had
a water-head of about five and one-half feet. The stones were home-made, being eut
out of the bowlders found here on the prairie. They were little more than two feet in
diameter, and did very good service. The lower one, since it has ceased to do service
as a " nether mill-stone," is serving its generation as a door-step for H. C. Bishop's
house. What service it will next see is not for the historian to undertake to say.
Elder Elijah Veatch put up a mill, about 1840, on the same stream ; and some
genius, whose name even has departed from memory, started a pottery about the same
time. It was not a success, however. It was on Section 17, on the Jacoby branch.
The township took its name from Lawson Downs, who came here from White
County — though originally from Tennessee — in 1829, and took up a claim at "Diamond
Grove," on Section 6, some years before the land here came into market. He afterward
entered this land, and left it to his children. He was here during the deep snow, and
endured the hardships of that terrible winter, when he had to dig his sheep out of the
snow, hunting them as the boys do ground-squirrels, by their holes. He served, under
Capt. Covell, of Bloomington, in the Black Hawk war for thirty days. He was mar-
ried, in 1836, to Sarah Welch, by whom nine sons were born, six of whom grew up to
manhood. His life was devoted to farming, and received the reward which industry
and frugality brought to those who turned the wild places into farms. He died in
1860, at the age of fifty-one, honored and respected by his neighbors.
Henry Jacoby took up a claim here about the same time, and was for years a
neighbor of Downs. These early adventurers did not find all the conveniences here
which would make life pleasant. The hunting was better than now, but all those things
which are now thought to be necessaries were wanting. Money was so scarce that it
was hardly talked of as a commodity. In place of the short-horns and Berkshires,
which you see now in every pasture and feed-yard in this magnificent county, were the
black, brindle, piebald, polled, streaked and speckled cattle which, for want of a name,
we usually call natives. They were as uneven in quality as variegated in colors, and
lacked all the finer beef-qualities for which their successors, the short-horns, are so
famous. They answered the purposes for which they were wanted, however, perhaps
full as well, perhaps better, than the present popular breed would have done. The
working cattle were lively, and endured fatigue and heat well ; and even after they were
fatted, they stood the long drives, which the then system of marketing demanded, much
better than the cattle of the present day would. They could hardly have been called
"handsome, but they were in all ways the main help and chief profit of the farmer. As
much can hardly be said of the wind -splitting prairie-rooters that were the only hogs
704 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
then known in these parts. But then, they were hogs, and did not like to be trifled
with. They lived on roots and nuts, and could outrun a horse. When the farmer
went to feed them, he put the corn where he was sure the contrary fellows would find
it ; and if he had tried to call them with that long, sonorous, half-shout and half-groan
now in use to bring hogs to their feed, the chances are decidedly that he would have
scared them out of the timber, and might never have seen them. But they were
handy to drive, as men had to drive hogs in those days. The breeds of hogs which
farmers now raise and feed never would have stood the trips to Chicago and Galena that
those " timber hogs " did.
Thomas Toverca came here from Randolph, about 1830. A short notice is given
of him in the accompanying history of that township. He was one of those charac-
ters that the rapid march of civilization is fast abolishing. He had served under Gov.
Edwards in the early Indian difficulties in this part of the State ; and in the expedition
to which he was attached, an engagement had taken place at the crossing of the
Wabash River. Later, they were driven from Old Town Timber, at the place where
the early white settlers, a few years afterward, found such fine blue-grass pasture, and
were followed until they crossed the Illinois River, near Ottawa. Mr. Toverca was a
rough, uncouth man, of no early culture, but was an ardent believer in the truths of
religion, and was an exhorter of considerable power. After living a short time with his
old friend Randolph, he took up a claim in Section 7, here in Downs, and resided here
until 1861. He then moved to Iowa, and died at Oskaloosa.
R. F. Dicker.son, of Empire, tells of getting up an exciting reaction at one of
Toverca's meetings, by getting a dog and cat to fighting out doors while the meeting
was in progress in the schoolhouse.
John Price came here from Kentucky, in 1830, but did not then locate here. In
1834, he entered the land on Section 4, which, in 1836, he made his home, and upon
which he still lives. This first, he entered at Vandalia, and later, he entered land at
Danville, making, in all, nearly seven hundred acres, which he purchased at the Govern-
ment price. His neighborhood was called Priceville, and still popularly retains the
name, although the station and post office are called Downs. In 1871, Mr. and Mrs.
Price celebrated their golden wedding in a most pleasant and long-to-be-remembered
entertainment. He has always been a public-spirited man, and has taken an active part
in township affairs. He was proprietor of the little village, and has taken a lively
interest in its welfare. The aged couple, who have enjoyed almost sixty years of mar-
ried life, look back on the trials and privations of those early years with few regrets. Of
their eight children, four are still living. Gillum Station, in Old Town, was named
after one of his daughters, Mrs. Mary Gillum Condon.
William Weaver came here from Washington County in the fall of 1832, and set-
tled on the township line between Downs and Old Town. He was a preacher of the
Anti-Mission Baptists, and used to hold religious meetings in the schoolhouses. He
brought sixty head of cattle with him when he came here, and commenced at once to
improve his farm. Of thirteen children, twelve grew up to maturity, though only two
yet reside in town — his youngest son and the wife of A. P. Craig. Mr. Weaver died
in 1838, of congestive chills.
His son, Joseph B. Weaver, who was born the year before his father came here to
live, is a man of more than ordinary intelligence. He lives at Downs Station, and has
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. 705
shown a lively interest in the affairs of his township, both political and educational.
He served three years in the Ninety-fourth Regiment, and is greatly respected in the
community in which he lives.
E. H. Wall came here from Kentucky, in 1833, and settled in the Priccville neigh-
borhood, in Section 5. He had for a number of years been a devoted member of the
M. E. Church, and was for ten years a class-leader there. When he came to the new
liome, he brought his religion with him, and exercised a decided influence for good.
When he was quite young, Rev. Peter Cartwright had made a visit to his lather's house,
and had made a strong impression on the young man's mind. He often had occasion to
exercise a good influence for the keeping of the Sabbath, and was one of the first to get
a schoolhouse built where schools and meetings could be held. His life was an exam-
ple of fervent piety, and the exercise of noble aspirations. About 1853, he moved to
Section 24, and remained there until he died from the effects of a cancer that for fifteen
years had slowly spread, withstanding all efforts to stay its progress.
William Bishop, who settled in the same neighborhood, and kept the " Six-mile
House" across the line in Old Town Township, entered the land where his son Henry
now lives, in Downs, in 1838. Henry C. has a fine fiirm, and is a prosperous farmer.
Rev. R. D. Taylor came to Old Town Timber in 183(3. He had been educated at
Princeton College, Kentucky, a school of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and
came here before his ordination, partially because he believed it to be an important field
and one needing laborers, and partly because he did not believe in the institution of
slavery, and wanted to get away from it. He commenced to preach here, and was
ordained by the Mackinaw Presbytery in 1838. He went to work with a will, and
preached and taught school. His circuit extended from the Mackinaw to Salt Creek.
He lived on the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 3, and used to hold serv-
ices in the house of Mr. Manning, and later, in the Union Church, built on the north-
east quarter of Section 2, by the Methodists and Presbyterians jointly. While he was
preaching, one Sabbath, his house took fire and burned up, with all its contents. He
was just expatiating on the mercy of God, and had just remarked that, no matter what
calamity comes to us, the goodness and mercy of God are plainly discernable, even in
calamity, when the alarm of fire was sounded, which proved to be his home.
He was an excellent school-teacher, and many of the older citizens of Downs
received cheir finishing at his hands. Hon. John Cusey, Wiatt Adams, P. B. Price,
Mrs. Condon, J. B. Weaver, Asa Savidge, and many others, were among his graduates.
He moved from here to De Witt County, and thence to Le Roy, where he still lives,
still laboring in the Master's vineyard, though, for several years, he has not held regular
pastoral relation. He is believed to be the first regularly-educated minister who labored
here, and his record and labors here show how much good can be done by an earnest,
devoted life, when seconded by the aid which education gives.
For more than forty years he has civen his labors to the cause of religion, and, as
he believes every Christian minister's duty is, has saved enough, and only enough, to
make him and his wife comfortable, if he is spared here beyond the time his strength
of body and mind will permit him to labor. He has no complaint to make, and few
regrets. His later years seem peaceful and lit up with a spirit of unclouded joy.
Mr. Isaac Peasley came from Virginia to this county in 1834, and remained for
two years a renter on Jesse Funk's land, and, in 1836, came out onto the prairie and
70(3 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
put up a cabin on Section 19, two miles from the timber, a little west of where his son,
Sylvester, now lives. When the neighbors came out from Randolph's Grove, to help
him put up his house, they made light of his judgment in coming out so far from the
Grove, and offered lo give him all the land he could see. They were sure he never
could live there — a statement he almost thought verified when the " sudden change "
struck his prairie home, the December following. He moved across the road, a few
years later, onto Section 30, and remained there till he died, in 1861.
His son, Sylvester, commenced to make a farm at his present residence, in Section
20, in 1847. In his younger days, he did not enjoy many educational advantages, as
his time was given to helping his father care for the family, but a well-stored mind
shows that he has not let slip any advantages that were in his reach. He is an ordained
minister of the Baptist denomination, and continued to preach until a bronchial affec-
tion compelled him to discontinue it.
He has given much attention to the raising and feeding of stock, and has, by hard
work, good judgment and excellent business habits, acquired a fair portion of this world's
goods. Like all the early settlers, he was obliged to make Chicago his market when it
seemed about all the load of grain was worth to get there. He early made cattle-raising
his principal business. He has always taken an interest in the affairs of the town and
of the schools. He was elected the first Supervisor, and, for the last eleven years, he
has been continuously the Supervisor ; and, for the last two years, Chairman of the Board.
He owns 300 acres of land, which is being well worked. In 1876, he built a large
and well-arranged residence on his farm, really the finest one in Downs. It is 34x48,
two stories high, with large, airy rooms, and well arranged for the comfort of the family
and the delight of his friends. The cellars are nicely plastered and frost-proof, and,
indeed, all its appointments are excellent.
Mr. Peasley has a fine herd of short-horns, numbering about twenty-five, among
which are several very fine animals, showing the same good care in selection and excel-
lent judgment in breeding which are seen in all his affairs. He is justly esteemed one of
Downs' best citizens, such a one as McLean County knows how to use in her public affairs.
W. W. Peasley has a fine farm of 375 acres on Section 29. The buildings are
excellent, and the grounds beautifully adorned with evergreen and deciduous trees and
shrubbery. The beautiful lawn and neatly-trimmed hedges indicate the home of refine-
ment and comfort. The Sabbath-school Conventions are usually held on his grounds,
and it would be difficult to find a more delightful place for these annual convocations.
Ebenezer Craig came to Downs and took up land near the northern line of the
township, in 1834. He moved to Empire Township two years later, and returned to
Downs in 1840, where he resided till his death in 1854.
His son, A. P. Craig, continued to reside on the homestead, making it into a good
farm. He married a daughter of Mr. Weaver, and had ten children born to him, nearly
all of whom made their homes near by. He was a man of intelligence and probity,
dying, respected and esteemed by all who knew him, in 1874. He owned about 600
acres of land, most of which was in this township. His business was principally cattle-
raising and feeding.
One of the most successful farmers in Downs, according to the testimony of all his
neighbors, is Mr. Henry Welch, who came here from Indiana, in 1835, and took up land
at Diamond Grove, where he still resides.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 707
He was a driving, energetic man, and permitted nothing to distract his attention
from his farming, except that during the first few years he was obliged to team and work
around wherever he could earn enough to give him a start. He has, for years, been a
large stock-raiser and feeder of cattle, hogs, horses and sheep. His experience in the
latter was more successful than the average, except that he was never able to get hold of
a herd of sheep that worse than useless dogs would not destroy by the score on every
occasion. His losses from dogs have been discouraging. He has a fine farm where he
resides, and a large farm in West Township. In cattle -raising and feeding, he has no
superior, though he never has driven so large a business as the Funk's and some others,
he has, neverthless, been a decided success. Mr. Welch is the father of eight children,
most of whom have grown up around him to enjoy the advantages of his excellent
example, his thrift and good management.
Hon. John Cusey came to McLean County with his father and brother in 1836,
and was for several years engaged in working at his trade, that of a cabinet-maker and
carpenter. At different times he has run nearly all the saw-mills erected on this stream,
and was engaged in building several of the earlier houses, which were built in this town and
in Bloomington. He framed and built the first framed house built in Downs — that
now owned by Joseph Kershaw, on Section 21. It was built on Section 11, November,
1842. In 1843, it was moved to Section 1, in Randolph, and, a few years after, moved back
to Section 21, in Downs, where it now stands. To move houses in those days was not so
great an undertaking. They put a pair of false sills under them, chamfered off like
sleigh-runners, and made a bee, getting together a few prairie-breaking teams of cattle,
and made short work of drawing it a few miles. After this working around for several
3'ears, he, in 1845, entered the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 6,^
Town 21 , Range 3. He sold as good a team as he ever owned to get money to enter this, as
he supposed, forty ; but, when he got to Danville, he found that it was what was known as a
fractional corner, and contained fifty-six acres; he deposited his fortune there and came
back home to raise enough to pay for the tract. He lived there twenty-three years, and
then moved farther east, on Section 5, where he now lives.
For many years, he was in the employ of Jesse Funk as his clerk, going with him
to buy and weigh his purchases. Funk could buy more hogs than any man in the country.
He placed the most implicit confidence in Cusey, a confidence which it is almost unnec-
essary to say never was violated in the slightest. It was Funk who gave Cusey the title
of '' Deacon " against the latter's protest, for Cusey is a Methodist, and does not recognize
the Congregational title ; but his employer excused it by explaining to Mr. Cusey that
people around where he went to buy hogs would not be suspicious of him when they
learned that he kept a deacon for his companion and clerk. The " Deacon " never
thought of demanding increased salary to support the pomp and circumstance of this
titular dignity.
Mr. Cusey has always taken an interest in politics. Following his father's strong
anti slavery bent, he became a Republican, and has held strongly to that party since its
beginning. He has eight times been elected Assessor and twice Supervisor. In the
latter position, he displayed the strong, clear, good sense which is the leading point in
his character in so marked a degree, that, in 1872, he was selected by the Republicans as
their candidate for the Senate, and he was elected the first Senator from McLean.
County after it became a district alone.
708 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
During the time of his service in the State Senate, the revision of the laws of the
State was perfected, and, with untiring zeal, he exerted a large influence on the side of
rugged justice, strict accountability of oflBcials, and more prompt enforcement of law
against all violators.
Whether the people of McLean County know it or not, the writer knows that no
Senator from that county ever goes to Springfield that he does not awaken a kind of
undefined suspicion on the part of the others that there is lurking about him sundry
embryo raids on the treasury or illy-concealed demands for appropriations which must be
opposed and defeated. Mr. Cusey was not free from the suspicion which the locality attaches
0 her representatives. He was, fortunately, able to do much to not only relieve him-
self, but those who follow him, from the unjust and disagreeable imputation. On the
whole, his term of service in the Senate, while a laborious, was a very successful one.
Being at a time when the " Farmers' movement" was at its height, he was, from his
occupation, his uncommon good sense and loyalty both to the interests of the farmers
and to his own convictions, enabled to do many things to satisfy them that all legisla-
tion is not in the interest of monopolies and lawyers.
The peculiarity of his name — his own family and his brothers being, so far as he
knows, the only persons bearing the name in America — was the subject of many a remark,
and a mistake while he was in the Senate. There sat in the Senate durina,' the three
winters that Mr. Cusey was there, Col. Thomas S. Casey, who was, in all things except
in his unbounded good nature, the very opposite of John Cusey. Tall, handsome, full-
built, with a full share of the dash which a short year's service which had given him the
title he so gracefully wore, a lawyer of excellent abilities, and the acknowledged leader
of the Democracy of the Senate, which was in minority one session, and by union with
the Independents and the Haines became a majority the following one, as proud of his
name as of his person, it is not strange that the frequent confounding of the names of
these two radical opponents should produce amusing mistakes and be the cause of
almost endless explanation. It also afi'orded an easy way out of an unfortunate or
unpopular vote. Nearly everything which the present generation learn of their Repre-
sentatives they get from telegrams in the daily papers, and the frequent mistakes
which telegraphic operators make in names is notorious. If Cusey introduced a bill to
protect the financial interests of owners of valuable horses, Casey was published in his
Egyptian home as " giving his valuable legal mind to fixing the legal status of colt and
sire." When Cusey introduced a bill to protect the Downs sheep from the ravages of
dogs, Casey's constituents were congratulated by the local press on the fact that their
Senator was finally aroused to the most important farmers' interest of the day. Many
laughable incidents arose from these matters, among which was the introduction of a
bill by Col. Casey, as he jocosely said, to protect his fair name, for changing the name
of Senator Cusey. One of the " Mistakes of the Telegraphers," which the writer is
certain never has been in print, but which he is personally able to vouch for, was this :
The person who held the not very pleasant position of night operator at the Springfield
office that winter, and who had, probably, a thousand times clicked oflP the names of
these two worthy Senators, had heard so much said about the confusion he was
innocently making that he came to the Senate chamber, one afternoon, to look at them,
in order, perhaps, to familiarize himself with their appearance. Calling to his aid an
officer of the Senate, he asked to have Col. Casey pointed out to him. After taking a
C^.^^ LEXINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 711
good look at the leader of the Democracy, and remarking that he was a splendid fellow,
and suggesting a "pity he drinks," said, inquiringly, "Now, which is Cussy?" The
broad grin which followed was the first intimation he had that he had not simply been
making the mistake of spelling.
Senator Cusey, since he retired from the Senate, has devoted his time to farming.
He was married to Miss Bishop, a daughter of Jacob Bishop, of Randolph, in 1843,
who has had nine children, seven of whom are now living.
S. T. Richardson came to Downs and took up a piece of land just south of Dia-
mond Grove, along the Kickapoo, in 1839. He was a brother-in-law of Henry Welch,
and came here to bring their mother, Mrs. Welch. He worked a small farm, but his
time was much given to teaming. Pekin, in Tazewell County, was the nearest river
point to all this country, and much of their farm produce went there after the comple-
tion of the Illinois Canal, though Mr. Richardson and others went frequently to Chi-
cago. In going to Chicago, with cattle, they had the first station at Smith's Grove,
next at Eppard's Point, then at Babcock's . Grove, called Wolf Grove. There was
then a long stretch before they reached the timber on the Mazon.
He has a good farm, of 200 acres, on Section 18, and is enjoying the well-earned
rewards of a laborious, honest and well-spent life. He is highly esteemed, as such men
always must be. With his fine family of children, and some grandchildren, to enjoy
the good example of a faithful life, he does not much regret the trials and discourage-
ments of his early career. He now resides in Bloomington.
In the early days, postal facilities were always of less interest than at' the present.
Few families took the papers, and the correspondence of an entire neighborhood, like
this around Diamond and Old Town, would not amount to as much as that of a school-
girl now. They depended largely on sending letters by some one going to, or returning
from, the new home. Twenty-five cents for a letter was too much for frequent cor-
respondence, and it was not unusual for a letter to remain in the oflice for weeks,
especially along about tax-paying time, before the required " two bits " could be spared.
The earliest post office for this part of the county, was at Gov. Moore's, though
soon after that, one was established at Lytleville, and one at Le Roy, though, in point
of convenience, Bloomington was better than either. About 1856, Downs Post Office
was established, and was kept at the house of Mr. Peasley until the railroad was built,
. and was then transferred to Downs Station, without a change of name.
Besides the good farms alluded to in the accounts of early settlement, Downs has
a number of fine farms and thrifty farmers.
J. W. Kershaw owns 510 acres in Sections 21, 22 and 28. He has been largely engaged
in raising and feeding, and buying for feeding cattle, and has made this business a suc-
cess. He has a nice house, and probably the largest, best-arranged, and best barn in
town. His farm is well adapted to stock-raising, and the orchards good.
Wyatt Adams has a fine farm of 2 10 acres on Sections 1 6 and 17, about two miles south
of Downs Station. He has farmed this land 34 years, and there is nothing to indicate
that the land is run out. He has a pleasant house, which seems, to the passer-by, to
be the home of comfort and well-directed industry. He has raised a family of eleven
children, and is naturally proud of them. Who wouldn't be? for there is luck in odd
numbers, and most of the early settlers of Downs brought up crops of nine, ten, or
twelve. Eleven was not, by any means, a common number. Solomon Mason has 200
712 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
acres in Section 18. It is a good farm, and Mr. Mason is nicely fixed to enjoy the
frugal luxuries of a rural home.
Henry Wagner has a comfortable home and his farm of 275 acres, in Section 17.
He has been a successful farmer, but has never branched out largely into the cattle
business, like some of his neighbors. Everything about him bears the indication of
thrift and well-directed industry.
Nelson McDaniels has been a successful stock farmer for thirty years. His farm
is now in splendid condition.
Eber Hornor came onto his present farm of 200 acres, directly north of Rev. Sylvester
Peasley's, in 1852, from Indiana. He bought of Mr. Dennis. The farm had been worked
several years, and shows a careful, thrifty manager. He never has dealt much in cattle.
George M. Wilson has a good farm on Section 8 (21, 3), with a nice residence, and
everything about the place looks tidy and well kept. He has not made a specialty of
of any particular branch of farming, but has been more than ordinarily successful.
John McConnell has a fine farm of half a section in Sections 35 and 2 (21, 3).
He has a good house, built two years ago, 26x30, two stories high, with three well-
proportioned rooms in each story, nicely furnished, with large kitchen and summer-
kitchen in the rear. The grounds are neatly adorned with evergreens and shrubbery.
The barn, recently built, is large and roomy, about 40x60, and painted. A fine pair of
twin boys, Eddie and Willie, now twelve years old, are one of the chief attractions of
this beautiful country home. Mr. McConnell has lived here twenty years, and is a
respected and honored citizen.
Cornelius and Byron Covey, father and son, have good farms about one mile north
of McConnell's, and are excellent farmers.
Very few of the farmers of Downs have beeu'led into unfortunate speculations to
their financial detriment. Those who have gone heavily into buying, feeding and ship-
ping cattle, during the years of gradual decline of prices of cattle, have inevitably suf-
fered, and some have been bankrupted. During those years while prices were receding,
of course large ventures could hardly fail to bring large lo.sses ; but most of the farmers
have cautiously kept their business within their control.
CHURCHES.
Elder I. D. Newell, a home missionary of the Baptist denomination, was in this
field at work, holding meetings as early as 1830. He organized a church, and a build-
ing was erected at Lytleville about that time ; and soon after him, Elder Elijah Veatch
preached there and in the surrounding country. There was a church organized, and
preaching maintained by it for a time, at the Macedonia Schoolhouse, in this township ;
but it has disbanded. Bev. Joel Hulsey, of the same denomination, came from Ken-
tucky and preached at Lytleville awhile, and, in 1838, came to this town and bought
land on Section 19, and remained here for some years.
There was an organization of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and meetings
were regularly maintained along the Grove ; and a union church was built by that
denomination, co-operating with the Methodists, on Section 2, and was occupied by
those two denominations in harmony for several years. Bev. B. D. Taylor, Bevs. Neal
and Archie Johnson and James McDonell were the preachers of the former, and Father
Shepherd, Father Royal and Bev. Miflin Harker were the Methodist preachers.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
713
Rev. William Bishop, a minister of the Cumberland Church, lived here a few
years, preaching and teaching. He went to Mexico in 1846.
The United Brethren early held meetings, and formed an organization very early.
In 184-t, that terribly rainy season, when it rained so much that people could not work
their land, and they had not much else to do but attend to their religious interests. Rev.
Mr. Zook came here and held meetings around in the schoolhouses, and re-organized the
church. While holding his protracted meeting, the people built rafts to get to his
preaching, and the attendance was large. A church was decided on, and Solomon
Mason, Lawson Downs, S. T. Richardson and other leading men took hold and erected
the one standing near the township line. They have generally maintained preaching
here, and usually a Sunday school.
A Methodist Church was built about 1863, on Collins' land, in Section 25. Mr.
Collins, Elias Walls, Jesse and John Karr were the principal men in this enterprise-
Preaching is regularly maintained. It belongs to Le Roy circuit.
The United Brethren built a church in the northwestern quarter of Section 14,
about 1873, called the " Pleasant Grove " Church. James and Matthias Killian were
largely instrumental in building it. It is about 26x36. It belongs to Randolph's Grove
circuit.
The following figures, taken from the last report of School Treasurer E. Homer,
show the condition of the schools : Principal of Township Fund, $3,683 ; whole num-
ber of children under twenty-one, 607 ; whole number between six and twenty-one,.
397 ; number of districts, 9 ; whole number enrolled, 370; average number of months
taught, 7^ ; whole amount paid teachers, $2,268; whole amount paid for other pur-
puses, $868 ; total amount paid, $3,136.
In addition, is the Independent Kickapoo School District, which is located partly
in this and partly in Old Town.
The following is a list of those who have been elected to the township offices from
the date of township organization :
Date.
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1878
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
Supervisor.
Clerk.
Sylvester Peasley
N. McDaniels
N. McDaniels
C. H. Rutledge
C. H. Rutledge
C. H. Rutledge
E. Hornor
•lohn Cusey
John Cusey
•J. B. Weaver
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
Sylvester Peasley
John McConnell
J. Hedrick
C. E. Barclay
A. M. Savidge
A. M. Savidge
E. R. Young
George Waddington.
S. iMcTeer
Joseph Null
Joseph Null
Joseph Null
.Joseph Null
A. P. Lott
A. P. Lott
A. P. Lott
A. J. McComb
A. J. McComb
A. J. McComb
A. J. McComb
A. J. McComb
A. J. McComb
A. J. McComb
A. J. McComb
Assessor.
Collector.
J. Cusey
John Cusey
C. E. Barclay
William Benjamin..
P. Brickey
John Cusey
John Cusey
John Cusey
J. J. Hancock
A. P. Lott
John Cusey
John Cusey
John Cusey
J. McConnell
A. P. Lott
A. P. Lott
C. E. Barclay
J. McConnell
James Fulton
E. Landers
C. E. Barclay
Byron Covey
, N. McDaniels.
, C. H. Rutledge.
, C. H. Rutledge.
,jP. C. Eskew.
,!n. McDaniels.
, N. McDaniels.
J. J. Hancock.
. Eber H"rnor.
, J. B. Weaver.
J. J. Starkey.
. A. Daniels.
. G. W. Downs.
.John Lott.
, J. Savidge.
. M. 0. Stanwood.
. S. Smith.
. William Johnson.
• J. R. Pogue.
. Charles Allen.
, M. 0. Stanwood.
. VI. 0. Stanwood.
. M. 0. Stanwood.
714 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Justices of the Peace : A. P. Craig, S. McTeer, John McConnell, Asa Savidge,
Harvey Robertson, H. M. Morehouse, J. B. Weaver, John Price, J. E. Johnson, J. H.
Simpkins.
Commissioners of Highways : J. G. Bishop, D. 0. Orendorff, J. Kershaw, A. P.
Craig, P. C. Eskew, 0. C. Rutledge, U. S. Washburn, P. B. Price, J. McConnell, C.
E. Barclay, Wiatt Adams, H. Welch, E. Hornor, J). Phillips, J. J. Hancock, A. H.
Pogue, J. E. Killian, Byron Covey, Samuel Sniff, H. C. Lott, J. D. Downs, D. W.
Mdson.
THE VILLAGE OP DOWNS.
There seems to be a difference of opinion in regard to the true name of this station.
Priceville is the name by whicli the neighborhood was known for several years ; when
the station was established near the center of Section 4, in 1870, the railroad officials
called it Downs. The same year, the Downs Post Office, which was for several years at
Mr. Peasley's house, was transferred to the station, and the post office authorities have since
known it as such. Soon after, the small office of " Delta," in Old Town, was discontinued,
and all mail matter for that place was ordered sent to Downs. The reader will please
take his choice. P. B. Price, son of old Father Price, laid out the town and platted
fifteen blocks north of the railroad.
It is nine miles from Bloomington, on the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western
Kailroad, and is the only station and the only post office in the township.
C. D. Bellville, as soon as the place was laid out, built a siore on the block north of
the depot, and filled up with a general stock of goods. He now lives at Weedman,
where he is engaged in trade. In the fall of the same year, J. A. Davis and Amos
Allen built a store and put in a stock of merchandise. The following spring, the Killian
brothers built and occupied another. These three were more than the trade would
support, and this latter firm bought out the stock of Davis & Allen, and consolidated
with their own. In 1874, the Killian Bros, sold to Craig & Rodman, who continued
for about six months, when Rodman sold out; and, in the following spring, John Craig
sold to his brother Joseph, who closed out the stock in 187G, and closed up the store.
In the fall of 1876, Mr. Savidge moved the old storehouse from Delta, and Davis k
KilUan put a stock of goods in it. In the spring of 1877, C. D. Bellville made another
mercantile venture, and six months later moved the goods to Kuraler, and sold the build-
ing to A. Anderson, who keeps a shoe-shop there.
In the fall of 1877, John Bellville traded his store for Kansas land to John Den-
ham, who closed out the stock in six months, and sold the building to Davis ; soon after
this, Davis & Killian dissolved and Cowden took an interest ; 0. Staten purchased the
stock and good will in April, 1879.
When Davis & Killian left the store they had so long occupied. Price Bros, opened
a stock of dry goods and groceries, and ran it for a year, when they closed out the bal-
ance of their stock, and the store has not since been occupied.
In the fall of 1875, Drs. Montgomery & Chapin built and stocked the present drug
store, and have continued to occupy, adding stationery, groceries and wares.
Dr. James Montgomery, the " father of the town," and the " good physician " for
all the surrounding country, was educated in the " Green Isle " of his nativity, and
after serving his adopted country for tliree years in Capt. Walden's company of the !J4th,
commenced the practice of medicine in this neighborhood. In the spring of 1871, he
HISTORY OF McLean COUxXTY. 715-
moved to Downs Station. His partner, Dr. S. L. Chapin, came here in the spring of
1875; that fall, he entered into partnership with Montgomery, and, in 1878, took up
his residence in Holder, north of here, in order to better accommodate his large prac-
tice in that vicinity.
P. B. Price, either alone or with J. J. and B. R. alternately, has been engaged in
grain, lumber and stock trade, at Downs, ever since the town was laid out. The busi-
ness, some years, has been quite large and lucrative, but at others very unsatisfactory.
J. H. Robertson came, when the village of Delta migrated southward, in the
spring of 1871 ; his blacksmith-shop was burned in 1873, and he rebuilt and took in
Frank Lewis as partner. He has all the time carried on a considerable trade in agri-
cultural implements with his blacksmithing business. When the people of Downs
wanted a Justice of the Peace who could " temper " the spirit of the community, they
elected Robertson ; he knows how to strike when the iron is hot.
J. K. Gardner sold implements here during the seasons of 1876 and 1877. The Post-
masters of Downs, since the office has been located at the station, have been C. D. Bell-
ville, John Bellville, John A. Davis, and Oliver Staten, who was appointed April 1, 1879.
The railroad agents, successively, have been C. D. Bellville, from 1870 to 1873 ; J.
A. Davis, till 1876 ; Greorge Willhoite, until 1877, and A. Daller since.
The " Hopewell " M. E. Church was built about 1867, at where the Hopewell
Cemetery was and still is. It belonged to Old Town Circuit at that time, and became
attached to Le Roy Circuit in 1873. A year later, it became a station. It is about
36x50, plain, and cost about $2,400. Thomas Twining, J. N. Savidge, John Rice,
Dr. James Montgomery, J. H. Robertson, P. B. Price and James Brakey, were, among
others, prominent in building this house of worship.
Revs. S. Middleton, W. C. Lacey, J. G. Bonnell, T. J. N. Simmons, assisted by
George Reed, S. H. Whittock, William Willis and George Scrimger, have successively
served the Church at Hopewell.
In 1878, the building was moved to Downs and repaired, at a cost of $300. Rev.
Job Ingram is the present Pastor, under whose earnest ministrations the church and
Sabbath school are in a flourishing condition. The church numbers 130, and the
school about 100.
What is known as the " Kickapoo Academy " was chartered as an independent
school district in 1867. The territory embraced is about four sections in Downs
(including the station) and two or three in Old Town, including Gillum Station. This
district has, by its charter, a Board of Education, of six members, and certain other
privileges, which, by the other school districts, are deemed unfair. One of its incon-
veniences is, that the district embraces both Downs and Gillum Stations, and as there
is but one schoolhouse, all the children which Gillum furnishes must take the railroad
for two or three miles to school.
The present Board of Education consists of J. H. Robertson, President; J. B.
Weaver, Secretary ; J. A. Davis, Treasurer ; George P. Wood, P. B. Price, John Cow-
den and S. Scott.
Miss Jennie Francis and Miss Wallace have been teaching ; but for the summer
term Miss Chatterton takes the place of Miss Francis.
The building is 24x40, two stories. Nine months' school is maintained, and the
pupils number from seventy-five to one hundred.
716 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
ALLIN TOWNSHIP.
Allin Township was formerly called Mosquito Grove. It lies on the western side
■of McLean County, and is the second township from the south side of the county. It
includes a full Congressional town, and no more. It is designated Town 23 north,
Range 1 west of the Third Principal Meridian. It is bounded on three sides by other
townships of the county, viz., on the north by Dan vers, on the east by Dale and on the
south by Mount Hope ; Tazewell County lies on the west. The Third Principal Merid-
ian forms the eastern boundary, being the line which separates it from Dale Town-
ship.
Allin was first named from a small grove in the northwestern corner of the town-
ship, on the branch of Sugar Creek which takes its rise in Danvers and flows through
Stout's Grove. The stream is a small one, and so is Mosquito Grove. When the
name was changed it was called Allin, in honor of Mr. Allin, of Bloomington, whose
history is so closely identified with that of the city.
There are three considerable groves in the township. The one of most import-
ance, perhaps, or, at least, the first settled, is Brooks' Grove, on the south. It is sit-
uated on Brooks' Branch of Sugar Creek. Farther up on the same stream, and in the
eastern part of Allin, is Brown's Grove. Then there is Mosquito Grove, already
mentioned.
There are three streams, all of which flow in a southwesterly direction. They are
all branches of Sugar Creek. The one farthest to the northwest cuts ofi" only a small
portion of the northwest corner. The next begins near the northeast corner, and mean-
ders a little west of southwest. Brooks' Branch begins about Brown's Grove, and
passes through the east and south part of the township.
With the exception of the groves already pointed out, Allin is prairie. The soil
is deep, black and fertile. It produces abundant crops of corn, oats, potatoes and grass.
Some wheat is still raised, but not enough to make an important item in the enumera-
tion of products. There was a time in the history of this country when wheat was a
paying crop, when the average farmer would not think of sowing less than twenty to
thirty acres. Mr. Warlow says that he has cut as many as 300 acres of wheat and oats
himself in one season. But those days are past. Farmers now raise little more than
what is necessary for their own use. Hogs and cattle are raised extensively. The
Jarge elevators at Stanford indicate a heavy grain-growing community.
The prairies are tolerably level, but not so much so as to seriously aff^ect the farm-
ing interests.
The Jacksonville Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad passes
through the township, extending in a nearly east and west direction.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The first log cabin in Brooks' Grove, was put up by Miles Brooks. He moved
into it on the 14th day of March, 1830. He was a native of Virginia, but, early,
moved to Kentucky. From Kentucky, he came to Indiana, and from there to Illinois,
in 1829. He first stopped at Cleary's Grove, in Menard County. When he settled at
the grove which has ever since borne his name, he found very few people in that part
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 717
of McLean County. There was a cluster of families north, at Stout's Grove, and
others northeast, at Twin and Dry G-roves, but his neighbors were not inconveniently
near nor extremely numerous. Miles Brooks opened up a farm there, and continued
to reside at the grove. His son, Presley T. Brooks, still owns the farm, and has
resided upon it until recently. He has been a noted man in the township from its
earliest history. His children reside in the township, two sons doing business at Stan-
ford. Mr. Brooks married a Larison. The Larisons are well known in the early his-
tory of McLean County.
The first settlement made at Brown's Grove, was by William Brown. He was
from Tennessee. He came to the grove at an early date — some say, about the time
that Ephraim Stout came to Stout's Grove, in Danvers Township. If this be true, he
was the first inhabitant of what is now Allin Township. William Brown did not
remain at the grove which bears his name, but sold out and moved to Mackinaw Creek,
where he lived until his death. He had several children, who lived in Allin with their
father. They all went with him to the Mackinaw, up above Lexington, where some of
them still remain. A son-in-law of Mr. Brown, by the name of Poor, is particularly
remembered. He, too, followed the sire to other parts. There were a number of the
Stouts, who moved to Brown's Grove at an early date. They were some of the same
company that first inhabited Danvers Township. These were given to hunting and
sporting. They spent most of their time in that way. They did very little at farm-
ing, and when the country began to fill up with ,he tides of emigration from Ejistern
States, they found a more congenial element in other lands.
liobert Mean-T came early to this same grove. He afterward died of the bilious
fever. Mr. Warlow says that he had a young brother, twelve years old, who died
about the same time, of the same disease. When a person now has simply bilious
fever, he is not considered dangerously ill. But then it was otherwise. He thinks
that the doctors killed them. Bleeding was the process for all diseases. The doctors
came out from Bloomington and found their patients suffering from an extremely high
fever. They then performed the bleeding operation. When the patient's bl6od was
nearly all gone, the fever would abate. When the physician again made his appear-
ance, if the patient was a little better, he would bleed him again. It is true that some
survived the treatment ; but others died, when, it is thought, the better knowledge of
to-day would have relieved the suffering and preserved the life.
Benjamin Warlow entered land on the north side of Brown's Grove in the fall of
1836. Here he built a cabin and reared his family. The Warlows were from New
York. They moved to Ohio, mid then to Illinois. They spent the first two years at
Dry Grove. Richard A. Warlow still resides near the site of the old log cabin, first
built on the north of the grove. He is the oldest inhabitant of this part of the
township. He has been a prominent person in the history of the township, having
held about all the offices within the gift of the people.
The settlement at Brooks' Grove grew slowly, the Brooks family being the only
settlers of note for some time.
Mosquito Grove was settled by the Reddons. This grove, as remarked previously,
was a small patch of woods on the branch of Sugar Creek that flows through Stout's
Grove. The grove is in the prairie, some miles from any other timber. It, very
.naturally, was selected by a number of brigands and desperadoes as the seat of their
718 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
depredations. As early as 1836, these men began to collect at Mosquito Grrove. They
were led by Grant Reddon, who was assisted by his two sons, Jack and Harrison.
Although these men were not quite as notorious as the terrible Benders, of Cherry
Vale, Kan., whose notorious infamy aroused the whole State, yet their deeds were car-
ried on much after the same fashion. The grove became the rendezvous for thieves,
counterfeiters and criminals generally. This gang infested the grove for nearly ten
years, and yet the people were aware of the den's location all the time. They were
afraid of the Reddons, who were known to be desperate characters. Jack Reddon is
said to have assisted in the murder of Col. Davenport, at Rock Island. Crimes of vari-
ous kinds were committed, horses were stolen, and even murder was supposed to have
been perpetrated. A peddler, who came from Peoria, was traced as far as Mosquito
Grove, but was never heard of afterward. The Reddons were seen with clothes thai the
peddler was known to have ; so that the evidence of abduction seemed almost conclusive.
The brother of the peddler traced the matter so far, but none of the murderers were ever
brought to trial. At last, the situation became desperate. The people began to realize
that it was a great detriment to the country, as well as a dangerous thing to permit in
their midst. An armed band was formed, and the Reddons compelled to leave the
country. This put an end to their work in this country. Where they started again
in their nefarious business is not known ; but it seems unfortunate that the leaders were
not brought to trial. But, perhaps, the evidence was not suflScient to convict, although,
suspicion amounted to a conviction and almost to a certainty.
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.
We have no records of early religious gatherings. As Mr. Hill, of Twin Grove^
would put it, " Of course, we have a few funerals," but we find no church in the town-
ship at present whose history dates back to the first settlement of the township. Those
of the early inhabitants who had any religious preferences seem to have united with
churches in other localities. There were plenty of organizations in the various groves,
and it was customary to travel what now seem enormous distances in order to reach a
place of worship.
The only church in the township, outside of the village of Stanford, is the edifice
erected by the Cumberland Presbyterians in 1863. It is a fine country church, stand-
ing a short distance northeast of the village of Stanford. It is in the open praiiie, but has
company in the tall, white tombstones that stana so lonely and still in the graveyard
adjoining. The building is 40x60 feet, and cost about $4,000. The members of this
society belonged to the church organized at Stout's Grove, before the organization here.
The Rev. J. A. Chase began preaching in the schoolhouse, which stood one-half mile
north of the site of the present church. Here a considerable interest was awakened in
the cause, and a number of additions made to the society. As a result, the members of
this denomination, living in convenient distances, met and formed a society, and built a
church immediately. John Armstrong, Thomas Neal, Kane Cooper and others were
prominent men in the organization of the society and the building of the church. J.
A. Chase continued his eiForts until two years ago. After him, came J. G. White, of
Jacksonville, 111. He is the present Pastor. The society has been a pretty strong one,
there having been over five hundred members since the first organization. The present
Dumber of communicants is something over two hundred. The church may be
HISTORY OF McLean COUNTY. lid'
considered a child of the Stout's Grove Society, though the offspring is of more lusty-
growth than the parent.
EDUCATIONAL.
The first school in the township was taught on the north side of Brown's Grove, at
the residence of one Mr. Stout. This man had gone up into the northern part of the
State. About Elgin, somewhere, he married, and his wife proved to be an Eastern
lady, with more education than the average pioneer woman. Accordingly, when she
came to Brown's Grove, it was thought best that she utilize her superabundance of
knowledge, and teach school. She taught in her own house. Later, a schoolhouse was
built, and the youth taught in the usual way. Mr. Warlow remarks the difference
between then and now. Then, three months were all that the year afforded. Now,
eight and nine months are the number usually taught. Then, private houses and log
cabins were the seats of learning. Now, neat frame schoolhouses appear for the accom-
modation of all. The people seem to take pride in their schools, and keep them up to
the times.
At present, the status of the schools is indicated by the following : Number of
children under twenty-one years, 621 ; number of children between six and twenty-one,
334 ; number of scholars enrolled, 287 ; number of schoolhouses, 7 ; amount paid
teachers, ^3,225 ; total expenditures, $4,142.16; estimated value of school property
$6,000 ; highest wages paid per month,
POLITICAL AND WAR RECORD.
Unlike the greater portion of McLean County, Allin is Democratic. In all State
and national questions, it turns out strongly for the old party which it has honored with
its suffrage for so many years. In township elections, the dominant party is generally
remembered, although the returns do not always show strict party tendencies.
Further than a general scare, we hear of no harm from the Indian war of 1832.
If there were persons who enlisted in the companies sent out from this county, we were
not fortunate enough to learn their names. They rest in their unknown graves, with
none to cherish their deeds of valor.
Allen Palmer and Joseph Bozarth were in the Mexican war. Thiese were all, we
suppose, that were among the few whom the Government accepted to fight its battles ;
for it will be remembered that of the 8,370 men who offered themselves from the State
of Illinois, only 3,720 could be accepted.
During the war of the rebellion, Allin furnished its share of men for the defense
of the Union. We learned the names of the following who gave their lives to the
cause : Austin Bond died from the effects of the measles ; James Gourley, John
Brooks and Josiah Bozarth died while in the United States service ; William Ryan vol-
unteered and was captured and paroled, when he returned home. Afterward he went again
as a teamster, and was kicked to death by a rebellious mule. If any fell in battle we know
them not. To meet an enemy on the field of battle, and there to be shot down like a
beast, is hard, regardless of all the glory that is attached to heroic deeds ; but to
languish on beds of disease, in foreign lands, and there to sicken and die, where na
sympathetic hand of mother or sister or brother or wife can press the aching brow, is
far worse.
720 . HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTT.
ORGANIZATION OF ALLIN TOAVNSHIP.
The Commissioners who first laid off the county into townships for political pur-
poses, reported Town 23 north, Range 1 west as constituting such a division, and
named it Mosquito Grrove Township. The name was afterward changed to Allin, in
honor of Mr. Allin, whose efforts in behalf of Bloomington are very well known to all
the early inhabitants.
The first election held, April 6, 1858, for the election of township ofiicers, resulted
as follows : Presley T. Brooks, Supervisor ; John M. Jones, Town Clerk ; Green B.
Larison, Assessor ; John Armstrong, Collector ; John W. Godfrey, Overseer of the
Poor ; Thomas Neal, Leonard McReynolds, Jarvis Mack, Commissioners of Highways ;
Richard A. Warlow, John Cavett, Justices of the Peace ; Henry M. Kerbaugh, Kane
E. Cooper, Constables.
This list, besides introducing many new names, takes us back to the early settle-
ment of the township. It includes at least two of the oldest settlers now in it — Presley
T. Brooks and Richard A. Warlow.
The late election, for 1879-80, resulted in the choice of the following township
ofi&cers : John L. Kaufman, Supervisor ; Abel Brooks, Town Clerk ; Leonard McRey-
nolds, Peter D. Springer, Justices of the Peace ; Amos Harrison, John Armstrong,
Andrew Springer, Road Commissioners ; Sigh Hennershotz, Constable ; Scott Wier,
Assessor ; Michael Garst, Collector.
RAILROAD AND HIGHWAYS.
Before the building of the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis
Railroad, the farmers in the west and south part of the township had to haul their
produce long distances to market. Accordingly, when a proposition was rnade to secure the
railroad through the township by taking $25,000 worth of stock, the scheme was strongly
supported. The men of the eastern side were not so anxious to take a $25,000 debt, but
their interests were not so vitally affected. On election day, the bonds were carried
through triumphantly. The township is still owing about half of the amount, but it
got the railroad, and the farmers are benefited materially thereby. The road was built
in 18G7. The^irst trains began running the same fall.
The public highways of Allin comprise several good roads. The section lines
extending east and west are nearly all laid out roads. The only exceptions to this are
found in the southwest corner and the east side. The north and south section lines are
not generally authorized highways, though several of them are. As is generally the
case, the groves are bordered by roads which pay no attention to section lines. Brook's
Grove is thus completely surrounded. There is also another road which reminds us
of early settlements in the eastern side. It extends north and south through the sec-
tions, not even following the half-section line. There are a number of wooden bridges
across the streams, but we found none composed of iron. The roads are generally
drained or thrown up. This is rendered quite necessary by the lay of the country in
many portions. But, notwithstanding a few natural diiEculties, the highways are in as
good condition as they are generally found throughout the county.
STANFORD.
The original survey of Stanford included the southwest fourth of the northwest
quarter of Section 21, together with forty acres off of the north side of the southwest
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 721
quarter of Section 21. George P. Ela was the County Surveyor at that time, and he
laid off the town. His certificate of survey is dated October 7, 1867. The village
was surveyed for John Armstrong. It was then called Allin. Since the first, there
has been an addition. This includes five acres from the northwest corner of the south-
east quarter of Section 21, and is called Maurer's Addition.
Stanford is located in the prairie, two miles north of Brooks' Grove. It is on the
Jacksonville Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, twelve miles from
Bloomington. This railroad was the cause of its birth. It was begun with the rail-
road, and does considerable business. The village is surrounded by a comparatively
level pi'airie, which renders the approach in rainy weather somewhat diflBcult. The
distance from Bloomington is sufiiciently great to give the place a very fair local trade.
The large elevators attest the amount of grain annually shipped. There are a number
of farmers, situated to the south and west of Stanford, that have no other convenient
market for their corn, oats, etc., and the days when men haul produce long distances to
market are passed.
John Armstrong, the man for whom the town was surveyed in 1867, is still a res-
ident, and one of the most prominent men of the village. John Rockhold, who is still
engaged in the business, was the first to start a store. He runs a large grocery trade.
The first station agent was Henry Daniels. There have been a number since his time.
The agent that remained longest, and was best known, was A. M. Berkholder. The
present obliging agent is Jasper Morgan. The first Postmaster was Dr. Lackey, and
the present ofl&cial is William Rufwiler. The first school was taught before the erection
of any building for educational purposes. This was taught in a dwelling-house, by a
Mr. Loomis. For some time, schools were taught in various dwelling-houses. In 1869,
a brick schoolhouse was erected, which has served the purposes for which it was built
until the present. It is two-story, with the usual arrangements. Although it is some-
what worse for ten years' wear, it will probably answer the purposes until the growth of
the village demands a larger house. Two teachers are employed ; generally a gentle-
man above and a lady below.
There are two churches in the village — a Methodist and a Christian. The Chris-
tian Church was organized by James Robinson, in 1870. The first meetings of the
men of this persuasion were held in Bozarth's Hall. Presley T. Brooks, Dr. Lackey,
G. M. Wright and others, were among the prominent men of the first organization.
The church is 30x46 feet. The cost of building was $3,200. This church is, perhaps,
the strongest society in the village, but is not equal to the Cumberland Presbyterian
Society, whose church building stands just northeast of town a short distance. The
present membership of the Christian Church is about sixty. Their Pastor is the Rev.
W. B. Berry.
The efforts of the Rev. Mr. Pilcher secured the erection of a Methodist Church
in 1875. Prominent among the members whose purses secured the church edifice,
may be mentioned Messrs. George Bunney and Jonn Barnett. The building is 30 by
46 feet. Rev. Mr. Shinn is the present pastor. The building was not paid for at
first, and for some time the society were troubled with the debt. As a result the
present membership is not large.
As a business directory, we note the following: S. B. Wright & Co., dealers in
drugs and medicines ; L. A. McReynolds and B. F. Bowling, contractors and builders ;
7-22
HISTORY OF AIcLEAN COUNTY,
C. Roth, dealer in hardware and stoves ; Martin Lewis, agricultural implements ; Rock-
hold & Gerbrick, grocers ; also C A. Naffziger, grocer ; W. C. Rusmisell, grocer and
dealer in hat«, caps and dry goods ; D. C. Dossett, wagon and blacksmith-shop ; C. W.
Naffziger. lumber yard; A. Jewett and Mr. Morgan, boots and shoes; Murphy &
Hennershotz, dealers in live stock ; William Ruf, painter; C. H. Wick, harness-maker 5
Martin Lewis & Co., meat market; J. N. Tryner, painting and graining; Libbie Cole'
dros.s-maker ; Joseph Bachinan, wagon-shop ; Roth & Brock, dealers in agricultural
implements and form machinery : Linebarger & Bro., grain dealers. From the fore-
going it will be seen that Stanford has representatives of nearly all the trades. She
has her physicians, but we found no lawyer's sign. Another item that is missing is a
hotel. So far as we could learn, there never has been one in the village. But should,
the weary traveler find it necessary to remain over night, he will find himself comfort-
ably cared for if he should stop with Mr. Morgan, the boot and shoe man.
As every little town must advertise its trade, it became necessary that measures be
taken to cheapen the process. This is usually done by the establishment of a local
newspaper. On the 8th of February, 1879, appeared the first issue of the Stanford
Trilmne. It is a very fair country paper, and is well patronized by the local advertisers.
Linebarger & Son are the editors and proprietors. It is not particularly partisan, being
run in the business interests of Stanford and vicinity. The journal is still in its infancy,
and will, no doubt, increase in strength and influence as it grows older and the village
increases in population.
Stanford has had its experience with saloons and the intoxicating bowl. At times
there have been licensed saloons in the village, but at present these do not exist. A very
remarkable temperance sermon was preached by an accident which occurred during the
time that the village gave licenses. Harry Moore was running a saloon at the time. A
young man by the name of Woodrum was working for a farmer near the village. la
the afternoon on a certain day, this young man ran out of tobacco. He concluded that
it was not possible to get along without a bit of the weed, so he left the team in the
field where he had been at work, and intended to step over to the store to get a plug of
tobacco and return immediately. He had not been in the store long, until he concluded
that he must go by the saloon and get a drink. Unfortunate man ! That was his last
drink ! Some one got up a drinking-spree. The question was, who can drink the most
without itfl hurting him ? The young man from the farm was ambitious and determined
not to be outdone. He drank fourteen glasses. This was enough to upset any man,
especially as they were taken at once, without any rest. After the drinking, he went
out of the saloon and walked a short distance only when he fell. On approaching him,
it was found that he was very seriously aflccted, and in a very short time he was dead.
Only a half hour before, he had been in the field working away, with no intention of
takint: a drink even, but now he was a cold corpse lying in the street — a dead man —
one who had killed himself by the foolishness of over-much drinking of strong drink-
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 723
BLUE MOUND TOWNSHIP.
In general appearance and in topography, Blue Mouud is not unlike Martin. It
has no timber-land, however, and the little streams or runs which run across it to the
northeast toward the Mackinaw, and to the southwest, into Money Creek, are deeper
cut, and show pebbly bottoms not common in this prairie country. Township 24
north, Range 4 east of the Third Principal'Meridian, is a full Congressional township,
and is in the centre of the eastern part of the county, being in the third tier of towns
respectively from the north, east and south lines of the county, and the third east from
the Illinois Central Railroad.
With the peculiar beauty of its primeval state, and the excellence of its soil, it is
a wonder that it was so long before it came into general cultivation. Probably the fact
that it was within the fifteen-mile belt which was withdrawn from market at the time
the Illinois Central land grant was made, had much to do with this delay. Certain it
is, there is nothing in the nature of the land that would delay settlement.
The name was derived from the mound, an elevation on Section 28, which, though
not very high, was, when seen from the level land, stretching off toward Bloomington,
high enough to attract general attention and notice. The "blue" part of it was only
such as distance lends to it, for there is no blue appearance on close inspection.
Settlements were first made in 1854, on the north side, near the Lexington line,
and, the same year, near the southeast corner.
John Speed Stagner. from Madison County, Ky., but who had been living four
years near Bloomington, and one of the best-known men in Blue Mound, from his
energy and public spirit, came on Section 27, and purchased 200 acres of land around
the sides of that section. While in Bloomington, he had united with the Christian
Church, and had been ordained an Elder, and at once took an active part in the spirtual
welfare of the new settlement. A few had moved in the year before. Thomas Arnold
had settled on Section 27, entering the four inside forty-acre tracts, thinking it would
prevent others from buying until he should be able to purchase. He still resides on
his original pui'chase, and has good improvements on it. David Wheeler was at that
time on the south side of Section 25. He removed to Kansas a few years since.
James A. Doyle, from Kentucky, who now lives in Ellsworth, was then on Section
23, where he lived about twenty years. John Doman, now dead, was on a farm of
160acres,in Sections 34and35. Alexander Willhoite, from Owensburg, Ky., and William
Newton, were opening farms on Section 11. Zachariah Arnold, who, like his brother
Thomas, was from Virginia, and at that time unmarried, was commencing to improve
on Section 35, where he still lives. All these had come here to live the year before.
Stagnor, on the north side of the township, a little settlement, was growing up at the
same time. Isaac Smith, who afterward committed suicide in a temporary fit of insan-
ity, had commenced to make a farm on Section 9.
William L. Barton came from Ohio to Section 4 in 1854. William McHugh, a
brother-in-law of Mr. Barton, came about the same time. He rented a farm in Lex-
ington for a time, and then purchased the northeast quarter of Section 4. Mr. Burton
and N. T. Linthicum, both of whom are now dead, settled in the same neighborhood
about the same time. William Russell also purchased a farm at the same time. Anderson
724 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Bruiuhoad made a farm on Section 5, where he still resides. Mr. Arnold, fixther of Scott
Arnold, opened up a farm on Section 7, where the younger Arnold still lives. Mr. King
also commenced farming on a large scale. He lived on a part of Section 4, east of the
church, and owned all of Section 8. His operations were large, and so conducted as to
indicate an unbalanced mind. Great crops of wheat were raised about this time.
Indeed, many men were able to pay for their land and improvements from the proceeds
of a single crop. Forty bushels was not uncommon, and was .sufficient to induce many
brilliant castles of marvelous wealth to be erected in the minds of the newcomers. They
came to believe that wheat would grow almost spontaneously on this virgin soil, and
many went in debt for land to sow to wheat. Several years of almost entire failure
followed, driving those who engaged in it most largely into bankruptcy. Mr. King had
a large breadth of wheat, and, the following year, he sowed on the stubble, without even
plowing it, though he did harrow after sowing. The result was what misht well have
been expected. He was soon utterly ruined, both in purse and mind, and was taken to
the asylum. Many others lost all in the wheat-raising mania. William A. Graldon
opened up a farm where he now resides, near the corners of Sections 1, 2 and 1-. The
financial crash of 1857 unsettled affairs greatly, and few settlers came in for ten years.
From this settlement, near the Lexington line, to that on the south, around about Speed Stag-
ner's, was long an open prairie. It was not till the close of the war for the Union, when
" Johnny came marching home " to make new alliances or renew long-broken ones, and
new Viomes were needed, that this whole range of country for miles around Blue
Mound, stretching out east to the county line, was filled up by the hardy, industrious,
patriotic men who now live here. They came almost with a rush. Old settlers tell of
their surprise, after living on these prairies for years, at seeing this rush of immigra-
tion. Daily, as they were at work in their fields, the vision, unobstructed by trees,^
sweeping for miles in all directions, new shining roofs would spring up, almost by magic.
This migration came from the west, Tazewell, Fulton, western McLean and other coun-
ties sending their young and strong men to this open field.
CROPS.
Since the first experience in wheat, corn has been, and probably will continue to be,
the great staple crop. The adoption of the law preventing cattle from running at large,
made it possible for men to crop their land without fencing, and hedges were started,
although there are many pieces of land in the township which are still open. There is
no railroad, marketing of the crops being done at Lexington on the north, and Ellsworth
and Holder on the south.
Old settlers tell of a terrible tornado which swept over the town in the summer,
which did much damage and caused more fright. The wind had blown from the east
all day, and at night came back from the west in a terrible gale. For years, the people
at the East had heard heart-rending stories of the awful winds on these treeless prairies.
This was the first experience these settlers had after leaving their Eastern homes, and
some of them fully expected, when the "storm center" should fairly get "onto" them,
to SCO their cook -stoves going skyward, their cattle's limbs flying promiscuously through
the firmament, and the fleeces blown clean off the sheep, going to re-enforce the clouds.
The damage was comparatively light, but the fright was enormous. They have now
lived here long enough to know that we really have no more wind here than they do in
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
725
Ohio or New York. We now hear the stories coming from Kansas and Nebraska that
Eastern folks heard twenty-five years ago from Illinois.
Below is given in table the names of those who have served the town in an official
capacity during its history :
Date.
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
187*2
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
Supervisor.
.1. H.Doyle
J. H. Doyle
D. Wheeler
D. Wheeler
.J. T. Smith
William Elbert
William Elbert
William Elbert
.J. H. Newton
.J. H. Newton
D. Wheeler
William McHugh
William IMcHugh
William McHugh
William McHugh
W. H. Russell
W. H.Russell
William McHugh
William McHugh
William McHugh
William McHugh
Clerk.
N. T. Linthicum.
.J. T. Smith
J. T. Smith
J. T. Smith
J. M. Carey
D. Wheeler
D. Wheeler
D. Wheeler
William Elbert...
William Elbert...
H. Green
H. Green
H. Green
H. Green
B. Brigham
.T. R. Tavener
.J. R. Tavener
George Cooney...
I. W. Farquhar..
I. W. Farquhar..
I. W. Farquhar..
Assessor.
A. .J. Willhoite..
A. J. Willhoite.,
J. Snail
J. A. Barton...,
M. S. Gill
.1. Snail
.J. Snail
A. McMullen....
A. McMullen....
Robert Barr
Scott Arnold
S, A. Sloops
G. L. Libbey
.J. Spawr
W. T. Branson .,
H. C. Hayes
B. Brigham
B. Brigham
C. H. Pierson...
W. H. Russell...
B. Brigham
Collector.
D. Wheeler.
D. Wheeler.
William Elbert.
W. T. Elbert.
P. .J. Foster.
Isaac Smith.
Isaac Smith.
Milton Barton.
W. H Russell.
A. Cumming.
J. K. Blandon.
Scott Arnold.
B. Brigham.
H. C. Hayes.
T. H. Newton.
Isaiah W. Farquhar.
H. C. Hayes.
Ed. Allen.
Ed. Allen.
Ed. Allen.
Ed. Allen.
The following persons have served as Justices of the Peace : J. M. Rayborn^
Isaac Smith, P. Barnhouse, G. L. Libbey, J. Van Bushkirk, D. Wheeler, E. Easley,
J. B. Bender, L. C. Blake, Thomas Arnold.
The following have had charge of highways : J. Lupton, J. S. Stagner, H. Hor-
ney, H. Coal, W. Newton, William McHugh, Isaac Smith, J. W. Abbott, W. H. Hayes,
William Benjamin, James Smith, Wesley Lewis, W. I. Arnold, D. Wheeler, W. H.
Murphy, J. Arnold, W. L. Sapp, M. S. Sill, L. Bender, E. H. Burbank, E. B. Johnson.
D. Wheeler served as Township School Treasurer three years, Isaac Smith ten
years, until his tragic death. After him, William McHugh for some time, then Ben-
jamin McCoy, the present very efficient officer.
On the death of Mr. Isaac Smith, a deficit was discovered in his aifairs ; demand
was made upon the signers of his bond; they resisted payment for several reasons
which seemed sufficient to them, the principal one being that the School Trustees,
whose officer the Treasurer is, had been derelict in duty, in not sufficiently examining
his affairs, and in permitting him at the time of his last election to serve six months
without a new bond. Hon. William H. Smith, of Lexington, was one of the bonds-
men, and he was known to be wealthy, which was thought to have had its influence on
the Trustees, they probably reasoning that he was " good for it." The case was tried
before Judge Tipton and decision given against the Trustees and in favor of the bonds-
men, on the ground that the office was an annual office and that an annual bond must
be signed, and for this neglect the signers of the bond were released, following the
decision given in the case against the bondsmen of Duff, Treasurer of the State Reform
School. The amount was not large, but the legal principle and its effects were important
ant to every township in the State. Capt. Rowell, attorney for the Trustees, carried the
726 HISTORY OF iMcLEAN COUNTY.
case to the Supreme Court, where Judge Tipton's decision was reversed and a new trial
oranted which resulted in holding; the bond good, thus throwing au additional security
over all school funds. 1'he Reform School case was never carried to the Supreme
Court, through the negligence of the State oflScials, or it might have been reversed.
For some years, the people of all this prairie country suffered great inconvenience
in consequence of the expensive fencing necessary to protect their crops from the great
herds of cattle which were allowed to roam at will over the prairie. In 1872, the town-
ship provided by ordinance against cattle running at large, at their regular town meeting.
The ordinance followed the one of the town of Cropsey, which had been sustained and
proved successful in its operation.
• SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, ETC.
The town is now provided with suitable schoolhouses, and good schools are main-
tained.. From the report of 1877, the following figures are taken : Number of districts, 9 ;
whole number of children under 21 years, 621 ; number between 6 and 21 years, 429 ;
number enrolled in schools, 384 ; value of school property, $6,000 ; amount of town
fund, §6,823 ; amount paid teachers, $2,523. Total expenses, S3,626. The citizens
of Blue Mound very early took the matter of religious service and religious instruction
in hand. Mr. John Speed Stagner, who, in many respects, is a pioneer in every good
work, had, by a recent consecration of his life to religious work, and ordination to the
work, according to the custom and rule of the " Christian " Church, come into his new
home determined to build up religious institutions. Meetings were at first held in his
house. Elders David Sharpless, Anderson and Knight were the first to hold religious
services in this neighborhood. After the schoolhouse was built, meetings were held
with considerable regularity there by the same preachers, followed by Elder U. H.
Watson, Father Johnson and others.
In 1865, the present " Blue Mound Christian Church " was built under the direc-
tion of Messrs. Stagner, Arnold, Doyle and Willhoite. The building is about 26x40,
plain, without spire or decoration, and cost about $1,200. A Sabbath school is main-
tained during the warmer part of the season. The " Grand View Prairie " Presby-
terian Church is located on Section 2, on land donated by Mr. Golden. The edifice was
erected in 1872. Messrs. J. S. Campbell and Newton Cook, of Lexington Township,
and Robert Barr, of Blue Mound, were Building Committee, and had charge of the work.
The church is about 30x42, and had a tower, which has been blown away in a storm.
The name was taken from a town in Ohio, which was dear to the remembrance of those
who organized the church here. Rev. Mr. Elliot, who was stated supply of the church
at I*lea.sant Hill, preached in the schoolhouse here occasionally. Later, Rev. Mr. Cris-
well, who, since the church organization, has regularly supplied the pulpit, held a pro-
tracted meeting, which resulted in a request for regular church organization, which was
accomplished by the Bloomington Presbytery, April 19, 1873, Rev. Mr. Conover, a
member of that Presbytery, officiating. The original members were Mr. and Mrs". Davis,
Spears, Barton, Campbell, Barr and Hastings, who were received by letter, and twenty-
tlirce others on profession.
The " Union " M. E. Church was built on Section 5, about 1861. Rev. George
Snedaker, of Pleasant Hill Circuit, formed a class at Union Schoolhouse about 1860.
After him, Rev. David Carmack preached and organized Union Church, consisting of
V y
-v\
LEXINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 729
some twenty-five members, among whom were the families of Andrew Smith, R. M.
Hopkins, H. C. Hayes, S. W. Evans, William Russell, A. Brumhead and M. S. Sill.
The edifice is about 30x45, plain, and cost about $2,000. It is now the head of " Union "
Circuit, and has a comfortable parsonage, costing SI, 000.
The names of those who were in this enterprise, and to whom the church is indebted
for their nice buildings, were A. Smith, R. M. Hopkins, H. B. Downey, S. W. Kvans,
M. S. Sill, I. Smith, H. C. Hayes, F. M. Bowers and S. M. Beebe. The clergymen
who have in turn served this church, are the Revs. Robert Pierce, John Lucock, Dr.
Aldrige, Frank Smith, Mr. Ferris, Isaiah Giddings, J. Kern, Jacob Souders and J. W.
Flowers. A Sabbath school, numbering about seventy-five, is maintained by R. M_
Hopkins. The church numbers one hundred.
The '^ Free-Will " Baptists formed a society in 1868. Elder Thomas Blanden
came here from Kentucky and held meetings in the schoolhouse, and organized a
church of about twenty members, and built a large, plain edifice, about 28x36. The
leading men in this enterprise were James Scott and H. P. Thompson. The organiza-
tion is weak, and does not now maintain regular religious services. The church is used
irregularly by other denominations.
A short notice of some of the larger and more successful farmers is appended :
John Fletcher, of English birth, has a splendid farm of 600 acres in Sections 19
and 20. He has good buildings, farms well, and carries about one hundred head of
cattle.
Joshua Brown, who, besides the farm he lives on, owns other large farms, has 460
acres in Section 31. He was from Tazewell County. Has good house, barns, sheds,
etc., attends closely to his business, keeps his fields neat and tidy. He carries about
one hundred head of cattle.
Nathan J, Parr, who has lived here fifteen years, has half a section in Section 23,
and eighty acres in Section 14. He has good farm-buildings, and is a good farmer.
William A. Grolden, an early settler, farms about half a section, situated in Sec-
tions 1, 2 and 12. He has a substantial house and barn, and his farm is kept in excel-
lent condition, and his buildings well cared for.
'M. S. Sill had until last year what is generally considered one of the best and
best appointed farms in Blue Mound. He sold it to Samuel Etnire, and moved to
Normal. The farm consists of 240 acres in Section 8. The buildings are large and
attractive, with good sheds, and all has an appearance of thrift and success.
Daniel Shay, an Irishman by birth, has recently put up a fine, modern house on
his farm in Section 27. The farm is 160 acres, and is in excellent culture.
Leonard H. Bender came here from Pennsylvania in 1870. He has a fine farm of
200 acres in Section 22. The house is probably the largest in the town, and everything
about it indicates care, thrift and good attention.
On the Mound in the northeast corner of Section 28, John Butler has good improve-
ments surrounded by a good farm.
Zacbariah Arnold has a good farm of 160 acres in Section 35, and his brother Thomas
a like farm right in the center of Section 27. Both are considered ex<?ellent farmers and
good citizens.
A. H. Conger, on Section 18, has a fine farm of 200 acres, withi nice house, barn
and out-buildings. Several others might be named. Indeed, a trip over the township
EE
730 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
shows few ill-managed farms or neglected buildings. The general care of roads and
hedges is apparent, and it is altogether a good place to live -in.
YATES TOWNSHIP.
Yates Township, known officially as Town 25, Range 5, was, until 1862, a part of
Chenoa; at that date it was separately organized, and by resolution of its citizens, took
the then popular name of " Union," at their first town meeting in 1863. This is easily
accounted for, for at that time fully two-thirds of her fighting population were " at the
front " doing their full duty in carrying the tattered flag " on to Vicksburg " and the
"sacred soil" generally; while fully three-fourths of those who remained at home were
praying and paying to help on the glorious cause. No stronger friends of the Union
could be found on any six miles square of contiguous and compact praii'ie anywhere,
than here. The name was objected toon account of its having been frequently adopted
of late by other townships near by ; ' and on the following year was changed to Yates, after
the then Governor of Illinois. Nothing could better show the tendency of public sen-
timent in the young township than the successive selection of these " radical " names.
Yates is the northeastern township in the county, and forms, with Chenoa and Gridley
on the west, the northern tier of townships which "cap " the county of McLean on the
map, not unlike the mansard roof of a house. Like the other townships in this vicinity,
some of the land is flat, but at least ninety per cent of it is rolling, and almost every
acre capable of the highest cultivation. There is little difierence in the lay of the land
in the difi'erent parts of the township, except that that portion along the railroad (first
tier of sections) is more level, and that portion farther south more rolling; the northern
portion shedding toward the Vermilion, and the southern half toward the Mackinaw.
Yates is a full Congressional township, the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railway running
across its northern tier, upon which is Weston, the only post office in the township; the
soil is rich and deep, capable of a wealth of production far beyond anything yet accom-
plished ; free from township debt ; settled with sober, industrious, economical people,
giving a large place in their minds to religious and educational improvement; it would
be indeed difficult to find its superior in all respects in this or any other State.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Previous to the year 1856, there Avere few settlements in the township. There
being no timber, it was not subject to early settlement. About this date, there came the
general rush into the prairie country, but there being no station in this township, gen-
eral settlement was delayed a few years. The first settlement seems to have been made
on the " Harris place," so-called, on Section 10, just fiouth of where Weston now stands.
The land was entered by Mr. T. C. Buntin, of Terre Haute, Ind. The land was rented
to Boyd and others, when, in 1SG7, it was sold to Harris, who, a few years later, traded
it to W. H. Levers, for Chenoa property.
David Vance, who, through a long official connection with the school interest, and
the general interest he has taken in the aff"airs of the township, church and every good
work, is rightly regarded a most worthy and useful citizen, came onto Section 15, in
1860. He had previously lived in Lawndale and Lexington, coming there from Ohio,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 731
in 1853. He proved a man of excellent judgment and enlarged public spirit. A friend
of education, he was early elected School Treasurer, and has done much to conserve the
financial affairs of the schools. He was one of the most efficient in building the first
house of worship, the Methodist, and has exercised a careful oversight in its financial
matters.
John Pool came here from the Mackinaw in 1865, at which time only the farm of
J. M. Pettigrew (Section 8), and the Harris farm (Section 10), were occupied in this
northern part of the township. Squire Pool soon took an interest in the affairs of the
new township, was early elected a Justice of the Peace; engaged a portion of his time
in surveying, and, in 1872, built a store in Weston, where he has continued in
business, quietly attending to his large and prosperous mercantile affairs, and honestly
serving the public in his official capacity.
John D. Banta settled on Section 26 about this time, on a farm upon which he
remained several years. He took a lively interest in the affairs of his ,town, and was,
while he remained a citizen of the township, often intrusted with its official interests.
Hugh Henning took up a farm and still lives in Section 22. A year or two later,
Joseph Burger purchased a farm in Section 25, and still remains on it. The brothers
J. C. &. G. W. Hanks settled, in 1866, in the southeast part of the township, and were
among the very first to take an interest in its affairs. As a singular coincidence, or
more properly a pair of coincidences, they were both elected members of the first Board
of School Trustees in 1857, and both of the first Board of Commissioners of Highways
in 1863. They early were recognized as among the best men in the neighborhood, a
reputation which they have in no way marred during a life which extends through the
entire history of the township.
The same year, J. E. Wikoff took up a firm on Section 32, and, the following year,
the brothers Christian and Fritz Jacobs made homes near by each other in Sections 29
and 31. These men seemed well satisfied with their locality, and well they might be,
for it is of the best farming land ; and they have remained, making good homes and good
citizens. About the same time. Christian Ziller opened up a fine farm in Section 11, a
half-mile from where Weston now stands, and still lives there, enjoying the fruits of his
industry, thrift and intelligent economy.
Anton Adam, an intelligent and thrifty German, was among the earliest on the
ground, moving here from Ohio, in 1865, and making a farm on Section 2. Here he
has lived ever since, minding his own business, taking care of " Old Adam," as he says ;
has got a nice place, looking tidy, comfortable and frugal. He was one of the leading
spirits in building the beautiful and sightly German Church at Weston.
Rev. W. P. Graves, long a member of this Conference, and at this time in charge
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Weston, bought what is now known as the Wilson
farm, as early as 1864. The following year, he had a portion broken, and built a house,
but sold it in 1866. James Brady opened up a farm at about the latter date. JG. D.
Westervelt and F. P. Beach commenced farming here the same year.
ORGANIZATION.
In May, 1857, before the township had been officially organized, the people, feeling
the necessity for schools, elected the first Township School Board. G. W. Hanks, J. C.
Hanks and E. D. Westervelt were chosen Trustees. They elected F. P. Beach
732
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Treasurer, an office which he continued to held until 18G5. In 1860, the townshij) was
divided into five districts, and the trustees caused the north half of the school section
to bo divided into eighties and sold. The next j^ear, however, they took back one eighty-
acre tract. In 1805, the Trustees elected J. C. Hanks Treasurer, and, in 1868, sold
oishty acres of the school land for $12.75 per acre. In 1869, David Vance, the present
Treasurer, was elected. In 1871, the township was divided into nine districts, of four
sections each, except that the south half of Sections 9 and 10 are attached to District 5,
which makes that district five sections and District 3 only three. In 1876, eighty acres
of land were sold for $25.30 per acre ; 240 acres still remaining unsold. From the
first, the affairs of the school fund seem to have been very judiciously managed, and the
men who have had charge of it seem to have been worthy of the confidence reposed in
them. The township now has a fund of $11,151, nearly all placed on real estate, and
about §6,000 worth of land left unsold. This fund is the largest, save one, in the
county, and will, eventually, be the largest. In some of the districts, no tax is neces-
sary. In No. 3, only $75 has been levied in three years ; and the aggregate of debt for
schoolhouses in the township is only $1,700.
The following figures are taken from the report of 1876 : Number of districts, 9 ;
number of teachers employed, 15 ; number of children under twenty-one years, 608 ; num.
ber between six and twenty-one, 37-1 ; number of scholars enrolled, 252 ; amount paid
teachers, $3,016 ; amount paid for incidentals, $246.25 ; total paid, $4,432.22.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
At the September (1862) term of the Board of Supervisors, this township was
set off" from Chenoa, to which it had been previously attached, and at the first
town-meeting, in April, 1863, F. D. Beach was elected Moderator, and John D. Banta,
Clerk.
On motion of George W. Hanks, the new township was named Union. A year
later, it was changed to Yates, in honor of the then war-Governor. The township was
divided into four road districts. Eighteen votes were cast. The officers elected at this
and successive elections are as follows :
Date.
Votes
Cast.
Superrisor.
Clerk.
Assessor.
Collector.
1863
1864
1865
18
28
30
37
61
62
80
143
61
187
112
170
135
130
162
.J. 0. Irwin
J. 0. Irwin
J. D. Banta
.1. D. Banta
H. CLangstaft'
]•:. B. Powell
1). Vance
.J.E. Wikoir
.1. E. Wikolf
.J,E. WikotI
C. C. \Vri(,M.t
C. C. \Vri>rl,|
C. C. Wri^'l.l
C. (;. Wrinlil
n. C. WrJLrlit
.1. D. Banta
J. I). Banta
F. B. Beach
Aliiin,!! Aliiz/v
F. P. Beach.
J L Westervelt
A. Muzzy •.
A. Muzzy
A. Muzzy
T. B. Hayslip
T. B. Hayslip
.} C. Hanks
Oscar Westervelt.
1866
J. C. Hanks
Oscar Westervelt.
1867
1868
186^
T. T. Smith
J. 0. Hanks
.J. C. Hanks
T. C. Sutton.
H. B. AVikotf.
H. B Wikoff.
1870
Wni. U. White
Geortre Wolfe
William L. Pancake
1871
1872
1873
Wni. U. White
Wni, U. White
Win. R. Wliite
G. S. .Johnston
G. S. .Johnston
J H. Anisler
William L. Pancake.
A. S. Lang.
.J. H. Wilson.
1874
0. W. Coiiarroe
.John Itupp ,,,,.
V. J. Pcister
1*. .1. Peister
W. W Shedd... .
J R Maxwell
1875
1876
1877
G. W. (^onarroe
.).R. Maxwell
L. V. Smith
.J. R. Maxwell.
D. R. Grady.
D. R. Grady.
D. R. Grady.
1878
130 n. C. Wriirht
L.V.Smith
W. W. Shedd
=■
The names of those who have been elected Commissioners of Highways are G. W.
Hanks, J. C. Hanks, J. H. Jones, J. W. , J. L. Westervelt, J. M. Pettigrew,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 733
H. B. WikoiF, J. R. Gorham, J. D. Banta, Apollos Powell, D. V. Davis, Abram Stevens,
J. Castle, Simon Beckler, Gr. Arnold, J. T. Green, P. Coons. Those who have served
as Justices of the Peace are T. C. Powell, John Pool, Erastus Thayer, G. A. Wolfe,
G. M. Alhson, Justus Castle.
The principal interest of the citizens of Yates is, of course, farming, their princi-
pal crops being corn, oats, rye, and hogs. Very few have attempted cattle-feeding, and
have escaped the financial disasters which have overtaken so many in the older and
richer portions of the county. The richness of the soil, and its suitableness for cultiva-
tion in any kind of season, has given a healthy success to the farming community,
while the absence ot great wealth on the part of any has kept out a tendency to extrav-
figant living and inordinate display, which, sooner or later, must affect the entire
community. There are many good farms — no large ones — in Yates. Some of the
best it may not be amiss to name, even at the risk of leaving out some quite as worthy
of notice.
C. C. Wright, who, for several years, has ably represented this town on the Board
of Supervisors, has a farm of 240 acres, in the northwestern portion of the township,
which is well managed and in excellent condition. Abrara Stevens has 320 acres,
extending back from the village of Weston, a portion of it being in Livingston County,
which, though rather flat, is well drained and very productive. He has a fine residence
near Weston, and everything about him looks neat and comfortable. John Rupp owns
a half section in Section 22, which is regarded one of the best in Yates. 0. T. Phil-
lips has a fine farm of 320 acres, three miles west of Weston, which is a very good
flirm and well cultivated. Simon Beckler farms 250 acres on Section 13, which is
excellent land and well cared for. John T. Green has a fine farm of 450 acres, just
west of the village, which is one of the largest and best in the township.
THE VILLAGE OP WESTON. ^
Previous to the year 1866, there had been a switch and a water-tank about two
miles east of where Weston now stands, which was on the west line of Livingston
County, three miles from Fairbury. This watering-place was, for this or for some
other reason not known to the oldest inhabitant, called Weston. When, in the year
above mentioned, the switch and town plat were laid out on Section 3 of Yates, west-
ward the name of Weston took its way, and became attached to this place. The plat
and its surroundings embrace about 120 acres in the southeast quarter of Section 3,
which the abstract of title shows passed from the United States to Horatio N.
Wheeler, of Peoria, and from Wheeler and wife to W. F. Bryan, of Peoria, so that
there is no trouble in regard to the title of all town property. It was understood that
Mr. Cruger, the Vice President of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railway, was to be a
partner in this town speculation, but no such arrangement was made, and Mr. Bryan
continued sole owner.
The town was surveyed by the late Nelson Buck, of Pontiac, and embraced
twenty-three blocks besides the public common, lying between the depot-grounds and
the blocks, and one square which has been set apart for a public square, and set out to
trees. For some years, there was no depot-building or freight-house. Mr. H. D.
Legerwood was agent, and Dr. H. E. Johnson was Postmaster, and kept a few groceries
for sale. J. 0. Exley came here in 1868, from Philadelphia, and built the large store
734 HISTORY OF McLEAX COUNTY.
which he still occupies for a residence and store, and put in a stock of goods. About
the same time, Mr. McKee, a carpenter by trade, built a store and rented to Henry
Culp for mercantile purposes. Dr. Holderness, now of Chenoa, also built, and opened
a small stock of drugs and medicines. The grain trade, by this time, demanded better
accommodations than shovel and apron, and John Boland built the elevator now stand-
ing. Bolaud soon after sold it to Exley, who put in a run of stones to grind corn, and
put in steam power. George Hancock put up the fii'St blacksmith-shop, and G. W.
Allison the first wagon-shop, the same year. A. W. Howard and C. C. Enslow, under
the name of A. W. Howard & Co., soon after this commenced the grain business bere>
and built the western elevator. The firm carried on a large business here, buying grain
and selling goods, for ten years.
In 1871, Mr. Boyd built the eastern elevator, 24x48 feet, 30 feet high to the
top of the square, and has a capacity of 15,000 bushels. He remained in trade only
about a year, since which Haynes, Jorden & Co., of Chenoa, have occupied it ; three
years later, Mr. A. Rakestraw entered into partnership with them and carried on a
large business in the firm name of Rakestraw, Haynes &'Co. In 1872, John Pool left
his farm and came to Weston to engage in the mercantile trade. He has built a large
and lucrative trade, carrying the largest stock of goods in the village. The same year,
Kdgar Blaisdell came from Chenoa. where he had been in trade six years, and became
business manager for Haynes, Jorden & Co. Three years later, he purchased the
western elevator, a fine building 24x32 feet, 40 feet to the top of the square, which,
together with the old building, 24x30 feet, 18 feet high, has a capacity of about
25,000 bushels. He is a business man of large ability, and, besides his large grain
trade, is agent for Mr. Bryan, Postmaster, and, in partnership with Mr. Purdy, is
interested in the store. A good idea of the business of Weston can be got from the
following figures: Of the crop of 1878, there have been purchased here 83,000
bu.shcls of corn, 38,000 bushels of oats, 8,000 bushels of rye. Grain is usually
shipped from here to Philadelphia, occasionally to Peoria and to Chicago. There are
now twenty-five residences in Weston, three churches, three elevators, eight stores, and
a dozen shops, offices, etc.
The Methodist Church was built in 1873; is a plain, four-walled structure, with-
out ornament, 32x46, and cost $1,700. Since its organization, the Weston Church has
been a part of Chenoa Circuit, and has been regularly supplied by the pastors of that
charge, who.se names appear in the history of that place. It has about fifty members,
and begins to feel the need of a pastor for full time.
The Christian Church was built the same year; is 30x40, plain, like the other,
and, like it, is kept nicely painted; cost, 31,400. Elder H. D. Legerwood was the
earliest and is the present Pastor of this church, and it is through his foithful labors.
in a great j»art, that this comfortable hou.se was built and religious services kept up.
By far the sightliest church edifice is Zion Church, the building of the German
Evang(;lical Ciiurch, which was built in 1875 and 1870, and dedicated to religious wor-
ship ill February, 1870. The building is 24x36, twenty feet high, with a spire sixty-
five feet high, from in front of the centre. The trustees who had this building in
charge, and who so faithfully did the important work, were Messrs^ Anton Adam,
Jo9e[»h Adam, Kiradan Raedle, John Nagel and J. Jikadanz. The building cost about
81,800. This churcli belongs to the Illinois Conference, and is in the Pontiac Circuit,
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 735
the other appointments being Sand Ridge, Owego, Ocoya and Rooks' Creek. Rev.
George Eichenlaub is Pastor.
The Weston School is in charge of Mr. David Vance, Jr., who is doing faithful
work in behalf of education ; number of pupils enrolled, 50 ; average attendance, 39.
Pupils are taken through the statutory studies.
The persons and firms now engaged in business here are: Dry goods, etc., John
Pool, H. C. Purdy & Co., R. R. Grady, J. 0. Exley, J. W. Finley ; grain, Rakestraw,
Haynes & Co., Blaisdell & Leeret; blacksmiths, W. H. Loper, Warren Chamberlain;
wagon maker, G. W. Allison; restaurant, J. W. Finley; physician, ; sta-
tion agent, H. E. Lamb; baggage and trackmaster, James McNally.
The Postmasters have been H. E. Johnson, A. W. Howard, H. C. Purdy and
Edgar Blaisdell.
BELLEFLOWER TOWNSHIP.
Belleflower is the extreme southeastern township of the county, and was one of the
latest to come into general settlement. It is like the others in the southern tier, six
miles by eight, being described Town 22, Range 6 east, and the northern twelve sections
of Town 21, Range 6 east of Third Principal Meridian. In topographical appearance,
it is gently undulating, the highest ridge of land being that which forms the " divide "
between the Sangamon and Salt Creek, running through from north to south about two
miles east of the western boundary line of the town. Salt Creek runs along near the
western boundary from Sections 18 to 31, when it crosses into West. The Sangamon River
barely touches the northeastern corner, and makes off toward the east, thence southwest
again. The land from northeast corner to southeast corner is pretty level. There is
very little wet land in Belleflower ; nearly all is capable of cultivation, and all of good
drainage. In the northern portion of the township, the land is diversified by numerous
round hillocks, which give an interesting appearance to the surface. It was originally
entirely destitute of timber, except one poor lone tree which stood on Section 19, near
the ford of Salt Creek, and for years seemed to stand as sentinel to that important cross-
ing. Several non-residents got hold of considerable of the land, but most of it has now
been brought into cultivation.
The Springfield Division of the Illinois Central Railroad runs directly through
Town 22, Range 6, toviching at the northeast corner of Section 1, running thence almost a
due southwest course, hardly bending, and leaving the township a little south of the corner
of Section 31 . The Chicago & Paducah Railroad runs across the southeastern corner of the
township, and the Havanna, Rantoul & Eastern Narrow Guage runs very nearly east
and west across it.
Considerable drainage has been done by open ditches, and tile draining is now being-
practiced. J. W. Snyder is making tile in the southeastern part of the town, and the
township owns one of the Pontiac Graders, which stands out night and day, like the
Lone Tree, as a kind of sentinel or watch dog. It has done pretty good service for the
town, however.
The town was named by Jesse Richards, the first Justice of the Peace. It was
first called Prairie, but Esquire Richards had a great admiration for the Belleflower
apple, and proi^osed the name, which was readily accepted.
736 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
All the earlier settlements were made along the northern tier of sections, and along
the County Road, so called. This road, for reasons that do not seem to be fully under-
stood by the present generation, was run on the half-section line half a mile west of the
section line, which is in the middle of the town.ships, entirely across the county, except
that it makes a set-off at Rankin's Grove, in the northern part of Cheney's Grove
Township, and has on it the post office at Potosi, the two post offices, Garda and Dart,
in Anchor, the iron bridge over the Mackinaw in that township, Saybrook, and Belle-
flower station in this town. The first schoolhouse was built in 1857, and the first school
was taught by Miss Green. There are now ten districts and eleven schoolhouses in the
town, the Belleflowt-r District having two schoolhouses, which are both occupied in the
fall and winter terms, the schools being consolidated during the summer term.
The M. E. Church, a fine structure, 36x50, with belfry, was built in 1873, under
the pastorate of Rev. Job Ingram. The Church numbers about one hundred and fifty
members.
R. E. Moreland came here to live on Section 6 in 1858. At that time, there were
only about a dozen voters in the township, and most of them are now gone. He com-
menced farming in Section 6, but, some years after, located on Section 9, where he now
resides. He has a farm of 160 acres, with comfortable buildings. He commenced to
buy grain at Belleflower Station as soon as it was established, and has continued in the
same business ever since.
At that time, Jesse Richards had a farm. Thomas Green, just deceased, had
eighiy acres on Section 9. He was a worthy old man, but for some time had been in
declining health. His son Thaddeus, who lived near him, was then here.
T. 0. Bailey had a farm on Section 6. He was a brother of Washington Bailey,
of Downs, and remained here only two or three years.
Moses T. Hall was on Section 5. He was one of the first elected Justices of the
Peace. He is now gone.
William Riley came from Ohio to Section 21, in 1855. The only neighbors he
had in that part of the town were rattlesnakes, who made themselves so fiimiliar on
closer acquaintance, that Mr. Riley, who had never seen the like of that in the old
country, got fairly disgusted with their frequent visits into his castle, traded off his
farm, and left.
(icorge Wheeler was also away out by himself alone for several years, on Section 23,
but did not let the snakes or the shakes drive him from his letial rights. He remained
there until his death, in 1877.
Daniel Abel was among the first. He settled on a farm in Section 8, and still lives
there.
George Youle purcha.sed the R. J. Cheney farm about 1869. He has 1,000 acres
in Sections 3, 4, 9 and 10, which are given to raising, grazing and feeding of stock. He
liiiys and ships. He generally has a herd of about three hundred horned cattle, and
stall-feeds about one hundred and thirty in a winter. He is a man of large business
capacity, and a good manager. His farm is probably one of the best in the township,
being diversified and well adapted to every line of husbandry carried on in these parts.
W. A. Latham came here from Ohio about 1866, and has a large farm near the
center of the town. He is engaged largely in keeping sheep and bees. He is a prac-
tical and enterprising man, and has an excellent farm.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 737
Gov. John McNulta has a good section of land in the northern part of the town-
ship, which is mostly in pasture.
No resident of the township has more largely filled the requirements which are
due from the citizen to his day and generation than Robert E. Guthrie, who now,
though still by no means beyond his usefulness, cultivates his quiet farm on Sections 10
and 11. Though not strictly belonging to the history of Belleflower, a short and imper-
fect sketch of his life and labors must find place here, as a tribute to the pioneer, the
faithful son, the Christian preacher, the father, and the citizen, and not more a tribute
to a well-spent life, than an example to those who shall read these pages.
Mr. Guthrie came to McLean County with his father in 1826, to move Mrs. Cox
to Blooming Grove, whose husband had died after purchasing the Dawson claim, being
then seven years old. His father was so straitened in circumstance."*, "that during
nearly all his boyhood, he required his work on the farms that he severally worked in
diiferent parts of the county. He received only about ten months school in his life —
in the schoolhouse — though his life has been largely devoted to study, and he is a man
of large information.
He worked for and with his father at the north side of Funk's Grove, where the
C. & A. R. R. enters it, then at the Henry Moots' place, one mile west of Towanda,
then to the Benjamin Ogden place, afterward near Bloomington, where he opened a
farm for James Allin, near the present engine house, between Maine and Mason streets,
which they farmed for two years, after which, with his father, he engaged in the car-
penter and mason trades in Bloomington.
At the age of twenty-two, he believed he should give his life to the preaching of
the Gospel. And those who talk nowadays about taking up the Cross, and leaving
everything for the service of God, might possibly change their notions in regard to the
sacrifices they make, by comparison with the early itinerants. His duties were such
that no man, raised under the system of the present day, could stand it. Going from
house to house, and from timber point to timber point, preaching daily and nightly,,
through storm and darkness, through rain and snow, with no time to study except when
on horseback, supported by the strong love for souls, by a constant intercourse with God
through prayer and meditation, with so little worldly support that, at the end of six
years, he was actually obliged to discontinue preaching and go to work on a farm to
raise money to pay his debts, resuming service again as soon as he could see his way
out. At the beginning, his "salary" was about $80. Beecher has been severely crit-
icised for saying that a laboring-man ought to get along well and live on $1 per day — if
he could not get more. The same men who growled at Beecher, would probably acqui-
esce if he had said that a clergyman ought to dress well, wax fat until his eyes fairly
stick out, and preach eloquently on "two bits" per day. When he was admitted to
travel for two years on trial, in 1841, he was examined by the quarterly conference, and
recommended to the annual conference, which admitted without the present examina-
tion, for in those days conference did not question the spiritual grace of those who
sought service in the vineyard at $80 per year and pay their own expenses. Bishop
Morris assigned him the first year to the Wauponsett Mission, a three weeks circuit,
embracing Indian Grove, Weeds (four miles up the Vermilion River from Pontiac,
near the present station of McDowell), Rutterfords (Pontiac), Welman's (Cornell),
Long Point, John Argolright, Barrackman's (Reading), Phillips (Newtown), Dice's
738 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
(below Streator\ Vermilionville, Wheatland's farm, Widon Armstrong's, South Ottawa,
].ewis (twelve miles above Ottawa), Wauponsett (at John Kellogg's), and on tlie Mazon,
tliree miles above Sulphur Springs, and other places in Livingston and La Salle
Counties as Providence seemed to direct.
After this first year, his field of labor was in the southern part of the State. He
served such churches as those at Jacksonville, Springfield, as Presiding Elder of the
Quincy District, the church at Decatur, and, in 1858, got back to his old home, among the
people with whom he had grown up. He was Presiding Elder of the Bloomington Dis-
trict. Li 1SG2, in response to an almost unanimous call from the men of the Ninety-
fourth Regiment, many of whom were members of the churches over whicli he presided,
he accepted the commission and consequent responsibility of Chaplain of that regiment.
He carried with him into the service the same earnest and intense desire for the salva-
tion of the impenitent, with a firm faith in the " Sword of the Lord and of Gideon."
In 1867, he found himself so broken down in health that he was obliged to ask
Conference for relief from ministerial labors, and with his children went to work on his
farm in Belleflower. A year later, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, a position
which was given him by the citizens of McLean as a flight tribute to a life spent in the
service of religion without other reward than an approving conscience, and with a rugged
constitution, undimmed by the exacting demands of the cause and the care and anxiety
of the responsibility of a large family growing up with no other inheritance than that of
love and peace.
Since the spring of 1873, he has lived on his farm, surrounded by and with
the aid of his children, making home pleasant with the blessings which flow from
well-requited toil and the happiness which springs from religious attention to every
duty.
C. W. Atkinson, the present County Clerk, is a son-in-law of Elder Guthrie, and
was living in Cheney's Grove when elected to that ofiice.
BELLEFLOWER.
When the Gilman, CUnton & Springfield Railroad was built, in 1871, the town-
ship of Belleflower voted S30,000 in twenty -year ten per cent bonds, and the road
established the station of Belleflower near the center of the township, where the rail-
road crosses the county road which runs through the county on the half section-line before
6j)oken of, on Section 21, forty miles from Gilman, and seventy-one from Springfield.
George N. Black bought the south 100 acres of the southeast quarter of that section,
and laid out forty acres in blocks and lots, and the remainder into out-lots of from one
V) five acres each. He then transferred it to the Railroad Company, and title comes
from the Trustees of that corporation. When the road was mortgaged, this (and other)
town plats do not seem to have been mortgaged, for, in the transfer to the Illinois Cen-
tral, the town was not included, and title still comes from the said Trustees.
11. E. jNIoreland was the first to engage in any business here. He commenced to
buy grain in August, 1871, and has continued to this day. A. & A. J. Henry, of
Chicago, commenced the winter following. That fall, John Nichols began the
grocery trade, and put up the first dwelling-house. He also kept a boarding-house near
where the post ofiice is, and A. Libaini commenced the trade in general merchandise,
which he still continues. In the spring of 1872, T. B. Groves, from Logan County,
HISTORY' OF McLEAN COUNTY. 739
built and occupied a hardware store, which has since been continually occupied by him
in his large hardware and implement trade.
J. W. Eyestone built a grocery store and occupied it awhile, and sold it to R.
Rome, who still continues in the same line of trade. Then E. L. Rush built the build-
ing near the post office for a drug store, which he stocked and continued to run for two
years. Hiram Rush built a store next to Rome's, and ran it for a year, and then went
to Kansas.
Soon after these, Gr. W. Stokes built and occupied a drug store. He afterward
added groceries to his stock, and has since carried on a very successful trade, with full stock
of goods in these lines.
About the same time, the building now used by the post office, was built and occu-
pied by the Cline Brothers, dealers in groceries, for a time. The first Postmaster was
A. H. Marquis, then J. W. Eyestone; E. L. Rush and L. B. Grant followed.
The present businessmen are: Dry goods, A. Libairn; groceries and provisions,
R. Rome; groceries and drugs, Gr. W. Stokes; hardware and implements, T. B. Groves;
grain, R. E. Moreland, H. F. Plummer, J. H. Pumpelly, the latter also dealing in lum-
ber, lime, etc.; wagon-inaker, E. H. Fuller; blacksmiths, A. C. Brandon, George H.
Mittan; boarding, W. T. Ward. The population is about two hundred and fifty.
Belleflower has always done a large grain trade, averaging 350,000 bushels one
year with another. The grain from this station has usually been shipped East to Prov-
idence and Boston, especially the oats; but now, dealers find it to their interest to sell
on track. A large amount of it has been sold to the Halliday Brothers, who have
shipped to Cairo or to Chicago. Osman Station, on Section 1 (21-6), is on the Chicago
& Paducah Railroad, which runs across the southeastern part of the township. It was
laid out and named by Moses Osman, long an officer of that road, and one of its builders.
Mr. Sherrard is engaged in the grain trade, and Mr. Dillon is selling goods there.
The Havana, Rantoul & Eastern Narrow Guage Railroad, built in 1878, runs from
west to east, angling across three sections of the west half, and on the half section line of
the remaining three sections, leaving the town line at the center of Section 36. Lorette
is the name of a station recently established on that road, east of its crossing of the
Illinois Central. Business has not begun to tower up at Lorette yet, but the narrow-
gangers propose to buy some corn there in the future.
CROPSEY TOWNSHIP.
Cropsey Township embraces the south half of Town 25, Range 6 east of the Third
Principal Meridian, is three miles by six, and is territorially the smallest in the county,
being only one-third the size of Gridley, which is the largest. During most of its polit-
ical history, it has been attached to the present town of Anchor (24, 6), and in school
aff"airs is attached to, and forms a school township with Belle Prairie, in Livingston
County.
The township is entirely prairie, and, as a consequence, had no early settlements.
Probably the first to settle here was Col. A. J. Cropsey, from whom and by whom the
town was named, in 1858. Col. Cropsey came here from Will County, 111., where his
parents had long resided in Plainfield, and commenced farming operations in 1854.
740 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
He had entered two sections of land, and built a house in or near the center of Secticn
22. He was a man of enlarged views, having enjoyed the excellent advantages which
the son of an intelligent and prosperous farmer in Will County would even at that d..y
receive. He was at nnce looked up to as a leader among men. He was ardently
attached to the M. E. Church, of which he was a member, and a local preacher of con-
siderable note. He did not remain here long, however. He became interested in the
building of the new village of Fairbury, the nearest railroad point to his farm, ten miles
north, and, in 1860, was elected the first Representative in the Legislature from Living-
ston County, i. e., the first resident of that county who was ever elected to the Assembly.
He was chosen Major of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth (a Livingston County
reciment), and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, serving till the close of the war.
He became interested in a large tract of land where Lincoln, Neb., now stands, and
went there soon after the close of the war, and was largely instrumental in securing the
removal of the capital to that place ; was elected State Senator, and was a prominent
candidate for the nomination for Governor. He recently went to Texas to make his
home. Such is a short and imperfect sketch of one who will ever be held in kind
remembrance by all who knew him when he commenced his active, useful life here.
The general topographical description of the township is, that the high ridge of land
which runs through Lawndale at the west, runs across Cropsey from northwest to south-
east, but is wider, spreading into an undulating highland, shedding off toward Indian Creek
at the north, and at the southern side of the town toward the Mackinaw, which is only
one mile from its southern boundary. The land is excellent and is easily drained. The
farmers present a gratifying appearance of thrift, and distance to market seems to be
about the only drawback to the comfort and convenience of the inhabitants. Fairbury,
wliich is ten miles away from the township, is the nearest railroad point.
G. W. Freshcorn, who is now one of the oldest residents of Cropsey, came here
from Chester County, Penn., in 1856. There were then living in what is now Cropsey.
30 far as his recollection serves (which he admits is at this age somewhat treacherous),
A. J. Crop.sey on Section 22; Alonzo and Levi Straight and father on Section 13;
Stephen and Nathaniel Stoddard, and Edward Ward, still living here ; James Darr,
James Harkness on Section 23, and Henderson Crabb on Section 20. Mr. Freshcorn
bought land on Section 20, and still lives on the same farm. The largest farm, and,
in some respects one of the very best, is the one owned by Moses Meeker, of
Tazewell County, and worked by his sons, E. B. and D. B. Meeker. The
farm consists of 840 acres in Sections 22 and 27. The buildings are large and good,
suitable for so large a stock-farm, well stocked and well managed. The Mcekers
feed about two car-loads of cattle at a time, and keep a large stock of cattle and
hogs. John Strai.sser has a good farm of 480 acres in Sections 24 and 25. He
rai-ses grain and feeds some cattle. J. Hin.shaw works a fine farm of 240 acres
lying in Sections 28 and 33. Esbon Merrill has a large fiirm in Section 29,
keeping about half in pasture, and the remainder in meadow and under plow. He also
feeds some fat cattle, though none of these farmers carry this branch to the extent they
did a few years ago. Edward Ward, one of the first settlers, has a fine farm and excel-
lent buildings. He is recognized as one of the best and most successful farmers. J. C.
Arnold has 120 acres in Section 34, which is well and nicely managed. The farmers
Ijcre seem to havt; jiaid better attention to their hedges than in many other places, and
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
741
one sees here some of the finest hedges in the county, unfortunately in too many locali-
ties entirely neglected. In the division of the township which took place in 1877, all
that portion of the old town lying in Town 24, Range 6, was set off into a separate
political organization with the name of Anchor. The official record before 1877 covers the
two towns until that time, but for the years 1877, 1878, it is only for the present town.
The township was organized in April, 1858, at a meeting held at the house of Levi Straight.
A. A. Straight was chosen Moderator, and A. J. Cropsey, Clerk. The town was
divided into two road districts on the half-section line running through the town north
and south, which now has the iron bridge on it. Below is given, in table, the officers who
have been elected to the principal offices during the official life of the town.
Date.
Votes 1
Cast.
1858
18.^^
1 8H0
1861
1862
19
1863
17
1864
14
1865
14
1866
19
1867
39
1868
36
1869
64
1870
105
1871
76
1872
76
1873
101
1874
136
1875
78
1876
85 ;
1877
56
1878
32
Supervisor.
Clerk.
Assessor.
Collector.
A. A. Straight B. A. Wiggins J.
J. H. Van Eman E. W. Mahoney \E.
J. H. Van Eman E. W. Mahoney E.
N. M. Stoddard E. W. Mahoney G.
D. E. Straight Charles Crabb G.
Henderson Crabb Charles Crabb A.
N. M. Stoddard Charles Crabb B.
.J. Ward Charles Crabb H.
Henderson Crabb Charles Crabb J.
H. L. Terpenning.... Charles Crabb T.
M. H. Knight Charles Crabb ij.
H. L. Terpenning.... J. C. Swatsley |J.
H. L. Terpenning.....!. C. Swatsley H.
H. L. Terpenning....'.!. C. Swatsley [Z.
H. L. Terpenning.....!. C. Swatsley jZ.
H. L. Terpenning.... J. C. Swatsley Z.
H. L. Terpenning.....!. C. Swatsley C.
G. R. Buck ....[.!. C. Swatsley J.
G. R. Buck J. C. Swatsley D.
H. L. Terpenning H. A. Thomas .!.
H. L. Terpenning.. ..JH. A.Thomas J.
Harkness J. Darr.
Merrill N. M. Stoddard.
Merrill. H. Crabb.
W. Freshcorn |S. P. Alford.
W. Freshcorn H. Crabb.
B. Carr N. M. Stoddard.
M. Stoddard Robert Rand.
Crabb '.L W. McCullough.
P. W. Eson J. W. McCullough.
P. W. Eson J. W. McCullough.
I. Robinson.,
McCullough.
Crabb
C. Worley...,
C. Worley.. .,
C. Worley....
B. Ward
!. W. McCullough
Anson Dart.
A. W. Green.
.!. C. Swatsley.
J. C. Swatsley.
E. H. Worley.
0. D. Rutter.
C. Swatsley !C. D. Morris.
.!. T. Tanner.
A. W. Green.
A. W. Green.
B. Spencer
W. McCullough...
W. McCullough...
Those who have served as Justices of the Peace are, L. F. Straight, G. W. Fresh-
corn, J. H. Van Eman, Ellis Elmer, H. L. Terpenning, J. T. Tanner, A. Beale, A. R.
Jones, I. C. Lefler, J. P. Worley, J. E. Whiting and J. Hinshaw.
The Commissioners of Highways have been, A. A. Straight, G. W. Freshcorn, N.
M. Stoddard, S. A. Stoddard, D. Thompson, N. Brigham, Joseph Elmer, E. H. Ward,
J. W. McCullough, G. Haller, M. H. Knight, John Sharpless, J. B. T. Mann, Z. C.
Worley, A. S. Dart, J. C. Arnold, P. J. Decker and E. B. Meeker.
The township, in 1868, adopted at its town meeting a long cattle "ordinance." It
contained eleven sections, and was carefully drawn, providing that cattle should not run
at large, and providing for empounding and fixing penalties ; providing how they should
be released, and giving the proper officers power to act in all cases. This was a new way
of dealing with a very troublesome subject, and it proved a very effective way. The Legis-
lature had passed a law allowing townships to vote for or against permitting cattle to run
at large. One of the provisions of this law was that in case a majority of the legal
voters of any township should vote against letting cattle run at large, the law should then
be in effect in that township, whether the voters in an adjoining township adopted or
not. This complicated matters very much, and there were constant depredations upon
the part of those who did not choose to live up to the law. Custom had grown into a
742 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
kind of law, and citizens were unwilling to take the law into their own hands and make
a pound of their own inclosures. This ordinance was the subject of a legal decision,
and soon became very effective.
RAILROADING.
The center of the old town of Cropsey was, and is yet, about fourteen miles from
the nearest railroad station, being about equidistant from Saybrook, on the south, and
Fairbury, on the north. This of itself was enough, during the era of railroad-building
and bond-voting, to make it of interest to railroad-builders and popular with voters
to go into the bonding business. Several propositions were made and votes taken in
this direction. None of these propositions were received favorably until the Decatur &
State-Line Railroad took form. This road was to run from Decatur, where it would
connect with the Decatur & East St. Louis road, of which it was to be an extension,
direct to Chicago, passing through Chatsworth. The road would have been, had it
been built, an almost air-line route from St. Louis to Chicago — several miles shorter
than the shortest line between those two cities. The Boodys, of the Toledo, Wabash &
Western Railroad, which controlled the Decatur & East St. Louis line, were very anx-
ious to build it, for it would give them a Chicago connection which they had been, and
still have been, unable to get. The proposition really seemed the most feasible of
the many railroad propositions then in existence. They were in business relations with
the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and were really dependent on that com-
pany for the money to build it. When the citizens of Cropsey were shown the magni-
ficent future which such railroad facilities would give them, it is not to be wondered at
that they were ready to get all the wealth which this would bring them, and all for just
a single vote. It looked like a "bio; thing," and there could be no doubt that the road
would be built.
A special town meeting was held October 25, 1869, to vote for or against a propo-
sition to donate 860,000 of bonds. This was the third meeting which had been held
on the matter — the first two resulting adversely to town aid. At this meeting, the
proposition was carried by the almost unanimous vote of 44 to 5. A proposition was
also carried to donate $5,000 per mile and right of way to the same road. As the
town was about eleven miles in length, from the northeast to the southwest corners — the
direction the road would take — it was considered equivalent to the other projjosition.
January 10, 1870, by a vote of 46 to 31, it was voted to give $15,000 to the
D. & St. L. R. R., provided its line touched the town and a station was placed there.
The road had the option, of course, of these different proposals. The destruction of
millions of dollars of the Rock Island company's property, by the Chicago fire, followed
before it had recovered from the loss by the " Granger excitement," and general depres-
sion of railroad interests alone saved the township from being as heavily in debt as any
other in McLean County.
A railrr)ad is now contemplated, called the Clinton, Bloomington & Northeastern,
which is proposed as an extension to the Chatsworth Branch of the Illinois Central.
It is projected by the farmers owning land along the line, and is energetically pressed by
Mr. D. B. Stuart, a large land-owner in Cropsey and Anchor. H. L. Terpenning and
J. T. Tanner, the Supervisors, and other energetic men. The scheme seems a feasible
one, and the road is likely to be built without running the town in debt.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 743
SCHOOLS AND SOCIETIES.
D. S. Crum, Esq., is Treasurer for Town 25, Range 6, and lives in Belle Prairie.
From his last report the following figures are taken : Number of districts, 9 ; whole
number of children under twenty-one years, 618 ; number between six and twenty-one
years, 425; number enrolled in schools, 380; amount of township school fund,
$7,000, about one-half of which is loaned on real estate.
The Belle Prairie Agricultural Society is jointly supported by the two towns. It
originated in the Belle Prairie Grange, and was organized in 1874, and has held three
annual fairs — that in 1878 in the new hall belonging to the society, which is 28x40,
and on the land of D. S. Crum, Esq. The Society pays no money-premiums, but
awards blue and red ribbon premiums. No fees for admission are charged. A track,
upon which the only " purely agricultural horse-trots " known in this part of the country
take place, is one of the feature of the exhibition. No racing is permitted, but it is
doubted whether any horse could carry off the blue ribbon unless he made something
better than a snail's time around that agricultural track. The society is largely social in its
tendencies and aims, and is worthy of study with a view of extending to similar locali-
ties a like institution. Ira C. Pratt is President; H. L. Terpenning, Vice President;
William Stickler, Secretary ; D. S. Crum, Treasurer.
The Belle Prairie Mutual Insurance Company, a farmer's company of these towns,
together with Indian Grove, is in successful operation. There are 126 policies out-
standing, covering an insurance of $103,000. H. L. Terpenning is President ; C. H.
Benson, Secretary.
Lodge No. 631, A., F. & A. M., was organized in 1869, at Potosi. It consists of
eighteen members. H. L. Terpenning is Worthy Master, and Dr. A. W. Green, Sec-
retary.
During the preparation of these pages, the death of John Thomas occurred at the
residence of his grandson, H. A. Thomas, Esq., one-half mile southeast of Potosi, in
the 98th year of his age. Father Thomas was born in Halifax, Windham Co., Vt.,
March 5, 1782. He enlisted in the war of 1812, and served until its close. He was
a cloth-dresser by occupation, and worked on the farm summers and at his trade win-
ters. He was three times married, and was the father of twelve children, nine of
whom survive him. In 1852, he went to live with his son, at Adams, Jefferson Co., N.
Y., where he assisted, for a number of years, in carrying on a dairy. In 1868, he
came to Illinois, and has since made this place his home. He had, for many years,
been a pensioner of the Government. Nearly thirty years ago, a cancer made its
appearance on his left cheek, which slowly made its way until the time of his death.
The cavity was about four inches in diameter. Though this was not the cause of his
death directly, still it may have hastened it somewhat. For some years, he has gradually
lost strength, but was only confined to his bed about four months. During his helpless^
ness, he was kindly cared for by his son and grandson, and the wife of his grandson,
Think of the changes time has wrought in this county during only half of the lifetime
of this aged soldier !
There is no church in the present town of Cropsey, though the Belle Prairie Meth^
odist Episcopal Church is just across the line.
744 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
POTOSI.
Potosi can hardly be called a village, though it has long been a center for the citi-
zens tu collect, get their tri-weekly mail, and trade. When the post office was estab-
lished, it was, for a time, kept by citizens at their houses. Some thirteen years ago,
Dr. II. \V. Green, a recently-diplomaed physician, came here, looking for a place to prac-
tice, and soon after, started a drug store, which grew into his present large general trade
in merchandise. The post office was removed to his store. Dr. Green, in addition to
his extensive medical practice and his general merchandise, takes a lively interest in the
relierious affixirs of the surrounding countrv. He is an ordained Elder of the Christian
denomination, and preaches almost every Sunday in some locality within a few miles'
ride of his home. In his daily life and labors, he fully exemplifies tlie great amount
of labor and usefulness an educated and earnest man can accomplish even while attend-
ing faithfully to his own secular affairs. J. E. Whitney carries on a blacksmith-shop,
and A. D. Taylor a shoe-shop, at Potosi.
One of the most exciting occasions in the history of Potosi, was the speck of war
over the " butternut pole " which was raised by the Democrats on the occasion of a
political rally during the campaign of 1868. Owing to the color of the Confederate
arm}' uniform, which was brown, of a butternu.t shade, the butternut had come to be
accepted by the soldiers of the Union army as a symbol of " secesh " doctrines.
Some person, either out of pure " cussedness," or for some unknown reason, put a
few butternuts on the pole. This was thought, by some returned soldiers, to be a taunt,
and was taken in dead earnest, as tending to spread treasonable sentiments, and they
declared it should come down. The party who raised the pole, declared they would
defend it even unto death. The excitement spread, and there was talk, on both sides,
of " enlisting for the war" to bring down or to sustain that pole. Arms were collected
and stored in convenient places. Men became as thoroughly in earnest as they ever
were on the fields of Dixie. The one side declared that no butternuts should ever be
permitted to wave (or shake) over the four corners at Potosi, and the other just as ener-
getically affirming that that pole should not come down while they lived to defend it.
At this juncture, some of the Republicans thought of the company of '' Tanners,"
organized and officered to help carry on the Grant campaign, and went to get
their a.ssistance. As Capt. McDowell and his company of Tanners had never
been sworn into the State service, he did not feel like volunteering to put down
rebellion or butternuts at Potosi without an invitation from the Governor. He con-
sulted Maj. Osman, who was in command of a Democratic Company, and the two
agreed to lay the matter before the Governor and be guided by his order. They there-
fore sent a message to Gov. Oglesby, laying the matter before him, and asking advice
or orders; Capt. McDowell, for the ReiDublicans, and Maj. Osman, for the Democrats,
agreeing that his orders .should be complied with. The Governor was absent from
Springfield, and it was not until a day after that he sent his reply, which was to the
effect that the Republicans should go home and thus save the majesty of the law, and
the Democrats should take down, and thus save, their butternuts. The order was
obeyed, and the butternuts were taken down and turned over to Capt. IMcDowell and
Maj. Osman, who expressed them to the Governor, who kept thevn safely in the archives
of State.
Thus ended what bid fair to be at one time a serious riot.
'ft
cyVeiKAi^ (j^mynyk^Cu-^
LEXINGTON
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 747
ANCHOR TOWNSHIP.
What is now Anchor, Town 24, Range 6 east of the Third Principal Meridian, is
the easternmost of the middle tier of townships of McLean County, being bounded on
the east by Ford County, and is just about midway between Indian Grove on the north
and Cheney's Grove on the south, Burr Oak Grove on the east and Old Town Timber
on the west. During most of its history it has been a part of Cropsey, and, of course,
its history is much blended with that. The reader is referred, therefore, to Cropsey for
many things which the writer does not deem best to repeat here.
The first man to commence any farm operations here was William T. Stackpole,
Esq., of Fairbury, then residing at Pekin, Tazewell County, carrying on a large grain
and produce business on the Illinois River, then the only line of transportation known
to this part of the State. Mr. Stackpole commenced here in May, 1855, coming across
the country from Pekin, with three teams, to commence spring work on the large tract
of land which he had recently purchased, aggregating 2,320 acres. Of the remem-
brances of that occasion, Mr. S. writes, under date of March 22, 1879, with a justi-
fiable enthusiasm which twenty years of absorbing business operations, complicated by
a series of business misfortunes which would have driven many men crazy, has not
blotted from his memory :
" In addition to the points furnished you for the history of Anchor Township, I
cannot forbear referring to the peculiar natural beauty of that prairie (the very heart of
the ' Grand Prairie' of Illinois), in a state of nature, as I saw it on that May morn-
ing in 1855, when I went, with my men, to begin what we call ' improvements,' neces-
sary for our use, and again — say on September 1 — when its rich vegetation had reached
its fulfillment. Not even a furrow of its virgin soil nor even a spadeful of its earth
(except by United States Surveyors) had ever been turned by man ; nor even, I think,
so much as a shanty ever erected, by white man or Indian, within its bounds. Every
foot of its soil was prairie except the small grove (about two acres) on the southwest
quarter of Section 5, now owned by David Stuart, then known as ' Cunningham's
Bunch.' The wide, open prairies were shunned by the early settlers, and their first
occupation and cultivation were surrounded by serious difiiculties in some respects. The
wild natural beauty of the landscape, relieved and set ofi" by the groves of woodland in
the distance, was fully equal to any representation or description I have ever seen or
read. The comparison, so often made, of the appearance of the distant groves to
islands in the distance, was recognized as most just."
Mr. Stackpole had entered or purchased, in the years 1853 and 1854, 2,320 acres
of land, described as follows: Three-quarters of Section 17, three-quarters of the south
half of Section 18, all of Section 20, the north half of Section 29, the north half of
Section 28, the southeast quarter of Section 28 and the southwest quarter of Section 27.
As stated above, he was engaged in large business operations at Pekin, 111., and had
purchased this with a view to make it his home and his business, retiring from the
arduous and uncertain exactions of trade, which was already undermining his health.
His operations here are sometimes referred to as " Stackpole's folly," a term which will
scarcely be applied to it when the full facts are taken into account.
748 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
In May, 1855, with three teams, he came by way of Bloomington, where he loaded
with lumber, and put up with Ephraim Myers, at Cheney's Grove. The next morning,
he made a survey, put up temporary buildings and comraenced breaking prairie. Up to
that time, no person had broken prairie with horses ; it was supposed that it could not
be done, and when he told them that he was going to do the work with horses which,
it was supposed, could only be done with three or four yoke of oxen, he was laughed
at, and people began to talk of " Stackpole's folly." The " red root," which was the
great and only impediment to breaking prairie — a hardy plant, of prairie growth, whose
top was but slightly discernible in the grass, but whose large, firm root, running deep
into the ground, was firm as a rock against any common plow — could only be overcome
by the steady, stolid pull of well-trained cattle. Mr. S. had discovered that the root,
to be killed, need not be cut off by the plow, but that a hit by the plow was sufficient
to destroy its vitality and cause it to die ; hence, he knew that he could plow with
horses, and did. Men came from Cheney's Grove to see him fail in his plowing ; they
came, saw, but he conquered.
He purchased a boat-load of lumber in Chicago, which he brought on one of his
boats to Joliet. thence by railroad to Lexington, and drew it across the country to his
farm. The first .summer, he built the large farm-house which has been, until this year,
occupied by Dr. Sabin, and which was, at that time, the largest and finest farm-house
in McLean County. The rattlesnakes, greenheads and mosquitoes were the most
troublesome enemies the new farmer had. The stable was kept dark to protect the
horses from the attacks of the latter, but it did not protect them from the former, as
one of these sinuous descendants of the first tempter got into the manger, at one time,
and, like " a dog in the manager," would neither eat nor let the horse eat till he was
removed. Deer, at this date, were still so numei'ous that herds of from five to fifty were
often seen. The skeleton of a buffalo (an American bison) was found by Mr. S. on the
farm, and his neighbors at Cheney's Grove also found some. Since the very earliest
recorded events, extending back into the early part of the eighteenth century, the bison
was never known to live upon these prairies east of the Mississippi. How long that
skeleton, which Mr. S. still retains, had lain upon this prairie it will be difficult to tell
with any degree of certainty. For two or three years prairie wolves were very trouble-
some. All these minor objections shrunk into insignificance, however, compared with
the terrible fires. No real loss of human life occurred here, but losses of property were
numerous. In one fall, Mr. S. lost several hundred tons of hay. The high grass,
often, at that time, growing to the height of eight feet, gave a fine opportunity for the
spread of the devouring element. He brought out the first reaper which was ever used
in these parts. The following year he put up a board fence around a half section. Like
all his building, this was done in first-rate style. The posts were sawed and then
charred in fire. The fence stood well for sixteen years. He stocked his farm with
several hundred head of cattle and a thousand sheep. In 1859, he had eleven hundred
acres in grain, largely in wheat, which proved that year a bad failure. Thus far, every
thing on his farm had proved rea.sonably successful. But business reverses followed his
labors at Pekin, and, in ten years from the time he made his first purchase at Anchor,
all his [)roperty had been sacrificed at less than half its value to meet the demands
against him. The low water on the Illinois River, in 1856, gave him his first severe
lo.ss. The revulsion of 1857, when wheat fell in Chicago from $1.18 to 60 cents in
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 749
twenty days, and nearly every bank in the country closed its doors, following quick upon
the suspension of the " Ohio Life and Trust Company," left him poorer by thousands
of dollars. The peculiarity of this case was that during this decline in Chicago, wheat
remained firm in Liverpool. The failure of the banks placed it beyond the power of
commerce to move the wheat forward. The system then in vogue placed it out of the
power of men to send forward crops without the aid of the banks. Jim Fisk, Jr., had
not then invented his famous scheme for " moving crops."
The disasters of the first year of the war finished what the former uncontrollable
events had commenced, and the year 1863 saw Mr. Stackpole's land closed out under
mortgages at ruinous prices and himself left penniless. It will be seen that it was not
Stackpole's folly that ruined him. Mr. S. has, of late years, given much attention to
the study of opening the water-ways of the country, and has invented a plan by which
the bars which accumulate at the mouths of our great rivers can be removed and com-
munication kept open for the largest class of vessels. He is a man of large informa-
tion and of radical views, a strong and vigorous thinker, and in many respects a remark-
able man. That success may crown his present labors is said not more in his own than
in his country's behalf.
Topographically, Anchor lies in peculiar shape. The high ridge which extends
through Lawndale and nearly covers Cropsey, runs across the northern line. The
Mackinaw heads in the eastern line of the town, running north through the eastern
tier of sections, and west through the northern tier. A high ridge, not unlike
the one across its northern line, runs nearly along the southern, dividing the head
waters of the Mackinaw from the creek at Saybrook. From the eastern, part of this,
a hish ridge runs north through half of the township, leaving two extensive valleys,
which are rich and fertile, on either side of it. There is, on the east side of
Section 12, a lake of some forty acres, and, besides this, a few small ponds. The
name Anchor was given to it by George R. Buck, the then Supervisor — why, is not
easy to tell.
The oldest resident now living in town is John Sharpless. He came from Indiana
with a family consisting of wife and five children, and worked a farm two years at Indian
Grove. He made an arrangement, as he supposed, to work a piece for Capt. Johnson,
at the Mackinaw timber, for the year 1863 ; but a misunderstanding occurred, and he
left. It was late for renting, and the only chance he could get was a half section of the
Stackpole land on Section 18, and, very much against his will, he was obliged to take a
prairie farm. He liked it so much better than he expected, that he lives near the same
place, on Section 29, now. There was a farm lying near by that had been cropped in
1861, but had lain idle in 1862. The proprietor offered to take one-fifth grain rent for
it, but he could not find any one to take. Sharpless gave the usual rent, one-third.
There were plenty of deer and wolves at this time, but he did not give much attention
to them. He found his time fully occupied on the farm.
After working the land two years, he bought of Jones, where he lives. Sharpless
was and is an ardent believer in the Democratic party, and tells how he felt when he
attended the first election in this town and put in his day for the good of the cause ;
but it proved an upJiill business ; for when the votes were all in and duly counted out,
there were three Democratic votes to thirty Republicans. He has lived in the town
to see it go the other way, however, and feels better.
750 HlrfTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Dr. Sabin, the same year, or the one following, purchased the portion of the Stack-
pole property upon which the dwelling-house stood, and has continued to live there until
the present year. He has practiced his profession over this part of the country, and is
greatly respected by his neighbors around him.
A. R. Jones, familiarly known as Abe Jones all over the county, commenced here
his great farming and cattle-feeding enterprise in 1865.
The demands of the great army of the Union, together with a lively inflation of
the currency, had for two years before made cattle-feeding the great rage in McLean
County, and almost every farmer in the county had got rich by it. Jones had made some
money and wanted to make more ; he bought some 3,000 acres of land, comprising Section
27, three-quarters of Section 28, five-eighths of Section 29, 520 acres in Section 24,
half of Section 15, half of Section 10, one-quarter of Section 14, one-quarter of Section
34 and eighty acres in Section 26 ; a considerable portion of this was the Stackpole land.
Jones lived on Section 27, and there erected a steam-mill to grind feed for his cat-
tle, and built two large barns 28x225 feet each, two stories high, sufiicient to stall 300
cattle; these he kept filled wich cattle as long as he could afford it on a constantly
declining market. He sold his mill to John Shorthase, who removed it to Danvers.
His barns were cut up into sections and sold off". He at one time sold all his land to
persons at a contract to pay twenty-five bushels of corn per acre for ten years. The
parties failed to fulfill, and he had to cancel the contracts. He afterward moved to
Towanda, and died in 1878. His great farming operations did not entirely use him up
financially, but must have crippled him considerably.
A. S. Dart came here the same year and built a house on Section 29. John Ingram
came here from Canada and bought forty acres from Jones in 1866, and Nathaniel Brinley
bought the west half of Section 29, and built on it in 1867.
During these two years, the township pretty nearly all settled up. Henry Gilstrap
came from White Oak Grove and settled on Section 6 : he afterward moved to Kansas.
Moses H. Knight, a preacher of the Christian Church, also settled on Section 6, where
he afterward died, much respected by all who knew him. R. H. Arnold, from White
Oak Grove, and W. H. Anderson and F. M., his brother, came from Martin township
and settled on the same section. D. B. Stewart, of Chicago, purchased Section 5, upon
which is situated " Cunningham's Bunch," the only natural grove in the township, and
an adjoiaing section in Cropsey. He is largely engaged in the hay trade, running a
press and shipping his hay to all parts of the country. "Side-Hill Dick," a colored man,
famous in this region as the only man in existence who is taller on one side than the
other, is in Mr. Stewart's employ. Mr. Stewart once sent a lot of hay to Providence,
R. I., for which he failed to get any return. He thinks trusting Providence may have
been a good thing at one time in the history of the country, but thinks times have
changed — in Providence.
J. T. Tanner came here in 1869, and has a fine farm in Section 8. He is the
present Supervisor and has been a Justice of the Peace. He is an intelligent man.
Can show as good a farm as one need see. J. C. Swatsley, for many years Town Clerk,
came here from Metamora, Woodford County, where he had long been engaged in
school teaching, and took up a farm in Section 11. He is a man of superior education,
and his record as Clerk shows a careful man, so rarely found in the township offices,
which often show a great lack of skill and care. He has an excellent farm.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 751
Maj. J. B. T. Mann, an officer in the Mexican war, commenced to plant a nursery
here on Section 4, in company with his brother W. H. Mann, Esq., of Gilman. The
hedge-plant business was a large one for a few years, and for a time the raising and sell-
ing of nursery stock was a good business.
J. B. Pierce came from Danvers to Section 28, about 1868, where he still resides.
He is a man of large intelligence, and has taken a lively interest in the religious and
educational affiiirs of his town.
John N. King commenced a farm in Section 22, about the same time. He is, as
his place shows, one of the best farmers in the town. His buildings are neat and
nicely painted, and his farm looks tidy and neat. The same year, John P. Worley set-
tled on Section 14, where he still resides.
At the first town meeting held in Cropsey Township, this town was divided on the
half section running through Sections 4, 9, etc., for some reason which does not now
appear very plain, and on this line is the principal bridge over the Mackinaw, an
iron one built by the county in 1870j the two post offices in the town, and the
principal road of travel from Potosi on the north, to Saybrook on the south. There
are five other bridges over this stream, and their early history is that of all bridges on
Western prairie streams — having the habit of frequently going off when most wanted.
Latterly, the citizens have learned by experience to build them more permanently.
There is no store in town, Saybrook being the principal trading point, although those
living in the northern part find Potosi a convenient point. No township debt oppresses
the taxpayers of Anchor, although the record is evidence that it is not their fault that
they have not now heavy railroad taxes to pay. They repeatedly voted to donate the
Decatur & State Line Railroad all they asked, to build a road through the town, but
the possibilities of that railroad were burned up in the Chicago fire. The citizens liv-
ing in the northern portion of the town are now, under the lead of Mr. Stewart, push-
ing forward the enterprise known as the Clinton, Bloomington & Northeastern Rail-
road, with an anticipated station on Section 5.
CROPS.
Corn is the principal crop, and probably will remain so. The farmers feed their crop
liberally to hogs ; a few feed cattle. A great deal of corn is drawn to Saybrook, which
is the market for this town. A few have been raising flax, with good yield, and an
occasional crop of wheat is raised. Oats are generally considered a good crop.
Until 1877, this town and Cropsey were together in political organization. A lit-
tle unfriendliness had grown up ; there did not seem to be any convenient common
center for holding town meetings, and a little strife was known to exist between the
north and south ends on town affairs. In 1876, a petition was presented to the Board
of Supervisors, signed by many of the principal citizens, asking to have the town
divided. The Board granted the petition, and at the suggestion of George R. Buck,
who was then Supervisor, the new town was named Anchor. What small debts there
were, were equitably divided, and the township " property," consisting of a record-book
and Clerk's desk, were parted between them, Cropsey taking the desk and Anchor the
book. Since the setting-off of Anchor, the following township officers have been
elected : Supervisors, Gr. R. Buck and J. T. Tanner; Clerk, J. C. Swatsley ; Assessors,
S. P. Howell, J. C. Swatsley; Collector, A. Claypool ; Justices, J. T. Tanner, C. M.
752 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
Grapes; Commissioners of Highways, A. Crotinger, H. A. Thompson. The town lias
usually been Republican.
No citizen of Cropsey or Anchor has ever been elevated to political or judicial
office of the county or State. AVhile this is not strange, and by the citizens themselves
not regretted, as they have not been " seeking office," and, with all the reforms which
have been instituted, the time has not come yet when the office seeks the man in all
cases, still it is a little singular that two of the local clergy who resided here, moved
into adjoining counties to be soon sent to the Legislature. Mr. A. J., Cropsey moved
to Livingston County, and was in 1862, elected to the Legislature, and Rev. J. I. Rob-
inson, who, in 1869, moved to Ford County, was, in 1874, elected to that body by the
Republicans of Ford and Livingston counties.
There are two post offices in Anchor, established about two years ago. Both are
served twice a week by the mail carrier's line running through from Fairbury to Say-
brook. Garda Post Office, which received its name from the famous Italian lake, is at
the house of C. W. Kingsley on Section 9, near the iron bridge, and Dart Post Office,
at the house of Samuel Cary, on Section 33.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, ETC.
Anchor is reasonably well supplied with churches, and the people seem to be
interested in spiritual matters.
" Prairie Chapel" (M. E.), a neat and plain structure, standing near the iron bridge
is 30x40, and was built in 1874, at a cost of $1,300. Preaching had been held in the
schoolhouse for some years quite regularly, when it was thought best to build the
chapel. Messrs. 0. D. Butler, Alex. Shannon, J. C. Swatsley, Z. C. Worley and
H. A. Thompson were selected to look after the work. It belongs to Fairbury Circuit,
and the pulpit has been supplied by Revs. D. R. Dietch, Mr. Bealer and James Sanders,
who now officiates. Preaching service is held each alternate Sabbath, and a Sabbath
school is maintained.
Bethel M. E. Church was built on Section 32, in 1876. Mr. George R. Buck,
a resident of the town, organized a "class" in 1873, at the Sherwood schoolhouse.
After the organization of the Church, Rev. Josiah Kern preached two years. Then
followed Rev. William Wiley, under whom the church was built. D. B. Spencer,
Abraham Crotinger and G. R. Buck were the leading spirits in the building of this
neat edifice.- It is 32x40, and cost $1,600. Rev. Mr. Souders and Rev. Mr. Flowers
have since officiated. This Church belongs to Union Circuit.
George 11. Buck was instrumental in starting a Sabbath school, in 1808, in the
Jones' schoolhouse, on Section 21. In 1869, it became a Union Sabbath school, and
was so continued until the building of the Bethel Church, when it was transferred to that
building and became by general consent a Methodist school; that is, is carried on under
theofficersof that Church. During its existence, Messrs. King, Spray, Parr and Moots
have in turn acted as Superintendents, and since it has become attached to the Meth-
odist Church, Messrs Grapes and J. M. Green have superintended.
In the winter of 1874-75, Rev. P. W. Bishop, whose recent insanity has been a
source of deep regret to the large circle of friends which he has in McLean County,
organized a Cumberland Presbyterian Church at the Rockford schoolhouse. Messrs.
Pierce, Craig and McReynolds were elected Elders, and fifteen members were received.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 753
Mr. Bishop continued to preach for the little society for some time. They have no
house of worship. •
Rev. Mr. Field, of the " United Brethren," then a circuit preacher, now Presiding
Elder, organized a class in 1869, and held regular meetings in the Rockford schoolhouse,
Following him were Rev. B. F. Rhinheart, Rev. Joel Corley and Rev. F. R. Mitchell.
As a matter of convenience, service was then transferred to the Fairview schoolhouse.
Revs. Mr. Denton, Levick, Gilbert and Faulk have officiated. A portion of the time
it belonged to Saybrook Circuit, and a portion of the time to Arrowsmith Circuit.
They now contemplate building a church upon the Updike land.
The Christians have no church in Anchor, but have one just across the line in
Martin, which is convenient to them. Dr. A. W. Green, of Potosi, preaches once a
month in the Methodist Church near the iron bridge.
The doctrines of the " Perfectionists " or the " Holiness " doctrine, as popularly
called, seems to be quite commonly held by members of the churches in this and sur-
rounding towns. In some instances the avowal of this belief has been the cause of
unfriendly feeling, in consequence of a lack of sympathy with the doctrine on the part
of some of the members.
Many churches do not always indicate increase of religious life, but a lack
lack of churches generally shows a lack of religious interest. However it may be, the
people here seem, with great unanimity, alive to religious and spiritual matters. There
are nine school districts in Anchor, and it has the largest township school fund
of any in the county — $14,375. The school section was sold in 1869, for $22 per acre,
giving a handsome sum, which seems to have been well cared for. The successive School
Treasurers have been, W. H. Anderson, A. S. Dart, C. M. Grapes and J. R. Worley.
The farms show genei'ally good management, clean culture and thrift. There are
many which are worthy of special notice.
C. W. Kingsley has 180 acres in Section 9. When he came onto it, in 1868, it
was raw prairie, and he has made it one of the finest in the town. He has good buildings,
neat and tastefully arranged grounds, good hedges, a nice orchard and good stock.
A. Crotinger, on Section 32, has 240 acres under good cultivation, with nice
buildings and comfortable surroundings.
I. N. King has a beautiful place of 160 acres, in Section 22; everything looks
neat and pleasant.
Thomas Hargett, Samuel Carey and David Warren have each a quarter section,
on Section 33, with large houses and good grounds.
James Parr has 240 acres in Section 35, which is a good farm, and with a fine house.
It would seem that the farmers of Anchor have little to wish to make them con-
tented and happy.
MARTIN TOWNSHIP.
Town 24, Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian, is Martin. It is six
miles square ; is the second from the east line of the county, and the third from the
north and south lines. The center of it is twenty-two miles north of east of Bloom-
ington. The Mackinaw runs entirely across its northern tier of sections, and three-
fourths of this tier were covered originally with timber. The remainder of the
754 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
township is prairie-land of the finest kind, both in the richness of its soil and its
adaptability to thorough culture at all times. There is practically no waste land in the
town. Bray's Run and other small streams running across it from its southern to its
northern border, water and drain its rolling surface, making it unsurpassed in beauty
and value. Added to this, the general thrift and care of its farmers, the attention to
buildings, orchards and hedges, the general freedom from foul growth which the farms
show, all tend to make one remember a visit to Martin pleasantly.
The town was named from Dr. Eleazer Martin, who, at the time of his death,
owned a large tract of land, which still belongs to his two daughters, Mrs. Ewiog and
Mrs. Dr. Elder.
The first settlements w^ere, of course, along the river, and most of those who
broke the land here and put up their little cabins along the Mackinaw, still live here,
enjoying the well-earned fruits of their early privations, trials and hopes.
John Wiley and his sons, William, Lytle R. and Silas W., came here from Indiana
in the fall of 1835, the year that the land came into market, and entered land on both
sides of the Mackinaw, near the head of the timber belt. The elder Wiley made his
little home, with the help of his sons, then young men, on the south bank of the
stream, where Silas has lived until this year, near the bridge. Here the old gentleman
lived and died, and Silas remained on the homestead. As soon as the older sons got
their father's farm into good working order, they took up land on the north side of the
stream, and commenced making homes for their future families. They were induced to
come into this part of the country by the Pattens, who were relatives of theirs, and had pre-
ceded them. William built a house, and married in 1841. Eight children were born
to them, most of whom are living. He owns and works a farm King in this and the
adjoining township.
Lytle R. Wiley remembers well the early days here. The fall of their migration
was rainy and unpleasant. The roads, where there were any, were muddy, and there
were no bridges over the streams. The first winter, there was excellent sleighing,
though not as good as the recent one of 1878-79. He never has seen a winter equal to
this. At first, they went to the mill at Kankakee. There was later a horse-power mill
at Cheney's Grove, which they sometimes patronized, and sometimes went to Ottawa.
At certain seasons of the year, the patronage at these distant mills was far beyond their
capacity to grind, and the settlers had to go prepared to camp out for a week around
about the mill, waiting for their turns. There was no voting-place nearer than Pleas-
ant Hill, and there they had to go until township organization was effected in 1858.
The nearest store was at Bloomington, and, in case of sickness, they went there for a
doctor. They brought some stock with them, and had great trouble with wolves.
Sheep were a necessity to the early settlers; without them they did not know how to
clothe themselves; but it was almost impossible to save them from the depredations of
wolves. During the early years, there was no money to be had. The breed of hogs
then known in these parts would hardly pass muster as " lard hogs " in any well-
ordered market. Cattle and horses were good, and easily raised, but there was no
demand for them for cash. Wliat the pioneer had to eat or wear he must make or
raise, and store-clothes were at a discount. They raised some wheat, which, by hauling
to Chicago, would bring 50 to 60 cents per bushel, but it ^was a good two-weeks'
trip to go and return. WMien Lytle got ready to go to Indiana and marry, he decided
HISTORY OF McLEAN- COUNTY. 755
to build the best house in this neck o' woods. The house still stands to show its good
workmanship. It stands at the road near his present residence. The logs were all
nicely hewn, and evenly laid up, framed in at the corners, rather than notched ; the
gable-ends clapboarded ; the rafters and roof-boards were sawed stuflF. This was in
1843, and sawed lumber could be procured then. The shingles still cover the roof
which were put on thirty-five years ago, and, until recently, there was no leak in it.
In 1865, Mr. Wiley built his present residence, which is a large, roomy building, and
cost, at the time it was built, $3,000. It was the largest and finest house in this part
of the country. It stands exactly on the line between Section 4 in Martin and Section
33 in Lawndale. His sleeping-room is in Martin, but he gets "his washing done"
over in Lawndale. He never has had his vote challenged in Martin in consequence of
having his week's washing done in the kitchen. He owns over four hundred acres of
land, and has always been a good, careful farmer, never taking any speculative risks.
He is the father of nine children, eight of whom are living.
Next to the Wiley family came Curtis Batterton from Kentucky, in the fall of
1836. He came here on horseback from Madison County, and went on to Missouri,
but did not like the looks of things there, and returned here and bought eighty acres
on Section 5, and went back to Kentucky. He returned here the following year, and
soon after married here, Melinda Henline. He brought apple seeds with him from
Kentucky and planted. When two years old he grafted them and soon set them out,
and still has a good orchard. He lived in a log house until he was able to build the
present snug brick house. The bricks were made on the place, and it is the first, as
indeed it is the only, brick house in Martin Township, and cost about $1,600.
The first schoolhouse in the town was built on his land in 1856, and is still used
as a schoolhouse.
For some years after coming here, it was almost impossible to sell anything. He
drove hogs to Bloomington and sold for $1.25 per 100, dressed. Those who drove to
Chicago did " two bits " better, but it was a hard, long trip with hogs. He considers
one of the greatests curses to this country the cockle burrs, which were introduced here
about 1852, from Kentucky. He never allows one to grow on his farm. He is an
extremely careful man. His farm and buildings are nice, clean and tidy. He and his
two sons farm half a section. Their stock is good and fences in order. He is a very
positive man and does his own thinking. Early in life he was a Democrat, had voted
for Jackson, but became estranged from that party at the time of the Cincinnati plat-
form, and the rebellion made him an ardent Republican. His oldest son died in the
army at Jackson, Tenn., and he brought his remains home for burial. He was not a
member of the church, so had no particular one to go to, to conduct the funeral service.
He sent for Elder Sharpless, whom he knew as a clergyman, but was too unwell him-
self to attend the service. After he recovered from his sickness, he learned that the
Elder was a Democrat, and he went off and got a Republican minister and had the
funeral over again. Had he attended the first funeral, however, it is not likely that he
would have had the second, as David Sharpless was far too good a man to allow political
feeling to take even possession of his mind on so sad an occasion.
He well remembers Lincoln in the olden time, and speaks of him as a very plain,
unassuming man, whom any one would have taken for a plain country farmer instead of
a lawyer.
756 HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
S. W. Bray came from Indiana in 1855, and entered land at Bray's Clump, a little
five-acre patch of timber about three miles up the stream, on " Bray's Branch," and
about one mile, by direct line, from the Mackinaw, on Section 15. He was a son-in-
law of John Franklin, of Lexinj^ton. Reentered 160 acres of land, and still lives on
it, surrounded by a housefull of children and grandchildren, enjoying a pleasant old
age. The only neighbors were the Wileys and Batterton. The nearest post office was
Pleasant Hill, and the nearest school was at Batterton's, three miles away, and this was
supported by subscription.
There were some singular features of the school-law of thirty-five years ago. The
teacher must "board around " a week for a scholar. Each scholar, or rather the parent,
was required to furnish a quarter of a cord of wood. It took as much wood to keep a
schoolhouse warm in those days as to burn a brick-kiln. It was almost invariably fur-
nished " sled length," always green and full of sap, and the boys had to chop it up
noon-times and recesses. Almost hourly the request was made of the teacher to per-
mit one to go out and bring in some wood, for by so doing he could get a half-hour's
spell of chopping. Then the wood was almost always too long for the stove. Then
the little fellows would ask to stand by the stove, to get warm, ostensibly, but really to
scrape the sap ofi" the ends of the sticks, as it "sizzled" out, and eat it. Another
thing which seems strange to us now was, that no child who had even a drop of African
blood in its veins could attend school under any terms.
Dr. Payne, now of Lexington, entered and improved a farm of eighty acres, at
the head of the timber, in 1854. He remained on it a few years and sold to Richard R.
Williams, who farmed it ten years and sold to John Bradford, and moved to Lexington.
The Puett farm, of 160 acres, in Section 2, in the same neighborhood, was taken
up the same year. It is now owned by James E. Wood, who has gone to Indiana.
In the year 1856, James E. Wood took up 160 acres in Section 3, and lived on
it several years. It is a good farm, with good buildings.
Perry Parker took up or purchased about three hundred and fifty acres of land in
Section 3, about the year 1853, and, in 1858, sold it to W. G. Anderson, who had
moved from Indiana, but had lived near Bloomington. Mr. Anderson was a man of
intelligence and good education, and at once set about improving and beautifying his
farm and home. He was an ordained Elder of the Christian Church, and devoted
much time to the religious interests of the people with whom Providence had cast his
lot. He established a Sabbath school, and commenced preaching in the schoolhouses as
soon as there were any, and carried on, with the aid of other brethren, regular relig-
ious meetings, from which grew the " Antioch " Church, a notice of which will be
found under the proper head.
He carried on his farm successfully for fifteen years, making cattle-feeding the
principal business. He introduced pure blood cattle and hogs, and now has a herd of
about thirty-five shorthorns and a large lot of Berkshire hogs, which variety has
always been a favorite with cattle-men, from their ability to take care of themselves
among cattle.
Four years ago, he was appointed Financial Agent of Eureka College, in Woodford
County, and has but just returned to his farm, which has been in charge of his son.
His energy and zeal have never flagged in the work he has found to do, and he has
been a valuable and useful citizen.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 757
The large farm known as the " Harpole farm " lies just opposite these farms, consist-
ing of the east half of Section 10 and all of Section 11, at the head of the timber, and includes
the separate grove known as " Funk's Bunch." The Mackinaw runs across both sections;
and that it is one of the best cattle-farms in the town or county is evidenced by the
fact that it was early selected by Mr. Isaac Funk for one of his farms, and he was never
known to select anything but the best when he had his choice. In 1858, he put J. S.
W. Johnson on it, to improve it and feed cattle. Johnson was a good manager, and
continued in control of it until 1866, when he died. Mr. Funk having died, it came
into possession of his son George, who sold it to Peter Harpole. At the latter's death,
two years later, his widow went to Bloomington to live. Alfred Harpole now has
charge of it, carrying about two hundred head of cattle, feeding some, but, like all these
farmers, much fewer than they formerly did. There is abundance of water, fine feed-
yards, good buildings and good accommodations.
Soon after this, the prairie began to be made into farms. Prof. Turner had demon-
strated that the Osage orange, which was a native of a southern clime, would stand our
winters, and could make a fence. Coal had been found to burn well, and it began to
appear that men could live on these prairies. Capt. James Kennedy (or Jeems, as he
insists upon calling it,) is a character which few men in Martin do not know, and whom
to know is to get acquainted with at once. Born and raised in the blue-grass region of
Kentucky, he found, as his boys grew up around him, that he ought to get out of that
country, not that he expected to find any better one, but his shrewd foresight told him
that the stern logic of events must lead to war sooner or later, and he did not want to
be in it. He knew that this country never could be divided, and that the attempt
would be made, and he did not mean to be in it. He was a firm Whig in politics, and
expected always to be.
In 1852, he sold out there and came to Bloomington with means enough to buy
him a good farm and stock it. Being particular about his future home, he did not buy at
once, but rented a farm at Bloomington on the Peoria road. He carefully looked over
all this country, and found in the place he now lives on. Section 21, just what suited
him, but it was not for sale. Peter Folsom, who owned it, was holding it, but afterward
sold to Alexander Miller, and Capt. Kennedy bought of him.
He had been Captain of the militia, in Kentucky, and raised a company for the
Mexican war, but it was not accepted, as the regiments wore all full. He brought a
thorough-bred, short-horn herd with him from Kentucky, and was one of the early and
most efficient friends of the County Agricultural Society, of which he was for some years
President. In 1860, he was the candidate of the Democrats for Representative from this
county.
He is full of early incidents, one of which is worthy of repeating, as showing the
currency troubles of olden times. He started once on a business trip to Bloomington,
Ind., and took money out of the bank at Bloomington, before starting. Arriving at
Terre Haute, he stepped on the cars, and, when the conductor came around, he had not
a bill which would pass in the sovereign State of Indiana. He tried every plaster he
had, and none would fit on that soil. He asked the conductor what he must do, and
received the reply that he would have to get oflF. He then asked whether, in the opinion
of the conductor, he would be permitted to walk on the track after the train had gone,
with that money in his inside pocket. This sally so amused the conductor that he did
758
HISTORY OF MnLEAN COUNTY.
not put him off, and he got to the end of his journey by borrowing from an entire
stranger.
After he bought the farm he now lives on, there were, for a time, so few people
living hero that they could not have a school. For a year they did keep a school in a
private house, hiring the house-wife to teach it, but in 1865 and 1866 the rush of settle-
ment was so great that schoolhouses were built, and everything moved off smoothly.
He has always taken a lively interest in public affairs, and especially in township
affairs. For jcars this town has been without any pauper expense. He has been re-
peatedly elected Supervisor, and made a very useful member of the County Board. He
has a good farm, bountifully supplied with fruit, and, at seventy-five, he is spending
a green old age, with nothing to complain of, and few regrets. He does regret
however, that the people of this prairie country did not earlier learn that they
could get along without having to fence against other people's cattle. He says he did
not know, until after the people over in Cropsey Township adopted their ordinance against
cattle running at large, that it could be done. Had it been done twenty years sooner,
it would have saved the farmers the millions they expended in fences.
Capt. Kennedy is a member of the Christian Church; has been a liberal supporter
of religious affairs, and contributed largely to building four different churches. He has
been three times married; is the father of six children, four of whom survive.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
The following is the roll of officers who have been elected to the various township
offices since its organization :
Date.
Votes
cast.
Supervisor.
Clerk.
Assessor,
27 -J. S. W. .Johnson.,
35 .J. S. W. .Johnson..
.33 H. C. Langstaff.....
30:H. C. Langstaff
38.1. S. W. .Johnson.
33 II. R. Williams
31 \V. G. Anderson...
63 W. G. Anderson...
80S. W. Wiley ,
lOOS. W. Wiley
94J. Kennedy
lOBW. ]'. Brooke
1 l').Iames (Jillaii
7f).James Gilbui
00 Jacob Richie
93 James Kennedy..
85 J. Kenneily
97 James Gillan
84 Janies (lillmi
77|James Gillan
Collector.
M. Brooke E. W. Anderson S.
M. Brooke E. W. Anderson H
M.Brooke E. W. Anderson IP.
M. Brooke R. D. Anderson jW
M. Brooke W. G. Anderson J.
J. E. Wood W. L. Anderson |h
J. Pool J. S. W. Johnson B.
B. J. Wilev B. W. Smith.
B. J. Uiley J. Mundell ...
J. S. Wiley J. W. Ritter..
W. P. Brooke George Little
W. R. Smith
M. S. Morris....
>L S. Morris...
M. S. Morris...
1m. S. Morris...
M. S. Morris...
M. S. Morris G. W. Keller
M. S. Morris 'G. W. Keller
Isaac Bunn
J. O. Mundell
J. 0. Mundell .L
Isaac Bunn M
J. 0. Mundell IW
G. W. Keller J.
W
W
M. S. Morris |G. W. Keller |W
W. Bray.
. C. Langstaff'.
, Horney.
. G. Anderson.
W. Ritter.
C. Langstaff'.
W. Smith.
Hudson.
. L. Foster.
. L. Foster.
E. Walden.
. L. Foster.
H. Richie.
H. Richie.
. Brooke,
illiam Pencil.
M. Wilson,
illiam Gillan.
illiam Gillan.
illiam Gillan.
Those who have served as Justices of the Peace are B. W. Smith, J. R. Williams,
R. Horney, W. H. Anderson, N. Hawk, James Gillan, C. W. Spawr, D. Bierbower
and S. T. Kidgeley. The following have been Commissioners of Highways: R. R.
Williams, S. W. Wiley, H. C. Langstaff, C. Batterton, H. Gr. Anderson, A. S. Hudson,
J. Lyons, L. Warner, J. Carter, J. Bunn, J. R. Williams, J. Twogood, William Wil-
son, S. Dean, Joseph Nye, William Hurt, T. Wilson, W. H. Anderson, L. J. Willhoite.
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY. 759
Milton S. Morris, Treasurer of the School Trustees, reports, in 1877, the following :
Number of school districts, 7 ; number of schoolhouses, 6 ; number of children under twenty-
one years, 419 ; number between six and twenty-one years, 276; number of children
enrolled, 256 ; amount of school fund, $3,478 ; amount paid teachers, SI, 786. 66 ; total
expense of every kind, S3, 354. Like many other townships, Martin "fooled" away
the school section, which, with proper care, would have made a fund large enough to
support all the schools in the town.
CHURCHES.
There are three churches in Martin, each being on the edge of the town, so that
it accommodates others than the inhabitants of this township. The " Antioch "
Church, as its name would naturally indicate, belongs to the Christian denomination.
Early in the settlement of the country, Elders W. G. Anderson, M. H. Knight, and
other devoted men, began to assemble the people together on the Lord's Day and on
other occasions, for religious meditation and instruction. A Sabbath school soon fol-
lowed, and the audiences outgrowing the accommodations, it was determined to build a
house for worship. A suitable piece of land was procured in Section 1, and a ceme-
tery was laid out, and in 1873, the present Antioch Church was built, 30x45, a plain
four-wall structure, costing $1,400. These brethren were greatly assisted in their build-
ing enterprise by S. W. Wiley, John Hinshaw and others. Dr. Green, of Potosi,
together with Messrs. Anderson and Knight, have conducted regular religious services
in the church.
The " Martin Valley " Christian Church was built in 1873, in the middle of Hit-
ter's meadow, in the southeastern part of town. It is about 40x54, a plain building,
without spire or decoration, and cost about $1,500. At the time it was built, it was
understood that a road would be laid out on the section line running by it, but difficul-
ties arose in regard to it, and it now seems likely that it will cost almost as much to make a
road to it as the house originally cost. It is proposed to move it to Arrowsmith, and as
most of those who now attend will be as near there as where it now stands, it will prob-
ably go. The gentlemen who were largely instrumental in the building, were John
Nickerson, Joseph Goddard, William Hurt, Mr. Lopeman, Elias Buzic and Capt. Kennedy.
The "Martin Valley" United Brethren Church was built in 1869, at a cost of
about $1,500. The building committee was James Gillan and Jacob Richie.
The township contains many excellent farms, some of the best of which have
been already mentioned.
James Gillan, who for several years has represented the town on the County
Board of Supervisors, came here from Tremont, Tazewell County, in 1865, and bought,
and commenced improving, what is now a fine farm in Section 23. He is of Irish birth,
and a man of excellent judgment, and is held in great respect. At that time land was
selling at from $7 to $10 per acre.
Isaac Bunn, originally from Pennsylvania, esteemed by all one of the best farmers,
came here in 1864. Hefarms three-quarters of a section in Sections 18 and 19. He has
excellent land, good buildings, and is comfortably fixed. He formerly fed cattle largely,
but that line of farming has become much depressed since the opening of the great
cattle-fields of Colorado and the West.
John Bitter was here, on Section 34, as early as 1864, and James Hagler on Section
29 at the same date. They have both good farms and high rolling land. These men
7(30
HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.
came at a time when they had their pick of thousands of acres of as ^cood land as the sun
ever shone on.
Jacob H. Richie, on Section 35, and Mr. Springer, on Section 36, have nice farms,
and both are among the best farmers in town.
William Wilson has half of Section 16, which is also a well-managed farm. John
Nickerson owns a large farm in Section 28, with fair buildings, extensive orchards and
comfortable appointments. J. M. Sells has a fine farm of 480 acres, with comfortable
buildinsrs and improvements.
J. E. Walden was born in IMcLean County. Early went into the army, where he
served until 18G5. On coming home, he bought eighty acres of land in Section 27,
where he still resides. His brother, Solomon K. Walden, lives on the large Henline
property, which has recently been purchased by Gen. Gridley. The two sections
belonging to the Henlines had never been plowed until 1878, when the north one was
put into corn, and the south one will be this year. The Martin tract will also be planted
this year for the first time. Renters on these new lands give two-fifths, and the chances
are a premium at that.
There is noticeable throughout an appearance of thrift and healthy improvement.
There are no very rich men to cause jealous emulation ; no very poor to call for pity or
pauper bills. A friendly Christian spirit seems to pervade. No neighborhood quarrels,
and no expensive litigation have estranged friends or broken in upon the general good
feeling.
There is no post office in Martin, the people generally going to Arrowsmith or Say-
brook on the south for trade and for postal facilities. They do not greatly desire rail-
roads, either. They seem remarkably contented, peaceful, successful and happy.
What more can any neighborhood want ?
'->^-r
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BLOOMINCTON TOWNSHIP.
W. H. H. ADAMS, President Wesleyan University, Bloomington ; was(born in Effingham Co.,
111., March 30, 1840,yand is the son of Christopher B. and Sarah (Ganaway) Adams, who were
early settlers of Illinois ; Dr. Adams' father was a farmer; the Doctor was engaged in farming
from the time he was able to hold the hoe or handle the plow in the summer months, and in the
winter attended the district schools. In 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company A, 11 1th I.
V. I.; he carried the musket the first nine months in the service; he was then elected 1st
Lieutenant ; he organized the first company of Contrabands for service ; he was Captain of Com-
pany A Battery, doing service on the road from Columbus, Ky., to Mobile, Ala. ; July 4, 1865,
he resigned and returned to Illinois, and in, 1865, entered the Preparatory School at Evanston,
111.; here he graduated ; he then entered the Theological Seminary; in 1870, he joined the
Illinois Conference, at Shelbyville, and was stationed at different places in Illinois. In 1875, he
became President of the Weslyan University. ,
E. J. ADAMS, grocer, Bloomington ; was born/in Tioga Co., Penn., (April 3, 1844, where he
was raised and educated. He came to Illinois in 1865, engaging with the St. Louis & .Jackson-
ville Piailroad Company, and, through meritorious conduct, was soon put in charge of a
passenger-train, and continued as Conductor until 1874 ; he then began in mercantile business
as traveling salesman for McMillen & Compton ; thence with Roush & Humphreys, wholesale
grocers; here he learned the business, and opened on his own account in 1878; his place of
business is at 112 North Main street; here he keeps a fine store, with a well-assorted stock of
goods. He married Miss Susan C, daughter of Joseph Caswell, of Jacksonville, 111., Dec. 20,
1872 ; they have three children.
AGLE & SONS, leather and findings; Bloomington. The representative firnuin leather
and findings is that of Agle & Sons, 205 S. Center street. fAt Gowanda, N. Y.,^hey have
a large leather manufacturing establishment. Their store here is stocked with their own manu-
facture of goods. Those who are judges do not hesitate to pronounce their goods the best in the
market. Their business here is conducted by Mr. George Agle, one of the junior members of
the firm ; he is a native of Erie Co., N. Y. ; was born in 1845, and began learning the trade of a
tanner with Charles Seigle, of Hamburg, N. Y. ; he came West in 1861, and engaged in the hide
and leather trade in this city, remaining here for five and a half yeai-s, and then returning to
New York, where he was engaged in business for about six years ; then again returned to Bloom-
ington, and engaged in the hide and wool trade with Mr. J. Clark, this partnership lasting for
two and a half years, when Mr. Agle again engaged in business alone, at his present location,
where he has since remained ; understanding the manufacture of leather and being thoroughly
posted in all the details of his business, he has met with very gratifying success, and has con-
ducted his business so that the firm of Agle & Sons is well and favorably known to our business
men and to the people.
C. S. ALDRICH, grocer, Bloomington ; firm of Aldrich & Bro., wholesale and retail grocers.
One of the leading stores of this class is that owned and conducted by Aldrich & Bro., located at
109 East Front street, They are careful and reliable business men, whose aim is to secure that
patronage which shall result from the merits of their goods and fair dealing. They have exhib-
ited an enterprise worthy of commendation, in always being among the first to secure seasonable
articles, and always aim to keep only the best grades. C. S. Aldrich is a native of New York,
and son of Lucius and Mary A. (Thorp) Aldrich ; he was born Nov. 18, 1833. During his early
life he obtained a good education, and for a number of years followed teaching; in 1860, he
removed to Montgomery, Ala., and there engaged in teaching; and at the beginning of the late
war, he returned to his home and organized a company and entered the army as 1st Lieutenant
of the 85th N. Y. V. I., and from meritorious service was raised to the office of Major ; he partici-
pated in many of the most severe engagements of the war ; he lay prisoner several months at
762 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Macon, Savannah and Columbia, S. C. where he made a very hazardous escape, and was some
thirty days in the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains before reaching the Union army ; he
was mustered out in December, 1804, and returned to Canandaigua, N. Y., and entered the Can-
amlaigua Academy as teacher. In 1865, he embarked in the dry goods business, continuing
until 1868, when "he came to Bloomington and began the grocery business, and has risen to his
present standing through industry and integrity. He married Miss Uphemia Van Buskirk, of
his native State, Oct. 13, 1869; they have four children, three of whom are still living.
L. ALLIN, dentist, Bloomington. There is probably not a single one of the old settlers of
McLean Co., and particularly those who first settled where the city of Bloomington now stands,
that will be, or should be. remembered as long and with such feelings of respect and honor as
the father of Lee Allin. It was he that began the building of the city in good earnest by laying
oflf forty acres of his farm in town lots. This being the first beginning of a town and is now the
heart of the city, and being fully described elsewhere we will not repeat it. His son, Lee Allin,
who is now and has been during his life a resident of the city, was born Nov. 27, 1828; during
his early life, he had but little chance of getting an education, the schools being such as are
usually found in a new country. For a time he was engaged in mercantile pursuits ; but this
not just to his liking, he gave it up, and, in 1854, began the study of dentistry. After having
learned the business, he opened an oihce for himself, and has since been engaged in the business;
his specialty is fine plate-work, and it is generally conceded that his work is not surpassed by any
dentist in the city ; he has a pleasant suite of rooms located at 116 South Main street, where he
is found regularly during business hours. Sept. 7, 1852, he married Miss McFarland, of Jack-
sonville, 111. / \
J. W.ANDERSON, machinist, Bloomington; was born inButler Co., Ohio, May5, 1842, and was
raised and schooled in Preble Co., where he learned blacksmithing, in which occupation he continued
until the beginning of the late war, when he enlisted in the 20th Ohio for three months' service;
he then returned and took up his trade until 1863, when he re-enlisted with the 120th Ind. V. I.,
and served as flag-bearer for twenty-six months ; he came to Bloomington in 1868, where he has
since lived; his place of business is 305 West Washington street; here he runs a fine little
machine-shop, and is prepared to manufacture buggies, spring and platform wagons, and all
kinds of jobbing ; being a competent workman and a thorough businessman, he has an excellent
trade. He married Miss Sallie A. Ledwell, of Butler Co., Ohio, June 8, 1861 ; they have a family
of three — William T., Leonard E. and Mabel. r \
JOSEPH ATOR, County Sheriff, Bloomington: was born in Montgomery Co., Ohio, Nov. 9,
1830; son of William and Isabel (Dodds) Ator ; he was left to battle with the world without parental
advice and care, being raised by an uncle and receiving but a limited education ; at the age of 15,
he began the trade of a printer, but soon abandoned it for that of a cooper, in which business he
continued several years; then, for a time, he traveled extensively through the Southwest ; he
finally returned to his native county, and, Feb. 15, 1856, was married to Miss Margaret Waltz,
of Montgomery Co.; they came to McLean Co., 111., in 1857, locating in Towanda, where he fol-
lowed his trade for a time. During the late war, he enlisted with the 145th I. V. I., serving to
the expiration of his enlisted term ; he located in Bloomington in 1871, and opened in the coop-
ering business, which he continued until 1872, when he was appointed Deputy Sheriif, and served
some four years ; his election to tlie office occurred in November, 1878. n,
JOHN HOWARD BURNHAM, Bloomington ; was born aJt Essex, Mas^, on the north side
of T'ape Ann, Oct. 31, 1834 ; his ))arents were of the old Puritan stock ; his father, John Burn-
ham, was a descendant of John Burnham, who came to this country in 1634, and the original
farm descended from father to son for six generations ; his mother was a Perkins, and a Choate
on her mother's side ; she is a first cousin to llufus Choate, the famous lawyer; Mr. Burnham
emigrated to Illinois in the fall of 1855, living for two years at Barrington, Cook Co.; while there,
he taught school two winters; in the spring of 1858, he came to Bloomington, where he attended
• he Normal School ; here he graduated July 4, 1861 ; Aug. 20, 1861, he entered the army as 1st
Lieutenant of the Normal Students Co. A, in the 33d Regiment I. V. I.; he was in the battle of
Fredericktown, .Mo., Oct. 25, 1861 ; at the fight at Cotton Plant, or "Cache River," Ark., July
7, 1862, and in several skirmishes; he was promoted Captain, Sept. 5, 1862; in 1864, he was
Superintendent of the Bloomington City Schools, and in July, 1864, became editor of the Panta-
'jraph, remaining nearly three years in this position. Jan. 23, 1866, he married .Miss Almira S.
Ives, daughter of .\. B. Ives, of Bloomington; in 1867, he became general contracting agent for
an iron highway briiigc company, whicli position he now fills.
JOSEPH BACON, planing-mill, Bloomington. Mr. Joseph Bacon is another of the enter-
prising business men of Bloomington. He is a native of the State of New York, though most
of liis life has been spent in the West. For twelve years, he was engaged in boating on the
Missi.ssippi River. He was engaged from 184'.) until 1858 in working at the carpenter and
joiner's trade, which he had learned in Indiana. In 1858, he engaged in the *planing-mill
business, which he has since followed. His mill is located on East Douglas street ; his business
now being mostly custom-work. In 1876, he was unfortunate enough to lose his left hand by having
it mangled in a saw. In 1878, he put in one run of stone for grinding corn and mixed feed, ami
has since been doing some business in this line.
\
eA
^^ C^;:^r\X^^'
-O^-M^^^
LE ROY
THE OLDEST MALE SETTLER OF
BLDOMINGTON NOW U YING
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. - 765
WILLIAM F. BAIRD, loan agent, Bloomington. Among the better class of loan agents
stands the firm of Baird & Tuttle. Mr. Baird was born in Ohio; in 185o, he canie to McLean
Co. Here he has been engaged in stock-raising, and owns 1,000 acres of fine improved land near
Shirley. Mr. Baird, while in Ohio, was Conductor on the Little Miami RHilroad.
S. D. BAKER, grocer, Bloomington. His parents were Dr. Isaac and Susannah M. (Dodge)
Baker, wlio were pioneers of McLean Co. They came to what is now McLean County in 1827,
settling first at Hurley's Grove, and after a few months removed tc Funk's Grove, where they
remained two years; thence to Blooming Grove; and when the land came into market liis
father entered 160 acres. Dui'ing his early life he had learned surveying, and, in 1831, with the
assistance of James Allen and W. Orendorff, he laid out the original town of Bloomington. At
the meeting of the first Board of Commissioners of McLean Co., Mr. Baker was chosen Clerk
of the County Commissioners' Court, which position he held fifteen years. He served as Post-
master for a number of years. He was a much respected citizen, and always took an active
part in all public matters pertaining to the good of the community in which he lived. He died
in April, 1873, at the ripe age of W years. The subject of this sketch was born in Washington
Co., Ohio, Feb. 14, 1820. Among those who have lived in McLean Co. many years, and watched
its growth and helped to bring it to its present condition, are the Bakers. S. D. Baker was for
many years in mercantile business in Le Roy. In 1874. he removed to Topeka, Kan., on account
of the health of his family; he remained two years, after which he settled in Bloomington, at
115 S. Center St., which was the site occupied by his father in 1832, and the location of the
post office as early as 1834. Here he keeps a fine grocery store, with a good assortment of the
best grade of goods. He is a liberal, wide-awake citizen and business man, and enjoys a good
paying trade, and the confidence of a large number of warm friends. He married Miss Laura
A. Edwards, of this county, March 14, 1848. They have two children living — Frank W. and
Eva. ^ \
FRANCIS BALL, wagon-maker, Bloomington; was born in/ Franklin Co., Mass.,) Dec. 13,
1831 ; he was brought to Tazewell Co., 111., in 183G, where he was raised, schooled, and learned
the trade of wagon-making. He came to Bloomington, 111., in 1859, where he has since lived, a
respected citizen, and enjoys the reputation of being a first-class workman. He began business on
his own account in 1874. His residence. No. 40-3 E. Olive street, is a pleasant home, and a happy
family surrounds him. He married Miss Mary Judge, of Tazewell Co., July 2, 1854; they have
two children — David and Harrie W. '
A. J. BARNES, butcher, Bloomington ; son of James and Mary (Roberts) Barnes ; was born
in Madison Co., Ky., Oct. 5, 1830, where he was raised and schooled: he followed agricultural
pursuits and stock-dealing for many yeai's. Oct. 12, 1851, he married Miss Rachel A., daughter
of Turner Barnes, a prominent farmer of Madison Co., Ky.; they came to McLean Co., 111., in
1854, settling in Bloomington Township, where he has since lived, a well-to-do citizen, having
taken an active part in matters pertaining to the good of the community. In 1877, he began
the butcher business, and is located on W. Washington street, where he keeps all kinds of fresh
and salt meats, and, with the assistance of his sons, is doing a fine business. Mr. and Mrs.
Barnes, are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have raised a family of eight
children.
C. C. BAilROWS, pawnbroker and dealer in jewelry, Bloomington, of the firm of C. C. Bar-
rows & Co. ; was born in Geneseo Co., Mich., in 1849, and is the son of J. and Eliza (Ray)
Barrows ; his father was a farmer, and engaged in real estate business. Mr. Barrows was at one
time city editor of one of the leading papers of Peoria, 111. In 1875, he came to Bloomington
and commenced the pawnbroker's and jewelry business ; he ranks among the best jewelry houses
of the city, and is the only one in the general pawnbroker's business.
HENRY BEHR, grocer, Bloomington; was born in Prussia Oct. 5, 1851, and came to this
country with his people in 1866, locating in Utica, N. Y. ; here he found employment as drug
clerk, and, at the end of two years, being well versed in medicine, he became prescription clerk,
and acted in this capacity until 1870, when he came to Bloomington ; here he was for a time a
grocei-y clerk, and, after some three years, he engaged in the same business in company with
Mr. Penner, the firm being Penner & Behr ; in 1876, he became the sole proprietor ; he is
located at No. 1009 W. Chestnut street, where he keeps a good stock.
A. H. BELL & BRO., photographers. Bloomington; the above-named parties are one of the
leading firms in photography in Bloomington ; they began business, in 1877, as Mays & Bell : in
1878, it was changed to A. H. Bell & Bro., consisting of A. H. and S. £. Bell; these gentlemen
do good work, and their prices are as reasonable as any in the city, for the style of work; they
have a most finelj^-furnished studio ; and their father was one of the early settlers of Bloom-
ington.
REUBEN M. BENJAMIN, County Judge; Bloomington; is a native of Columbia Co., N. Y.;
was born June 29, 1833, and is of English extraction : he was brought up on a fiirm, attending
the district school in the winters, until he was about 14 years old : he prepared for college at
Kinderhook Academy, and graduated at Amherst College, Mass., in 1853 ; for the ensuing year
he was Principal of Hopkins Academy, of Hadley, jNIass.; he next attended the lectures of Parker,
Parsons & Washburn, at the Law Institute in Harvard University, two terms, and then, in
' GG
766 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
1855-56, was tutor in Amherst College. He came to Bloomington in the spring of 1856, and was
admitted to the practice of law, upon the examination and certiticate of Abraham Lincoln, Sept.
5, 1856, sind, later in the fall, he entered into partnership with Messrs. Gridley & Wickizer,
remaining with them until the former retired from practice, and the latter entered the army; in
the spring of 1863, he formed a partnership with Hon. Thomas F. Tipton. In November, 1869,
Mr. Benjamin was elected a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of this State, and was
appointed a member of the Committee on the Bill of Rights, Municipal Corporations, State Insti-
tutions and Public Buildings; he took an active part in the preparation and discussion of some
of the most important articles of the Constitution of 1870; he was of counsel for the people in
the now historical cases of the Chicago ^: Alton Eailroad Company vs. The People ex. rel. Gusta-
vus Koerner etal.. Commissioners (67 111. 12), and Munn et al. vs. The People of the State of
Illinois (69 111. 80), in which the power of the State to control railroad and warehouses was
finally established; he was elected County .Judge of McLean County in 1873, and re-elected in
1877 ; during his career as Judge of the County Court, he has won the admiration of the bar and
of the people, by the promptness and accuracy with which he dispatches business. It is a satisfac-
tion to the people that they have an able jurist at the head of this tribunal, and one who is
thoroughly competent to administer its aflt'airs with honor to himself and the county. IMr. Ben-
jamin was instrumental in establishing the Bloomington Law School (which is elsewhere spoken
of in this work), in April, 1874, and was honored with the Deanship, in which capacity he still
officiates. He was married to Miss Laura E., daughter of David G. Woodiu, Esq., of Columbia
Co., N. Y , Sept. 15, 1856.
H. R; BENSON, Bloomington; Mr. Benson was born at Manlius, Onondaga Co., N. Y ; at
the age of 10 years, he was selected for proficiency from the district school, to attend the Manlius
College ; at the age of 14 he came AVest ; he- taught successfully a district school, at the age of
14 ; he next went into a dry goods store as clerk, which occupation he followed for six years ; at
the age of 21 he entered the mercantile business, but was soon after burned out, at Moline, 111.;
while a dry goods clerk he commenced the study of law ; his next move was to Chicago, where
he entered the law office of Chase & Storrs as a student ; he attended the Law Department of the
Chicago University, and graduated in 1864 ; he then located in Chenoa, and there built up a good
business ; he was City Clerk and Attorney of that place for five years, securing the organization
of the town and drafting many of its ordinances ; he left a good practice to come to Blooming-
ton, locating here in the fall of 1871 ; he entered at once into active practice, and now enjoys a
good business ; that Mr Benson is a good collector no one can doubt, when it is understood that
he was collector for the Bloomington Law Library, and was successful in collecting dues off the
lawyers ; as a collector he needs no other recommendation.
S. BISHOP, A. M., M. D., Bloomington; another of the physicians of Bloomington of more
than ordinary ability, is S. Bishop, A. M., M. D. He is a native of Clark County, Ohio, and was
born December 3, 1826. During his early life, he had but little opportunity of attending school,
or in other ways procuring an education. Leaving his home at the age of 21, his first move was
to go to Chicago, wllfcre he began working and attending school. This he followed until 1858,
when he became a literary graduate at JNIadison University, N. Y., and, from the Theological
Department of the same institution, he again graduated in the year 1860. Some seven years
after this, he began the study of medicine, and attended lectures at the Homoeopathic Medical
College, of Missouri, and at the St. Louis College of Homcbopathic Physicians and Surgeons, at
which last college he became a graduate of the science of medicine, in 1870. He practiced a short
time during 1869-70, in St. Louis, and, in 1870, he went to Moline, 111., where he located and
practiced about five and a half years. In the fall of 1875, he came to Bloomington, where he
has since resided and practiced his profession. He is a member of the McLean County Homoeo-
pathic Medical Society, and also of the Illinois Slate Homoeopathic Medical Association. He con-
tributes now and then to medical journals, and continues to be an enthusiastic student of med-
icine, and is a firm believer in the houuKopathic law of cure.
E. H. BLANCH ARD, druggist, Bloomington; among the business men of Bloomington who
are thoroughly educated gentlemen, is Mr. E. H. Blanchard, the Chestnut street druggist; he is
a native of Vermont; a graduate of the Middlebury College, also a graduate of the Andover
Theological College, of Massachusetts. He was Pastor of the Congregational Church, of Warwick,
Mass., for eight years. It was there he became acquainted with Mr. Blaine, and many other
prominent men of national reputation, some of whom were members of liis cliurch. His health
failing, he came West, in 1868. and, in 1869, liecaine the successor of Wni. W. Marmoii, by the
purchase of the Chestnut Street Drug Store, which he has since conducted successfully. By energy
and economy, he has established a fair business, and is well known and respected by many of
the prominent citizens of Bloomington.
W. J. BllOWNELL, boots and shoes, Bloomington; among the leading firms in the boot and
shoe line, is that of W. .]. Brownell, who is a native of Cooperstown, Otsego Co., N. Y. In 1862,
he came West, and engaged in the dry goods business, in Bloomington. This business he fol-
lowed until 1874, when he sold out, and, in 1875, embarked in the boot and shoe trade, which
business he has since successfully operated. His establishment is located at 106 West Washing-
ton street. Here he has shown botli good taste and judgment in fitting up his store, and in
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 767
buying goods. The second floor is used for manufacturing and the first as a salesroom, the hitter
being elegantly furnished with fine carpets, lartre mirrors and elegant sofas, for the convenience
of his lady euatomers, as his specialty is fine ladies' goods, of which he has a fine assortment,
keeping the very finest make, and latest styles of French kid and prunello goods, as well as a
■fine assortment of children's, misses' and men's light and heavy wear. He is enjoying a good
trade, which is the result of his own energy, industry and good financiering.
BLOOMINGTON PORK PACKING COMPANY. In speaking of the business industries
of Bloomtngton, the Bloomington Pork Packing Company deserve more than a passing
notice. They began business in the fall of 187o, the firm then being William Van Schoick,
George A. Tyner and U. 0. Andrus, the firm name being William Van Schoick & Co.
In 1877, Mr. N. N. Winslow became a member of the firm, Mr. U. 0. Andrus retiring, the
firm name changing to Bloomington Pork Packing Company. Their establishment is located
close to the I., B. & W. and L. 13. & M. Railway Depots, their main building being 124x74,
two stories and basement ; this is used for slaughtering hogs, pickling hams and salting
meats. In connection with this, they have what is known as the Gridley Malt Building;
this building is 140x44, two stories high ; this they use for canvasing and putting up meats
for market. Their office, which is a separate building, is located close to both, and to the
scales. Their first season's packing, in the winter of 1873-74, was 1,800 hogs; since that, they
have gradually increased the business, until this season they will slaughter about 16,000. They
are energetic business men, and have conducted their business in such a manner as to be not
only a credit to themselves, but a benefit to the public generally, as they have established a
permanent market where farmers can always get the highest market price for their stock, and
in giving employment to a large number of men. The senior member of the firm and general
manager of the house, is Mr. William Van Schoick, who is a native of Monmouth Co., N. J. ; he
was born in 1828, and seems to have been a natural genius, as well as an able financier; he has
learned the trades of printing, stove-molding and brick-making. In 1851, he located at Rich-
mond, Ind., where he engaged in the manufacture of brick, remaining there until 1858, when
he removed to Bloomington. While in Richmond, he did the largest day's work in the molding
of sand-brick that has ever been known, the number being 14,369, time, thirteen hours; upon
the completion of it, he was forced upon a scaffold and carried upon the shoulders of his men
and the students, from the brick-yard up through the streets of the city. In 1858, when he
came to this city, he began the manufacture of brick, giving employment to from forty to one
hundred men. He contracted for and completed the building of the Wesleyan College, as well
as many other prominent and important buildings of Bloomington. In 1869, he helped to
organize the Bloomington Stove Company, in which he is still a stockholder. He is also a stock-
holder in the Bloomington Furniture Manufacturing Company. In 1870, he tried the theater
business, by organizing and putting on the road a company of twenty-six people; but this soim
" played out," carrying with it several thousand dollars of his money. In 1873, he engaged in
the pork-packing business, where we now find him, one of the stirring business men, and an
honored and respected citizen of the city of Bloomington. Mr. Tyner. who has been previ-
ously mentioned, is a native of New York City: came West in 1857, and engaged in farming
for three years in Marion Co., III. In 1861, he enlisted in Co. G, 21st I. V. I.; was in the
army over four years. After leaving the army, he engaged in business for one year in Chatta-
nooga, Tenn. In 1866, he left the South and went, to St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in the drug
trade ; this business he had followed but a short time when he sold out and came to Blooming-
ton, and engaged in the grocery business, which he was interested in for ten years. They began
building the packing-house in August, 1873. Mr. Tyner has had charge of the books and of
the finances since the opening of the business. He is also a member of the firm of Tyner &
Richardson, dealers in flour, provisions and tobaccos, 116 S. ^lain street. Mr. N. N. Winslow,
who has lately become a member of the firm, is a native of Chautauqua Co., N. Y. In 1855, he
came West, and located at Bloomington. Having learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner in
New York, he, for a short time, followed this business ; then engaged to work for Mr. J. Grover,
in the manufacture of soap and candles; in 1859, he took the control of the business, and since
that time has proven himself a very able financier, sometimes doing a business of $70,000 per
year. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. A, 94th I. V. I., three years service ; was in the army until
the close of the war; while in the army, was still interested in his manufacturing buf^iness in
Bloomington ; his factory is located close to the I. B. & W. and L. B. & M. Railway Depots. In
1877, he became connected with the, Packing Company, but still carried on and superintended
his old business. Since forming the partnership with the Packing Company, he has attended to
the general outside work. The three members of this firm are men of that class who seldom
fail to carry, every enterprise through successfully. Being wide-awake, energetic business men,
ready to take the advantage of any circumstance that may improve their business. They are
honorable and upright in their business transactions, and have won a name and reputation of
which any firm should be proud. Should no calamity befall them, the Bloomington Pork Pack-
ing Company will yet rank amongst the larger packers at interior points of the West.
GEORGE BRAND, furniture dealer, Bloomington. The representative man in the whole-
sale and retail furniture trade is George Brand, who is a native of Wurteraburg, Germany, lie
768 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
was born in 1820, and in 1845 left bia native land and came to the United States : though before
leaving he had acrniired a good education. When he arrived here, he located in Ohio, where he served
a regular apprenticeship of three years in learning the trade of cabinet-maker. For several
years following this he t.aveled through the Western States, and, in 1854, located permanently in
Bloomington, where he began working at his trade. In 18G9, he began business for himself,
which he has since continued successfully. His establishment is located at No. 11*2 W. Front
St. Here he has a large stock of the tinest furniture in the city. His storeroom is 100x24 ft.,
three floors and basement ; in addition to this is his shop, 74x22. A more complete idea of the
extent of his business might be gained were we to say that his store is 4,000 feet long, which
would be the case were it all placed on the ground floor. He employs from three to five men all
the time, and during the busy season has more. This entire business is wholly the result of his
own energy, enterprise and good financiering. His close attention to business, pleasant and
courteous treatment of customers, have won for him a name and reputation of which any business
man may justly be proud.
IRA J. BLOOM FIELD, teacher, lawyer and soldier, Bloomington. was born Nov. 27, 1835,
in Butler Co., Ohio, and is a sou of John Bloomfield, a descendant of Gov. Joseph Bloomfield,
of New Jersey. In the spring of 1837, his parents removed to Fulton Co., 111., where in youth
he endured the hard labor and privations incident to a frontier settlement, but which gave him
a vigorous constitution and laid the foundation of those habits of industry and frugality for
which he is still distinguished. He there i-eceived such education as could be obtained in the
common schools. In the summer of 1854, having cut with a cradle forty-five acres of grain for
his father, and worked ten days in harvest for the neighbors, for which he received §15, his
father gave him this money, the balance of his time, and what few books and clothes he possessed,
and he started out in life intent upon acquiring a good education. By alternately teaching and
going to school he obtained, for those days, a fair English education, and some knowledge of the
Greek and Latin languages, and for several terms attended the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio.
On his return to Illinois he visited Bloomington, where he learned of a vacancy in the High
School, made application and was at once elected Principal, and subsequently Superintendent of
the city schools ; he there remained until the rebellion. His military career was brilliant, He
enlisted as a private soldier and rose by promotion through several grades to that of Brevet
Brigadier General of Volunteers, taking part in all the marches, battles, sieges and campaigns
of the Army of the Tennessee, including the capture of Island No. 10, Corinth, Vicksburg,
Atlanta and Savannah ; the march with Sherman to the sea, and the return through the Caro-
linas, ending in a grand review at Washington, and was finally mustered out of service at
Louisville, Ky., July 20, 1805, after a little over four years constant service. After the close of
the war he returned to Bloomington, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In the
spring of 18G7, without any solicitation on his part, he was appointed United States Pension
Agent at Springfield, 111., a position he held for two years, and was then appointed Supervisor of
Inte/nal Revenue for the State of Illinois. In April, 1871, he resigned, and resumed the prac-
tice of his profession in Bloomington. In 1872, Gen. Bloomfield succeeded City Attorney Fifer,
and continued to fill the position with credit until the end of two terms, in 1876. He was for
two years senior member of the firm of Bloomfield, Pollock & Campbell. He has also held a
Professorship in the Bloomington Law School. He is now a member of the law firm of Bloom-
field (S: Hughes, whose practice in all the courts, already very large and important, is daily
becoming more and more extensive. Gen. Bloomfield is one of the most urbane, unaffected and
most easily approached members of the McLean County Bar, and as a speaker is earnest, pointed
and direct.
CORNELIUS G. BRADSHAW, Bloomington; was born in Shelby Co., Kentucky, on
the 26th day of May, 1839. Quite early in life, he came with his parents to Southern
Illinois, and passed the years of his boyhood on a farm ; in his fourteenth or fifteenth
year, he began a course of study at Georgetown, 111.; soon after he was admitted to the
Indiana Asbury College, located at Greencastle. Mr. Bradshaw finished his education by
taking a law course at Ann Arbor, .Mich.; he went direct from his books to the practice of law.
The first case of any note in which he figured, was a suit at Charleston, Coles Co., 111., which
was a prosecution brought under the old fugitive slave law, against a colored woman, named
Mary Brown; he was counsel for the defendant, and succeeded in securing his client's acquittal.
When the war broke out, Mr. Bradshaw was President of Marshall College, but resigned his
duties as instructor to become a soldier; he experienced active service as a Captain of cavalry,
and several times received honorable mention in the reports — see war record. After the war he
located in Bloomington, where he has since resided. He has, during these latter years, practiced
law with gratifying success. His position as senior counsel in the celebrated Roach case, being
a responsible one. It was in the defense of the notorious desperado Rande, however, that Mr.
Bradshaw's great originality was brought conspicuously into play ; he made one of the most
learned, striking anil original appeals that was ever addressed to any jury ; extracts from this
effort were telegraphed to all the leading papers of the country.
F. A. BllOW.N, grocer; Bloomington ; of the firm of Brown iV Gray, was born in Preble Co.,
Ohio, Nov. 21, 1847 ; his first experience on his own account was the manufacturing of tile, at
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 769
Camden, Ohio ; he came to Bloomington in 1873, and engaged in the grocery business, in which
he continued for a time, then acted as shipping clei'k for McMellen & Compton, fancy grocers,
until 1875, when he, with his present partner, opened a grocery store. He was married to Miss
Clara Blair, of Winchester, Nov. 22, 1870.
W. p. BROPHY, stove manufacturer; Bloomington. In the organization of a stock company
for the purpose of manufacturing any special line of goods, it is necessary that some member of
the firm be an energetic, practical and thoroughly educated man in the manufacturing of the
proposed line of goods ; this position is filled by Mr. W. P. Brophy, Superintendent of the
Bloomington Stove Manufacturing Company. This company began business on Aug. 20, 1870 ;
they are now manufacturing 115 different styles of stoves, among which are, the Grand Central
Cook Stove and the Royal Crown base burner, both of which are becoming very popular ; they
are using about 400 tons of pig iron per annum, and give employment to about thirty men ; the
main building of the factory is 88x47 feet, three stories high ; the foundry is 120x40, well-lighted
and ventilated ; the aggregate number of stoves manufactured per annum is about 4,000 ; Mr.
Brophy, the Superintendent, was born April 9, 1-827, and is a native of Bennington Co., Vt.;
there he learned the trade of stove molding and received his education ; leaving his native place,
he located in Troy, N. Y., where he remained until 1867: removing from there to Columbiana Co..
Ohio, where he resided three years, and in 1870, came to Bloomington, where he helped to organ-
ize the company of which he is now the Superintendent ; having held this position since the
organization of the works ; he has had thirty years practical experience in the manufacture of
stoves : in devoting his full time and energies to it, he has been instrumental in making the
business one that is an honor to himself and a credit to the city of Bloomington.
J. H. BRYANT, contractor; Bloomington; one of the oldest and best known contractors
and builders of the city of Bloomington, is J. H. Bryant, who is a native of Cambridge, Mass.;
in 1837, he came West, but did not locate in Bloomington until 1859, where he has been con-
tracting and building for twenty years ; during the busy season he employs about twelve men,
frequently having several buildings in course of construction at the same time ; he has contracted
for and built many of the prominent public and private buildings of Bloomington ; prominent
among the former is the new City Hall, built in 1878 ; he is a man who has filled any and all
contracts which he has taken, and has thus established an enviable reputation as a contractor
and builder.
K. BUFFHAM, painter, Bloomington; was born in Rochdale, England, June 24, 1844 ; he
came to this country in October, 1850, and settled in Lake Co., 111., in 1851 ; removed to Racine,
Wis., in May, 1863, and there served an apprenticeship at his trade ; in 186() he came to Bloom-
ington, and, in 1867, began business for himself; and, in house and sign painting, is second to
none ; his shop is at the corner of Main and Washington streets, where he is prepared to do all
job-work with neatness. He has twice been married ; first to Miss Boadicea E. Holland, Dec.
25, 1869, who died Aug. 17, 1874 ; Feb. 22, 1876, he was married to Miss Elizabeth 04. Tramp.
T. .J. BUNN, banker, Bloomington ; is a native of Green Co., Ohio, was born Aug. 29, 1832 ;
his parents were Lewis and Margery (Haines) Bunn, who were natives of Ohio ; they came to
McLean Co. in 1838; during his early life educational advantages were limited; but, by study
and observation, he obtained a good business education ; his first business experience was that
of a printer ; this he followed some five years : then, for a number of years, was engaged in mer-
cantile business, after which, he embarked in the real-estate business, in which he operated suc-
cessfully until 1874, when he established the bank of T. J. Bunn & Co.; the natural bent of Mr.
Bunn's inclinations were toward banking, and in this he has achieved great success ; has lived
in this city for many years, and witnessed and watched its growth, and helped to bring it to its
present prominence. He has filled many positions of honor and trust ; from the fact that he has
grown up with the city and served in many public offices, and gradually prospered in business, we
m.iy conclude that he deserves the high place which is accorded him in this community as a busi-
ness man and a citizen. He married Miss Mary E. Hutchison, of Christian Co., Ky., May 4,
1854 ; they have a family of four.
LEWIS BUNN, Bloomington; was born September 16, 1805, on a farm in Walnut Creek
Township, in Ross Co., Ohio, about four miles from the town of Delphi ; his f^ither, Peter Bunn,
was a farmer and land speculator ; he was a Pennsylvania German, while his mother was an
English lady. Lewis Bunn was one of twenty-one children. His father was twice married ;
from his first marriage sprang eight children, and from his second, thirteen ; Lewis was the
youngest but three. He received his scanty education in a school formed by the farmers who
clubbed together and hired a teacher, to whom they paid S3 or $4 per quarter and board ; such
a schoolmaster usually taught during the winter months and worked a farm in svimmer; the
schoolhouses were simply log cabins : when he was 17 years old his school days ended ; at the
age of 18. he was sent to Chillicothe, and apprenticed for four years to learn the trade of black-
smith. He learned his trade rapidly and well, but he was not satisfied with his education, and
took private lessons in his leisure moments. Vfhen his apprenticeship was ended, he moved to
Clarke Co., Ohio, where he stayed three years. In 1831, he was married to Margery Haines, of
Xenia, Ohio ; his marriage was a happy one, and was blessed by the birth of five children, three boys
and two girls, four of whom are now living — Benjamin II., Catherine R., Thomas J., William H. ;
770 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
his wife afterward died. In 1833, he moved to Bloomington, 111., with his brother-in-law,
Dr. Haines. Here, in 1846, he married Lucinda Blevins ; by this marriage, he has had five
children, all of whom are dead ; when he came to Bloomington, he followed his trade and con-
tinued at it until 18VJ. when he retired from business: immediately upon his arrival at Bloom-
ington, lie connecleil with his trade the manufacture of agricultural implements, ami in those
days he was enabled to make this quite a profitable business. Oliver Ellsworth was for eighteen
years Mr. Buna's partner; their plows, which they made by hand, were in great demand and
were called for even from Texas ; they bore the trade-mark of Buna & Ellsworth, and are still
well spoken of.
JEFF. BURKE, blacksmith, Bloomington : was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in March,
1840, and came to this country in 1849, locating in Troy, N, Y., where he lived uatil 1854 ; he then
removed to Ottawa, 111., and there learned the trade of blacksmithing ; he came to Bloomington,
111., in 1860, and in 1864, opened a shop on his own account; he began on a verv small scile,
but through perseverance and industry, he has placed himself in his present position and has
accumulated a good property ; he has built several business houses, and his shop is second to
none ; as a citizen, he is enterprising, public-spirited, and much respected. He married Miss
Anna Follins, of Bloomington, May 10, 1864; they have a family of six children.
WILLIAM BUXTON, grocer, Bloomington; was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Feb. 9, 1842;
his parents having died when he was a boy, he was left without their advice or care to battle
with the world and to provide for himself; by observation and experience he has obtained a fair
business education : he came to Bloomington in 1861, and found employment with the C. & A. R.
R. Company as fireman, and continued in this capxcity three years; then was given an engine,
%vhich position he held four years; then abandoned railroading and began mercantile business :
he clerked in the grocery business two years ; then began on his own account ; his place of
business is 701 W. Chestnut st., where he keeps a first-class grocery store in which is to be found
a fine assortment of staple and fancy goods. He married Mrs. ^largaret F. Sullivan, formerly
of Brooklyn, N. Y., April 2ii, 1874.
R. M. CALDWELL, grocer, Bloomington ; a grocer whose advent to this city dates back to
1865 ; his long experience in the grocery business enables him to keep the best grade of goods ;
he enjoys a reputation for dealing honorably with his numerous customers ; his place of business
is No. 1,005,V North Main st.
C. L. CAMP, furniture, Bloomington; the subject of this sketch is a native of Syracuse, N.
Y. ; there he grew to manhood and received his education, and, in 1869, came West and located
at Bloomington; upon locating here he engaged to Harwood Bros, as salesman, which situation
he held for four years ; he then went back to New York, where he remained about one year ;
then again came to this city and engaged in the furniture trade, which he followed for four
years ; quitting this, he, for a short time, was engaged in a general commission business, which
he followed but a short time, when he again engaged in the furniture trade at his present loca-
tion, which is No. 106 E. Front st. ; his building is 24x65, three floors and basement; here he
does a general business in new and second-hand furniture, notions, queensware, glassware, wood
and widow ware and a general assortment of house furnishing goods ; Mr. Camp, by honesty and
square dealing, has had the confidence of the people in the past; by fitting up and stocking his
present establishment, by his pleasant and courteous treatment of customers, he must have
success in the future as he has had in the past.
CHARLES CAMP, grocer, Bloomington ; was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Feb. 5, 1832,
where he was raised and schooled ; he began mercantile life with his ftither in 18o2, continuing
the same until 1854, when he removed to Iowa, and there engaged in railroad contracting; in
185-5, he removed to Tennessee and received an appointment as constructing superintendent of
the Memphis & (Jharleston R. R., continuing such for a number of years; at the beginning of
the late war, he was held in the service of this railroad until the evacuation of Memphis, when
he joined the Union army and was post sutler for one year; he then came to Bloomington, 111.,
and embarked in the grocery business, in which he has since continued, and is now located at
317 N. Centre st. ; here he keeps a fine grocery, with a well-assorted stock of goods, and sold at
bottom figures. He married Miss Isabel Keller, of Oneida Co., N. Y.. in .January, 1854 ; they
have one child — Eva E., now Mrs. P. Pierce, of Chicago.
CHARLES L. CAPEN, attorney at law, Bloomington ; was born in Union Springs, N. Y.,
in 1848, and is the son of Luman W. Capen ; in 1856, he came West with his parents and settled
in Bloomington; in 186'), he graduated at Normal University; in same year he entered Harvard
College, and graduated in 1869; he returned to Bloomington and entered the law otfice of Hughes
iS: McCart, reading and preparing himself for active practice; in 1S71, he was admitted to prac-
tice law at the Illinois bar; in 1873, he became partner with Williams & Burr; this is one of
the leading firms of tiie McLean County Bar, under the style of Williams, Burr & Capen.
C. R. CARR, M. D., Bloomington ; among the physicians of Bloomington of recognized
ability, is Dr. C. R. Carr, who is a native of Terre Haute, Ind.; he was born June 15, 1845, and
began the study of meilicine in 1868, umler Dr. William Hill, of Bloomington ; in 1871, he
became a gnduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical (,'ollege, of New Yoik; after graduating, he
returned to Bloomington and became the partner of Dr. Hill for one year; he then returned to
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 771
New York and accepted the position of House Surgeon in the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary ;
this position he held until the fall of 1873, when he returned to Bloomington and engaged in the
practice of his profession; he is a member of the Illinois State Medical Society, the McLean
County Medical Society, the Bloomington Pathological Society and of the Illinois Central Medical
Association ; he has given his time fully and exclusively to his profession since residing in Bloom-
ington ; has a good practice, which is the result of his own energy and close attention to business.
W. B. CARLOCK, Bloomington; was born on the 15th day of March, 1842, at White Oak
Cri-ove. Woodford Co., 111.; his father, Abraham W. Carlock, is a large land-owner in both McLean
and Woodford counties, and from the time his son, W. B., was 10 years of age, he was actively
engaged in hard work, until he arrived at the age of 23, when he entered Lombard University,
at Galesburg, as an academic student; soon after, he commenced his studies at Lombard, and
graduated with the first honors of his class in the month of .lune of 1867; the fall succeeding.
Mr. Carlock entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan, a law student; he was
a close and faithful student, and completed the full law course of that widely renowned Univer-
sity in the spring of 1869, having passed a most commendable examination in all the different,
branches of law which he studied there; after leaving Ann Arbor, he took a short vacation, and
he again resumed his law studies in the law office of Messrs. Williams & Burr, of Bloomington,
111., anil remained in that office during the fall of 1869 and winter of 1869 and 1870; during
the latter part of the winter of 1870, he passed his final examination previous to being admitted
as a regular practitioner to the bar of the State of Illinois; the committee who examined him
being composed of Hon. Robert E. Williams, Capt. .J. H. Rowell and Hon. William E. Hughes ;
his license to practice law was issued to him soon after leaving the above office, which was immedi-
ately after the examination held there. After receiving his license, he again took another vaca-
tion for the summer of 1870, ostensibly for the benefit of his health, but really to prospect for a
future partner for life; accordingly, during the summer he formed the acquaintance of one of
Bloomington' s fairest, best and most accomplished young ladies. Miss Missouri McCart, a sister
of Robert McCart, formerly a well-known lawyer of Bloomington, III., but now located at Fort
Worth, Texas; on the 6th of October, 1870, W. B. Carlock was married to the young lady, at
the residence of her parents in this city ; from and after the date of his marriage begins his
active career as a lawyer ; he was without money, but not at all discouraged as to his future pros-
pects ; in addition to his law practice, he has reaped a handsome profit from his wire device for
preventing reverberations or faulty reflection of sounds in public halls, etc., for which he obtained
letters patent ; he writes the German language well and speaks it fluently; he is the only attor-
ney at the Bloomington bar who speaks the German language, and it has been the means of add-
ing not a little to his success ; among the important cases in which Mr. Carlock has figured
might be mentioned the case of the People vs. Augusta Meyer, for child-murder; William Elmer,
for assault with intent to kill Charles Awe, of this city; People vs. Ben Chrisman, charged with
the murder of Davis; the latter he conducted without assistance, and received many congratula-
tions ; he also conducted proceedings for the disannulling of the marriage contract in the case of
Bruchman vs. Ragotzki, on the ground of duress and fraud, and this was a new movement in
law; also, Flagg vs. Roberts, a suit for slander; a series of cases of Epple vs. Freehauf, involv-
ing the payment of money on lands in this county.
GUY A. CARLTON, livery, Bloomington ; in speaking of the business industries of the city
of Bloomington, the firm of Carlton & Kerr require more than a passing mention ; they are
both old residents of the city, and, since 1875, have been engaged in the livery business ; their
establishment is located at Nos. 112, 114, 116, East Washington street ; here, they have every-
thing arranged neatly and comfortably ; they do not aim to keep the largest number of horses ;
but what they have are among the best of the city, as are also their carriages and hacks, one of
the latter being kept at the " stand" on the west side of the Public Square, Mr. Kerr usually
looking after custom in this line. Mr. Carlton is a native of Penobscot Co., Maine ; he was born
in September, 1837 : remaining at his native place until he had grown nearly to manhood, and
had received his education ; in 1854, he came West and located in this city ; until 1861, he was
engaged in the grocery business and at railroading. He then enlisted in the late war of the
rebellion in Co. A, 8th I. V. I., three months service; serving this term of enlistment, he
returned, and, in 1862, again enlisted in the three years service; this, as 1st Lieutenant of Co.
A, 94th I. V. I. ; he had served but about two, years, when he was discharged on account of dis-
ability ; following this, he returned to Bloomington, and, until 1875, was engaged in various
business enterprises, among others was starting the first city express in Bloomington in 1864 ;
he has been generally successful in his former business undertakings, and has already made a
success of his present business.
F. W. CHRISMAN, grocer, Bloomington ; was born in Shelby Co., Ky., Feb. 24, 1850, where
he was raised and received his early education ; he came with his parents to McLean Co., in
1869, and learned the grocery business with his father at Heyworth ; for a number of years, he
taught school; he came and settled in Bloomington in 1876, and, for a time, sold agricultural
implements ; he began in the grocery business in 1877, and is now located at No. 507 W. Market
St., where he keeps a good stock of goods. He married Miss Susan E. Garrett, of this county,
Dec. 17, 1872; thej' have one son — ^Berry H.
772 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
^I. X. CHUSE, Bloomington ; was born in Switzerland in LS-il ; when he was but li years
old, he, with his parents, emigrated to America, landing in New York City ; thence to Albany, N.
v., and from there West to St. Louis ; here Mr. Chuse was working on a farm at JeflFerson Barracks
about four months : then to Centerville, St. Clair Co , 111., farming a short time; he also com-
menced to learn his trade of harness-maker: he returned to St. Louis and finished learning his
trale there; and, al)0ut this time, was Mr. Chuse's first experience in the Fire Department ; in 1845,
he ran with the Washington Fire Co., No. 2; when he became of age, he joined Liberty, No. G ;
this was about 184'J. In 1850, he moved to Bloomington. which has been his home ever since
he coiumenced at his trade as harness-maker ; from this, he managed to save money, and car-
ried on a very extensive business ; he also was engaged in the wholesale saddlery, harness and
leather business, the firm being Chuse & Risser. Twenty-five years ago, Mr. Chuse rang the
first fire bell to call a meeting to organize a Fire Department, and ever since then, he has been
connected with the Fire Department ; he was first a pipeman, then assistant foreman, then fore-
man, nnd chief engineer; to-day Bloomington has probably one of the best regulated Fire
Departments for a town of its size in the country. Mr. Chuse is also Superintendent of the
Water Works, which has the stand-pipe system, with a stand-pipe 210 feet high, perliaps the
tallest in the State; Mr. Chuse superintended the building of the Water Works, from the time
they were first started until their comi^letion. Such is a short sketch of Mr. Chuse, one of the
best known and most respected men of Bloomington.
J. R. CL.\RK, 'bus line; Bloomington; another line of business that should be a pride to
the citizens of Bloomington, is a thoroughly reliable busline. This business is represented by
Messrs. McBean & Clark. Mr. J. R. Clark, the junior member of the firm and subject of this
sketch, is a native of the State of New York. In 1862, he enlisted in the 6th N. Y. I. B., spend-
ing three years of his life in the service of his country. The many hardships he passed through
during his army life, can only be thoroughly understood by those who have passed a similar
experience. In 1866, he came West and spent a short time in Dubuque, Iowa, and Chicago. In
1867, he came to Bloomington, and entered the employ of the U. S. and A. M. Express Cos..
which situation he held for eight years. May 6, 1871, he married Miss Alice McKisson, who
was a native of Bloomington. In 1875, he first engaged in his present line of business, the firm
then being McKisson & Clark ; this partnership lasting but about one year, he then selling out
to Mr. McKisson and again entering the employ of the Express Cos., though this time he remained
with them but a short time ; then in company with Mr. McBean buying the 'bus line which they
are now running. They have met every demand of the public in their line. They now have on
the line 3 'busses, 6 hacks, 2 baggage and 1 mail wagon ; they keep 26 head of horses at their
barns, which are located on East st., bet. Grove and Olive, and, during the 24 hours make 18
trains. By their courteous and gentlemanly treatment of their customers and the traveling pub-
lic, they have established a good business. Their promptness in attending calls during all kinds
of weather, the neatness and cleanliness of their vehicles, must insure them success in the future
as they have had in the past.
VV. G. COCHR.\NE. confectioner; Bloomington; the success of W. G. Cochrane, the " Candy-
man," is a fair demonstration of what can be done by energy, industry and a close attention to
business. He is a native of Plymouth, N. H. In 1863, he came West, after having served a
term of enlistment in the war of the rebellion ; his first location in the AVest was in Chicago,
where he remained seven years, engaged in the confectionary business; five years of this time
he was in company with C. W. Sanford. In 1870, he came to Blooomington, and engaged in his
present business ; his establishment is located at No. 218 North Center st.; the building being
22 feet front and 100 feet deep, the i-ear being used for manufacturing purposes ; the front part
being used as salesroom. Here, Mr. Cochrane has by far tlie finest stock of goods in the city in
his line, consisting of a complete line of pure candies, large quantities of foreign fruits and nuts,
and a complete assortment of cigars and tobaccos. His specialty being strictly pure candies,
his candies are becoming as celebi*ated in the city of Bloomington as those of Gunther are in
Chicago. He is a wide-awake down-easter and is certainly doing a wide-awake business.
N. B. COLE, M. D,, Bloomington; another of the regular pliysicians of Bloomington, who
has established a reputation as a thoroughly read man in the science of medicine, is Dr. N. B.
Cole, who is a native of Fairfield Co., Ohio; he was born Dec. 28, 1837; began the study of
medicine under Dr. E. Lynch, of Lancaster, Ohio, and graduated at the Long Island College
Hispital of Brooklyn, in 1860; he began the practice of medicine in .Etna, Ohio, where he
remaineil but two years, then entered tlie U. S. Army as .\ssistant Surgeon of the I'tth Ohio,
but was afterward commissioneil as Surgeon of the field hospital of the 50th Ohio. Returning
from the army in 1865, he located in Bloomington, where he has since resided, engaging in the
practice of his profession. He is a member of the McLean Oo. Medical Society, also of the
Illinois State Medical Society; since locating in Bloomington, he has given his time exclusively
to tlie practice of ids profession; his practice is large and of a gratifying nature, wliicli is the
result of his energy and close attention to business.
WILLIAM COXUON, grocer, Bloomington; was born in County Cork, Ireland, Nov. 1,
1829; during his early life, he learned the trade of a baker; he came to this country in 1851,
locatin-T in New Haven, Conn., ami there began the trade of a painter; in 1852, he moved to
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 773
Chicago; here he followed painting, in the employ of the I. C. R. R. Co., until 1856, when he came
to Bloomington, 111., and engaged with the C. & A.. R. R. Co.: he continued with the latter com-
pany until 1861, when he embarked in the grocery business at his present place. No. 802 West
Chestnut, where he keeps a fine grocery store, with a good class of well-assorted groceries. He
married Miss Bridget McNamara, of his native country, .June 1, 1857 ; they have a fiimily of
eight children.
DR. HENRY CONKLING was born in Morristown, N. .T., April 27. 1814 ; his father Stephen
Conkling, moved to New York City in 1816, where the Doctor lived until he was 16 years old,
when he returned to his native place and finished his school days in the Morristown Academy ;
his father and family emigrated to Ohio in 18')1, and located in Mt. Vernon, at which place he
joined them in 1882. AVhen 23 years old, he was united by marriage to Eliza Wiley, daughter
of Hugh Wiley, who lived near Mt. Vernon ; in the spring of 1838, he came to Le Roy, in this
county, making the journey in eighteen days, on horseback; his brother Edgar Conkling, was
living there and had laid off two additions to the town ; he returned to Ohio in a few weeks,
and moved back to Le Roy the next fall, with his family ; they came in a covered wagon, camp-
ing out on the way by the roadside ; while living in Le Roy, he taught school and studied niecU
icine with Dr. David Edwards ; in the year 1843, he commenced the practice of medicine near
Mount Hope, in this county ; in the year 1844, he moved to VVashington, Tazewell Co., this State ;
his health failing, he returned to Ohio in 1845, and practiced medicine five years, during which
time he graduated and received his diploma from the Starling Medical College of Columbus,
Ohio. His wife died in the spring of 1850 ; in June of that year, he returned to McLean Co.,
and located at Hudson, where his brother-in-law .James T. Gildersleeve, Esq., was living, where
he practiced medicine fourteen years, during which time he had an extensive practice; in 1864,
he moved to Bloomington ; during this year he was sent South as an additional Surgeon in the
army, and was assigned to the 7th I. V. C ; when Corinth was evacuated by Gen. Beauregard,
the Doctor, with some of the Union army, pressed hard after them ; many of the Union soldiers
were wounded in a skirmish ; these the Doctor took charge of, placing them in a cabin having
one room, the best that could be done for them at that time ; as soon as they were able to be
moved, the Doctor sent them to the general hosijital. After the war closed, he was appointed
one of the Examining Pension Surgeons for disabled and wounded soldiers, which position he
held about three years. He was married to his second wife January, 1851 ; she was the widow
of L. Sampson, who died with cholera in Bloomington in 1849; she died in the fall of 1863^
He was married to his third wife in ^lay, 1866 ; she was the widow of C. E. Dodge, a Baptist
minister, also the daughter of Peter Withers, who emigrated to this county from Kentucky in
1832. In June, 1866, the first meeting was held in Urbana, 111., for the purpose of devising
ways and means for the construction of a railroad from Danville, 111., through Bloomington, to
the Illinois River : he was the only delegate from Bloomington to the meeting ; the meeting
adjourned to meet in Le Roy in August, at which time an organization was effected, and the
Doctor was appointed Secretary and one of the Directors of the road, known then as the Dan->
ville, Urbana, Bloomington & Pekin Railroad ; he took a very active part in this enterprise,
devoting all his time to its accomplishment; May 1, 1870, the road was finished, the Doctor
putting in the last bolt that tied the road between Indianapolis and Pekin ; as an appreciation
of his efforts and success, the citizens of Bloomington presented to him, by the hands of Gen. I,
Bloomfield, in Schroeder's Opera House, a valuable gold watch, engraved thereon a locomotive
with the initials I. B. & W. R. R. The Doctor is the proprietor of the Turkish and Electro-
Thermal Institute, located in Bloomington, 111., for the treatment of disease, which is largely
patronized, not only by invalids but those who take the baths as a luxury.
THOMAS B. CORMAN, engineer of steam fire engine No. 1, Bloomington ; was born near
Nicholasville, Ky., in 1849, and is the son of Abraham Gorman; when he was but 2 years old,
he came with his parents to Bloomington, in 1851 ; here he has resided ever since; he learned
the trade of a machinist; about 1866, he was a member of the hand fire engine, Prairie Bird ; in
1871, he accepted a position as fireman on the steamer Prairie Bird No. 1 (commonly called
stoker), this position he filled until 1874; he then was appointed engineer for the same steamer,
which place he has held ever since ; he is now one of the oldest members of the Fire Department.
THOMAS COULTAR, contractor, Bloomington. The Orphan's Home, National and People's
Bank buildings. Dr. C. Wakefield's residence and many other prominent public and private build-
ings of the city of Bloomington and McLean County, were built by Mr. Thomas Cuultar, con-
tractor and builder; he is a native of Clark Co., Ohio, where he spent the early part of his life,
and was educated by the old subscription school system; he served a regular apprenticeship at
Springfield, at the carpenter and joiner trade, and came West in 1856, and located in Blooming-
ton, where he has since resided, engaged in contracting and building; Bloomington was but a
small place of about 5,000 population when he came to it in 1856; he has stuck steadily to his
business from that time until the present, and is now known as a thoroughly reliable and responsi-
ble contractor ; during the busy season he employs about twelve men regularly, and sometimes in
special cases gives employment to many more than this number; his shop is located corner East
and Douglas streets ; he is a man well known and has many staunch friends ; no better guarantee
of his ability is needed than a view of some of the above mentioned buildings.
774 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
T. J. COX & CO., niillei's, Bloomingtou ; another important feature of enterprise in McLean
Co., is the milling business; the leading and most successful firm in this line is that of T. J. Cox
& Co.; the members of the firm being T. J.. Cox and his brother, George H. Cox; T. J., the sub-
ject of this sketch, is a native of Dixtield, Oxford Co., Me., where his father, who is also a native
of Mainp, is still residing, engfiged in the mercantile business, the firm being T. J. Cox, Sr., &
Son; the early part of T. .J.'s life was spent in a country store, where he learned sometlnng of
business and human nature; he was born Oct. 12o, 1837; in 1857, he came West, locating at
Bloomington ; in 1858, he engaged in the mill business by buying the Eagle Mills; in 1874, he
bought the Union Mills: he also owns one-half of the AIcLean County Mills; the Eagle and Union
Mills have a flouring capacity of 400 barrels daily; during the greater portion of the year they
are run to their full capacity ; the McLean County Mills have a flouring capacity of 100 barrels
per day; this mill is also kept busy most of the time; the Union and McLean County Mills are
located close to the Illinois Central Kailroad depot, while the Eagle is near the C. & A. R. R.
depot. Mr. Cox, though not a practical miller by trade, has proved himself to be one among the
best financiers of McLean Co.; he owns the finest milling property in the county, which is the
result of his own industry, energy and good financiering. Since writing the above he has bought
his brother's interest, and is now sole proprietor of the Union and Eagle Mills.
GEORGE H. COX, miller, Bloomington ; Mr. George H. Cox, of the firm of T. .J. Cox & Co ,
is a native of Dixfield, Oxford Co., Me.; he was born Nov. 22, 1849, and came West in June,
1866, and engaged with his brother T. J. as book-keeper, which position he held until 1872, when
he went into partnership with his brother, the firm name being then as now, T. J. Cox & Co.,
their mills being the Eagle, located near the C. & A R. R. depot, and the Union, located near the I.
C. depot; they have a flouring capacity of about four hundred barrels of flour daily, and the
reputation of the mills is such and the firm is so well known that, during a great portion of the
year, they are run to their full capacity ; they are very conveniently located for shipping, which
is quite an advantage where so much flour is to be shipped. George H. spends his time prin-
cipally at the Eagle Mills. The firm of T. .1. Cox & Co. is so well known, and their financial
success has been so marked that any compliments of the press are wholly unneeded on their part.
N. W. COX, painter, Bloomington; was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Feb. 2, 1825; his
father was Amos Cox, who was among the first settlers of McLean Co.; they settled in this county
in 1828; his father returned to Ohio and soon after died, and is therefore not well remembered
in this county; but his family have witnessed the entire growth and development of McLean
Co., and assisted in many of the public improvements. N. AV. Cox has been engaged in mer-
cantile life for a number of years, though his first business experience was in painting; this he
learned thoroughly while quite young ; in mercantile life, Mr. Cox was quite successful, though
like many others, he met with adversity, when he again returned to his trade ; he enjoys the
reputation of being an honorable and upright man. He married Miss Elizabeth Satterfield, of
this county.
WILLIAM COX, clerk, Bloomington ; son of John and Elizabeth (Walker) Cox, and grand-
son of Benjamin and Philena (Dye) Cox; his father was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Sept. 13,
180o ; his grandfather came to McLean Co., 111., in 1825 ; bought land and returned to bring his
family, but soon died; in 1826, the grandmother came to McLean Co. with her family, which
consisted of seven children, four sons and three daughters, also a nephew, John Kimler, and
settled in what was then called Key's Grove, later known as Blooming Grove. At that time, the
county was wild and desolate, and they experienced all the trials and hardships of a pioneer's
life. John Cox married Miss Elizabeth M., daughter of William Walker, a pioneer, March 18,
1828 ; they raised a family of six, only three of whom are now living; he died Feb. 9, 1858, and
his wife, Oct. 22, 1876. The subject of this sketch was raised upon a farm, and received a com-
mon education at district school, and took charge of the home farm after the death of his ftither,
on which he continued until 1872, since which time, he has been engaged in the grocery business.
He married Miss Minnie A. Ashby, of Bloomington, July 3, 1878.
DUDLEY" CREED, present editorand publisher of the Democratic N^ews, BXoominglon ; was born
in Berry ville, Highland Co., Oliio, Aug. 10, l,s53, in which place he resided until he was 12 year.s of
age, when he commenced working on a farm, during the summer months, and attending the high
school in the winter, at Hillsboru', to which place his parents moved in the year 1864. He grailu-
ated from that school in the spring of 1868, and moved with his parents to Chillicothe, Mo.,
at whicli place he taught school for four or five months. Then he entered the oSice of the Chilli-
cothe Triljuiii', for the purpose of learning the printing business, at which establishment he
remained for three years, when lie was made local editor of the Tribune. Mr. Creed moved to
Bloomington in 1874. In 1876. in partnership with F. M. Doxsey, he purchased the job-print-
ing establishment of A. L. Paine, at 212 North Main street. In June, 1876, moved the office
to Paxton, Ford Co., and established a newspaper called the Ford Count)/ Blade. In December
of the same year, sold out and returned to this city and established the Democratic New.f, the
first number heing issued Jan. (5, ls77.
H. (,'. CIUST, M. D., Bloomington; is anotlier of the well estaVilished physicians of Bloom-
ington; he is a native of Muskingum Co., Ohio, and was Ijorn Dec. 28, 1846 ; he began the study
of medicine in 1865, under his father, Dr. David Crist (now deceased), who was among the leading
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 775
practitioners of Bloomington for twenty-tliree years; lie was a native of Perry Co., Ohio;
began the practice of medicine in 1842, after graduating at the Columbus Medical College, of
Columbus, Ohio; during his residence in Bloomington, he was engaged in constant practice until
his death, which occurred March I'.t, 1^75. H. C, the subject of this sketch, in 1865, became
a graduate of the State Normal University, thus qualifying himself for a thorough and compre-
hensive course of study in the science of medicine ; during the winters of 1867-68 and
1869-70, he attended the Rush Medical College of Chicago, graduating in the spring of 1870 ;
afier graduating, he began practicing in Bloomington, which he continued until 187-4, when he
accepted the appointment of Surgeon of the Pima Indian Agency, of Arizona; this post he
held until the death of his father in 1875, when he resigned and came home to settle up the
estate ; remaining here, he began practicing, which he has continued with very gratifying
success: he is a thoroughly well-read physician, and has devoted much time and study to
that part of the medical science known as obstetrics, in which he lias practiced very successfully.
He is a member of the McLean County Medical Society, also of the Illinois State Medical
Society.
DAVID DAVIS, Bloomington. Cecil Co., Md., claims the proud distinction of being the
birthplace of Mr. Davis ; he was born in 1815 ; his education was received at Kenyon College,
which, located at the village of Gambler, in the State of Ohio, was a half century ago one of, if
indeed not the leading educational institution west of the great Eastern universities ; here Mr.
Davis formed the acquaintance of men, who have become equally famed with himself; Edwin M.
Stanton, the great War Secretary under the lamented Lincoln, was an intimate college friend of
the subject of this sketch; at the same institution Stanley Matthews erected the foundations
of a future that has made him famous as the trusted adviser of a President ; here, too, Ruther-
ford B. Hayes, President of the United States, implanted the germ of a wonderful career ; Henry
Winter Davis, the " prince of parliamentary orators," if not an immediate associate, was a
student at the same college, so that we find that the Alma Mater days of Mr. Davis were cast
among associations which could not have failed to leave a lasting impression upon his mind, and
no doubt, exerted an important influence upon his future. In 1847, he was elected a member of
the Constitutional Convention : in 1848, he was chosen .Judge of the Eighth .Judicial Circuit, em-
bracing four counties ; in 1802, he was appointed one of the Associate .Justices of the Supreme
Court of the United States. In 1835, Mr. Davis removed to this city, and immediately stepped
into a lucrative law practice, and that he was deserving of this his application and his fidel-
ity to the interests of his clients gave ample proof. As a mere lawyer Mr. Davis was consci-
■entious, even to his own disadvantage and pecuniary loss, as some of his professional colleagues
claimed, and yet his career has abundantly demonstrated the truth of the old axiom that hon-
esty is the best policy, though it is not the intent to infer that the subject was honest from
policy. He never sought political preferment, never aspired to political place — though his
name has on several occasions been mentioned in connection with high civic honors; he
has always clung steadfastly and proudly to the chosen profession of the law, and to this
directness of purpose and concentration of etFort we must ascribe much of his great suc-
cess. As a judge Mr. Davis has won an enviable place among the ermined magnates of
the Bench ; the conspicuous traits of his character as a jurist, are his intlexible and unswerv-
ing devotion to truth, his rigid impartiality upon all cases brought before him for adjudi-
cation, and his honest desire that every accused should have his case properly presented
before the Court ; if accused had not what he considered able counsel, he would not hesitate
himself to consult the authorities to see that they had been fully set forth before the jury ; he saw
truth as if by intuition ; he had an inborn, natural inclination toward equity, in illustration of
which many incidents are recalled by attorneys who have had cause to remember this truly com-
mendable trait, but none more pertinent than this: At a session of the Danville Court, at which
Judge Davis presided, a "celebrated case," known as the Jones cause, was up for adjudication;
able counsel were employed on both sides, as interests representing a large sum were at stake ;
Daniel W. Voorhees, now United States Senator, appeared for the defendant ; the case was con-
ducted in a skillful manner on both sides, the trial occupying several days in the hearing. Judge
Davis took a keen interest in all the proceedings, and as usual discovered the equitable side.
Mr. Voorhees overwhelmed the opposition with authorities parallel with the case, and it was
universally conceded that this authority preponderated in the favor of his client ; the attorneys
were congratulating Voorhees upon the probable successful termination of the trial. '-No," said
he, " it's of no use to argue the case; Davis will take it under advisement and will have a special
law passed rather than give a decision that would rob the defendant of his rights, even though
the weight of the authorities seemed to be against him." No greater compliment could be pro-
nounced upon any .Judge illustrating his love of equity. On the Bench Mr. Davis was a per-
fect model of a Judge — -full of dignity and decision, and yet with mildnes'^ and suavity ; his high
personal character and his unbending morals have given an elevated tone and a purer atmosphere
to the bar ; as an Associate Justice of the United States, his decisions were learned and able, and
commanded the respect and admiration of his associate members. In the Senate, to which he
was elected, Mr. Davis is the same dignified and conscientious gentleman, and whatever
legislation he has introduced into that body has been based upon equity and justice, and
776 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
with a view to resulting in the " greatest good to the greatest nuiuber." For the young law
student no more profitable study can be found than the life of the jurist and statesman, David
Davis.
GEORGE P. DAVIS, Bloomington ; was born in McLean Co., 111., in 1842, and is the son
of .Judge David Davis, who was born in Cecil Co.. Md., March 9, 1815, graduated at Kenyon
College, Ohio. Sept. 4, 18o2, and commcnceil the study of la.v at Lenox, Mass. ; in 1885, ho
came to Illinois and located in Pekin. Tazewell Co. ; after practicing law for a year in Pekiu, he
removed to Bloomington, which has ever since been his home. Judge Davis married Oct. 30,
1838, to Miss Sirah Walker, at Lenox, Mass. ; she is a daughter of .Judge Walker, of that State ;
they have two children livinsr, a son and a daughter : the former, George P., the subject of this
sketch, who graduated in 1864, and in ISMT, he graduated in the law department of the Michi-
gan J'niversity at Ann Arbor, Mich. ; Mr. Davis commenced the practice of law in 1867, in
Bloomington, and, at one time, was in partnership with William H. Hannah.
D. D. DANIELS, butcher, of the firm of Daniels & Logan, Bloomington : was born in Wash-
ington Co., Ohio, Oct. 20, 1829 ; in the spring of 1852, he, with five others of his town, started
for California, via Topeka, Ft. Scott, etc., to Sacramento city, which place they reached after ,i
tedious and eventful journey of six months; he returned in 1858 and located in Bloomington,
where he has since lived : he is one of the oldest butchers, if not the very oldest, in Blooming-
ton ; and has the reputation of exposing for sale the finest quality of all kinds of meats, which,
with fairness in dealing, has won him the large patronage he now enjoys ; his place of business
is 515 North Main street. He married Miss Emma Virden, of Virden, 111., Oct. 22, 1863.
MISS A. De CONVILLE, teacher, Bloomington ; is now filling the position of principal of
one of the vvard schools of the city of Bloomington; she was born in Bloomington, .McLean Co.,
Ill, and graduated from the High .School of the city in 1877 ; in 1878, she commenced teaching
school.
.JOSEPH DENISON, County Treasurer, Bloomington; son of .\ndrew and Susanna (Herr)
Denison, was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., Dec. 10, 1832; during his early life, he received a
good business education, and for several years was in a general store, where he learned busi-
ness; he came to McLean Co., 111., with his parents, in 1851, locating in Bloomington, and, for
some three years, worked at the trade of marble engraving, after which he embarked in the
grocery business; this he continued until 1862, when he enlisted in the 94th I. V. I., and went
out as 1st Lieutenant; was promoted to Captain, which position he held to the expiration of his
enlisted term (three years) ; he participated in many of the most severe battles of the late war,
and escaped without a scratch. In 1865, he opfened a grocery store in Lexington, 111., where he
also served as express agent; here he was quite successful; in 1868. he was appointed U. S.
Ganger and Storekeeper, for the Eighth District of Illinois ; in 1871. he was elected Treasurer of
McLean Co., and re-elected in 1873, and again elected in 1877 ; Mr. Denison is a man of tine
business-ability and good social qualities. He married Miss Sarah J. Strain, of this county, Oct,
3, 1854; they have a family of five children.
REV. J. W. DINSMORE, Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington ; was born
in Washington Co., Penn., March 13, 1830, and is the son of William and Rebecca Dinsmore ; he
received his college education in Washington, Penn.. in 1859, and his theological education in
.Allegheny City, Penn., in 1862; his first appointment was at Prairie du Sac; here he remained
for seven years ; from there he came to Bloomington in 1870, and took charge of the Second
Presbyterian Church, which charge he has held ever since. He w.as married in December, 1862,
to Ada Vance, of Alleghany City, Penn.; they have had five children, three living.
S. E. DIAS, cigar manufacturer, Bloomington ; was born in London, England, April 10^
1842, and came to this country in 1857 locating in the city of Boston, where he learned the
trade of a cigar-maker. During tiie late war, he enlisted with the 38th Mass. V. I., and was in a
number of severe battles, skirmishes and sieges ; at the battle of Port Hudson, was wounded,
disabling him from further duty, in consequence of which he was discharged in the fall of 1865,
after a service of two and one-half years. In 1869, he moved to Detroit. Mich., where he began
manufacturing cigars ; he removed to South Bend, Ind., 1873, where he remained until 1875,
wiien he came to Bloomington, 111., where he has built up a considerable trade; his place of
business is No. 103 North Main street, where he keeps a neat retail stand, well stocked. He
married .Miss Esther Holland, of South Bend, Ind., Aug. 24, 1870; they have a family of two living.
N. DIEDRICH, foundry, Bloomington ; Mr. N. Diedrich has probably shown more pluck
and energy in carrying on his business through difficulties than any man in the city of Bloom-
ington ; he is a native of Germany, where the early |iart of his life was spent, and where he was
educated and learned his trade : in 1852, he came to the United States, and located in Blooming-
ton in 1856, and worked at his tr.ade until 1860, when he started the Bloomington Foundry
and Machine Shops ; this establishment he ran for two yeari?, then sold out and became
foreman, which position he occupieil until he took the Union Foundry; in 1874, this burned,
causing a loss on his part of about $4,000 ; rebuilding on the same ground, he then contracted
witli the Ruttan Heating Co.; lie did their work for two years, when they failed : this was a
heavy loss for him, being aI)oul >il5,00(>, tliough he retained the patterns of the Ruttan Co., and
has since been manufacturing the heater himself; since conducting the business himself, he haa
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 777
met with very good success , his shipping facilities are good, being located near the I., B. & W.
and L., B. & M. Railroads ; the main building of the works is 100x200 feet, the whole containing
an area of floor room of about 8,760 feet; he employs from eight to fifteen men regularly, and,
during the busy season, many more. He has carried his business successfully through many diffi-
culties; he is now ranking among the solid, successful manufacturers of the city of Bloomington.
E. DILLON & CO., importers ; Bloomington. Any man or set of men who engage in a bus-
iness that builds up the reputation and aggregate value of live stock in any county are always con-
sidered as public benefactors ; in the history of the business industries of McLean Co., E. Dillon
& Co., importers of Norman-French hoi'ses, most certainly are of this class. Mr E. Dillon, the
senior member of the iirm, is a native of Ohio ; he was born in 181l>, and, in 1823, he with his
people came West, locating in Tazewell Co. In 1864, he came to McLean Co., where he has since
resided. They are one among the oldest importing firms of Norman horses in the United States.
Their business dates back to 1857, when they purchased the famous imported horse old Louis
Napoleon, the first imported Norman horse ever brought to Illinois ; since then, they have
imported and handled about five hundred stallions and one thousand mares ; they have on hand
now about eighty head, forty of which are stallions, eight of these being imported stock, and
many of the balance native full-bloods ; their stock farm is located in Normal Township, though
they also have a stable of fine stock on North East street, Bloomington; mail will reach them
directed to either Normal or Bloomington. They sometimes turn out with a four-in-hand of fine
dapple-gray stallions, each of which will weigh nearly two thousand pounds ; it is a sight that
causes any and all to stop and wonder at the beauty of the animals. Mr. Dillon is a citizen that
for many years has been well known to fine stock-dealers and breeders ; he is a man who has been
honorable and upright in his business transactions, and has won a name and reputation of which
any man may well be proud. The members of the firm are E. Dillon, the subject of this sketch,
Levi Dillon, I. Dillon and A. Dillon, all of whom are thoroughly educated horsemen. The estab-
lishing and successful conducting of the business has been the result of their energy, industry
and good financiering.
L. C. DILLINGHAM & CO., peddlers' supplies; Bloomington. In Bloomington. almost
every line of business seems to have a representative. The above firm are successfully conduct-
ing what is known as the Peddlers' Exchange, located at 322 S. Main street, the members of the
firm being L. C. Dillingham, of this city, and C. W. Fish, of 120 Lake street, Chicago ; the firm
is known here as L. C. Dillingham & Co. Mr. D., the subject of this sketch, is a native of Green
Co., Ohio ; he came West in 1872 and located in Bloomington, engaging in his present line of
business ; here, by energy, industry, and good financiering, they have established a good busi-
ness. Their line of business is peculiar of itself and requires a man of good ability to conduct it
successfully ; they have had many difficulties to contend with and obstacles to overcome, but Mr.
D. is one of that class of men who seldom fail to carry any enterprise through successfully ; they
have now seven wagons on the road and are doing a business of about |12,000 per year j under
his supervision, they bid fair to double this amount in a few seasons.
D. DRIGGS, pattern-maker; Bloomington. The subject of this sketch is a native of Hart-
ford, Conn., where he grew to manhood and received his education; after completing his liter-
ary studies, he began the study of law ; after completing his course of study of the legal profes-
sion, he began practice ; but, as it proved, unfortunately for him, himself and partner in a short
time had established a business that was more than they could attend to ; the consequence was,
Mr. Driggs' health failed and he was obliged to give up the practice of his profession. Think-
ing some mechanical trade better suited to his state of health, he learned the trade of a pattern-
maker in Cincinnati, Ohio; he worked there some time, then moved to Canton, 111., where he
remained one year ; from there he removed to Peoria, where he was at work at his trade for
three years ; then went to El Paso ; there he was engaged in running a foundry until 1873, when
he removed to Bloomington, where he has since resided, engaged in the manufacture of patterns.
He is a man who, had not his health failed in early life, must surely have become a prominent
member of the bar. Whatever his position may be in life, he easily holds the reputation of
being a gentleman and a scholar.
1. DUDLEY, railroad agent, Bloomington; though Mr. Dudleyhasbeenaresident of Blooming-
ton but four years, he is, probably, as well and favorably known as many of those who call themselves
pioneer residents ; in 1848, he began his first railroading, on the Concord Railroad, of New
Hampshire ; since that time, he has been engaged in railroading most of the time ; previous to
coming to Bloomington, in the employ of the L., B. & M. Road, he had been with the Pan- Handle Road
for ten years. From 18(i2 until 1864, he was in the Railway Department of the civil service. He
now has charge of the Freight and Ticket Department of the L., B. & M. Road at Bloomington.
The general verdict of the people is that he is the right man in the right place.
IMRI DUNN, druggist, Bloomington. Among the thoroughly reliable druggists of Bloomington
who have hadmany years' practical experience in the drugtrade, is Mr. Imri Dunn, whose establish-
ment is located corner Center and Front streets ; he is a native of Bloomington, and was born .lune 14,
1847 ; he first embarked in the drug trade in Macon, 111., in the spring of 1865, remaining there
until 1871, when his store burned, with many others, at the time of the Macon fire ; he lost by
this misfortune about $4,000. In the spring of 1872, he removed to this city and again engaged
778 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
in the drug trade, where he has since remained ; he also carries, in connection with his full line
of drugs, a fine assortment of clocks, watches and jewelry, and makes repairing of clocks,
watches and jewelry a specialty in this department. Mr. Dunn is a thoroughl^'-educated drug-
gist, of fifteen years' experience, and a close student of the various properties and qualities of
drugs and chemicals. The enterprise he has exhibited, his neat and tastily-arranged store, a
fine line of pure drugs, fine toilet goods and perfumeries and a case of the choicest brands of
cigars, coupled with a fine prescription and family recipe department, are all conducive to his
success ; but these no less than his good judgment in Vjuying, thereby enabling him to sell
cheap, and his strict adherence to a cash system in buying, makes his establishment, if not so
large, as thoroughly reliable as any in the city of Bloomington.
J. DUNN, physician and surgeon, Bloomington. Dr. J. Dunn, the subject of this sketch, is a na-
tive of Fulton Co., 111.; he was born May 14, 1840, and began the study of medicine iu 18G1, with his
fiither. Dr. W. A. Dunn, of Greenfield, 111. He had pursued his studies but a short time, when
he enlisted in Company D, o2d I. V. I.: he entered the service as a private, but was promoted
from time to time, until he rose to the rank of ( aptain and Acting-Assistant Inspector General
of the Illinois Brigade. At the battle of Bentonville, he was complimented by his Brigade Com-
mander, Gen. Belknap, for gallantry during this action ; he was engaged in many of the heavy
battles, remaining in the service until the close of the war. After his return from the army, he
again began the study of medicine with his father, and in the winter of 1866-67, he attended
lectures at the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago. In the spring of 1867, he began prac-
ticing with Dr. J. A. Wakeman, of Centralia. ; in the winter of 1868-6',i, he again attended lect-
ures, and graduated at the Homoeopathic Medical College, St. Louis: returning to Centralia, he
followed the practice of his profession until the fall of 1873. removing to Peoria, 111., where he
only remained during the winter; in the spring of 1874, he located at Bloomington and began
practicing. He is a member of the McLean County Homteopathic Medical Society. Since his
residence here he has devoted himself fully and exclusively to his profession.
McCANN DUNN, physician and surgeon, Bloomington ; Dr. McCann Dunn is another of the
old reliable physicians of Bloomington; he is a native of Frederick Co., Va., was born April 7,
1821 ; be began the study of medicine in 1847 ; attended his first course of lectures at McDowell's
Medical College, known as the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis; graduated at the
Medical College, Chicago, 1862. In 1850 he began practicing in Knox Co., 111., where he
remained three years; though in 1852, he began the practice of homoeopathy, believing this to
be the true science of medicine. In 1853, he came to Bloomington, where he has since resided,
devoting his time exclusively to his profession. He is President of the McLean County Homoeo-
pathic Medical Society, which was organized in 1878; he also helped to organize the Illinois
State Homoeopathic Medical Society.
W. A. ELDER, physician and surgeon, Bloomington ; every city has its representative men
in all professions. Of the great number who represent some profession, and more especially
that of the medical, ^ere are comparatively few, who, by hard study, almost constant practice
and time devoted wholly to their profession, have reached a degree of eminence placing them in
the mind of the public, and by the verdict of their societies among the first. This position has
been attained and earned by Dr. W. A. Elder, of Bloomington. He is a native of Waterloo,
Seneca Co., N. Y., and was born March 3, 1826, and a descendant of Samuel Elder who came
from Scotland in 1740, and settled in Hampden Co., Mass. After pursuing collegiate studies
three years, he began the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. Samuel Elder, of Fairmount,
St. Clair Co., Ill; in 1847, he graduated at the Medical Department of the University of Mis-
souri, at St. Louis; after finishing his studies at college he was appointed resident physician to
the Marine Hospital of St. Louis; this post he held one year; dunng the next three years he
engaged in private practice in St. Louis and San Francisco, Cal. In 1852, he located at Bloom-
ington, where he has since resided, giving his time exclusively to the practice of his profession.
He is one of the original members of the McLean County Medical Society, of which he was
elected the President in 1875; he has also made frequent contributions to the ditFerent medical
journals. In his practice he has been most untiring, wt)rking with an energy seldom equaled by
one of his profession.
.JOHN W. EVANS, planing-mill, Bloomington ; another of the old residents of this city ami
one, too, who has been directly identified with many of the changes and improvements made in
Bloomington, is John W; Evans, contractor, lumber-dealer and manufacturer ; he is a native of
Cambria Co., Penn.; was born in February, 1828, and came West in 1852 After traveling over
the Western Slates for a few years he, in 1855, located in Bloomington, where he has since
resided; he had learned the trade of carpenter and l)uilder in the East; in 1856, he formed a
partnership with Mr. Hayes and engaged in contnicting and building; their business grew to
such proportions that from 1870 to 1873, their contracting amounted to about SI 60,000 per year.
Since the death of Mr. Hayes, in 1874, Mr. Evans has conducted the business alone ; he has
been an energetic, hanl-working man, and now owns a good pi'uperty, which is wholly the result
of his own industry and good financiering.
TilO.M.VS EVANS, grocer, Bloomington, of the firm of Evans & Patrick, was born in Blooming-
ton, 111., .June 1, 1854 ; son of Robert Evans, who was one of the early settlers and a prominent
BLOOMINGTON TOAVNSHIP. 779
business man of Bloomington. Thomas has received a good business education, completed at the
Wesleyan University ; was clerk for his brother for a number of years, and began business on his
own account in 1875 ; he now enjoys a flourishing trade ; his store is located on the corner of
Front and East streets.
R. F. EVANS,grocer, Bloomington, of the firm of Evans & Bro., was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio,
Feb. 22, 1842; he was brought to McLean Co. by his parents, Robert W. and Harriet C. (Cradlebaugh)
Evans, in 1852. His father was prominent among the first business men of Bloomington, and a
native of Virginia; he died in April, 1864. The son has had many years of experience in mer-
cantile life; he learned business while with his father, and began on his own account in 1865;
he is a careful and reliable business man ; liis store is located at the corner of Main and North
streets, and presents a neat and substantial appearance ; he has twice met with severe losses by
fire. He married Miss Nellie, daughter of E. B. Collins, Esq., of Fulton, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1871 ;
they have a family of two children — Robert H. and Florence.
MA.J. R. N. EVANS, book-keeper, Bloomington; another old resident of Bloomington and soldier
in the war of the late rebellion is Maj. R. N. Evans, who is a native of Cambria Co., Fenn.; he was
born , and in 1856, came West and located in this city, where he has since resided, except-
ing five years spent in the army. In 1861, after having been in the employ of the firm of
Hayes & Evans, he enlisted as private in Company C, 20th I. V. I., and, by four promotions,
rose to the rank of Major; he passed through many of the heavy battles, and lived through
an experience that can be fully comprehended only by an old soldier ; at the battle of
Shiloh he received quite a severe wound, which, for a time, disabled him for service ; upon the
close of the war, he was mustered out of service at Louisville, Ky. Returning to Bloomington,
he ao-ain engaged with Hayes & Evans as book-keeper, and, in 1878, he accepted his present sitU'
ation of book-keeping for the Bloomington Stove Manufacturing Co.; this position he has filled
with abilitv and to the satisfaction of the company.
ABRAM EVERSOLE, grocer, Bloomington; "was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, July 16, 1831,
where he was raised and schooled; he came to McLean Co., in 1856 ; his first business experience
was at Hey worth, McLean Co., in the grocery business ; he removed to Bloomington in 1860,
where he has since remained, engaged in his present business, at 229 East Front street; here he
keeps a well assorted stock of goods, and aims at securing the best patronage ; he has always
been interested in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community. He married Miss
Ellen Allen of Mercer Co., Ohio, May 6, 1856; they have a family of four.
THOMAS ERWIN, butcher, Bloomington; is a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, where he
was born March 10, 1837 ; he came to this country in 1843, with his people, settling in Onandaga
Co., N. Y., where he lived until 1854, when he came to Bloomington ; he began on his own
account in 1864, in the butcher business; he is located at 204 W. Front street, where he keeps a
fine market and the best of meats. He has married twice, first to Miss Mary Foy, April 14,
1849, she died in 1869, leaving a family of five children; he married his present wife in May,
1872'.
JAMES S. EWING, Bloomington ; was born on the 19th day of July, A. D 1835, in the
same year as his business companion, Mr. Stevenson; he was born, nursed and cradled in a log
cabin, relic of the pioneer days of Illinois, when the "Star of Empire " had just begun its jour-
ney westward, located at Panther Grove, in what is now Woodford Co., but was then embraced in
McLean. He accompanied his parents when they removed to Bloomington in 1840, and has
remained for nearly four decades a citizen of this city ; the rudimentary principles of education
were obtained in the old-fashioned schoolhouse of that day and stage of Western civilization ;
over the boys and girls of the village, most of whom attended this school, Ur. W. C. Hobbs ruled
in the old-time, pedagogic simplicity and dignity; later young Ewing entered the school opened
by the learned Rev. Reuben Andrews, in the old Methodist Church, and from this humble begin.
ning developed the present Illinois Wesleyan University ; Mr. Andrews' school was attended by
Ewino' until 1853, when he began a course of study at Jubilee College, located in Peoria Co.; in
1856 he entered the Junior year in Centre College, at Danville, Ky. Mr. Ewing graduated in
June, 1858, and in .January following (1859), was admitted by the Supreme Court of Illinois, to
practice as an attorney and counselor at law ; at that day aspirants to legal honors were cate-
chised, examined, and their intellectual capacity for the law sounded at Chicago, a committee of
"experts " being appointed for that purpose by the Supreme Court; on this occasion the awful
presence consisted of the learned Norman B. Judd, Ebenezer Peck and Corydon Beckwith, each
of whom was at that time a distinguished practicing lawyer. His license is signed by Sidney
Breese (recently deceased), Pinkney Walkner and John D. Caton, the gentlemen who at that
time occupied the Supreme Bench of the State ; cotemporary with the names mentioned was
Judo-e David Davis, who was then Judge of McLean County Circuit Court, and the following resi-
dent attorneys, the only ones in active practice: George 0. Robinson, Walter M. Hatch, R. E.
Williams, M. W. Packard and E. M. Prince. Mr. Ewing formed a partnership with the Hon,
John B. Cohrs, now of Pekin, with the style of the firm Ewing & Cohrs. After a year of prac'
tice, the alliance parted company by mutual consent and individual permission, Mr. Cohrs to go
to Pekin, and Mr. Ewing to Philadelphia, where the latter entered the law office of Hon. John
C. Bullitt, and worked for a salary for about one year ; he thea returned to Bloomington where
780 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
he has since remained. In 1869, Mr. Ewing formed the present partnership with the Hon. A. E.
Stevenson. Politically, the subject of this sketch is a Democrat of a pronounced type, thongh
not a hitter partisan : in the earlier daj's of his professional career he took a lively interest in
politics, but he has never been a candidate, and with the accumulation of business, he has to a
great extent eschewed politics.
H. A. EWING, attorney at law, Bloomington ; was born in McLean Co., 111., Aug. 9, 1841,
nnd is the son of John VV. Ewing, of North Oai-olina, who came to Illinois in 1835, and settled
in what is now Woodford Co., where he remained until 1840, then, with his familj', moved to
Bloomington : he was one of the prominent and leading men of Bloomington, and held several
ofhces of public trust; was Mayor of the city one term ; he was also engaged in the manufacture
of mowing and reaping machines ; he was also for two years proprietor of the National Hotel of
Bloomington; was also engaged in the milling business ; he died, respected and honored, Nov.
14, 1855. H. A. Ewing, the subject of this sketch, is one of the feading attorneys of the Illi-
nois bar; he received his education chieiiy at the Wesleyan University, of Bloomington; he was
a soldier of the late war, enlisting in 1861, as private in the 14th I. V. I., Co. E; he served three
years and three months, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, siege of Vicksburg,
Champion Hills, Jackson, and other battles and skirmishes, and did good service and was honor-
ably mustered out at Springfield, 111., in 1864, as 2d Lieutenant of Co. B. He was elected Sheritf
of McLean Co., and filled this position until 1860, faithfully and honorably; in 1867, he was
admitted to practice law at the Illinois bar; in 1878, the friends of Mr. Ewing elected him as
Representative to the Legislature; this office he still holds, showing himself a man of acknowl-
edged ability.
E. FALLIS, grain-dealer, Bloomington. Prominent among the citizens of Bloomington, and
■who Ijave been instrumental in building up a permanent grain market, is Mr. E. Fallis, who is a
native of Cincinnati, Ohio ; he was born in 1815, and, during his early life, had but little oppor-
tunity of attending school, though by close attention to study what opportunity he had, he
became a fair scholar; in 1863, he engaged in the grain trade, and, for ten yeirs, bought grain
through different parts of Illinois, making Bloomington his general headquartei's : in 1873, he
brought his family to this city and became permanently located ; he is one of the largest grain-
dealers in this part of Illinois ; in 1865, he handled 3,000,000 bushels ; he established the Board of
Trade in this city in 1877, which is still in operation ; ho also does a general commission business,
and is well known as one of the leading grain men of the city.
JOHN W. FISHER, dentist, Bloomington. The dental, as well as other professions, is well
represented in Bloomington. Among those who have established a reputation for skill and neat-
ness, is Dr. .John W. Fisher, who has a neatly-furnished suite of rooms at No. 402 North Main
street ; he is a native of Belmont Co., Ohio; was born Oct. 2, 1829, and, at the age of 15, was
left dependent upon his own resources for a livelihood and an education, both of which he secured ;
in 1856, he began the study of dentistry, and, in 1859, began practice in St. Clairville, Belmont
Co., Ohio, where he remained engaged in practice for a period of eleven years ; in the summer of
1870, he moved to Bloomington ; since residing here, he has established a fine practice, which is
the result of having done first-class work, and a close attention to business ; he is a member of
the Illinois State Dental Society, and a man of recognized ability in his profession.
M. FA LOON, M. D., Bloomington. Another of the old settlers and physicians of Bloom-
ington is Dr. M. Faloon, who is a native of Carlisle. Cumberland Co., Penn.; he attended and
.became a graduate of the Eclectic Medical College, of Cincinnati ; he also became a graduate in
alloi)athy in Philadelphia; also has a certificate of attendance of a full course of the Euresco-
pian system : he is a thorough botanist, frequently having herbs sent to him from the laboratories
of different colleges, for the purpose of learning their medical qualities ; he is also the pro-
pounder of different meilicines now before the public, prominent among which is Dr. Falcon's
Tonic, Dr. Faloon's Instant Relief and many other well-known remedies. The Doctor has been
in constant practice for twenty-six years, and has been practicing in Bloonungton for the past
nineteen years ; he has many friemls who can vouch for his ability and skill as a physician.
LYMAN FI'IRH I'], carriage manufacturer; Bloomington; is a native of Springfield, Mass.;
was born Dec. 16, 1825 : his parents were Solomon and Mai'garet R. (llumrell) Ferre. Being of a
mechanical turn of mind he learned the trade of a wagon-maker early in life ; his advent to this
city dates V)ack to 1840; among those who have lived in this city many years and watched its growth
and helped to bring it to its present ]iromiiience is the above named gentleman ; on arriving here
he began working at his trade, which he continued until 184;>, when ho ojjened business on his
own account, in a small way, but with the determination to succeed, and, through energy, per-
Beverance and integrity has placed himself in his present position ; as a mechanic and a man-
ufacturer, his extensive business will testify that he is second to none ; he is located at 108
North Center street, owning the whole of the corner property, which presents a neat and sub-
stanti;il a])i)earance and adds much to the value and prosperity of his locality ; here he makes a
beautiful displaji of buggies, carriages and sulkies of his own manufacture. Mr. Ferrc is one
of tlie solid men of Bloomington and a much-respected citizen ; he has always taken an active
part in all public matters pertaining to the welfare and development of the city, including the
establishment of the Street Railroad ; he is also Vice President of the People's Bank ; he has also
1:;pmlo "dcM^^o^
EMPIRE TP.
i^-/^
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 783
tilled many other positions of honor and trust. He married Miss .JanetteTl. Hayes, of this Co.,
in Dec. 1844; they have one child — Bell.
.)()HN A. FULWILER, attorney; Bloomington. .John A. Fulwiler was born in Cumberland
Co., Penu., .June 17, 1843 ; he came with parents to Lexington, McLean Co., in 1855, where Le
obtained his early education and resided until August, 1861, when he enlisted with the 33d I.
V. 1 , and served over three years in the army, being mustered out of service at the expiration
of his term. Upon his return, he commenced the study of law, and subsequently engagetl in
mercantile business at Forrest, Livingston Co. He was admitted to the bar. and removed to Pon-
tiac ini October, 1870, and associated himself in business with E.M.Johnson; he located in
Bloomington in 1875 ; he is a young attorney of promise, attends to business promptly and to the
satisfaction of his clients, and is full of energy. He married Miss Mary A., daughter of
Robert Fell, of Normal, Sept. 6, 1865; they have three children — John W., Leonard F. and
Roberta M.
J. M. FORDICE, lumber; Bloomington. J M. Fordice is another of the old settlers and
natives of McLean Co., Bloomington being his native place. His people were among the first
settlers of the county ; his mother, also, being a native of the county, and one of the first births
in the county ; her maiden name was Letitia Saterfield. Since the age of 13 years, Mr. Fordice
has been dependent upon his own resources for a livelihood ; he was born March 14, 1840;
although dependent upon his own resources, he succeeded in procuring a fair education. Aug.
15, 1861, he entered the army in the war of the rebellion, enlisting in Co. C, I. V. I., three years
service, though before leaving the army he had served three years and four months. Previous
to entering the army he had been engaged in the lumber trade ; upon his return, he at once
resumed business in this line, which he has since conducted successfully ; besides a full line of
lumbi'r and building material of all kinds, he also is handling a large amount of the well-known
Lehigh Valley coal. These, in connection with the Moline wagon, which is also well known, form
his principal business. His lumber yard and office is located at 1001 West Market street. He
is well-known as one of the thoroughly reliable business men of the city. He is now doino- a
large business, which is the result of his own energy, industry and good financiering.
J. W. FOY, grocer, Bloomington, w is born near Pittsburgh, Penn., Dec. 15, 1848, and brought
to McLean Co., 111., by his parents, in 1854 ; was raised upon a farm ; his schooling was quite limited,
although, by observation and experience, he has acquired a fair business education. In 1868,
he emigrated to Kansas, where he remained for a time, then returned to Bloomington, where he
has since resided, a well-to-do citizen ; he began in the gi-ocery business in 1878, and is located
at 508 East .Jefferson street, where he is building up a good trade. He married Miss Ida Spil-
raan, of this place, Dec. 16, 1875.
M. E. FERGUSON, Deputy Circuit Clerk, Bloomington, was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, Aug. 2'J.
1835, where he was raised and received his early education, and also served a regular apprenticeship
at the carpenter's trade. He came to McLean Co., 111., in 1855, locating in Le Roy, and engaged
in conti-acting and building; throughout that part of the county there are many tine residences
which stand as monuments of his workmanship. During the late war he enlisted with the 94th
I. Y. I., and was commissioned Second Lieutenant; after a service of nine months, he resigned,
on account of sickness in his family, and, after returning home, received a Captain's commis-
sion, but was, on account of sickness compelled to decline it. Previous to the war, he had
served as Township Collector soine three years, and, after the war, was engaged in mercantile
business until 1872, when he was appointed Deputy Circuit Clerk, which position he has since
held. He married Miss Mary A. Pence, of Licking Co., Ohio, Jan. 1, 1857 ; they have a family
of five.
ROBERT FELL, Jr., grocer, IHoomington, is the son of Robert and Mary (Woodard) Fell, who
were among the early settlers of McLean County. Robert, Jr., was born in Putnam Co , 111., July
31, 1842, and brought to this county by his parents in 1843; he has received a good business
education. During the late war, he enlisted with the 33d (Normal) I. Y. I.; went out in Dec,
1862 ; was in the battles of Fredericktown, Yicksburg, ^Mobile and many other severe engage-
ments, and escaped uninjured ; he was mustered out after a service of four and a half years,
and returned to McLean Co., and followed farming some tliree years, then embarked in mercan-
tile business ; he is located at No. 202 South Center street ; here he keeps a fine grocery, in
which is offered a well-assorted stock of goods. He married Miss Theresa Fisher, of Adams
Co., 111., Jan. 6, 1867 ; they have one child — Gracie.
DUNCAN M. FUNK, Bloomington, was born June 18, 1832 ; he was the son of Isaac Funk. He
was married April 17, 1857, to Elizabeth Richardson, and h.as two children — Isabel and Isaac Lin-
coln. He lived on the farm until 1857, when he removed to Bloomington, where he now resides;
he carries on his large farm of 2.200 acres by the aid of tenants ; he feeds cattle, on a moderate
scale, generally having about four hundred head of cattle and hogs. From 1857 to 1866, he was
a partner in the mercantile trade with W. H. Temple. For the past four years he has been Pres-
ident of the National Bank of Bloomington ; he has beeii Assistant Supervisor of the township of
Bloomington four years, and is at present one of the three members of the Board of Trustees of the
Soldiers' Orphans' Home, at Normal. Mr. Funk is one of the most careful of our leading busi-
ness men, one whose judgment in public matters is highly respected.
HH
784 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
G. V. FRINK, grocer, Bloomington; was born in Oxford, Oakland Co., Mich., June 1, 1840;
during his early life, his advantages for an education were limited ; he learned the trade of a
photographer, and followed the business some four years ; he came to Bloomington in 186G, and
engaged with Humphrey & Wakefield, grocers, as clerk, and, for a time, manager; at the death
of Wakefield and the removal of Humphrey, he was left to close up their entire business, which
he did to the satisfaction of all concerned ; he embarked in the grocery business with his present
partner in 1871 ; they are now located at No. 219 East Front street ; here they keep a tine grocery
and a well-assorted stock. He has twice married, first, to Miss Ellen 'I'utt, of Oakhmd Co., Mich.,
November, 1867; she died in December, 1871, leaving one child — William H.; May 8, 1873, he
married Miss Mary K. Woolan, of Jo Uaviess Co., 111.; they have two children — Dwight E. and
Lyle J.
BENJAMIN F. FUNK, Bloomington; was born on the old homestead in Funk's Grove
Township, McLean Co.. 111., Oct. 17, 1839, and is the son of Isaac and Cassandra (Sharp) Funk,
his father being from Kentucky and his mother from Baltimore, Md. Mr. B. F. Funk was brought
up on the old homestead, engaged in farming, until he was 27 years old, and then moved to
Bloomington, which has ever since been his home. Since he has resided in the city, he has held
several offices of public trust — that of Supervisor of Normal Township for several terms : in
1871, was nominated by the Republican party for Mayor of Bloomington, and was elected to this
office, which he held for five terms; these offices he has tilled with credit. Mr. Funk is also
President of the Joint Board of Trustees of the Wesleyan University.
ABSALOM FUNK, stock-dealer, Bloomington; was born in Funk's Grove, McLean Co.,
111., March 4, 1842, and is the son of Hon. Isaac Funk, one of the pioneers of McLean Co., 111.,
he having made his home here in 1824, and is referred to in the history part of this work. Mr.
Absalom Funk was brought up on his father's farm, engaged in farming from the time he was
able to handle the hoe and hold the plow, and, in the winter months, attended the district
schools. Mr. Funk was a soldiei- in the late war, having enlisted as Sergeant in Co. G, 145th I.
V. I.; did good service, and was honorably discharged. In 1868, he moved to Bloomington,
where he has been a resident ever since. Mr. Funk married Sophronia Vandevender, a native of
McLean Co., 111., daughter of .James and Emma Vandevender, who made their home in McLeaif
Co. at an early day ; they have one child — Lyle, who was born in Bloomington, 111.. May 31,
1874. Mr. Funk and wife in 1870 mule a trip to Europe, being absent for a year, visiting
France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, England, Scotland and Ireland.
FRANCIS M. FUNK, druggist, Bloomington; was born in Funk's Grove, McLean Co., 111.,
Aug. 13, 1836, and is the son of Hon. Isaac Funk ; Mr. Funk was raised on the farm, and
engaged in farming until 1873 ; he then removed to Bloomington. where he has remained ever
since ; in 1877, Mr. Funk entered the drug business with Ira Lackey, which is one of the leading
drug firms of Bloomington, located at 110 West Washington street. Besides Mr. Funk's drug
business, he is engaged in the stock business. He has held several offices of public trust;
was Supervisor of Funk's Grove about four years, and is now a member of the Board of Education of
the city of Bloomington. In 1864, he married Miss Mary Houser, who was born in Jessamine Co.,
Ky.; she came to Illinois with her parents about 1848; have three children — Gracie, Laura and
Jessie
PETER FOLSOM, loan and land agent, Bloomington ; one of the best-known men in McLean
County, made his home here thirty-four years ago, having arrived in 1845 ; he was born in
Washington Co., Me., Aug. 16, 1817, and is the son of Peter Folsom, a blacksmith of Deerfield,
N. H., now living in Somerset Co., Me., in his ninetieth year. Mr. Folsom first began teaching
school; his home was located where the Darley Hall Building now stands; the house was a
small, one-story frame, for which he paid $1.50 per month rent, and, at that time, it was the
last house on Main street; Mr. Folsom taught school about one year. In 1846, he was Deputy
County Surveyor ; in 1851, he was elected County Surveyor, and filled this office about eight
years ; he has surveyed the greater part of Bloomington ; surveyed the original towns of Nor-
mal, Chenoa, McLean, Heyworth, etc., and additions to Danvers, Lexington and other villages in
McLean and the surrounding counties. Mr. Folsom has held several public offices: was
appointed in 1862, by President Lincoln, U. S. Assessor for seven counties; also, was Revenue
Collector ; was also one of the first members of the City School Board of Bloomington ; he is now
engaged in the loan business, and dea'ing in land.
MICHAEL FREY, farmer; P. O. Bloomington; was born in Preble Co., Ohio, June 19, 1835;
he was reared a farmer's son, and his education limited to that obtained at the common schools;
in 1854, the family came to Illinois, and settled in the northwestern portion of McLean Co.. his
father at the time purchasing a large tract (jf land; after his majority, he worked on the form
some five or six years; at the age of 27. he began improving the farm which his father gave
him. He was married in December, 1870, to Sarah Rolirer, a native of Holmes Co., Ohio. ; he
resided upon his farm until 1875, when he moved to the city of Bloomington, where he has
since resiaed ; he owns city projierty in Bloomiugton, and 240 acres in McLean ('o., valued at
$20,000. Mr. Frey has never held an office, and has never sought one; he has preferred a
peaceful, quiet life, devoted to the interests of his farms; his sterling worth as a friend and
neighbor, and as a successful business man, is recognized by his friends and acquaintances.
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 785
AUGUST FLETSCHAIANN, Bloomingtoti ; was born in Rhenish Bavaria, July 27, 184o;
came to America, and landed in New York ( ity in 1859, where he was when the laie war broke
out, and being only 16 years of age, enlisted, in 1861, in Co. 6, r)4th N. Y. Regiment, as bugler ;
he did good service in the regiment, and remained until his discharge: he re-enlisted in Co. A,
11th N. Y. Militia, as chief bugler; again for the third time he enlisted, this time in Co. D,
15th N. Y. Artillery, as bugler; he was head bugler on the staff of Gen. Williams; he partici-
pated in the second battle of Bull Run, battles of Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Geltysburg, Harrods-
burg, the Wilderness, Harper's Ferry; he was also present, at the riot in New York City. He
came to Bloomington in 1866 ; here he engaged in the butcher business, and has been very suc-
cessful; he was in partnership, at one time, with J. Clark, also with S. Alexander,; he came
here worth about $4, and to-day he ranks as one of the most successful butchers in Bloomington.
He married .Miss iNIary Weighl ; they have four children — Annie, Emily, Louisa and Lillie.
FITZWILLIAM & SONS, dealers in dry goods, Bloomington ; and one of the very fore-
most iir'uses in Bloomington. All the advantages that intelligence, business education and finan-
cial ability give a merchant, are possessed by Messrs. Fitzwilliani, and account for their large
trade. William M. Fitzwilliam, senior member of the firm, is a native of Pennsylvania, having
moved to Ross Co., Ohio, at an early day; here he was engaged in the dry-goods business, in
Bainbridge, for a number of years. Francis J. Fitzwilliam, a native of Ohio, has had almost a
lifetime experience in the dry-goods business. He was a soldier of the late war, having enlisted
in Co. 6, 3.3d Ohio V. I., as 1st Lieutenant, and participated in some of the most severe battles
of the war, as Perryville, above the clouds at Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, in the campaign
to Atlanta, and other battles; after his muster-out he returned to his home in Ohio, where he
remained until 1866 ; he then came to Bloomington and opened a dry-goods store on Main
street, with a very valuable stock ; from there they moved to a room in Schroeder's Opera House;
thence to their present commodious building, which is 25x105 feet, three stories high, with
basement, and a stock of dry goods the largest in the city, valued at §75,000. Their motto is
excellence in quality, integrity in transactions, one price to all, and quick sales and small profits.
W. D. OILMAN, druggist, Bloomington ; the drug business is well represented in Blooming-
ton ; among those establishments that are neatly fitted up, and stocked to supply any and all
demands for goods in this line, is that of W. D. Oilman, corner of Main and .Jefferson streets.
Mr. Oilman, the gentlemanly proprietor, is a native of Washington, D. C. ; at the age of 16, he
began learning the drug trade ; has had experience in the drug business in St Louis and Colum-
bia, Mo.; he spent two years at his present location in the employ of Dr. Dyson ; then engaged
in the drug trade in Hey worth, wliere he remained for two years; in November, 1878, he
returned to Bloomington and became the successor of Dr. Dyson, where we now find him.
Many of the citizens of Bloomington became acquainted witli Mr. Oilman during his two years
residence in this city, and are well aware of his ability as a thoroughly-educated druggist; his
stock of goods is neat and tastily arranged, and of the very best quality ; he has a large line of
show-case goods and a complete assortment of choice brands of cigars; these are ail conducive
to his success, but no more so than a fine family-recipe department, over which he presides per-
sonallv ; his readiness and courtesy in waiting upon customers, clean and tidy store-room, must
insure him success in the future as he has had in the past.
JAMES GOODHEART, Deputy U. S. Marshal, Blooinington ; was born in this county
March 30, 1830 ; during his early life, educational advantages were limited, but by study, obser-
vation and experience, he has acquired a good business education ; at the age of 18, he begaa
the trade of a brick mason and plasterer, which he followed until the beginning of the late war.
when he enlisted with the 94lh I. V. I., and served until the expiration of his term (three
years) ; he then returned to Bloomington and took up his trade, together with contracting and
building; he followed this a^out twenty-five years, and a number of fine business houses and
residences to, day stand monuments of his workmanship. He was elected to the office of County
Sheritt' in 1874, and was re-elected in 1876, serving two terms with honor and credit to himself
and those he represented ; he is a man of fine physical powers and good business ability. He
was appointed Depu'y U. S. Marshal for the Southern District of Illinois, in December, 1874.
which position he still holds; he is public-spirited and enterprising, having assisted in many of
the public improvements of Bloomington. He married Miss Catharine O., dauglUer of Daniel
Fordice, an early settler of this county, Aug. 26, 1852 ; they have a family of eight.
GEN. ASHAEL GRIDLEY, banker, Bloomington; was born in Cazenovia, N. Y.. April 21,
1810, and educated at the Pompey Academy ; at the age of 21. he determined to '-go West.'^
and Oct. 8, 1831, located in Bloomington; he began his career as merchant, in which busi-
ness he continued eight years. Mr. Gridley was a soldier of the Black Hawk war. in the
year 1840, Gen. Gridley was elected to the position of Hepresentative, and was the compeer of
Mr. Lincoln; he was one of the most active members, and was the author of much legislation
that redounded to the material interest of Bloomington. As State Senator for four years, he
achieved a reputation that made him well-known throughout the State '• There is a tide in the
aflairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;" this juncture in his history
occurred in 1841 and 1842, when his lucky star suggested that he should turn his energy and
knowledge to the practice of law as a profession ; he at cnce worked his way into a large and
786 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
lucrative practice, and soon stood in the front rank in liis profession; lie formed a partnership
with Col. Wickizer, the lirm name being Gridley & Wickizer, and in looking over the old dockets
of the McLean Co. Courts, the eye is frequently arrested by the name "Grid. & Wick.," as it
was put, iu order to economize time and labor; he has long since abandoned the arena of litiga-
tion and has been engaged in the banking business with even greater success. In 18-53, the
doors of the McLean Co. Bank were opened for business with Gen. Gridley as ISIanager, and
they stand open to-day, with the same familiar face looking on and directing its operations ; that
he has acquired a large property is true, but that he has locked up iu vaults his accumulated
wealth no man can say, for his public spirit and munificence are betokened upon every street ;
but more conspicuously in the extensive gas works built by his own means, at a day when its
success as a profitable investment was extremely problematical.
H. GRAHAM, carriage and wagon-maker, Bloomington ; was born in Lake County, Ohio,
Oct. 26, 1830, and came, with his parents, to Lake County, 111., in 18J:4, where he learned the
trade of wagon-making; his advent to the city of Bloomington dates back to 1851, where he has
since lived ; he began manufacturing wagons and buggies on his own account in 1875, and
enjoys the reputation of turning out work second to none ; his place of business is 406 and 408
West Front street. He married Miss Anna Lively, of Waukegan, 111., June 4, 1854 ; she died
May 13, 1877, leaving one child, Louisa B.
R. GRAFF, grocer, Bloomington; is a native of Germany, where he was born May 15,
1840 ; He came to this country in 18 J2, and located in Bloomington, 111. ; during early life his
chances for eilucation were limited, but, by observation and experience, he has acquired a fair
business education ; he followed agricultural pursuits until 1866, when he engaged as clerk in a
grocery store; in 1872, he began business on his own account; he is located at 819 East Grove
street, where he keeps a fine stock of goods ; he is a careful ami reliable business man whose
^,im is to secure the best patronage. He married Mrs. Margaret Leiser Sept. 1, 1861;^ she is a
native of Germany ; they have three children.
ADAM GUTHRIE, tobacconist, Bloomington; was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, March 10,
1825; his father was Scotch-Irish and his mother German ; they settled in McLean Co., in 1826;
he is one of a family of twelve ; his educational advantages were limited ; after the death of his
father, in 1846, he learned the trade of a plasterer, which he followed for many years; he held
the position of Assessor for thirteen years, and was also Deputy Recorder, and, in 1870, took
the United States census in District No. 7 ; these, with other positions, he has filled with credit ;
he has witnessed the entire growth and development of Bloomington, and assisted in many of
its improvements perhaps to a greater extent than some of larger means. During the late war
he enlisted with the 94th I. V. I., and, after a service of eight months, was discharged on ac-
count of disability ; he is now engaged in the cigar business, and is finely located on the corner
of Jefferson and Main streets ; his place is known as the Board of Trade. He married Miss L.
L. Butler, of Bloomington, in 1849 ; they have raised a small family.
P. W. GAFFRON, grocer, Bloomington ; is a native of Prussia, where he was born Nov. 5,
1820, and raised and schooled, and afterward learned the grocery busine.is. He came to this
country in 1848, and spent considerable time in traveling and prospecting in the Southern
States; then located in Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained until 1851, when he removed to St.
Louis, and there entered into partnership with one Roddewig and manufactured cigars, in which
he continueil until 1856 ; he then removed to Bloomington, erected a building and opened a
grocery store. He is one of the oldest grocers of Bloomington, and is located at No. 812 West
Market street, where he keeps a well-assorted stock of goods ; he pays the highest market price
for country produce, and is a careful and reliable business man. He married Miss Henrietta
Schultz, of .Cleveland, Ohio., Dec 20, 1853; they have nine children living
J. W. GRAY, grocer, Bloomington, of the fii-m of Brown & Gray, was born in New York
City, July 3, 1849, and is the son of Robert ami Elizabeth (Whitten) Gray. He has a good busi-
ness education, and ranks with the leading business men of Bloomington. He came to this
county with his parents in 1863, and began to do business on his own account, in 1871, at Farmer
City, where he continued until 1875, when he located in Bloomington and engaged in the grocery
business with his present partner, and now enjoys a flourishing trade. They are located at No.
113 West Front street. Mr. Gray was married to Miss Lavina Price, of Farmer City, 111., May
10, 187G.
WM. E. GAPEN, attorney at law ; Bloomington; was born in Washington Co., Penn., July
13, 1831 ; graduated in 1854 at the Wayuesburg College, Waynesburg, Penn.; in 1856, he was
admitted to practice law, and continued at his profession until 1861, when he went to Washing-
ton City and accepted a clerkship in the Pension Office ; in 1864, he resigned and returned to
Waynesburg; in 1868, he came west to Bloomington, 111., and commenced the practice of law in
1869; about 1870, he entered into partnership with Mr. Henry A. Ewing, which constitute one
of the strongest law firms in the McLean County bar. Mr. Gapen was a delegate to the Chicago
Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President, in which Mr. Gapen took an active
part.
HYDE & MARTINS, plow manufacturers ; Bloomington. There are, probably, l)ut lew of
the successful merchants and manufacturers of the city of Bloomington, who are equal in energy.
BLOOMINGTON TOAVNSHir. 787
enterprise and a clear conception of the wants of the public, to the firm of Hyde & Martins,
manufacturers of the Centennial and Victor Plows, and dealers in agricultural implements.
They have been in business in their present line only since January, 1877, and liave already
established, by good management and the superiority of their plows, a fine business. Their plows,
especially, deserve more than a pnssing mention. Being something entirely new, yet the advan-
tages of it are so very plain that the only wonder is that plows have not been constructed in this
manner ever since they have been so universally used. The principal advantages gained are
lightness of draft and a peculiar shaping of the standard, so that it is almost impossible to choke
h in loose straw, rank weeds or cornstalks. Mr. V. M Hyde, the senior member of the firm,
is a native of New York ; he came AVest first in 1863, locating in Bloomiugtou, where, for five
years, he was engaged as salesman, cashier and book-keeper in the dry-goods trade. In 18r)8, he
removed to Detroit, Mich., and engaged in the manufacture of druggists' sundries, on Lamed
street, and wholesale crockery, glassware, etc., on AVoodward Avenue. This business he was
engaged in until 1873, when he returned to Bloomington, and engaged with the Bloomington
Paper and Bag Co., as traveling salesman, which position he held until 1877, when he, in com-
pany with Mr. Martins, engaged in his present line of business. He is possessed of the energy,
ability and experience to carry most any business through successfully. Mr C. C Martins, the
junior member of the firm, is a native of Prussia. In 1869, when he was 15 years old, he came
to the United States. He first located in Belleville, near St. Louis, where he remained about one
year. In 1870, he came to Bloominglon, and engaged in the manufacture of carriages; this he
followed until he engaged in the manufacture of plows, which he has since followed. Before
leaving his native country, he had acquired a good education and had begun to learn his trade.
He is a thoroughly mechanical genius. The patenting of and construction of their plows being
of his invention, two men could hardly be found to carry on the business to better advantage
than himself and Mr. Hyde ; both being so well adapted to their separate departments of the
work. Should no misfortune Jjefallthem, they will yet rank among the large plow manufacturers
of the AVest.
AVILLIAM HILL, physician and surgeon, Bloomington. Among the leading physicians of
Bloomington, who, by a long and successful practice, have established a reputation for skill and
ability as a physician, is Dr. William Hill, who is a native of Butler Co., Ohio; he was born
March 12, 1829; read medicine at Indianapolis, Ind., under Dr. J. AV. Merritt ; in 1819, he
attended lectures at La Porte, Ind., and at Ann Arbor, Mich., during winter terms of 1851, 1852
and 1853 ; attended and graduated at Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, in 1856 ; he
practiced medicine in Middletovvn, Ind., in 1851, and, in 1858, removed to Louisville, 111.; in
1856, he located at Salem, 111., where he practiced ten years, including time spent in the United
States army as Surgeon of 48th 111. V. I., in 1861 ; in 1862, he resigned this post to accept the
position of Surgeon of the 1st Missouri Light Artillery. At the close of the war, in 1866, he
i-eturned to Illinois and located at Bloomington, where he has since resided, engaging in the
practice of his profession. He is a member of the McLean Co. Medical Society, of which he
held the oflSce of President in 1873; he has also written frequently for the difterent medical
journals.
JAMES AV. HAYES, deceased, Bloomington, whose portrait has a place in this work, was
born in Haddonfield, N. J., July 3, 1833 ; his mother died when he was but a child, and soon
after hi^ father moved to Califoi-nia, and there died ; he spent his early boyhood with his uncle,
a farmer in Bucks Co., Penn. ; at the proper age, he returned to Haddonfield and there learned
the trade of a carpenter with another uncle, after which he went to Philadelphia, and there
resided until the year 1855, when he was married and moved West. During the summer of 1855,
he worked in Quincy, and in December of the same year, in company with Mr. John AV. Evans,
afterward and ever since his partner, came to Bloomington, and in the following spring began
business as a contractor; in 1858, Hayes & Evans bought a two-thirds interest in the establish-
ment then owned by Parke & Bros., and which occupied the same spot as does the well-known
shop of Hayes & Evans to-day ; Mr. S. S. Parke remained in the firm, which was known as
Hayes, Evans & Co. ; soon afterward, they bought out Mr. Parke and changed the name of the
firm accordingly ; in 1859, the shop, which had already fallen a prey to the flames twice before,
was destroyed by fire, and was immediately rebuilt ; from its organization, the firm of Hayes &
Evans was successful ; they have always been busy : their contracts have been faithfully per-
formed, and both members of the firm have advanced from the foot of the ladder to the positions
in which they are known, by pei-severance, industry and good management ; to the character of
the deceased much of all this is due ; he was a man of wonderful energy, indomitable pluck, and
clear and foreseeing mind ; quick spoken, and straightforward in his address, he was sometimes
misunderstood by those who knew him but slightly, but all who had continued intercourse with
him, either in social or business relations, learned soon to appreciate his character; during his
association with Mr. Evans, the deceased superintended the outside work, giving to this depart-
ment the activity and energy which characterized him, while Evans gave his attention to the
work of the office and the shop. Mr. Hayes was a member of Remembrance Lodge, I. O. 0. F.,
iind of AVade Barney Lodge of Masons. Mr. Hayes married, May 2, 1855, Miss Elizabeth S.Burk
(daughter of Thomas and Ann Burk, natives of Philadelphia, Penn.) ; they have seven children
788 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
—Ella (now Mrs. Dr. C. R. Carr, of Bloomington), Thomas B., Alice L., Howard E., William S.,
.Irtiiies W., Jr., and Freiloiiia. Mr. Huyes' death occurred Jan. 27, 1874, from an aj^gravated
lung trouble, ilis widow married Feb. 1, 1870, Lather Wilson, and still resides in Bloomington ;
iliej have had two children, one living — Luther, and one dead — Grace.
OS(J.-VR HELBIG, music, Bloomington. Tiicre are probably but few men in Central Illinois
so thoroughly skilled in the construction of musical instruments as Mr. Oscar Helbig, of 316
North Main sti-eet ; he is a native of Germany : came to the United States in 1871 ; though before
leaving his native country, he had learned the trade of ni muf icturing pianos, ami had worked
in most of the large cities of Germany; he worked one-hulf year in New York City, for George
Steeks, in the manufacturing of pianos ; then went to (Jhicago, where he remained about one and,
one- half years, also working at his trade while there, and did some business on his own account ;
he then came to Bloomington and began work for Mr. Strops ; then worked for Andrus & Van
^^clloick, and finally began bu^^iness for liimself in tuning ; he began on a small scale: by his close
attention to business he now has a tine trade ; has a tine line of musical instruments, for which
he paid cash, buj-ing them direct from the manufactories, more especially the pianos, of which
he keeps several different manufactures ; he also does something in the jobbing trade of small
instruments ; his reputation as a piano-tuner is not equaled in the city, as he keeps most of the
finest instruments in order for a circuit of eighty miles : he is a thoroughly educated man in his
line of business, and bills fair to rank among the large dealers of the State.
S. HAYES, carriage and wagon manufacturer, Bloomington ; was born in Hartford Co.,
Conn , Jan. 17, 1807, where he learned the trade of wagon-making; he came to Bloomington in
1840 ; he embarked in business on his own account shortly after arriving here and has been a
successful man ; he owns the property occupied by him, corner "of West and Front sts.. a loca-
tion well adapted to his business ; he makes all kinds and styles of vehicles and has the reputa-
tion of turning out substantial and honest work, which fact, probably as much as any other, has
secured him an extensive trade ; he has been a hard-working business man as well as enterpris-
ing and public-spirited, having always taken active part in all matter.s pertaining to the good of
the community. He married Miss Eliza Roab, of his native county, in September, 1829. They
have raised a family of seven.
CAPT. GEORGE T. HERITAGE, mechanic, Bloomington. Capt. George T. Heritage is one
of the few natives of England who is a resident of Bloomington ; he was born in 1834, and, in
1846, came to Canada, where he remained for about nine years ; in 18-55, he came to the States
and located in Bloomington, beginning work for Mr. Walton the same year of his arrival ; for
twenty-four years he has held his position in the factory, though, during this time, he was
engaged in the war of the late rebellion. In April, 1861, he enlisted as Sergeant in the 8ih I. V.
I., three months' service; after serving his term of enlistment, he returned and helped to
organize the Sflth I. V. I., which he entered in Co. B as First Sergeant; after nine months serv-
ice, he was promoted to the rank of Captain ; in 1864, he was shot through the body, from the
effects of which he has not yet recovered and probably never will, as the wound w.is a severe
fne ; upon his return from the army, as soon as his health would permit, he again accepted his
position with Mr. Walton ; for many years he has had charge of the wood- work department of
the factory ; during most of the time has charge of four or five men ; he is now one of the lion-
orcd*and respected soldier-citizens of the city of Bloomington.
II. H. HEWITT, hardware, Bloomington. A fair illustration of what can be done by energy,
industry and a close attention to business is found in the hardware and agricultural implement
trade of Mr. H. H. Hewitt ; he is a native of Saratoga Co., N. Y. ; upon coming West, in 1857,
his first location was in El Paso, Woodford Co., 111. ; here he taught the first school ever taught in
El Paso; this was in the winter of 1858-5U ; in 1860, he opened the first hardware store in that
place; this business he conduc'ed until 1869, when he sold out and came to Bloomington ; for
two years he w^is engaged in the book trade, the firm being Miner & Hewitt; in Jau\iary, 1873,
he again engageil in the hardware trade, with Mr. Haggard, the firm name being Haggard &
Hewitt ; in 1874, he bought Mr. Haggard's interest in the business, and has since conducted it
alone; from 1871 until 1873, he also had an interest in a hardware establishment in El Paso ; his
cstaVdishmcnt is located at No. 300 N. Main st. ; this building is 24 feet front and 100 feet deep,
three floors and basement; in addition to this, he has two large sheds for storing farm machinery;
prominent among his line of goods is the Schuttler wagon, ('hampion reaper and mower, the
" I^arly Breakfast" and "Everlasting" stoves; he employs from eigiit to teti men; his business
aggregates about §100,000 per annum; this is wholly the result of his industry, energy an 1
good financiering, by which he has established a business of which any man may justly foci
proud.
MRS. W. II. H.'VNNA, P>loomiiigton. Of those who were, during their life, prominent mem-
bers of the bar in Bloomington, we ineiilion Mr. Haniia; he was a native of Brookfield, I ml. ;
those who are familiar with the history of Indiana will well remember the prominence of tiie
Ilannas; his people moved from his native place to Indianapolis when he was but two years old ;
there he resided until the age of 2-), when he moved to Bloomington and begin the practice of
law, as he hal become a gr.idiiate of the legil profe-isini before leaving In lianapalis ; his death
occurred Aug. 5, 1870, in his 4Jth year. He was mirrieJ in 18LJ, Mrs. llanna being still a
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 789
resident of Bloomington, and tliey are among the first families of the city, thoroughly educated
and refined people.
E. T. HUTCHINSON, dentist, Bloomington ; before engaging in any profession, it would be
well for any person to study his adaptability for that profession ; this seems to have been the
case with Dr. E. T. Hutchinson, whose natural talent in the profession of dentistry has been well
proven by his success ; he is a native of Christian Co., Ky. ; was born April 9, 1845, and began
the stuily of dentistry in 1868, graduating at tiie Pennsylvania Dental College of Philadelphia iu
1871 ; after graduating, he returned to Bloomington, where he has been a resident since 1857,
and began the practice of his profession ; his office and residence is located corner Center and
Grove streets, being what is known as the Hutchinson Block, which he erected in 1875, with
special reference to the dental business ; here, by his own design, he has elegantly furnished
reception and operating rooms, paying special attention to having his operating room well lighted
by hirge, French plate-glass windows, thus enabling him, with the help of the finest-improved
make of dental instruments, to do fine and lasting work while operating, he having spenf. much
time in the study and practice, of this part of his profession ; of his success and ability in this
part of the science, there is abundant proof among the first families of the city.
M. D. HERRINGTON, butcher, Bloomington; was born in Lenawee Co., Mich., April 23,
1844, where he lived until 1856, when he removed, with his parents, to Tipton, Iowa ; in 1858,
they removed to Laclede, Mo., and, in 1869, to McLean, 111. ; during his early life, he obtained
a good education, including a commercial course at Quincy, 111. ; his first business experience
was in the grocery line, at Hannibal, Mo. ; he returned to Bloomington in 1878, and opened a
meat-market; his shop is at 615 North Main street, where he has one of the neatest markets in
this section of the State; the trade he has secured in this vicinity, and the satisfaction given to
both private and public houses prove him to be a good business man. He married Miss Ida .Jones,
of this county, Aug. 15, 1871 ; they have three children.
BARNEY HEMMELE, grocer, Bloomington, was born in Germany Sept. 4, 1837; he came
to this country in 1843, with his people, who settled in Alleghany, Penn., where He was raised
and schooled and learned the trade of a cigar-maker, serving a regular apprenticeship. In
1853, he moved with his parents to St. Louis, and lived there until 1862, then to Bloomington,
111., where he engaged in business on his own account : he opened his present place of business
in 1868; his location is 710 West Market street, where he keeps a good assortment of groceries.
He married Miss Caroline Pope, of this place, April 7, 1861 ; they have a family of eight
children.
FRANK HOBLIT, banker, Bloomington, son of Samuel and Abigail (Downey) Hoblit, who
were among the first settlers of Logan Co., 111., where they resided many years, and had much to
do with the settlement and development of that section ; they were zealous workers in the cause
of religion, belonging to the Baptist denomination ; by industry, perseverance and integrity,
they amassed a large property, and were public-spirited and benevolent; in 1854, they removed to
what was known as the Downey farm, Atlanta Township, where the father died May 26, 1866,
beloved by friends and relatives, and respected by all who knew him. The subject of this sketch
was born in Logan Co., 111., Nov. 1, 1839 ; was brought up on a farm, and received a good com-
znon-school education ; he began clerking at 18, was a merchant at 21 , and a banker at 26. Mr.
Hoblit was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Philadelphia in .June, 1872. In
1878, the National State Bank of Bloomington was established and Mr. Hoblit appointed Presi-
dent of the Bank, which has a capital of !?100,000, and does a general banking business. He
married Miss Mellie A., daughter of Dr. J. S. Allen, .Jan. 5, 1864; she was born .Jan. 2, 1846.
B. F. HOOPES, grocer, Bloomington ; wholesale and retail grocer and proprietor of the
Bloomington Steam Coifee, Spice and Hominy Mills. Mr. Hoopes' advent to this city dates back
to 1856, when he embarked in the grocery business, and, excepting four years, during which he
resided in Springfield, has been one of the leading business men of Bloomington. Although
never making any great fortune at one venture, yet he has constantly added to his possessions,
until to day we find him enjoying a liberal trade and ranking among the solid men of this city.
He is located at 105 West North street, a very central point for a large trade, and enjoys a good
reputation for fair dealing with patrons. Another enterprise, which is a credit to the city as
well as a paying institution, is the Steam Coffee, Spice and Hominy Mills which he has added to
his already extensive business. He is a native of Pennsylvania ; born in Chester Co. Aug. 28,
1828. During his early life, he obtained a good education, laying the foundation for future use-
fulness. Oct. 12, 1862, he married Miss Augusta Harwood, of Holly, N. Y. ; they have one
child— Albert H.
F. A. HOMUTH, butcher ; Bloomington ; was born in Prussia, September 20, 1828, where
he was raised and schooled ; during his early life, he learned the trade of a tailor, which bus-
iness he followed until 1860, when he came to this country, locating in Goshen, Ind., where he
followed agricultural pursuits until 1863, when he removed to Bloomington, 111., and began in
the butcher business. His shop is at 110 Eist Front street, where he keeps a well-arranged
market; he is a practical butcher of over fifteen yeirs' experience and is said to be well-skilled
at the business. He marriei .Miss Tora Roof, of Bloomington, 111., in May, 1864 ; they have a
family of two children.
790 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES;
?>. L. HERRINGTON, butcher ; Bloomington ; was born in Hillsdale Co., Mich., Oct. 30,
1851. He came to Bloomington, 111., in 18G5, and obtained a good education at the Wesleyan
University, and also attended the Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Ind. He began in the
buicher business in 1873, and is now conducting a first-class market at 202 East Front street
He married Miss Mary J. Delano, of this county, December 20, 1878.
CHllISTIAN HAKEIl, saloon-keeper; Bloomington; was born in Prussia, in 184o, and is the
son of Christopher and Fredericka (Hagen) Haker, of Germany. He came with his parents, in
1857, to America, landing in New York City, and came directly West and located in Manitowoc,
Wis. There he engaged in the butcher business. In 185U, he came to Bloomington and worked
at his trade more or less until 1870, when he entered the saloon business. He married in Bloom-
ington to Miss Dora Fack, of Germany; they have had one child, now dead. Mr. Haker'8
mother died in Bloomington ; his father is now living in Bloomington. Mr. Haker has three
brothers and one sister living in Bloomington, and two sisters and a brother in Manitowoc, Wis.
GEORGE HOF.MANN, saloon and boarding-house ; Bloomington ; was born in Germany, in
18ol ; when 12 years old, he was on the sea as a sailor. In 1850, he came to America and
landed in New York City. At the breaking out of the late war he was in New Orleans, and left
that city on the last ship that sailed from there before the port was closed ; he went to Boston,
and enlisted in the United States Navy, and was in the battle of Fort Jackson, and at the sur-
render of New Orleans ; he did good service in the navy and was honorably discharged. In
1863. he came to Bloomington; here he commenced the saloon and boarding-house business. He
is one of the prominent Germans of tiie city. He married in Boston to Miss Paulina Hewert, of
Germany ; they have three children.
F. HAMMOND, general agent for the Singer Sewing Machine ; Bloomington; was born in
London, England, July 27, 1840. He came to America in 1869 ; came West and located in Chi-
cago, where he entered tlie employ of the Singer Manufacturing Co. as a machinist ; he is a prac-
tical machinist. He was stationed for three years at Peoria, as general agent ; from there he
went to Bloomington and took charge of the Singer Co.'s office at 106 W. North street, which
building, including the Phoenix Hotel and the corner north of the hotel, belongs to Mr. James
Bolton, one of the members of the Singer Manufacturing Co. As an evidence of the extensive
character of the Singer Sewing Machine enterprise it may not be inappropriate to mention that
they employ 40,000 girls, women, boys and men in the manufacture and disposition of their
machines ; use 8,000 horses, and over 2,500,000 of their machines are in use. The company
sold last year 366,000 machines, an excess of 73,000 over any preceding year, despite the hard
times. Mr. Hammond has two sons connected with the general office in Chicago. F. W. Ham-
mond i.5 book-keeper, and N. C. Hammond is a machinist.
D. 1>. HAGG.A.RD, hardware merchant, Bloomington; was born in Christian Co., Ky., Nov. 16,
1819. and is the son of Dawson and Charity (Baldwin) Haggard, of Virginia, having come to Kentucky
at an early day ; Mr. Haggard's father died when he was young, leaving him to take charge of t lie
farm ; here Mr. Haggard remained on the farm until 1837 ; he then went to Indiana and located
in Greene County ; here he remained until 1841, engaged in farming; he then went to Bloom-
ington ; he came here a poor boy, and first commenced making half-bushel measures in
the winter of 1841-42; thence to a farm four miles south of Bloomington; he was also engaged
in the manufacture of shoe pegs, by a machine invented by himself; iu 1843, he entered mer-
cantile business, locating four miles south of Bloomington ; he was also in business in Danvers
and Concord, in general merchandising; in 1846, he came to Bloomington and commenced busi-
ness in a general store ; from that he entered the hardware business, and at one time he was
one of the largest dealers in this line, his sales reaching $100,000 a year, but, during the hard
times, he failed ; Mr. Haggard has returned to the hardware business, and to-day is the oldest mer-
chant in the city. Mr. Haggard married, in 1847, Miss Nancy Miater, of Jessamine Co.. Ky.;
she died in 1854; he next married Miss Mary A. Ballard, of Fayette Co., Ky.; three sons and
one daughter.
0. N. HODGE, farmer, P. O. Bloomington; was born in McLean Co., HI., on the old home-
stead, Nov. 15, 1826, and, with the exception of thirteen years iu California, the first three yciirs
of which were spent in mining and the rest of the time in farming, he has made the old home-
stead his home; he is the son of William II. Hodge, who was born Jan. 4, 1704, in Rockingham
Co., N. C; his ancestors came from England, and settled in Pennsylvania about 1700, when they
moved to North Carolina. .Mr. William H. Hodge, with his parents, moved to Tennessee in
1812; here Mr. IIo<lge was eng.iged in teaching school, as well as in Kentucky. In 1820, he
started for Illinois, where he arrived on the 20tli of February of that year ; he first settled in
Sangamon (bounty; in 1824, he moved to Blooming Grove, .McLean Co., 111.; here he bought land
quite extensively ; at tliis time there were but few families in the county; Mr Hodge assisted
in tlie organization of Tazewell Co., in 1827: also, in the organization of McLean Co., in 1831.
Mr. Hodge was Siieriff, Collector and Assessor of Tazewell Oo. from 1827 to 1831. Mr. Hodge
married, in 1814, Miss Rachel Wall, of Kentucky, who died about the year 1845; has had ten
children, six of whom are living. William H. Hodge died May 20, 1875, with lung fever, being
sick abou'. three days. Thus the old settlers of McLean Cj. are, one by one, passing beyond the
shore.j of the unknown river. The children of William and Rachel (Wall) Hodge now living
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 791
are— 0. N. Hodge, born Nov. 15, 1826 (married Nancy .J. Tipps and had one child, both
deceased); Nancy (married Hugh Harris, now of Oregon) ; William C. (married Rachel INlur-
phy, and lives in Bloomington) ; Mary J. (married Pleasant Hill, and living in California);
James P. (married Miss Ellen Rouse, of Ohio, daughter of Col. John Rouse) ; Harriet (married
0. P. Woodsworth, and living in Bloomington.)
LOUIS HAKER, saloon-keeper, Bloomington; was born in Prussia, Dec. 7, 18o6 ; in 1857, he
came to America, and landed in New York City ; he came directly West, and first settled at Manito-
woc, Wis., where he was engaged in a saw-raill, and remained until 1859, when he came to Blooming-
ton, which has been his home ever since. Mr. Ilaker was first engaged in a brick-yard ; he also
was at work in Phoenix Nursery ; he has made two trips with live-stock to New Orleans. He
was in the late war and did good service; he enlisted, in 1862, as private in Company A, 94th
1. V. L; was at the battles of Perry Grove. Fort Morgan, etc., and a number of skirmishes ; was
mustered out in 1865; he then returned to Bloomington, and was on the city police of Bloomington
and did good service. He married Minnie Swart z, of Germany. He began the saloon business
in 1872.
E. C. HYDE, Bloomington ; is the oldest merchant tailor in Bloomington, now doing busi-
ness in the city ; he came to Bloomington in 1854, and commenced business in 1855; he was
born in Washington Co., N. Y., Feb. 13, 1826, and is the son of Joel Hyde; moved with his
parents to Delaware, Ohio, where he entered the Wesleyan University, and received a good edu-
cation ; he also learned his trade, as tailor, in Delaware, Ohio, May 12, 1854 ; when he arrived
in Bloomington, he was first engaged in clerking in a store ; from that he became owner of a
merchant tailoring establishment in 1855; in that year his store took fire and his stock was
entirely destroyed ; he then went to Chicago and purchased $600 worth of piece goods, giving
his notes to be paid in three and six months : he paid these notes before they became due, and
from that time on Mr. Hyde has been very successful in business; to-day he owns one of the
finest stocks of piece goods, and has a trade that will do credit to any town in Illinois.
SE15ASTIAN HOHMANN, barber, Bloomington; more familiarly known as Charlie Hohmann,
the barber ; was born in Germany, Jan. 9, 1841 ; in 1846, he came to America, and landed in
New York city ; from there he went to Buffalo, N. Y., where he first engaged in working in a
glass factory ; at 14 years of age he commenced to learn his trade as barber, in Buffalo ; he at
length came West and has been located in different States, working at his trade. Mr. Hohmann
was also barber on the Mississippi River for four or five seasons ; he was on the steamer Grey Eagle,
then running between St. Louis and St. Paul, when she collided with the railroad bridge at Rock
Island, and sunk in a very short time ; Mr. Hohmann was one of six whose efforts saved forty-
eight persons from a watery grave; he himself received a very painful wound on the wrist, the
effects of which are apparent to this day. He was a soldier in the late war, enlisting in 1862,
as private, in Co. A, 96tn I. V. I.; he had charge of a brigade band for one and a half years,
and the remainder of the time served in the ranks; he was mustered out at close of war; in 1865
he returned to Bloomington, which has been his home ever since ; he is one of the oldest barbers
in the business in the city, and owns the finest shop in Bloomington, situated in the Ashley
House. Mr. Hohmann is also manager of Hohmann & Hasiing's band, which is one of the finest
bands in Central Illinois.
JOHN M. HAMILTON, Bloomington. Mr. Hamilton wa< born at Richwood, Union Co ,
Ohio, May 28, 1847; his birth-place, or the habitation in which he first saw the light of this
world, was a rough-hewn log cabin, located in the deep beech woods of that section of Ohio ;
he ii a direct descendant of that branch of the old Scotch family of Hamiltons which more
than a century ago planted itself as a part of the advance guard of civilization in Maryland and
Virginia ; his father was one of twelve children — ten sons and two daughters, who are now
located in different parts of Illinois and Ohio ; in 1854, .lohn emigrated with his parents in a
covered wagon, to Marshall Co., Ill ; here his fjither purchased a large farm, but the business
crash of 1857 swept nearly everything out of his possession, and John and older brother were
compelled to support, by their own labor, the entire family. In 1864. when but 16 years of age,
young Hamilton enlisted and served for a year in the Union army ; returning home he taught a
district school in the winter of 1865, meantime continuing to prepare himself for college, snatch-
ing such moments from labor as he could, for the cultivation of his mind ; from the sale of a
piece of land given him by a well-to-do uncle, a small amount saved from his earnings as a
teacher, and a contribution from his father, John raised suflBcient ready funds to enable him
in September, 1865, to start out upon a classical course in the Delaware (Ohio) Wesleyan Univer-
sity; and, in 1868, he graduated third in a class of forty six students, receiving the degree of
A. B.; in 1871, he received a second reward for his perseverance by having the affix of A. M.
bestowed upon him by the same institution; he at once began the study of law in earnest, but
his finances being exceedingly low, he was compelled to accept a position as Principal of an
academy, at Henry, 111.; he was at this time so sorely pressed for means that he found it neces-
sary to negotiate a loan of $50 from an aged lady friend to defray his current expenses until
such time as he should draw his salary ; on account of serious illness. Mr. Hamilton, in the
spring of 1869, was compelled to resign the position of Principal of the acadeuiy ; he then pros-
ecuted the study of law at home, in Marshall Co., slowly regaining his health in the meantime ;
792 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
in the month of August, 1869, ^Ir. Hamilton c.ime first to Bloomington, and through the
iufliicnce of a recommemlation from tlie entire Faculty of the Ohio Wesleyan, obtained a situation
as tutor in tlie Illinois Wesleyan ; here he was occupied for three hours each day in hearing
classes recite in Latin ; he had not relinquished his law studies; but ever^' leisure hour was put
in faithfully with the books, and, that he might have the benefit of a valuable library and ripe
experience, he entered the law office of Weldon, Tipton & Benjamin; in the spring of 1870, he
drew yet nearer the cherished wish of his life, being at that time admitted to the bar ; soon after,
he began practice with \\eldon & Benjamin on a salary ; in October, 1870, the present firm of
Rowell & Hamilton was formed, being tliird in order of the oldest law firms in the city. In
1876, ^Ir. Hamilton's friends placed him in nomination as a Representative in the State Senate,
to which he was elected for four years ; he has served on the following committees: Judicial,
Revenue, Education, State Institutions, ^Municipalities, Elections; he introducerl and secured the
passage of the bills establishing the new Appellate Court ; as a member of the Committee on
Revenue, ^Ir. Hamilton took a promiueut part in the warm fight of that session between the
people and the great corporations of the State, when the latter endeavored to escape taxation ;
it is nee41ess to say he was on the side of the people ; as a member of the Committee on Public
Institutions he visited and examined them all, aud reported on their condition; he was instru-
mental in obtaining the most liberal appropriation for the Normal University that has been
obtained for that institution for a number of years, increasing the regular appropriation by
f2,5U0. In 1879, he was elected President of the Illinois State Senate, by the Republicans in
caucus, unanimously ; in 1879, he was elected Vice President of the Illinois State Bar Associa-
tion.
HERMANN HOFFMANN, saloon-keeper, Bloomington ; was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Ger-
many, July 19, 1 847 ; came to America and landed in New York City about 1859 ; he first located
in Newark, N. J., where he learned his trade as traveling-bag maker ; he followed his trade about
fifteen years, and was in the employ of T. B. Pettis, a large manufacturer in Newark, N. J., who
is now a Member of Congress ; In 1877, ^Ir. Hoifmann came West and located in Bloomington ;
here he commenced the saloon business, and has followed it ever since ; has in his employ his
brother, Valentine Hoffmann, who was in the late war, in the i;]th N. J. V. I.; he did good service;
was in the Army of the Potomac ; also in Sherman's campaign, and served over three years.
Mr. Herman Hoifmann married Miss Sibela Wallrab, of Germany ; they have three children, two
girls and one boy.
J. E. HOUTZ & CO., dry goods, Bloomington; this firm commenced business in 1873;
they have had experience in the dry-goods business some thirteen years ; they occupy one of the
finest blocks for the dry-goods business in the city, known as the Gridley Block ; their stock of
dry goods and carpets is complete, and one of the largest in the city.
WILLIAM E. HUGHES, Bloomington. The subject of this sketch was born in England,
but, when 18years of age, came to America with his father ; they settled in Michigan, where Hughes
finished a course of study at the best institutions the State afforded ; in all departments of busi-
ness, legal, historical and learned literature, Mr. Hughes became profoundly versed, and, having an
uncommonly retentive memory, he has lost nothing from the store, but has rather added thereto ;
he is a careful reader and a close thinker, and is especially familiar in intricate law questio'ns ;
Mr. Hughes first came to Bloomington in 1862 ; his first movement in business was as a salaried
official of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, a position which he is said to have filled with studious
care for the interests of that corporation, and in a manner highly satisfactory to its managers ;
in this work he continued until the summer of 186G ; in that year, he entered the law office of
Williams & Burr, reading and preparing himself for active practice; here he remained, making
tiie best possible use of his advantages, for three years, until 1869 ; an advantageous law part-
nership was formed between ^Mr. Iluglies and Robert McCart, which, while it existed, had a
large and valuat)le practice in all the courts of adjudication; this partnership was dissolved in
September, 1877. Mr. Hughes filled with distinction and alulity the position of City Attorney,
made vacant by the retirement of Mr. McCart. In the year last named, the present partnership
with Ira J. Bloomfield was formed, and, since its operation, has been employed in a number of
the more important cases at the McLean County Courts, as well as in the higher tribunals.
HIGGINS cS: CO., marble works, Bloomington. It is often supposed that good work in the
marble and monument business cannot be obtained anywhere except in a few of our larger cities.
This is a mi.stake, as is evinced by the superior talent exhibited and work produced by Messrs.
Higgins & Co., since their establishment in Bloomington ; these gentlemen commenced business
in 1876, and have tui'ned out some of tlie finest work in Bloomington ; they are now finishing
one of the finest monuments for tiie IMoomingtoti Cemetery; its weiglit will be tliiricen tons, and
tliis will he tlie finest piece of work in the cemetery ; this firm employs more hands than any
other establisliment of its kind in Bloomington ; the firm is Mr. J. P. Jung, a native of Illinois,
who came to Bloomington in 1869, and has had many years' experience in the marble business,
and Mr. H. J. Higgins, a native of Ohio, who enlisted in the late war in Co. D, 59th Oliio V. I.,
and pariicipated in the battles of Stone River, Mission Ridge, Perry ville, Chickasaw Mountain,
Lookout >Iountain, Dallas, Ivenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, etc.: with the exception of three
months' sickness, Mr. Higgins was always at his post; after being mustered out as Sergeant, he
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 793
Te-enlisted, in 1835, in Co. E, 192cl Ohio V. I., as 1st Lieutenant ; liere he was detailed as Provost
Marshal ; also Judge Advocate Court Martial two months ; after the close of the war, he returned
to Ohio. In 186:^, he came to Illinois, where he has been engaged in the marble business ever
since. All persons dealing with lliem miy be assured of the most honorable treatment and the
most skillful workmanship.
DANIEL HEGaRTV, dealer in stoves and tinware, Bloomington; w;is born in the County
Cork, Ireland, in May, 1836, and is the son of James Hegarty, a brewer; in 1849, he emi-
grated to America, and landed in New York City, July 2, 1840 ; he lived in the State of New
York about eighteen months, and, in 1851, lie came West to Illinois, and located in Chicago,
where he learned the trade of a tinner, aud worked there until 1858 ; he then came to Blooming-
ton ; here he first worked for the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company as tinner and coppersmith
about two years; he then went to Texas ; from there he returned to Bloomington and commenced
to work for Holder, Miller & Co. In 1862, he commenced business for himself on Main street;
thence to formal about eighteen months ; from there he returned to Bloomington, where he now
keeps a complete stock of hardware, stoves and tinware. In 1877, Mr. Hegarty was elected
Alderman from the Fifth Ward ; this office he still holds. He is a Democrat in politics.
M. HANSEN, dealer in dry goods, Bloomington; was born in Saarburg, Germany, in 1839 ;
in 1850, he came to America, and was engaged on the New York Central Railroad for
tliirteen years as brakeman, then baggage master and conductor; in J 864, lie came West, and
accepted a position as yard master at Springfield, for the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company ;
thence to Bloomington. Mr. Hansen's first experience in mercantile life was clerking in a gro-
ery store, for about one year; he then entered the sample-room business, and, in 1869, he en-
gaged in his present business, which he has followed ever since. By hard work and good man-
agement he has become owner of a good dry-goods store. He married Miss Susan Wirz ; they
have three children. He has held the office of Alderman of his ward. He is a Democrat in
politics.
CHARLES HENNECKK, insurance and European steamship agent, Bloomington; was born
Aug. 16, 1823, in the Province of We-itphalia, Prussia, near Dortmund, and is the son of Rev.
A. Hennecke. After serving in the Prussian army, he sailed, in 18o0, for America, and landed
in New York City May 26, 1850; from this year until 1855 he was seeking a location ; was in
Bufi'alo, N. Y., Petersburg, Va., and Toledo. (Jhio : from whence he came to Bloomington, Aug.
17, 1855; here he began clerking in a dry-goods store; was for a short time in the cigar and
tobacco business, and, in 1864, commenced his present business. He represents some of the
leading insurance companies, and does a general foreign exchange and passenger business. Mr.
Hennecke is agent for the well known insurance company, the Northwestern Mutual Life Insur-
ance Company, of Milwaukee, Wis. Every well regulated and prominent city has its insurance
representatives, and no men are more necessary in any line of business. To properly conduct a
first class agency requires constant watchfulness, hard work and a thorough devotion to the de-
tails of the business. After saying this much, we are led to state that Mr. Charles Hennecke is
one of the leading and most reputable agents in McLean County. Mr. Hennecke is assisted in
his office by his son Albert. June 17, 1857, Mr. Hennecke married Miss Julia Schultz.
JACOB JACOBY, grocer, of the firm of F. Oberkoelter & Co., wholesale grocers and liquor
dealers, Bloomington; came to Bloomington, 111 , in 1853 and has been a wholesole grocer for
upwards of eight years. His place of business is 111 & 113 S. Main street, where he keeps a
grocery store. Mr. Jacoby is a native of Germany, and was born in Rhenish Bavaria, June 22, 1828,
■where he received a good education in German, Latin and French. He came to the United States
in 1850, and located in Greenfield, Mass., thence to Illinois as above mentioned. He began do-
ing for himself with no means, but to-day he ranks with the solid men of Bloomington. He has also
held a number of responsible and prominent positions. He married Miss Mary Niergath, of
"Woodford Co., 111., in February, 1855. They have a family of three — Rosa, now Mrs. Charles
Froschaurr, of Indianapolis ; William A. and Etta M.
F. JOHNSON, Jr., milling, Bloomington. There is probably no tlouring-mill in the county
so well known as the old McLean County Mills, of Bloomington. Many years ago, Mr. F. John-
son, Sr., came west from his home in Ohio and took charge of the mills. In June, 1873, he
bought the entire mills, and later, sold an interest to T. J. Cox ; in 1879, the mills were leased
to F. Johnson, Jr., and F. F. Beard, the firm being known as Beard & Johnson. Mr. F. John-
son, the subject of this sketch, is a native of McLean Co; he was born Sept. 2, 1852. Having
been a resident of Bloomington, he has had the advantage of attending good schools, which he
has improved, being a commercial graduate, and a good literary scholar. His earliest business
experience was in the mill business, lielping his father; he had full charge of the books, and
was conversant with all the details of the business ; by close attention, he had become a thor-
oughly practical miller before his father quit the business. With his thorough knowledge of
the business, there is but little doubt of his ultimate success in his present undertaking. They
have a flouring capacity of 100 barrels of flour every twenty-four hours, and fifty barrels of meal.
They are kept running the year round to supply the demand for their goods
S. F. J(3HNS0N, grocer, of the firm of Sprague & Johnson, Bloomington; was bora in Bel-
mont Co., Ohio, Sept. 9, 1824; during his early life he began to study for the ministry in
794 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
connection with the M. E. Church. In 184;'), lie removed to Christian Co., and, in 1847, became
reguhirly engaged in the worit of the luiuistry. He was married in July, 1851, to Miss Mary
Ellis, of Christian Co. He continued in the ministi-y until 1861, when he organized the ITtli
Kentucky Cavalry, and entered the service as Colonel, serving four years. He came to Blooni-
ington in 1875, and, in 1877, became engaged in the grocery business. He is a man of good
physical as well as mental powers, and a much-respected citizen.
OTTO KADGIHN, saloon and restaui-ant, Bloomington ; was born in Germany, in 1827 ;
emigrated to America, and landed at Galveston, Tex., in 1857; he went to San Antonio Tex.,
and remained there but a short time ; from there he went to New Orleans, thence to St. Louis,
where he learned the trade of a painter, which he followed in St. Louis about nine months ; fi-on\
there he came to Bloomington, 111., where he commenced to work at his trade; since then he
has been engaged in the grocery business ; after that he entered the restaurant and saloon
business, which he has followed ever since. He is one of the prominent German citizens of
Bloomington.
PATRICK KEATING, Bloomington; was born in County Limerick, Ireland, in August,
1837, and is the son of Patrick Keating. In 1846, he emigrated with his parents to America,
landing in Quebec, Canada, and from there they went to Albany, N. Y. He states that the first
money he made was here, as newsboy for the Albany Eoening Journal, edited by Thurlow Weed
and Mr. Seward. In 1855, he became fireman on the Albany Northern Railroad; in 1856, he
came to Chicago, and was fireman on the Illinois Central Railroad, and Galena Railroad : he
returned East, and was fireman on the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad until 1860;
he then returned to Albany, N. Y. ; here he enlisted, in 1861, in 115th N. Y. V. I. (Albany
Burgess Corps) ; this regiment did a good three months' service in the Eastern campaign ; Mr.
Keating was at length mustered out; he then returned to the New York Central Railroad as fire-
man; in 1864, he came West as a locomotive engineer; he accepted a position on the Chicago &
Alton Kailrond ; he has been connected with this road ever since ; he has run a passenger
engine on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, from Bloomington to Chicago, for ten years ; perhaps there
is not an engineer on any line running out of Chicago better known and liked than Patrick Keating.
In 1875, he was one of the invited guests with a very prominent party to a trip to California.
He is now engineer on the pay-car train, which position he was appointed to in 1875. In 1877,
his friends in the Fifth Ward elected him as Alderman ; this office he is now filling with honor
and credit. INIr. Keating is a Democrat in politics.
H. T. KELLEY, machinist, Bloomington. The iron and molding department of the plow
manufactory of John T. Walton is under the supervision of Mr. H. T. Kelly, who is a native of
Alleghany Co., Md. He came West as early as 18o6, and located in Illinois, remaining fourteen
years; then returned East, where he resided for nine years ; in 1862, he came to Bloomington,
where he has since, resided. The same year of his arrival, he accepted a position in the plow
factory then run by Walton & Hamilton; in 1866, he became foreman of the molding depart-
ment, which position he has since held. During his early life, he had but little chance of getting
an education, having the advantage of nothing but the old subscription school system. He
learned his trade in 1838, in Warren Co., 111.; by close attention to business, he has for many
years held a responsible position, having most of the time about eight men under his charge.
He is an honored and respected citizen, and enjoys a good name and reputation, which he has
earned by honesty and industry.
JOHN KEMEDY, chairmaker, Bloomington. Another important feature of the Blooming-
ton Chair Factory is the finishing department ; this is under the charge of .John Kemedy. who
is a native of Ontario, Canada. In the fall of 1830, he came to Detroit, Mich., and. in 1841,
began learning the trade of making and finishing chairs. He remained in Detroit until 1843 ;
then removed to .Milwaukee. Wis., where he stayed but a short time, coming to Chicago in Sep-
tember of the same year ; here he made his home for nearly eight years, and for the ne.\t twenty
years spent his life in Wi.^^consin and Chicago. In 1873, he accepted a situation with a manu-
facturing company in Clinton, Iowa; remaining there about four years, then removing to r>loi)in-
ington to accept the position of superintendent of the finishing department of the Rlomnington
Chair Manufacturing Company; this position he has filled witli perfect satisfaction to all parties
interested ; he employs from seven to nine hands in this department, they being usually girls;
lie is a thoroughly reliable gentleman ; by his honesty, sobriety ami industry, he is now hold-
ing a good situation.
J. A. KERR, livery, Bloomington; Mr. J. A. Kerr, of the firm of Carlton & Kerr, of whom
we have spoken, is a native of Harrison Co , Ohio ; born Jan. 16, 1836 ; while he was yet a boy
his parents moved to Logan Co. ; the early part of his life was spent in farming in different
localities. In 1861, he enlisted in the war of the rebellion in Co. F, 41st I. V. I., remaining
in the service about two years, when he was ilischarged on account of disability ; among the
heavy battles he was engaged in niay be mentioned those of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson,the battle
of Shiloh and the siege of Corinlh. Upon his return from the army, he took a contract to carry
the United States mail from Pekin to Blootnington ; he also established a passenger route, and
ran this line for six years, when ho accepted an appointment of postal clerk on the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad, his " run" being between (Jent;alia and Freeport ; this he followed for three years,.
BLOOMINGTON TOAVNSHIP. 795
then resigned and engaged in the grocery trade in Bloomington with Mr. Carlton, his present
partner, the firm being known as Carlton and Kerr, the same as at present ; in 1875, lie he^an,
with Mr. Carlton, in the livery business, where we now find him. He has passed through many
and varied experiences during his life, but is now probably permanently located, as they have a
well-established business, which they are conducting successfully.
1). P. KING, harness manufacturer. Bloomington; one of the business men of this city, who
has seen much of the world, and has met with many and varied experiences in travel, is D. P.
King, who is a native of Somerset Co., Pa. He was born April 22, 1822; at the age of 11
years, he, with his parents, moved to Ashland, Ohio, where he remained a^out fifteen years. It
was there that he learned the trade of a saddle and harness maker, and received a fair education.
From there he went to Pittsburg, remaining but one year ; thence to Wheeling, W. Va., for one
and a half years, and from there to Galena, 111, where he lived about one year ; removing again,
he went to St. Louis, and from there to (Jalifornia, via Santa Fe route ; he was there mining and
prospecting one year ; he concluded to make his home voyage by water ; was shipwrecked on
Nov. 22, finally landing in Acapulco, from whence he made his way to the City of Mexico, and
from there to St. Louis, Mo. ; thence to Lexington, Ky., where he was located for twelve years ;
thence to Cincinnati, where he remained until 1865, then removed to Springfield, 111., and to
Bloomington in 1866 ; here he began working at his trade until 1870, when he engaged in busi-
ness for himself; his establishment is located opposite the post office, on Center street ; here he
is manufacturing everything in the line of hardcss, saddles, bridles, etc. By his energy and
indutry, he has established a good business.
THOMAS G. KERRICK, Bloomington; Thomas C. Kerrick was born in Franklin Co,, Ind.,
April 2o, 1818 ; there he received the benefits of the excellent school system of that State ; these
advantages he improved and made the most of, being, it is said, from boyhood, an indefatigable
student, and placing" his books above all other objects. He thus, in compa'atively early child-
hood, obtained a valuable groundwork fir his future education. In the fall of 1860, Mr. Kerrick
removed, with his parents, to Woodford Co., this State. He remained upon the farm, following
the plow and his studies until the fall of 1868. During these eight years, he had mastered all
the various branches of an English education, and added to his knowledge of literature, so that,
when he entered the Illinois Wesleyan University in 1868, he was already far advanced in his
studies. Here he remained, foil jwing the beaten path of the college students for two years ; he
then entered into active business as Superintendent of L. H. Kerrick's extensive stock and grain
farm, in Funk's Grove Township ; meantime, he devoted all his leisure time to the study of law,
and afterward read law with McNulta & Aldrich. He toiled patiently and faithfully until 1875,
when he passed a rigid examination creditably, and was admitted to practice in the month of
January of that year. He formed a partnership witti McNulta & Aldrich as soon as he was ad-
mitted to practice. In 1876, Gen. McNulta forme! a partnership with Hon. Lawrence Weldon,
and, in 1877, Mr. Aldrich accepted a professorship in the Wesleyan University, which, of course,
dissolved the firm. Mr. Kerrick then opened an office and began practice on his own account.
He has secured the services, as assistant, of Mr. H. D. Spencer, an active and ambitious young
lawyer, whose attainments in all legal knowledge must soon bring him into deserved prominence.
Mr. Kerrick was appointed City Attorney by Mayor Reed, and since he has held the office has
done good work, and a service which promises to make him a capable and efficient officer. As
a lawyer, Mr. Kerrick is prompt, decisive and sincere.
A. D. KIRKPATRICK, merchant, Bloomington, is another of the old residents of McLean
Co ; he is a native of Adams Co., Ohio; came to McLean Co. in 1850, and in time, had estab-
lished a reputation as an auctioneer in the sale of stock and other personal property; he was
engaged in this business for twenty-one years ; when his hearing becoming affected, he was
obliged to give it up ; after this he engaged in the mercantile business. His establishments are
located at Nos. 502, 504 and 508 North Main street; No. 502 is used as a general salesroom of
china and glassware, carpets, wall-paper, dry goods and notions, and in fact everything pertain-
ing to a general variety store. This store is 66x23 ; basement same size, which is used for man-
ufacturing and finishing furniture; No. 504 and basement is used exclusively for furniture,
of which he keeps a full and complete stock ; No 508, first floor and basement being same size
as No. 504, viz.: 60x23 feet. This store is used forttoves and tinware; prominent in this stock
is the Champion Monitor cook stove, which is highly recommended by hundreds of housewives
This entire business comes under the direct supervision of W. A. Kirkpatrick, who is now 23
years old, and has already proved himself to be an able financier, as he, for some time, has done
all the buying, and has had charge of the books. He is verifying the old proverb, that " goods
well bought are half sold." When Mr. A. D. Kirkpatrick gave up the business of stock-selling,
his brother, J. H., who came to this county the same year as himself, took it up. From his
thorough knowledge of stock, and natural ability as a salesman, he has done a business that in
every way has been gratifying to himself, and to those for whom he has conducted sales sometimes
realizing 25 per cent above the owner's invoice of property. He is not one of the slow kind of
auctioneers, but gets his buyers to evince some interest and enthusiasm, and sometimes " run-
ning off"' $10,000 worth of stock in two hours time — his sales, sometimes, reaching .515,000.
As this is decidedly a stock county, and as he does about 9J per cent of the selling, his business
796 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
is of nnieli greater mngnitinle ilian one would at first suppose, being about §200,000 per annum^
He is a tliorouolily eilucaled man in his business; and not only does the principal business in
this county in his line, but conducts large sales in the adjoining counties and other parts of the
State of Illinois.
H. KUMMER, furniture, Bloomington. Mr. H. Knmmer, of 113 S. Main street, is a native of
the south of Germany ; he came to the L''nitod States in 1872, and located in this city ; be began
working for Mr. C. L. Camp in 1<S75, and became his successor in 187'.); before leaving Germany
he had received a fair education; though he has been a resident of the United States only seven
years, he has already learned to speak the language very fluently; he does a general business in
stoves and tinware, new and second-hand furniture, and, in fact, any articles of house-furnish-
ing goods he is always ready to buy, providing they are such that can be sold again. Though
he has not been in business so long as some, he has already established his character and rep-
utation for honesty and square-dealing.
C. F. KOCH, grocer, Bloomington ; son of Frederick and Caroline (Deininger) Kocli, was
born in Esslingen, Germany, March 17, 1848; he came to this country with his parents in 18-)3,
locating in Cincinnati, Ohio ; where they remained until 1856 ; they then came to Bloomington ;
here he received a good education, laying the foundation for future usefulness ; his father died
Jan. 5, 187o, leaving but one child — C. F., who began in mercantile life in 1869, at his present
location, which is No. 810 West Front st. ; here he keeps an excellent grocery store. He mar-
ried I\Iiss Katie L. Feise', of this place, Aug. 22. 1872 ; they have two children — Louisa C. and
Emma C.
JOHN KOESTER, editor, Bloomington ; editor of the McLean County Deutsche Pressc ; was
born in Germany July 11, 1815, and received his education at Hessen, Marburg ami Goettingen;
he came to the United States in 1859, locating in St. Louis, where he engaged in the business of
a florist ; he also taught school for a time ; in 1864, he came to Bloomington. and established his
present paper, beginning its publication in March, 1871 ; since which time, he has by diligence
and ability built up a good circulation ; it is the only German paper printed in McLean Co. He
married Miss Wilhelmina Grosbernd, of his native country, in October, 1859 ; they have a family
of six living.
M. G. KOPF, M. D., Bloomington. Dr. Kopf is a native of France; in June, 1853, he left
his native country and sailed for the United States; came West as far as Bellevil'e, where he
remained until 1857 ; then removed to Leavenworth, Kan.; the doctor was eight years a Surgeon
in the French army, four of which was spent in Africa; he passed through twelve lieavy battles :
by his knowledge of surgery he was induced to enter the army in 1861 as Surgeon of the
Leavenworth Hospital; lie passed through many of the border troubles of Kansas and aided in
suppressing the war of the late rebellion ; he was a brave and true soldier, and still retains his
sword and bugle. In 1865, he went to East Liberty, Penn., where he lived for one year ; then
came to Bloomington ; he is a regular graduated physician of the allopathic school, a gentleman
and a soldier.
I. II. KRUM, grain dealer, Bloomington. Among the citizens of McLean County who have
in many instances been identified with the development and improvement of the county, is I. R.
Krum, dealer in grain, lumber and coal ; he is a native of Green Co., N. Y. ; in 1849, he came
West with his parents; he being then 12 years old; they located in McLean County, where for
five ycnrs he was engaged in many different kinds of work for the farmers and cattle dealers ;
for a year or two he was engaged as clerk in the grocery business ; after which, he engaged as
bookkeeper with Mr. Elihu Rogers, which situation he held until he was 21 years of age ; he
had been dependent upon his own resources in procuring an education, but, being obliged to
work hard, he had but little time, except nights, for study ; but in this way he secured a good
business education ; also learned phonography and the German language; at the age of 21, he
formed a partnership with Mr. Roliinson, engaging in the coal, lumber, grain trade and milling
business; the latter business they had conducted but about two years, when their mills were
burned, causing a loss for them of $20,000 ; the firm was known as Krum & Robinson, the part-
nership lasting for thirteen years, when he bought Mr. Robinson out, and has since conducted
the business alone; in 1871, he established a branch house at what is now Arrowsmith
and, in 1877, he estaVilished another branch house at Lilly; the combined shipments of
the three houses now ainounting to aljout 1,700 cars per annum; this immense business is
wholly the result of Mr. Krum's energy, industry and good financiering; he ha'< alwnys
been liberal and public-spirited, helping to forward any enterprise that he deemed for the
public good ; he is a gentleman so well known that any compliments of the press are wholly
unnecc'^sary.
lUA ljA(n<I"iY, druggist, Bloomington. Mr. Ira Lackey, of the firm of Funk & Lackey, is
anotlier of the old residents of Bloomington, and a man long established in business ; he is a
native of Wayne Co., Ind. ; was born in 18)!8, and, in 1855, came to Illinois, locating at Bloom-
ington ; his first business engagement was in the capacity of a clerk for tlie drug firm of Paist
& Elder, with whom he remained for about three years; the firm changing to I'aist, i\iarmoii ct
Co., he still remained with thorn for two years; tlicn he and his brother engaged in business in
the Ashley-House block, where they carried on the drug business for five years, the firm being
BLOOMINGTON TOAVNSIIIP. 797
known as I. & G. W. Lackey ; his health then foiling, he sold out to his brother, went to Chicago
and began traveling for Fullei-, Finch & Fuller, wholesale druggists ; he traveled for this tirm
until 1869 ; having regained his liealth, he returned to Bloomington, and again began the retail
drug business by buying the drug establishment of J. M. Mnjor, since which time he has been
permanently located, gradually increasing his business until now he has one among the finest
retail drug houses in this part of Illinois, doing a retail trade of about $33,000 per annum,
besides his jobbing-trade, which is gradually increasing; his establishment is located at No. 110
W. Washington street; byhiscareful management and close attention to business, he has established
a business, of which any man should be proud, and has no less reason to look for success in the
future as he has had in the past.
ROBERT LOUDON, steam-fitting, Bloomington. In all cities of the size of Bloomington, there
is always room for one first-class plumbing and steam-fitting establishment ; tliis want has been
supplied by Mr. Robert Loudon, who is a native of Ayrshire, Scotland ; he was born March 22,
1832, and at the age of 2-"), emigrated to the Uni ed States; though before leaving his native
country he had learned tlie trade of a machinist, and had received a good education, upon his
arrival in the United States, he located at Alton, III., where he entered tlie employ of the Terre
Haute & Alton Railroad ; he was there one year, when the company moved their shops to Litch-
field, he and one other man being the only ones retained out of forty men ; he was with the Rail-
road Company until 1859, when he went to Jacksonville and started a machine sliop ; the firm was
Ellis, Shields & Loudon ; he was there but a short time, when he again went back to the Railroad
Company's employ, remaining with them until 1862 ; then went to Cairo, where he was employed
in the United States Navy Yard for one year ; in 1863, he came to this city and accepted a posi-
tion as foreman in the C. & A. R. R. shops ; this position he held for some time ; then took
charge of Mr. OUis' foundry; he remained with Mr. Ollis about six years, when he concluded
to engage in business for himself; his business, though on a small scale when he began, haa
since grown to such proportions as to be a credit to himself and the city ; he is not only engaged
in plumbing and steam-fitting, but also in the manufacturing of engines, and in fact every.,
thing pertaining to plumbing and steam-fitting; a more complete conception of his business may
be gamed by referring to his card, which is found in our classified directory ; his establishment
is known as the Eagle Machine Works, and is located at 620 and 622 N. Main street, and 607 and
609 N. Centerstreet. ^Ir. L. is a thorouglily educated businessman, and is weU knownto tlie citizens
and business men of Bloomington. lie has fitted up his works with $12,001) worth of machinery ;
his manufacture of engines and boilers may be seen at the Pantagruph office and at the tile-
works, where they have given good satisfaction.
DR. A. H. LUCE, physician and surgeon, Bloomington. In the practice of medicine, in all
cities, there are those physicians who, by long practice, have become so well known to the peo-
ple that the compliments of the press are unneeded on their part. Among this class of the
physicians of Bloomington we find Dr. A. H. Luce, who has been a resident of the city since
1842. He is a native of Wayne Co., N. Y., and was born Feb. 28, 1810. He began the study of
medicine in 1838, and graduated at the Geneva Medical College of New York in 1842, and
located in Bloomington the same year. Since his residence here, he has given his time exclu-
sively to his profession. He is a member of the McLean County Medical Society, of the Illinois
State Medical Society, and of the A. M. Medical Association. In 1864, he was elected President
of the State Society. He was one of the organizers of the McLean County Medical Society, in
1854, of which he was the first President, as he has also been since. He has also frequently
written articles for the different medical journals.
N. LOAR, M. D., Bloomington. Dr. Loar is a native of Greene Co., Penn., and was born
April 1, 1840. He began the study of medicine under Dr. J. Loar, then of Mount Pleasant,
Penn., but now a resident of Bloomington. During the winter of 1864-65, he attended the Physio-
Medical College of Cincinnati; practiced medicine during the summer of 1865, and, during the
winter of 1865-66, he again attended lectures at the College ; summer of 1866, he spent his time
in practice, and, in the winter of 1866-67, he again attended college, graduating in the spring of
1867. He spent the summer of 1867 in practicing his profession in Knox Co , Ohio, and in
the fall of the same year removed to Bloomington, where he has since resided, giving his time*
and attention fully and exclusively to his profession. He came here young and a stranger, and,
being naturally of an unassuming nature, the future sometimes looked dark; but, being a gen-
tleman as well as a thoroughly v/ell-read physician, his practice gradually increased, as did also
his circle of friends, until now, by his close attention to business, he has a fine practice and a
host of warm friends, some being of the poorer class, to whom he has been a friend in many
cases of need.
W. A. LEAVIS, Superintendent Chair Manufactory, Bloomington. In all extensive manu-
factories, it is always necessary to have a general superintendent. This position Mr. W. A.
Lewis holds in the Bloomington Chair Manufacturing Company's establishment. This firm
manufactures about 40,000 chairs per annum. Mr. Lewis is a native of Niagara Co., N. Y., was
bnrn Nov. 19, 1829, and came West in 1855. He had learned the trade of a cabinet-maker before
leaving the East. Upon his arrival in Bloomington, not finding suitable prospects in the cabinet
business, he engaged in the grain-trade, which he followed for seventeen years, and, in 1873.
798 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
when tlie Bloomington Chair Manufacturing Company was organized, he accepted a situation
with them, wliich he has since held. During his early life, he had but little chance of getting
an education, but. by industry and good observation, he succeeded in procuring a fair business
education. He is now tilling a ])osition of responsibility and trust, which is the result of his
sober, industrious habits and close attention to business.
.1. LITTLE, physician and surgeon, Bloomington. The medical profession is well represented
in Bloomington, and includes among ita list gentlemen of recognized merit. Included in this
class is Dr. J. Little, whose practice is large and of a gratifying character. He is a native (jf
Washington Co., Ind , and has been dependent upon his own resources in the procuring of his
medical education. In 18-35, he began the study of medicine with Dr. A. Pence, of Terre Haute,
Ind. In 1S<;1, he entered the U. S. Army as Hospital Steward of the ;i3d I. V. I.; he had filled
this post less than one year, when he was promoted to the post of Assistant Surgeon of the 24th
Missouri V. I. ; this office he held until the spring of 1864. Upon his return from the army, he
again began the study of medicine, and, during the winter of 1864-65, he attended the Bellevue
Hospital of N. Y. Upon the close of the term at Bellevue Hospital, he entered the Long Island
Hospital for the spring course; graduating at this college, in .June, 1865. After graduating, he
again entered the army as surgeon of the U. S. C. Inf. ; this post he held uniil 1866, when,
upon the close of the war, became to Bloomington, remaining but a short time, when he removed
to Le Roy. McLean Co., where he located and began the practice of medicine, remaining there
eleven years. In the spring of 1877, he removed to Bloomington, where he has since resided,
engaging in the practice of his profession. He is a member of the McLean County Medical So-
ciety, of which he is the present Secretary. Is also a member of the Illinois State Medical So-
ciety, and of the Illinois Central Medical Association. Has held the position of City and County
Doctor since 1868. He has made frequent contributions to the medical journals. Since his
leaving the army, in 1866, he has given his time fully and exclusively to the practice of his
profession.
E. B. LAWRENCE, carpenter, Bloomington; is a native of Greene Co., Ohio; at the age of
17 years, he left his home and went to Springfield, Ohio, where he remained ten years. While
there, he learned the trade of a carpenter, though he is now a master also of the pattern makers
and cabinet trades. In 1860, he came AVest, locating in Richland Co. He made several changes
after this, to Logan Co., then to Sangamon, back to Logan, and finally to McLean, in 1872, where
he has since remained, engaged working at his trade. He is one of the straight-forward,
honest residents of the city of Bloomington. Being a No. 1 workman, and attentive to business,
he has won a good name and reputation.
ALLEN T. LAWRENCE, Justice of the Peace, Bloomington ; was born in Morgan Co,, Ohio,
Nov. 5, 1840; he was brought to Bloomington by his parents, in 1841, where he has since lived;
he was educated at the Wesleyan University. His first business experience was in book-keeping,
which he followed for a number of years; during the late war he enlisted with the 8tli I. V. I.,
and, at the expiration of this term (three months), he re-enlisted with the 'J4th I. V^. I., and was
appointed Assistant Military Postmaster for the army of the frontier, and was mustered out in
April, 1863. He then returned and took up book-keeping. In 1870, he was elected Police
Magistrate; was also appointed U. S. Commissioner for tlie Southern District; the latter position
be still holds, with that of Justice of the Peace, to which he was elected in 1877. He is a thor-
ough business man, social, genial and much respected by all who know him. He married Miss
Jennie M. Wilson, of Centralia, Sept. 21, 1872. They have one child — Ilarrie S.
JOHN II. LOEHR, Deputy Treasurer, Bloomington; was born in Somerset Co., Penn.,
June 15, 1831, and is the sou of Peter J. and Anna B. (Snyder) Loelir ; Mr. Loehr's advent to
this city dates from the year 1846. Many important positions of trust have been confided to
him during his residence here, among which we may mention those of Deputy County Clerk and
Deputy County Treasurer, positions which he has filled with credit and honor.
WILLIAM LOGAN, butcher, Bloomington; of the firm of Daniels & Logan; a native of
Ireland ; was born March 8, 18:54 ; he came to the United States in 184'.', and directly to Bloom-
• ingfon. 111., wlicre lie has since lived a respected citizen ; he is said to be the oldest butcher
in Bloomington, having been continually in the business here for upward of twenty-five
years ; his long ijontinuance and present patronage is proof of his ability as a butcher ; the
fine quality of his meats and his honorable manner of doing luisincss secure for him extensive
patronage. He married Miss Ann Prier of Philadelphia, Penn., Jan. 17, 1853 ; they have six
children.
AUGUST LAUFKR, stone-mason, IJloomington ; was born in Prussia, .May 1, 1832, he
emigrated to America in 1867, and, coming West, located in Decatur, ill., where he was
engaged at his trade, which he learned in Germany when he was about 15 years old; Mr.
Laufer remained in Decatur until he came to Bloomington; since he came here, he has been
engaged in working on some of the best business blocks and public buildings in the city, such as
the Gridley Block, now occupied by J. E. Houtz & Co.'s dry goods store, Wesleyan University,
Methodist Church, the new City Hall, etc.; Mr. Laufer's stoneyard is located at the corner of
Center and Market streets, lie was married to >nna Shmechel, of German^' ; they have had
six children; three children living.
r
LE ROY
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 801
S. W. LYMAN, Bloomington ; is one of the oldest conductors in the employ of the Chicago
& Alton Railroad; he was born in Chittenden Co., Vt., June 23, 1831, and is the son of Erastus
and 8arali (White) Lyman ; when Mr. Lyman was about 21 years of age, he began railroading
on the Vermont Central Line as brakeman, whicli position he filled but a short lime ; he then
was appointed conductor of the V. C. R. R.. running from Rouse's Point to Windsor, Vt.;
remained with this company about three years; he then came West in 1854, and was conductor
on the Vlichigan Central Railroad one year ; in ISoo, Mr. Lyman came to Bloomington and
entered tlie employ of the C. & A. R. R., as conductor, which position he has held, principally,
ever since. Mr. Lyman married in Bloomington Miss Carrie Phillips ; they have three chil-
dren, two girls and a boy.
CARL LARTZ, saloon-keeper, Bloomington: was born in Prussia in 1836; he came to
America and landed in New York City in 1856 ; he remained in New York State until 1857,
when he came AVest to Bloomington, 111.: here he commenced work in a brickyar<l, and, in 1862,
he entered the army, enlisting in the 94th I. V. I., Co, A, a« private, and did good service; he
was mustered out in 1865. At the close of the war, he returned to Bloomington, and followed
brickraaking until 1876 ; he then entered the saloon business, which he has followed ever since.
He married Miss Reaka Rabenstrof, of Germany ; they have eight children.
LIPP & FICKWEILER, hotel and restaurant, Bloomington : proprietors of the .Jefferson
House, one of the home-like hotels of Bloomington. Otto Lipp was born in Weidenburg, Ger-
many, 1845: came to America in 185i), and landed in New York City; he then went to Lancas-
ter. Penn., and, in 1868, came West and located in Bloomington: here he was engaged at his
trade as cigar-maker, a trade he had learned in Lancaster. Mr. Lipp commenced the hotel and
restaurant business in 1878, in partnership with Ernest Fickweiler, who is one of the leading
Germans of Bloomington.
A. LIVINGSTON & CO., dealers in dry goods, Bloomington. As in most other branches
of business and manufactures, Bloomington takes a leailing position in the dry-goods line, hav-
ing several leading houses of the kind in Central Illinois, and which take rank with those in
cities of 100,000 inhabitants. A leading dry-goods house is that of Messrs. A. Livingston & Co.,
who commenced business in Bloomington in 1865, an^l are one of the oldest in the dry-goods
business ; they carry a very valuable stock of dry g)ods and notions, valued at $'25,000.
JOHN T. LILLARD. He was born and reared on a farm in Boyle Co., Ky.; he entered
Centei College, located at Danville, Ky., in the montli of Sept., 1868; he graduated, with con-
spicuous honors, in June, 1872; after a season of steady and persistent reading the elementary
works, he was admitted to practice law in Kentucky, in 1873, being then 20 years of age; after
still further prosecuting his studies, and after coming to Bloomington, he entered the law office
of Williams & Burr, Bloomington : he was admitted to the bar of this State, upon a foreign
license, in September, 1874. In Atigust of 1875, a partnership was formed between Mr. Lillard
and Mr. Richard Osborn, a firm which has achieved deserved success in the courts, and which
still exists.
BENJAMIN D. LUCAS, was born in 1849, about two miles south of Bloomington ; in 1856,
his parents moved to the city, and a short time after, his mother died; after moving to town,
he attended school at the old yellow schoolhouse, in the south part of town, until October, 1860,
when his father, Richmond Lucas, died, and he went to Indiana, and went to school in the win-
ter-time and worked on a farm during the summer ; after remaining there three years, he went
to Shelbyville, 111., and worked in a store, while not at school, about eight months ; then he
returned to Indiana, and after remaining there a few months, went to New York, and went to
school in the winter and worked on a farm in the summer-time during three years ; in 1866, he
returned to Illinois, and again worked on a farm about four months, after which he taught
school in the north part of ihe State. He then returned to Bloomington and entered the law
office of Bloomfield & Fifer, and remained with them until they dissolved, after which he
remained with Gen. Bloomfield until he was admitted to practice, in 1873 ; he then went into
partnership with Mr. Bloomfield and remained nearly two years, when they dissolved; since
then he has been alone. In the spring of 1870, he was appointed City Attorney by ex-Mayor
Steere, which office he held until the expiration of the term. Mr. Lucas is certainly one of the
most persistently studious lawyers at the McLean County bar: he is sincere and earnest in
everything he undertakes, and from these very marked characteristics he has, for a young law-
yer, reaped an abundant success ; his character is faultless, and in private as well as in public
life, he is a conscientious and dignified gentleman ; no member of this bar is more highly
respected by his professional associates ; if any exception can be taken to Mr. Lucas as a law-
yer, the writer considers that it is found in his modesty, which, for a man of his profession, is
truthfully excessive.
MISS ADA M. L.\UGHLIN, teacher, Bloomington; was born in Putnam Co., 111.; she
received an education in Granville, Putnam Co., 111. ; in 1865. she taught a district school, and, in
1806. attended the State Normal University, at Normal, 111. ; in 1870, she accepted a position
as Principal of one of the' ward schools of Bloomington, which she has filled ever since, and
is now Principal of the Third Ward School, one of the largest and finest school buildings in the
city.
802 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
WILLIAM W. MARMON, druggist, Bloomington. The history of the business industries
of .McLean County would not be complete without a personal sketch of Mr. William Marmon, the
wholesale and retail druggist. He is a native of Wayne Co., Ind.; it was there he spent the
early part of his life and received his education : in 1846, he came to Bloomington and engaged
as a clerk with Messrs. Luce & Parke, who were then engaged in the drug trade ; he remained
with this firia until 1851, when the firm changed to Paist & Elder: he remained with these
gentlemen until 1854, when he bought Mr. Elder's interest in the business ; he and Mr. Paist were
partners until 1878, when the death of Mr. Paist occurred ; since that time, he has conducted
the business alone; under his supervision it has grown to almost incredible proportions; a
better conception of the extent of it may be had when the proportions and amount of his stor-
age-room is known ; at 115 North Main street, where his establishment is located, he is using
three floors and basement, and of 118, he has two floors and basement, each room and basement
being 23x80 feet ; placing the whole upon the ground floor, it would make one immense store-
room of 560 feet in length ; but few of the citizens of Bloomington are aware of the extent of
his business ; he does a general wholesale and jobbing trade, in which he employs traveling
salesmen. He has proven himself one of the best financiers of the county; his name, repu-
tation and business are so well known that any compliments of the press are wholly
unneeded. He is the oldest business man now engaged in business in the city — that is.
tnere is not a s-ingle man in the mercantile trade at this date that was doing business when he
began.
M. L. MOORE, harness manufacturer, Bloomington. One of the leading, if not the largest,
retail harness and saddle manufacturers of Bloomington is Mr. M. L. Moore, who is a native of
Sangamon Co., 111. In 1847, he began learning the trade of a harness-maker, in Jacksonville,
Morgan Co., by serving an apprenticeship of three years. In 1851, he came to this city and
engaged in the manufacture of harness and saddles; in 1853, he took Mr. P. Whitmer as part-
ner, this partnership lasting about three years: he then bought Mr. Whitmer's interest in the
business, which he conducted until 1862, then sold out to Mr. M. X. Chuse and entered the
army in the war of the late rebellion. He enlisted in Co. K, 94th I. V. I., as a private, but was
elected by a vote of the line-officers Quartermaster of the regiment. He was in the service from
August, 1862, until August, 1865. Upon his return from the army, he became a partner of Mr.
Chuse in his old business. In 1867, he bought Mr. Chuse out. and has since conducted the
business alone. His establishment is located at 114 South Main street, and is neatly fitted up
and stocked with a full line of harness, saddles, collars, whips, robes, nets, trunks, valises, and,
in fact, everything pertaining to a complete and well-stocked establishment of this kind. He
sometimes gives employment to as many as fourteen men. By his honesty and square-dealing,
he has established a business of which he has every reason to be proud.
A. MAYERS, undertaker, Bloomington. Mr. Mayers is another of the citizens of Blooming-
ington who, in his line of business, deserves special notice. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and
was born July 10, 1827. He had but little chance of acquiring an education. As he grew to
manhood, he learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, and, in 1848, came West, locating at Bloom-
ington, where he has since resided. When he came here, he commenced working at his trade,
which he followed as a business until 1875, when he engaged in his present line of business.
This business he seems to have a natural talent for. As it is a peculiar business, it requires a
man well adapted to it to conduct it properly. He is located under the post-oflice building ;
here he has everything complete in the line of metallic caskets and burial-cases, of various
sizes and kinds: also a full line of shrouds. In 1851, he was married to Miss J. J. Anlow. of
Kentucky, and, in 1865, was elected Township Collector, which olfice he filled with credit and
ability:
B. P. MARSH, A. M., M. D., Bloomington. Tn all professions, and more especially the
medical, we find men of different qualifications. There are those who claim the title of M. D.
upon the fact of a diploma having been granted tliem, ami others who have earned the title by
years of hard and comprehensive study. Included in this latter cla-^s is Dr. B. P. Marsh, who
is a thoroughly-educated gentleman, in literary lore as well as in the sc ence of medicine. He
is a native of Allegany Co., N. Y.: he was born Feb. 25, 1841. and began the study of medicine
in 1863; attended lectures at both the Hahnemann and Rush Colleges, of Chicago. He began
the practice of his profession, but. liis health failing, was obliged to give it up for a lime. In
1868, he accepted the position of Superintendent of the Bloomington High School, which position
he held over five years. Regaining his health, he again began the practice of medicine. By iiis
pleasant, genial manner and thorough knowledge of the science, he has met with very grati-
fying success. Since his practice in Bloomington. he has frequently written some very valua-
ble articles for the different medical journals. For the past two years, he has been Professor of
Physiology and Hygiene in the Wesleyan University.
D. O. MOORE, M. D., Bloomington. Another of tlie leading physicians of Bloomington. who
his established a name and reputation by his works, is Dr. D. O. Moore, whose practice is large,
and of a gratifying nature. He is a native of Harrison Co., Ohio; was born Aug. 21, 1838, and
began the study of medicine in 1858, under Dr. Emerson, now of Chicago, but a resident of
Bloomington at that time. He began practicing in March, 1863, since which time he has
BLOOMINCtTOX TOW.NSHir. 803
devoted his full time and attention to the study and practice of his profession. He is a member
of the McLean County Medical Society and of the Illinois State Medical Society. By his energy,
industry and good financiering, he has accumulated some very fine and valuable property in and
near the ciiy. Left to depend upon his own resources when quite young, he learned the value
of time and money by his own varied experience. During 1859-60 he was engaged in freighting
goo'is and >upplies from Omaha. Xeb., to Denver. Col.; while employed in this way, he learned
much of Western life on the plains. The hardships and sickness endured by hiiin while there
stimulated him to provide himself with a g^od home, which he now enjoys.
B. W. MASON. Deputy Sheriff, Bloomington ; was born in Cincinnati". Ohio. .July lo. 1836 ;
was educated at Kenyon College ; from 18oo until 1859 he was employed in the Post OtSee Depart-
ment, when he entered the County Recorder's office. During the l"ite war he was in the Quar-
termaster's Department of the Army of the ("umberland. He came to Bloomington in 1864,
where he has since resided, a well-to-do citizen. His first mercantile experience was in the hat
and cap business, when he first located in Bloomington, in which he continued until 1867; he
then acted in the capacity of book-keeper for different firms, until he received his present appoint-
ment : he has filled these responsible positions with credit. His wife was Miss Hattie Steele, of
Peru, Ind. ; they were married Dec. 29. 1864, and have two children — Charles S. and Camill.i M.
J. M.WERS & CO., milling, Bloomington. Another firm worthy of speci.al mention in this
history is that of J. Myers & Co., pioneer millers. In 1858, they began the milling business in
Bloomington. but. in 1871. lost their mill by fire; in 1872, they rebuilt, with a flouring capacity
of 150 bushels per day. J. J. Mayers, the junior member of the firm, is a thoroughly practical
miller : under his skillful management their business has steadily increased : they have not
striven f r a merchant trade : but. by square dealing and good work, theirs has become the lead-
ing Custom mill of the city.
E. S. MILLER. City Marshal, Bloomington : was born in Bloomington, 111., Nov. 15. 1846 ; at
the beginning of the late war he (although not 15 years old) enlisted as a private with the 3yth
I. V. I. ; was in many of the most severe battles, sieges and skirmishes of the war, and was
wounded four times : the narrative of his army life, which covered a period of four years and four
months, rttlects credit upon him as a true and brave soldier. When mustered out, he was Ser-
geant, and the largest man of his company, although when he eraered, he was the smallest; he
then returned to Bloomington and learned and followed the trade of masonry until 1874, when
he was appointed upon the police force, and, for meritorious services and conduct, was ap-
pointed by Mayor Steere to the position of Captain of Police ; was appointed City Marshal by
Mayor Bunn, and reappointed by the present Mayor, .John Reed. He is a man of fine physical
as well as mental powers; firm and resolute, and considered the right man in the right place,
lie married Miss Alraira C. Hewitt, of this place, June 3, 1868 ; they have three children — Jes-
sie M., Frank E. and Mary E.
BEN. F. ^IcLE.AN, machinist, Bloomington. The power department of the Bloomington
Chair Factory is kept in proper condition by Mr. Ben. F. McLean, who is a native of West Vir-
ginia ; was born in 1830 ; in 185"2 he came to this city, where he has since resided, with the excep-
tion of three years spent in the U. S. Army. His first work in Bloomington was to engage in a
saw-mill as engineer, which he followed for four years: the company then changing, putting in
machinery and doing iron work : Mr. McLean then taking charge of the machinery. This position
he held until 1862, when he entered the C. S. army, enlisting in Co. A, 94th 1. V. I., remaining
in the army until the close of the rebellion: returning to Bloomington in 1865, he t"'ok charge of
the machinery of the manufacturing company of Barber. Ives & Fell, which siiuition he held
until 187:;. when he entered the C. & A. R. R. ear shops as assistant foreman, where he
remained until 1875. when he accepted his present position with the Bloomington Chair Manufac-
turing Co.
.MRS. A. .M(_)L'LTON. Bloomington. Of those citizens of Bloomington, who. from time to
time, tiave been connected with any of her railroads, and more particularly the Chicago i Alton
Road, we mention Mr. Amasa Moulton, now deceased; he was a native of Wales, Hamden Co.,
Mass.; He was born April 7, 1817; his trade was that of a car-wheel molder. which he had
learned in Worcester. ^lass. In 1837 he was married, and in 1852 came west to Chicago, and
took charge of the works of the American Car Co. of New Haven. Conn; this company failing,
after a time, he engaged with the Illinois Central Co., and in 1863 moved to Bloomington and
took charge of the iron work of the Chicago & Alton Roid, remaining with this company until
his death, which occured March 8, 1878. He was probably as well known as any resident of
Bloomington, whose business was railroading. .Mrs. Moulton is still a resident of the city ; she
has a beautiful home, pleasantly located on West Grove street, and is well known as one of the
most genial anil hospitable ladies of the city of Bloomington.
H. A MINER, planing-mill. Bloomington. Principal among those in Bloomington who do a
general contracting and building, planing and manufacturing business, is Mr. H. A. Miner, who is
a native of New York; he was born Dec. 2:>. 1835. and came West Jan. 26, 1856: two years
before leaving his native place, he began serving a three years' apprenticeship in learning the
trade of a carpenter and joiner: after working two years. M. W. H. Siyker. with whom he was
working, concluded to come West, Mr. Miner coming with him; before serving his three yeai-s,
804 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
he purchased his time of Air. Styker, and took the contract of building tlie old Western Hotel
near the C. & A. depot; for several years he followed contractinp; and building; Mr. Greenley
being liis partner, the tirni was known as Greenley & Miner. In 187o, he bought of the Bloom-
ington Furniture Alanufacturing Co., all the wood machinery in tlie planing department, renting
power from the furniture company, since which time he has been engaged in doing work in this
line, and furnishing architectural designs in connection with his contracting, though he is now
making a specialty of the fitting up of the interior of store-rooms. Tliere are many specimens
of his work which speak for themselves, both in building and designing. Tiie County Poor
Farm Building and City Hall, which have been lately constructed, are both of his designing.
These and many other buildings of McLean Co., are standing monuments of his workmanship.
DANIEL MADDEN, blacksmith, Bloomington ; was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, May
27. 182U ; during his early life, he served a regular apjh-enticeship at the trade of blacksmith-
ing; in 1852, he came to this country, locating in New York City until 1853, then came to
Bloomington, where he has since lived; his shop is on\East street, between Groye and Front
streets; here he enjoys the reputation of being a first-class workman. He married Miss Ellen
Flanady of his native country, in October, 1854 ; they have raised a family of five boys and two
gii-ls, who bid fjiir to become worthy citizens of this or any community in which they may ulti-
mately be located.
I. MERCHANT, City Engineer, Bloomington; son of Daniel P. and Ann E. (Cary(
?.Ierchant ; was born in Morris Co., N. J., Feb, 13, 1837, where he obtained a good education,
including a knowledge of civil engineering, and early in life entered upon tiuit profession with
the North Missouri Railroad Company, where he continued for a time ; thence to Cleveland,
Ohio, where he was engaged upon the Cuyahoga River, and from 1857 to 1861, upon the Rock-
ford & Rock Island Railroad in ciiarge of construction. During the late war, he enlisted with
the 28th I. V. I.; went out as Orderly Sergean', and, after the battle of Fort Donelson, was pro-
moted to Second Lieutenant, which position he held until after the battle of Pittsburg Landing,
when he was promoted to First Lieutenant ; at the battle of Hatchie, he received a wound which
disabled him from further duty, although he remained with the army until September, 1863 ; he
then returned to Illinois, locating in Springfield, where he was elected County Surveyor, and
served two years; after this, he was employed on the survey of what is known as the "Sulli-
vant Lands" of Ford and Livingston Co.'s, 111.; he came to Bloomington in 1868, since which
time he has served either as City Engineer or City Surveyor; having diligently applied himself
to his profession for many years, he has justly won the name of being very able in his profe>-
sion, and being social and genial, has won the respect and high esteem of all who know him.
He married Miss Mary, daughter of Francis Arenz, of Cass Co., Feb. 14, 1860 ; they have one
child— Ella K.
JOHN G. MILLER, blacksmith, Bloomington; was born in New Yoj-k-City_Aug. 20, 1831,
where he was raised and schooled ;\he came to Bloomington in 185(57jvnd finisliecl learning the
trade of blacksmithing ; he begai\ business on his own account in 1858; he began with no
means and now has a good property, and a happy family. He married Miss Rebecca Wheeler,
daughter of Benjamin Wheeler, a prominent pioneer, Oct. 9, 1858 ; they have a family of four
His shop is located at 425 North Main street, where lie makes a specialty of horse-shoeing.
G. H. MILLER, architect, Bloomington There are few people who thoroughly understand
the advantages to be g.ained by employing a first class architect when they design erecting new
buildings. He is a native of McLean Co.; was born in 1856, and learned the trade of an archi-
tect with Mr. R. Richter ; in 1874, he spent some time working at his trade in Columbus, Ohio,
and, in 1875, went to Chicago, where he spent one year as a draughtsman; he then returned
to Bloomington, where he has since been engaged in business. His office is with the Bloomington
Chair Manufacturing Company ; he has on exhibition some very fine pencil work, among which
is the new City Hall building and several prominent buildings of Bloomington.
E. J. MOORE, oil-mill, Bloomington. Mr. E. J. Moore, whose father is so frequently men-
tioned in this work, is a native of McLean Co , born Oct. 23, 1838; his early life was spent
upon a farm, though his father gave him a very liberal education; in 1873, he began running
the oil-mill which he and Mr. S. W. Waddle built the same year; though previous to this, he had
made an overland trip to California in 18(10, going by the Platte River route, returning in the fall
of the same year'; he is ikiw one of the driving business men of the place and at present is one of
the (^ity Council. His mill is located close to the 1., B. & W. and L., B. & M. depots; the
building is 35x85 ; he usually gives employment to about eight men, his capacity being about
35,000 bushels per annum ; the mill is usually run to full capacity; the principal part of the oil-
cake goes to New York, while the oil finds a market in Peoria and Chicago, after supplying tlie
home trade ; he is one of the principal business men of tiie city ; tliose wlio know hini best place
the utmost confidence in his honor and integrity.
JOHN M. MAJOR, VI. D , Bloomington. Another of the old pioneers and physicians of
this city is Dr. J. M. Major, who is a native of Christian Co., Ky. ; he has been a resident of
McLean Co. since April 16, 1835; he began the study of medicine in 1848; attended and gradu-
ated at the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati in ]84i>; after returning from college, he
located at Quincy, 111., where he remained in practice but one year; tiien removed to Macomb,
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 805
^IcDonough Co., 111., remaining there in practice five years: in 185-'), he came to this city and
began the practice of his profession and engaged in the drug trade ; this he followed until 1868,
wlien he was obliged to give it up on account of his health failing; after regaining his health, he
engaged in the manufacture of metallic caskets and burial cases ; this he also gave up, and, in
1868, again began the practice of his profession ; his oiSce at present is at C. Wakefield's drug
store, corner Center and Jetferson sts.
ADAM MUELLER, grocer, Bloomington ; was born in Bavaria. Germany, .June 30, 1830;
during his early life, he learned the trade of a tailor; he came to this country in 1851, locating
in New York City, where he followed tailoring until 1856, when he came to Bloomington, and,
for some four years, was in the employ of the C. & A. R. R. Co. During the late war, he enlisted
with the 82d I. V. I. in 1862, and was in many of the most severe battles of the war, and at the
battle of Chancellorsville was wounded, from the effects of which he has not wholly recovered,
and the hardships and privations of a soldier's life are yet fresh in his memory ; he did hospital
duty until mustered out in 1865. He then returned to Bloomington and built his present place
of business, where he keeps a good stock of well-assorted groceries. He married Miss Barbara
Dietz, of his native country, in August, 1852 ; they have two children- — John A. and Emma.
J. C. McFARLAND. Circuit Clerk, Bloomington; was born in Franklin Co., Penn., Sept.
7, 1823. During his early life, school advantages were limited ; he began doing for himself at
the early age of 16, and in 1844, removed to Monongahela City, Washington Co. where, for a
number of years, he was engaged in mercantile life. In 1848, he removed to Clinton Co., Ind.,
where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, until his health began to fail ; in 1852, he
returned to Monongahela City, and again took up the mercantile business. He came to McLean
Co., 111., in 1856, locating at Heyworth, where he opened a general store. During the late war,
he enlisted, and was elected Captain of the 94th I. V. I., and was promoted to Major ; he partici-
pated in many of the most severe battles and skirmishes of the war, and was mustered out after
a service of three years ; he then resumed his business at Heyworth, continuing until 1876,
when he was elected to his present position. He is a practical business man, and, through
industry, perseverance and integrity, has accumulated a good property. He married Miss
Rebecca M. Logan, of Fulton Co., Penn., March 25, 1847; they have a family of five chil-
dren living.
:M. MEYER, butcher. Bloomington ; was born in Canton Luzerne, Jan. 9, 1845. He came
to this country in 1857, and located in Madison, Ind., and there began the trade of a butcher,
continuing until 1859; thence to Chicago, where he remained, engaged at his trade, until 1860;
thence to Crawfordsville ; then, in 1863, he came to Bloomington, and, in 1865, began on his
own account. Mr. Meyer is a practical butcher of many years' experience, and is said to be
skilled at the business, and has the reputation of killing excellent meat. He is located at 1011
W. Chestnut street, where he will ever be found ready to wait upon his numerous patrons. He
married Miss Mary Steiger, of Springfield, 111., Dec. 26, 1857 ; they have a family of four boys.
DAVID McMASTEU, grocer, Bloomington ; was born in Franklin t o., Ohio, July 19, 1829 ;
Hon of Hugh and Ann McMaster, who were prominent in the city of Columbus; during his early
life, he learned the trade of a tailor, which he followed until his health became so impaired that
he was compelled to abandon it, when he took up the business of a mason, and soon regained
his health. He came to B'oomington in 1856, and continued the latter trade for a time; then
engaged with the Illinois Central Railroad Company as check clerk, continuing some four years,
and then embarked in the wood and coal business, in the firm of Lander & McMaster ; this he
continued about three years, when he engaged in the grocery business ; he is located at 506 N.
Main street, where he keeps a well-assorted stock of goods. He married Miss Elizabeth Turner,
formerly of Brooklyn, N. Y., in August, 1860; they have one child — Olive M.
ANTONE MEYEKS, brewer, of the firm of Meyers & Wochner, Bloomington; was born in
Baden Baden, Germany, in 183.^ ; at the age of 19, he came to America, and landed in New York
City ; here he was engaged in the brewery business, which trade he had learned in Germany ;
from New York he went West, and first located in St. Louis, where he was foreman of one of the
leading breweries; from there he went to Rock Island and remained three years; thence
to Springfield, 111., where he lived four years; in all those places he was connected with the
brewing business. From Springfield he came to Bloomington, and commenced the brewing bus-
iness iu 1862.
ASA H. MOORE, proprietor of Street Railway, Bloomington ; was born in Worcester Co.,
Mass . in 182C, and is the son of Asa and Sabra (Goodell) Moore, of Massachusetts; he was
brought up on the farm, and followed farming until he was 19 years old : he then commenced
railroading, and followed this business while in the East, some eleven years ; he was conductor
of the first train ever run from Worcester to Springfield, Mass. In 1852, he came West, and
was appointed Division Superintendent of the Michigan Southern Railroad, with headquarters at
La Porte, Ind ; in 1854, he came to Bloomington, and was Assistant Superintendent of the Chi-
cago & Alton Railroad, under Richard P. ^lorgan. ^Nlr. Morgan resigned, and Mr. Moore was
then made General Superintendent of the Chicago and Alton Railroad, and continued such about
seven years. Jan. 1, 1869. Mr. Moore purchased the Bloomington Street Railwsiy ; the original
cost of this road was some $50,000 ; he has made a great improvement in the stock since he h s
806 BIOGRAPHIOAL SKETCHES:
owned it ; he first made the extension from Grove street to the depots ; then from the Normal
terminus to the depots in Normal. Married, in Plymouth, Mass., Miss Nancy B. Washburn, of
Plymouih, Mass.; they have two children.
MARQUAM & BAKER, Bloomington. The Evergreen City Business College was organ-
ized for the purpose of practically educating young men and women for the active duties of
life ; to give them in advance of their entrance to business life, such a knowledge of its duties as
will enable them to transact all business creditably and profitably. The course taught at this college
is most thorough and practical. This is no eight to twelve weeks-institution ; but students are
required to remain long enough to insure ])roficiency in every particular. As there is no vaca-
tion, students can enter at any time. Tlie full business course embraces book-keeping in all its
forms, business arithmetic, business writing, letter writing, English composition, commercial
laws, business ethics, spelling, etc. Prof. C. E. Baker is giving lessons in tachygraphy, on Linds-
ley's phonetic short-hand system, the best method of short-hand before the public.
C. D. MYERS, Bloomington ; was born May 7, 1847, in Meigs Co., Ohio ; when 5 years old
removed to Marion Co., W. Va. ; for twelve years he worked on a farm, where farming was hard ;
attended the private schools two or three months in the winter season ; at the age of 15 he left
home to do for himself, and returned to Ohio ; when he reached his destination, Pomeroy, he had
just 50 cents, this being his entire worldly possessions, except the clothes on his back and a
small supply in his valise; he was not discouraged, though he did not then know what he was
to do. This was in 1863 ; he obtained a situation as clerk and errand boy, in a dry-goods house
in Pomeroy, where he remained about a year. In 1864, he enlisted as a recruit in the 82d Ohio
Inf., and served till the close of the war, being nearly one 3'ear ; he was then 17 years old. With
the money saved in the army he entered the National Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, in the
fall of 186-3; continued at school one year ; returned to West Virginia and worked on a farm,
and taught school until 1869, when he again entered the National Normal, where he remained
until 1872, in the summer of which year he graduated. Having chosen law as his profession, he
entered that department in the University of Michigan, in October, 1872, and received the degree
of LL. B., at that institution, in 1874. Mr. flyers was admitted to the bar in Michigan, but
did not< practice there. He first hung out his shingle in Bloomington, in 1874. Though an
entire stranger, he soon found friends, and some business. Shortly after he came to Bloomington,
he entered into partnership with Mr. Albert Bushnell, umler the firm name of Myers & Bush-
nell. This business connection lasted until January 1, of the present year, when the firm of
Myers & Stroud was formed.
COL. WILLIAM MoCQLLOUGH, deceased, Bloomington, whose portrait adorns this work,
'.vas the son of Peter and Levina McCullough, and was born Sept. 11, 1812, in Flemingsburg,
Ky.; the McCullough family came to what is now McLean Co., 111., in the year 1826, and settled
at Dry Grove ; in early life, the subject of this sketch worked on a farm 5 in 1832, he enlisted
as a private soldier, in the company commanded by Merrit Covel, and went to the Black Hawk
war; there he was distinguished for his great personal courage; having been so unfortunate as
to lose his gun, he made good its loss by snatching one from the hands of an Indian on the ground
of Stillman's Run. In December, 1833, he was married to Miss Mary Williams ; they had been
schoolmates, and were taught by Milton H. Williams, the father of Mrs. McCullough; in 1840.
Mr. McCullough lost his right arm in a threshing machine ; in the same fall he was elected Sheriff
of McLean Co., and held this office for tliree successive terms ; he was then elected Circuit
Clerk of the county, and held this office for four successive terms ; in August, 1861, he entered
the army and was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th I. V. C; with only one arm and a
defective eye, he, nevertheless, performed his duty fearlessly and efficiently; he was at Ft.
Henry and Ft. Donelson, .at Shiloh and at Corinth; on the oth of December, 1862, Col. McCul-
lough was killed in the engagement with the rebels near Coffeeville, Miss ; his body was brought
home and buried in Bloomington Cemetery ; when the news of his death reached Bloomington,
the bar of McLean Co. held a meeting and passed resolutions to his memory, as he continued to
hold his office of (Jlerk of the Circuit Court. The following is taken from the report of this
meeting:
William JlcCiiUougli entercl tli« military service of tho United .States, iu August, ISGl, ami was iiumcdiatily
ajinmi.ssioiied Lieiitonant Colonel of the Fourth Illinois Cavalry. From that time he gave his whole heart to the
cause of his 'ouiitry, and put all his energy to the 8Ui)i)ression of the foulest rebellion that ever disgraced the pages
of history; he was present with his regiment at the operation which resulted in the capture of Ft. Henry, and in the
taking of Ft. Donelson he rendered such efficient and vahiahle service that he attracted the attention of his com-
manding officer 'the lamented Gen. Wallace), whose official report acknowledges and commends his gallant runduct;
he was al.^o in the liattlo of Shiloh, and in all the movi^ments of the army that led to the evacuation of Corinth, by
the rebels urjder Gen. Beauregard, and from that time until his death, he Wius always present where danger was to be
met, or bnirels won, and was ever a brave, t'aitlifiil, energetic and accomplished soldier. In consideration of the services
he hiis rendered the country, ami inasmuch as ho was long officially connected with this court, the members of this
bar, in perpetuation of his memory, pray that this paper, together with the following resolutions, be spread upon the
records of this court;
JieMlrid. That we, the members of this bar, have heard with the deepest regret of the death of Lieut. Col.
William McCullough, llin f'lerk of this Court, who f(dl in battle, bravely contending for the liberty and laws of his
country against a causeless and most wicked rebellion.
JleKolved, That in the death of Lieut. (!ol. McCullough we feel that we have lost a warm-hearted, faithful friend ;
but our greatest regret is that the Government has losta brave, accomplished and patriotic soldier, anil liberty a valiant
champion.
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. ' 807
Resolved, That we take this solemn occasion to recew, with a iirmer purpose, our unaiterable attachment to the
constitution and laws of the country, and to again pledge to the Government our unswerving support and warmest
sympathy in all its efforts to suppress this infernal rebellion.
Be^olved, That the (^lerk of this Court furnish to the family of Lieut. Col. McCullough a copy of these resolutions.
The.nifoting was addressed most eloquently and appropriately by Col. Gridley, His Honor Judge Scott, Hon.
Leonard Swett and by Messi-s. W. H. Hanna, Jesse Bishop, David Brier, J. H. VVickizer, R. E. Williams, James Ewing
an<i M. W. Strayer, all giving some pleasant incident of kindness which they had received at the liands of the deceased,
and all bearing testimony to the uniform urbanity, sociability, kindness, generositj', fidelity and integrity of Col.
McCuUoughinallthe walks of social and public life. Upon motion, the preamble and resolutions were then unanimously
adopted. Also, upon motion, W. H. Hanna, Esq., was appointed a committee on behalf of the bar, to present these
resolutions to the court, and to ask that they be spread upon the records of the same.
W. P. BOYD, Presidetvl.
JESSE BIRCH, Secretary.
William McCullough had eight children, four of whom grew to manhood and womanhood —
Mrs. Nannie L. Orme, widow of Gen. William W. Orme, whose sketch will be found in this work;
Mrs. Fannie .M. Orme, wife of Frank D. Orme, lives in Washington, D. C; William A. McCiil-
loiisxh died Sept. 2, 1869; he was, during the war, a soldier in the 5th I. V. C; Howard M. Mc-
Cullough, died Jitly 1, 1871; he was also a soldier in the 04th I. V. 1. Col. McCullough was
frank and outspoken in his manner, and a warm friend ; he was one of the most popular men in
McLean Co
HON. JAMES MILLER, deceased, Bloomington, whose portrait appears in this work,
was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in Rockingham Co., Va., May 23, 1795.
His grandfather was a Presbyterian minister in Ireland. He received such an educa-
tion as could be obtained in a district school. When he was 16 years of age, his
parents moved to Madison Co., Ky. ; he was brought up on a farm, but having a talent
for trade, he left the farm and became a merchant. At the age of 20, he was elected to
fill the offices of Collector and Sheriff, positions of trust and responsibility. While living
in Kentucky, he became greatly dissatisfied with the institution of slavery, and determined
to leave the State, and, in the year 1835, came to Bloomington, and formed a copartner-
ship in the mercantile business, first with John Magoun, and afterward with John Magoun and
John E. McClure. He owned a great deal of land, which he had entered, and also a large city
property. In 1856, Mr. Miller was elected State Treasurer of Illinois, and so well and faith-
fully did he fulfill the trust reposed in him to the satisfaction of the people of the State that he
was re-elected in 1858. .Mr. ^liller, early in life, became a member of the Methodist Church, at
a time when popular feeling was against that denomination, and while he was holding a position
dependent upon popular will ; he was earnest and devoted, and soon was made a class-leader, and
afterward a recording steward. During the remainder of his life, he occupied positions of trust
and responsibility in the church. Mr. Miller has been twice married ; his first wife was Miss
Juliet McClelland, of Shelby Co., Ky., who lived but one year after marriage, leaving one child,
Juliet, now living in Kentucky; on the I8th day of March, 1827, he married Mrs. Belle
McGarvey, a daughter of John and Jane Moore, natives of Rockbridge Co., Va. ; she was born
Jan. 15, 1793 ; she had one child by her first husband, Alexander McGarvey, viz., John W. A.,
born Dec. 1, 1820; by Mr. Miller, she had four children, three living — Robert A., born Feb. 10,
1828: William T., Aug. 17, 1831 ; James E., Sept. 5, 1833 ; and one deceased— Otaway W., born
March 23, 1830, died July 14, 1830. Mr. Miller, after a long and useful life, died on the 23d
day of September, 1872. He was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, who took an
active part at his funeral obsequies. At the Quarterly Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, held in Bloomington Oct. 14, 1872, resolutions of respect were passed to his memory.
Mrf. Miller is still living, at tlie ripe old Age of 86, an excellent lady, who, during her whole
wedded life, worked with her husband in the cause of Christianity.
JOHN N. MARSO, dealer in boots, shoes and dry goods, Bloomington ; was born in
Germany, in May, 1835 ; emigrated to America when he was a child ; came West, and first set-
tled in Wisconsin ; his father was Jacob Marso, who died in Wisconsin, leaving the family in
very poor circumstances. The son, at 14 years of age, commenced to learn the blacksmith
trade, then that of a machinist; then turned his attention toward engineering; he was one of
the first firemen on the Illinois Central Railroad ; there were only three engines on the road at
that time ; he then became a steamboat engineer on the Mississippi River ; i hence to Blooming-
ton, and entered a position in the machine-shop of the Chicago & Alton Railroad ; from there,
with $3,000 capital, he entered the dry-goods business ; to-day, he owns a stock of dry goods
valued at $7,000, and owns the store he occupies. He married Barbara Thomas ; they have
seven children.
J. C. S. NEFF, photographer, Blooraingtoa ; is a native of Ohio, having come to Illinois
when quite young. He began his trade at the age of 14, in Chicago, where he spent
some ten or twelve years in one of the best art galleries of that city ; he opened business
where he is now located, in October, 1878, and is favored with a good patronage from the citizens
of Bloomington and McLean County; his work is among the best in the city ; Mr. Neif also
takes orders for oil-painting and India-ink work. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. A, 94th I. V. I.,
as private ; did good service, and was mustered out in 1865, at the close of the war.
HENRY NEUERBURG, saloon-keeper, Bloomington^ was born in Rhenish Prussia, in
1833 ; came to America, landing In New York City, in 18o4 ; he then came West, and located
808 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
first ill Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained but a short time, and in 1857 came to Illinois and
settled in Lee Co., where he engaged in farming; in 18")'.l, he came to Bloomington, and has
made this his home ever since, ranking as one of the prominent Germans of Bloomington. He
was married in Bloomington, to Josephine Michels, of Germany ; they have tive children, all
born in Bloomington — -Josephine, Rudolph, Henry, George W. and Louis. Mr. Neuei-burg, in
1860, returned to Germany, and while there received some money ; he then returned to Bloom-
ington, and, with this money, commenced business.
LUKE NEVIN, grocer, Bloomington; was born in Boyle, Roscommon Co., Ireland, Nov.
14. 1828, and was raised upon a tarm ; he came to the United States in March, 1849, locating in
New York City, where he found employment with tiie H. R. R. R. Co., continuing until 1853,
when he removed to Springfield, 111., and engaged with the C. & A. R. R. Co.; he removed to
Bloomington in 1853, continuing in the railroad service until 1860 ; in 1860, he engaged in the
grocery business ; his location is 622 and 624 North Main street, where is to be found a fine
grocery, with a well-assorted stock of goods and sold at bottom figures ; Mr. Nevin is a pleasant
man to deal with, and we find him enjoying a good trade. He has twice married, first to Miss
Margaret Judge of his native country ; they were married in New York City May 21, 1857 ; she
died Aug. 10, 1874, leaving a family of five, and. Oct. 11, 1875, he married Miss Sarah Mor-
ris, also of his native country ; they have two children.
J. T. NICCOLLS, grocer, Bloomington ; is the son of John and Maria (Steele) Niccolls,
who were among the early settlers of McLean Co.; they came from Westmoreland Co., Penn., in
1849, in which year Mr. Niccolls entered a large tract of Ian I in this and adjoining counties ; it is
said that he was one of the largest land-owners, and improved more land than any one in
McLean Co.; he was an enterprising, public-spirited and much-respected citizen ; like many
others, they met with adversity, and lost heavily ; they still survive, at the combined ages of
144 years. The subject of this sketch was born in Westmoreland Co., Penn., July 11, 1839,
and was brought to this county in 1844, where he has since lived; he is now doing business at
No. 604 North Main street, where is to be found a well-assorted stock of goods at bottom figures.
He married Miss Lucinda E. Hardman of Salem, Ohio, Oct. 5, 1858; they have one child —
Lulu M.; as a family, they are much respected.
MRS. A. M. NOBLE, widow, Bloomington. Of those who have represented the medical
profession in this county. Dr. Noble, now deceased, was among the prominent ones ; he was a
native of Hamilton Co., Ohio; his people, who were among the pioneers of McLean Co., located
at Randolph Grove, in the spring of 1831 ; the Doctor began the study of medicine at the age of
19, under Dr. Colburn ; at the age of 22, he began his practice in Le Roy, where he remained
until 1865, when he moved to Bloomington and began his practice in that city, which he contin-
ued as long as he was able ; when he was unable to leave Iiis room, many of his patients insisted
upon his prescribing for them ; his death occurred on March 14, 1871. Mrs. Noble is still a
resident of Bloomington ; her father, Mr. John Greenman, was one of the prominent and early
pioneers of the county, having located here in 1829 ; he was among the first to open and teach
a school in the county ; they were among the early pioneers, and were obliged to endure many
of the privations incident to pioneer life, but as the county became populated and improved,
they were recognized among the honored and respected citizens.
WILLAM O'NEIL, grocer, firm of O'Neil Bros., Bloomington; is a native of County C rk,
Ireland ; was born in September, 1831 ; he came to this country in 1851, locating in St. Louis,
where he lived some three years ; came to Bloimiington in 1854, and, for some twelve years, was
in the employ of the (Jhicago & Alton Railroad Company, after which he embarked in the grocery
business : they are located at the corner of Chestnut and Lumber streets, where he enjoys a good
reputation for his fair dealing with patrons. la June, 1861, he married Miss Joanna Nagle, of
his native country ; they have a family of eight.
DAVID O'NEIL, grocer, of the firm of O'Neil Bros., Bloomington; is a native of County
Cork. Ireland; was born in October, 1833, and came to this country in 1851, locating in St.
Louis; he came to Bloomington in 1854, and engaged with the C. & A. R. R. Company, with
whom he continued twenty years acting in the capacity of engineer seventeen yeai-s, and for
thirteen years as passenger engineer; during this time, he met with no serious acccidents,
although his engine w s twice turned over, and he met with a narrow escape; as a railroad man
he is well known and much respected ; he is now connected with his brother William in the
grocery business, and enjoying a large trade tliat they liave built up by honorable dealings. He
married Miss Johan'i Pyne of ('hicigo, January, 1865 ; they have eight children.
GHN. WILLIAM W. ORMlv deceased, Bloomington, who.se portrait will be found in this
work, was the son of W. C. and Jane T. Orme, and was born in Washington, D. C, Feb. 17,
1832 ; when he was 13 years of age, his parents died, from which time, Mr. Orme was compelled
to rely upon his own exertions ; he attended Mt. St. Mary's College at Emmettsburg, Md.. and,
after his graduation, learned the trade of a cabinet-maker ; in the year 1849, he came VVest, and
first located in Chicago for a short time ; while there, he read law in the office of J. Y. Scamnmn ;
in 1850, he came to Bloomington, and, having openeil an office, conunenced the practice of law,
and continued the same but for a sliort time, being tendered and having accepted a position in
the ollice of Gen. William McCuUough, Clerk of the Circuit Court of McLean Co. On the 27th
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 809
day of October, 1833, he was married to Miss Minnie L., the daughter of Gen. McCullough, and
shortly afterward, formed a co-partnership with Leonard Swett in the practice of law. The next
year ( 1802), after the breaking-out of our late civil war, Mr. Orme was commissioned Colonel of
the 94th Regt. I. V. I , and, after one year of active service, was, in I860, promoted by the late
President Lincoln to the rank of Brigadier General ; ill-health, however, unfitting him for active
duty in the field, he was placed in command of the post at Chicago, which included Camp Doug-
las ; his health, however, being still very poor, he, a short time after accepting the position,
tendered his resignation, which President Lincoln accepted, and, relieving him from active duly,
appointed him Supervising Agent of the Second Agency of the Treasury Department, at Mem-
phis, Tenn.; in June, 18(35, he again tendered his resignation, but Mr. Lincoln was so anxious
that he should remain, that his resignation was not accepted until November of the same year.
The following card shows the friendship existing between himself and Mr. Lincoln, and the high
estimate that Mr. Lincoln placed upon his ability and competency. This card was carried to
Gen. Halleck by Mr. Swett, the partner at law of Gen. Orme:
Washington, Aug. 2, 1862.
Gen. Halleck — Please see. the bearer, who will tell you truth only about AVm. W. Orme, whom I also know to be
one of the most active, competent and best men in the world. (Signed), A. Lincoln.
Gen. Orme died of consumption at the age of 35. Although cut down in the prime of
manhood, and a bright career nipped in the bud, Mr Orme left behind him an enviable name
and a spotless reputation ; he left a widow and four children — two girls, Mary B. and Lucy,
and two boys, William and Edwin. Mrs. Orme was again married Oct. 5, 1876, to D. S. Dyson,
M. D., who resides in Bloomington.
OWEN PIXLEY & CO., dealers in clothing, Bloomington. In this, as in other branches
of business and manufacture, Bloomington takes a leading position, having several houses of the
kind which take rank with those in much larger cities. A leading house here in the clothing
business is that of Owen Pixley & Co., who commenced business in Bloomington in 187S ;
Messrs. C. S. Darnell and R. R. .Jones, who represent the house in Bloomington, assure the pub-
lic that the materials used in the manufacture of clothing are the best made ; their stock of
gent.'s furnishing goods is complete; this house is a branch from Utica, N. Y.; here, over eight
years ago, Owen Pixley & Co commenced the manufacture of clothing, etc., and since then
they have established branch houses in Lockport, N. Y., Oil City, Penn., two at Indianapolis,
Ind.. Greencastle, Ind., Terre Haute, Ind., Fort Wayne, Ind.; all goods marked in plain figures
and sold at New York jobbing prices. This feature of establishing retail stores in cities where
it does not conflict with wholesale trade has proved a grand success to its originators, and is
appreciated by the people who visit their nine stores, and save the ordinary retail dealei's
profit by buying direct from manufacturers, at wholesale prices.
RICHARD OSBORN, Bloomington. He is one of the few practicing attorneys here who
were born in the county, being born in McLean Co., Dec. 25, 1845; in 1856, he went, with his
father, to Missouri ; here he worked on a f;xrm and studied the common branches as leisure
would permit ; but, in 1861, his martial spirit overcoming all other considerations, he enlisted
in the 23d Missouri Infantry, being then but 16 years of age; although young, he made a val-
iant soldier, being in many prominent and desperately-fought battles ; in .January, 1862, he was
captured by guerillas and robbed, but, after being retained one day, he was released ; he was
fighting in the Sherman army during the Atlanta campaign, and was dangerously wounded in
the shoulder and arm in front of \tlanta, Ga., on the 7th of August, 1864, after passing through
a series of engagements, and having been under fire for over forty consecutive days. In Novem-
ber, 1864, having recovered from his wound sufficiently to travel, he was discharged, after hav-
ing served three years and three months. Mr. Osborn then attended district school, acquired a
fair, common-school educition, taught school in Iowa, and then for one year he applied himself,
with unrelenting perseverance, at Oskaloosa College, Iowa. In 1866, he returned to McLean
County, and taught school, very successfully, in Randolph Township ; he then attended school
at the Normal for one year ; all this time, he was rapidly acquiring a very tliorough knowledge
of all branches of English education, and had read extensively ; for one year he acted as Princ-
pal of the graded school at Whitehall, Greene Co., id. In the fall of 1870, Mr. Oshorn was
elected Sheriff of McLean Co.; he was efficient, and made one of the most fearless officers the
county ever had. He commenced reading law in the office of McNulta & Aldricn ; he entered
the first class of the Wesleyan Law School, and was admitted to practice Jan. 8, 1875 ; he grad-
uated, and took the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Mr. Osborn then formed a partnership with
J. T. Lillard, Aug. 1, 1875, which, under the style of Csborn & Lillard, yet continues.
GEORGE W. PARKE, retired, Bloomington Prominent among the old residents of
Bloomington, who have been identified with the growth and improvement of the city, is Mr.
George W, Parke, who is a native of Chester Co , Penn.; he was born in 1815, and remained a
resident of his native place until he had grown to man's estate and received his education. His
first trip West was in 1837, though he remained only until 1840, when he returned East ; he
came to this city in 1851, and engaged in the lumber tr.ide and the manufacture of furniture,
though the latter business he ha'l followed but a short time when a large factory, which he was
interested ia and had helped to budd, burned to the ground, the loss being a calamity both to
810 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
the firm and the city. He was very successful in the lumber trade, being engaged in this busi-
ness when the city was growing rapidly ; he built a great many liouses in the city, which are
still standing; among otliers was the first three-story building ever erected on the west side of
tlie public square, Mr. Kersey Fell donating the ground to any one who would erect a three-
story briclv ; he was also engaged in tlie grocery and provision trade about ten years, which he
sold out about 18(35, and has not since been actively engaged in any mercantile business. He
is now one of tlie Directors of the People's Bank, where he is usually found during business
hours. He has been an active, energetic business man, and now is reaping some of the rewards
of his industry and economy.
C. 11. PARKE, ph3'sician and surgeon, Bloomington. Dr. C. R. Parke is another of the old
reliable physicians of Bloomington; he is a native of Chester Co., Penn.; was born June 28,
1825, and began the study of medicine in 184'! ; in the spring of 1847, the degree of doctor of
medicine was conferred upon him at the University of Medicine of Pennsylvania, located at
Philadelphia; he practiced one year in Delaware Co., Penn ; in 1848 he came West, and located
at Como, 111., where he spent one year in practice; in the spring of 1849, he accepted the posi-
tion of surgeon to the Como Emigrant Co., "en route" overland to California — they making a
successful journey in 108 days; while there, he spent the time mining, prospecting and prac-
ticing his profession in Sacramento : in the winter of 1850-51, he returned to Illinois via Nicar-
agua and New Orleans, and located near Peoria; here be engaged in practicing his profession
about one year; in 1852, he removed to Bloomington, where he remained until 1855, when he
accepted an appointment as Sui-geon in the liussian army of the Crimean war; resigning upon
the declaration of peace, he traveled through diflerent countries of Europe, returning to Bloom-
ington in 1857, where he has since resided, except three years spent in Arkansas, from 1870 to
1873. The Doctor has spent much time in the study of his profession — especially of the eye,
ear and general surgery — in the treatment of which cases he takes special pride.
MRS. M. PAIST, Bloomington. The people of Bloomington will long remember Mr.
Paist, of the firm of Paist & Marmon ; he was a native of Pennsylvania ; born in 1806 ; his
first move West was to Ohio, and from there to Illinois, when he located in Bloomington in 1851,
shortly afterward engaging in the drug trade in company with Dr. Elder ; in 1854, the firm
became Paist & Marmon, which partnership lasted until Mr. Paist's death, which occurred
Jan. 25, 1874, in his 67th year. Nov. 24, 1849, he was married to ^liss M. Dawson — her people
being among the first settlers of the county — locating here as early as 1826 ; when they first
settled among the Indians, their nearest neighbor was nine miles from them. So much has been
said of this family, that we will only remark, that iVIrs. Paist still resides in Bloomington, a
very intelligent and highly respected lady.
W. D. PENNER, grocer, Bloomington ; was born in Prussia, May 20, 1887 ; during
ing his early life he obtained a good education, and began in mercantile life when but 14 years of
age in the capacity of a dry goods clerk ; remaining in Elbing and Koenigsberg some five years,
he came to this country in 1856, locating in Detroit, where he remained for a time ; thence to
Chicago ; he came to Bloomington in 1858, and engaged with Humphreys & Co., grocers ; he next
removed to Alexandria, La., and, previous to the late war, was appointed Steward of the Military
Academy ; he returned to Bloomington in 1865, and engaged in the grocery business ; his store
is at No. 120 S. Center street; here he keeps a first-class- grocery. He married Miss Anna
Stoeckigt, March 81, 1859 ; they have a family of seven.
FRED S. PlICENIX, book-keeper, Bloomington; was born in Illinois, and is a son of
Franklin K. Phoenix, who was born in Perry, N. Y. ; when a young man, he came West and
located in Delavan, Wis. ; there he commenced the nursery business on a very small scale, bui
with good management and hard work he was successful ; from Delavan he came to Bloomington
in 1856 ; here he started with only ten acres of ground for his nursery ; but, from year to year,
he gradually improved it, and at one time owned over 600 acres of land in nui'sery stock, this
being, perhaps, the largest nursery under one management in the United States ; he has had as
high as 450 men at one time at work in the nursery, and the sales amounted to over $250,000 in
a year ; he shipped gooils to all parts of the United States, Canada, Europe, and other countries.
BAILEY PLUMB, painter, Bloomington; is a native of Onondaga Co., N. Y., where he was
born July 25, 1830, but was raised, schooled and learned the trade of a painter in Fredonia, N.
Y. ; he served a regular apprenticeship at his trade under his fether, and became a thorough
workman before embarking on his own account ; he removed to Miami Co., Ohio, in 1852, where
he lived until 1865, when he came to liloomington, HI., where he has since lived a well-to-do
citizen, and enjoys the reputation of being a first-class workman in house and sign painting ;
his place of business is No. 404 Northeast street; here he is prepared to do all job-work promptly
and neatly. He married Miss \Liry Hyde, of Troy, Ohio, Jan. 1, 1853; they have one child —
Anna 15. (now .Vlrs. E. H. Jackman).
(iEORGE VV. PRICE, farmer; P.O. Bloomington; was born in Warren Co., Ky., Oct. 3,
1816, and is the son of James B. and Mary (Wall) Price, wiio were among the first settlers of
McLean Co., having made their home here in 1833; James B. Price was born July 24, 1792, in
Mecklenburg Co., N. C, and with his parents, in 1804, moved to Kentucky; he visited Illinois
from 1829 to 1883, when he moved here with liis family; Mr. Price assisted in organizing
BLOOMINGTON TOAVNSHIP. 811
McLean Co , and has held several offices of public trust; in 1849-50, he served one term in (he
Legislature, and assisted in getting the Illinois Central Railroad bill passed. Mr. Price married
Feb. 10, 1814, to Marj' H. Wall; five clnldren are living; George W. Price, the sulyect of this
sketcli, was engaged in farming from the lime he was able to hold the plow, and in winter
months attended the district schools of the period; in 1833, he came to McLean Co.; settled on
the old homestead. Mr Price married, June 14, 1836, Matilda B. Prunty ; they have had
fourteen children.
W. B. PllOBASCO, grain-dealer, Bloomington ; one among the most successful business
men of Bloomington, is a native of Cumberland Co., N. .1.; was born Oct. 8, 1836, and in 1856,
went South, where he was engaged in business in Alabama, Mississippi, New Orleans and Tenn-
«ssee until 1863, when he returned to New Jersey, but remained but a short time, coming West
the same year and locating in Bloomington, where he has since resided, excepting time spent in
tlie South ; he was engaged in the hotel business in Bloomington until 1871, being very success-
ful in tliisline ; he then engaged in tlie real estate and loan business, which he continued until 1875,
when he embarked in the grain trade; he has now a large elevator on the C. & A. R. R.,
between Chestnut and Locust streets, with a storage capacity of 40,000 bushels, besides his
cribs, which will store 25,000 bushels of corn; in 1877, he established a branch house at
Towanda, and, in 1878, one at Covell. The combined shipments of the three houses will aggre-
gate about eight hundred cars per annum ; in the spring of 1879, lie erected one among the fin-
est residences m the city, which is located at 1009 North Main street; he has been a man
dependent wholly upon his own resources, and the accumulation of his splendid property has
been due to his industry, energy and good financiering.
JOHN E. POLLOCK, Bloomington; was born Feb. 1, 1843, near West Liberty, Logan Co.,
Ohio, and is the son of Judge Pollock, now residing and practicing law in Ford Co., ill.; at the
age of 8 years, Mr. Pollock removed with his father to Bellefontaine, Ohio, where he attended
the public schools, and even then gave promise of the ripe scholar he was afterward to become.
He afterward attended one year at Augusta College, Ky., and. still later, was a student in Miami
University at Oxford, Ohio ; in the last-named institution, he pursued a regular classical and
scientific course vip to within one year of completion, being a member of the junior class at that
time ; he dropped the course to begin the study of law ; the latter study he pursued during a
period of three years in the office of Jmlge William Lawrence, of Ohio, now a man of national
fame; though young in years, Mr. Pollock outranks many older members of the McLean Co.
Bar in length of practice, having been admitted in the Courts of three States and also in the
United States Courts, as early as 1865 or the spring of 1866; he passed a creditable examina-
tion before the Supreme Court of Ohio at the December term of 1865. Mr. Pollock came to
Blo.omington in 1866, where he has remained in the practice until the present, and in which be
has beeu eminently successful ; he was a member of the firm of Shackleford & Pollock for one
year about 1870; his firm style was afterward Pollock & Campbell, and still later, Bloomfield,
Pollock & Campbell ; for eighteen months past, he has been the partner of Hon. Thomas F.
Tipton ; .he was two years Master in Chancery of the McLean Circuit Court ; on the acces-
sion of Judge Reeves to the bench, Mr. Pollock was succeeded in the Master's office by Capt.
Rowell.
J. S. ROSS, lightning-rods, Bloomington. Of those who for years have been active business
men of this city, we mention Mr. J. S. Ross, who is a native of Pennsylvania; he came West in
December, 1849, and located in this city, where he has since resided ; he began the manufacture
of pumps shortly after his arrival ; this he followed but a short time, then engaged in the cloth-
ing trade, with his father; tiiis, and the grocery business he continued until 1861, when he
again began the manufacture of pumps ; this business he soon increased to a large scale, employ-
ing sometimes about twenty men, and manufacturing and selling about 1,200 pumps per year ;
in connection with his pump trade, he has taken up the sale of lightning-rods ; the pump
trade not being so good as formerly, he has given more attention to rods, and believing the best
to be the cheapest, he has secured the Chambers' patent rod and insulator ; he is well read in
the science of electricity, and is meeting with good success in the sale of the " Chambers rod ;"
he is a good financier, and has made a success of his different business enterprises ; an old resi-
dent of the city, and one of the honored and respected citizens.
A. N. RINEHART, druggist, Bloomington. Another of the responsible drug firms, is that
of T. Hojring & Co.; the firm is composed of Messrs. T. Hajring and A. N. Rinehart, the latter
named gentleman being junior member of the firm ; the partnership dating from 1872. Mr.
Rinehart, the subject of this sketch, is a native of Hampshire Co., W. Va.; he was born March
18, 1843, and came Westin the fall of 1854, locating in Macon Co., and in 1869, came to Bloom-
ington, where he has since resided, except one year spent in Piatt Co. In the fall of 1870, he
was married to Miss Elizabeth Downey, of Philadelphia, but a resident of Bloomington at time
of marriage; she was born Sept. 25, 1849; they have one child — Katie E., born July 28, 1871.
In 1872, he went in partnership with Dr. T. Hajring; their drug establishment is located at No.
413 N. Main ; the building is 60x22, and is stocked with everything in the drug line ; this depart-
ment comes particularly under Mr. Rinehari's supervision, as the doctor is many times attending
professional calls ; though all who know him are well aware of his ability as a druggist.
812 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
JOSEPH RODGERS, grocer, Bloomingtou ; was born in Somersetshire, England, Oct. 2?>
1825; came to the United States in 184o, locating in Detroit, where he engaged in the chand-
lery business, in which he continued until 1849, when he removed to La Fayette, Ind., and there
lived until 185'2 ; thence to Attica. Ind., where he opened in the chandlery bnsine.ss ; he con-
tinued this until 1878, 'when he came to Bh^omington. 111., and embarked in the grocery bus-
iness. His place of business is 721 West Chestnut street, where he keeps a good stock of gr«»-
cei-ies. He married Miss Eliza Tolman, of Keene, N. H., March 16, 1845; they have a family
of six living.
WM. M. REEVES Deputy Cii-cuit Clerk, Bloomington ; was born in Ross uo., Ohio, .Ian. 4,
1838, where he was raised and schouled. He came to .McLean Co., 111., in 1855, with his people,
and. in 1856, removed to Delaware, Ohio, where he attended the Wesleyan University for two
year.5 ; then he returned to Bloomington, and engaged in the dry goods business. He continued
in mercantile life for several years. In 1861, he engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he fol-
lowed until 1870, when he went into the grocery business. In 1874, he was appointed to his
present position in which he has since continued, with the exception of the year 1877, when he
was connected with the Bloomington Woolen Mills. He married Miss Mary M. Bedinger, of
Paris. Ky., Nov. 25, 1868.
JOHN REED, Bloomington. John Reed, of the firm of Reed & Barger, importers and
jobbers in queensware, glassware, etc., was born in Ross Co., Ohio. June 1. 1828. During his
early life, he obtained a good business education, finishing at the S:ilem Academy, at South
Salem. Ohio. His first experience was in agricultural pursuits. This he followed until 1865,
when ne began in mercantile business, in which he has since continued. He came to Blooming-
ton in March, 1868, and, with his present partner, opened a store of glass and queensware, and,
by close application to business, and uprightness in dealing, they have won the confidence and
patronage of the citizens. Mr. Reed not only holds a prominent position as a business man lint
as a man of liberal views and of reliability, as is evidenced by the fact that he is now serving
as City Mayor; also as Trustee and Treasurer of the Wesleyan University. He has been
honored with other positions of responsibility and trust. He married Miss Mary A. Barger, of
Ross Co., Ohio, Feb. 24, 1852; they are the parents of five children, three only of whom are
living.
F. KtEDIGER, grocer, Bloomington ; was born in Saxony, Germany, .June 21, 1838, where
lie was raised, schooled and serveil a regular apprenticeship at the trade of a miller; he came to
this country in 1853, and located in Bureau Co., 111.; here he found employment upon a farm,
remaining some three years ; he then removed to Minnesota, where he remained until 1860; in
that year came to Bloomington, where he has since lived ; he began in mercantile life, by
engaging in the bakery business; this he continued until 1872, when he opened a grocery store ;
he is now located at 1107 North Main street, where he keeps a grocery store with a well assorted
stock. He married Miss Lucetta Bittig, formerly of Bavaria, Germany, July 5, 1861 ; they have
a family of four children.
MISS SARAH E. RAYMOND, Superintendent of the Bloomington Public Schools, Bloom-
ington ; was born in Lisbon, Kendall Co., HI., where she receive I a common school education,
and in 1860 taught her first school ; she graduated in 1866, from the State Normal School, of
Normal, 111., then taught two years in Newark, 111., and in 1868 came to Bloomington and
accepted a position in one of the ward schools as teacher, then as Principal, and was finally
appointed Superintendent in 1874, which position she has filled ever since. Miss Raymond has
been rem:irkably successful as a teacher and Superintendent, aud has the determination and
good judgment which achieve success, ami a pleasant manner and kindly disposition which
make her deservedly popular.
REV. ERHARUT RIEDKL. Pastor of the German Lutheran Church, Bloomington; was
born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1824; came to America in 1848, and first located in Wentworth
Co., Ohio, where he was licensed as preacher under Dr. W. Sihler, who was President of the
Senate of Ohio, Missouri, and other States ; he has taught school and preached in dift'erent parts of
Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa; in Frinklin (>)., Mo., he taught school about two years;
thence to Cape Girardeau Co., thence to Cape Girardeau City, where he remained about nine
years, engaged in preaching; Rev. Mr. Riedel was also loc ited, for a short time, in Dubuque,
Iowa, thence to Cook Co., 111., about twenty-five miles south of (Chicago, where he remained
about seven years ; while tiiere, his congregation erected a very handsome church, at a cost of
S22,()0U ; from Cook Co. came to liloomingt^jn in 1876; here he has done much good in tlie
church and the schools.
J. D. ROBINSON, florist, Bloomington ; owns one of the finest and best-arranged floral
gardens in Bloomington, if not in the State; he was born and brought up in the city of Bloom-
ington, and hns had abundant experience in the nursery business ; was at one time working in
PhiHnix Nursery. His father, .fames Kobinson, was one of the pioneers of McLean County ;
was born in Saratoga Co.. N. V'.. March 11, 1808; he was engaged in business in Saratoga
Springs for some years and then came West and located in Bloomington, in the spring of 183(1,
taking a place as clerk in the store of Haines & Son. In 1838, he formed a partnership with
the lale James Allin, continuing for three years, and was afterward with Judge David Davis, in
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 813
1856, he was elected President of the Bank of Bloomington, in which position he continued
until his death, which occurred Dec. 7, 1874.
JONATHAN H. ROWELL, was born at Haverhill, N. H., on the 10th day of February,
1835. He came to Illinois, and settled at Stout's Grove, McLean Co., in .July, 1849. He
went to the schools of that day. and gathered such knowledge as their limited facili-
ties att'orded. He worked on a farm and taught school alternately from the time he was old
enough to take a school until 18j5. Rowell was then 20 years old, and at this date vve find him
beginning a regular course of study at Eureka College ; a companion at this school says that
Jonathan was one of the most untiring, steadfast and persevering students ia the institution,
and that his early mastery of mathematics was wonderful ; he could make a mental calculation in
less time and with more accuracy tdan most scholars could with slate and pencil; he was
absorbed in study, and read everything within reach: it was ia mathematics, however, that he
especially distinguished himself at College, and hi^ perseveririg study and final triumpli was
rewarded by the appointment to the chair of mathematics, a position which he tilled creditably
for a year. In May, 1861, the first faint mutterings of civil war reached him at Eureka: and
when they were followed by a call for troops, Prof. Rowell quitted the halls of learning for the
tented field: he enlisted 'n the spring of 1861, in the 17th 111. laf. ; he was elected 1st Lieut,
of Co. G, which was raised in Woodford Co. ; he was promoted to the Captaincy in 1862; after a
brilliant service of three years, he returned home to the pursuits of a peaceful life. He attended
the law department of the Chicago University ; here Capt. Rowell applied himself with dili-
gence, and in 1865 he graduated with an especially fine record, being the valedictorian of his
class. His mind being thus stored with legal lore, the next movement in order was the realiza-
tion of something from the investment ; he immediately began practice in Bloomington ; a part-
nership was formed with Tipton & Benjamin, which continued through the years of 1866, 1867
and 1868. His energy and ability soon demanded recognition, and, in 1868, he was elected
State's Attorney for McLean, Logan and DeWitt Counties, and prosecuted with distinguished
ability for four years. The partnership now with the Hon. J. M. Hamilton was formed in
1871. Capt. Rowell is one of the most successful cri/ninal lawyers in Illinois, and this result
Jias been reached by his own efibrts. When he began his education, and upon entering Eureka
College, he had §40 and a suit of clothes, and these constituted his worldly possessions. It was
a struggle for success which sometimes looked dark and uncertain, but indomitable will
triumphed over adverse ciTcumstauces.
THO.MAS PIERCE ROGERS, M. D., Bloomington, whose portrait appears in this work, was
born Dec. 4, 1812, in Columbiana Co., Ohio ; his ancestors came from the north of Ireland; his
grandfather, George Augustus Rogers, was born about the year 1735, in the north of Ireland,
and was educated at Oxford for the ministry, but gave up that calling and accepted a commission
in the British army ; he came to this country as Colonel in the army under Gen. Braddock, and
was at the battle of Bloody Run (or Braddock's defeat), and also with Gen. Wolfe when he stormed
Quebec; after peace was declared, he returned to England, resigned his commission and came to
the United States about the year 1774; his son, Alexander Rogers, the father of Ur. Rogers,
whose sketch we are writing, was born in 1773 : the family first settled in Frederick Co., Md.,
where it stayed until 1786, when it moved to Fayette Co., Penn. ; there Mr. Alexander Rogers
married Catharine Wallahan, who was born in Carlisle, Penn. In the year 1798, Dr. Rogers'
grandfather, father and all their connections moved on the extreme frontier, then the wilderness
of Ohio ; there his father settled on a farm. The subject of this sketch received such an educa-
tion as could be obtained in the little, round-log schoolhouse of a new country; at the age of 17,
he went to a select school at New Lisbon, and finished his education at a Quaker institution at
Salem ; he then returned home, working one or two years, and continuing his course of study ;
he chose the profession of medicine, and began his study in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio ; he finished his
course of study in Philadelphia, and returned to Tuscarawas Co., where he practiced in company
with Dr. Lewis ; in the spring of 1838, he started for Illinois on horseback, and came to Marshall
Co. : and, in the month of March, located at Decatur, Macon Co., and soon afterward formed a
copartnership with Dr. Thomas H. Reed, from Nashville, Tenn. ; Dr. Rogers afterward moved
to Washington, Tazewell Co., and formed a copartnership with Dr. G. P. Wood, which continued
for seven years. In June, 1840, he married Miss Harriet Wilcox, of North Bergen, Genesee Co.,
N. Y. ; she died four years after her marriage; they had one child — Harriet Julia, who died at
the age of 9 months. In May, 1846, he married Mrs. Minerva Burhance, a widow lady with
one daughter. In 1848 Dr. Rogers learned from Stephen A. Douglas, in Peoria, that the Illinois
Central Railroad would surely be built, and this decided him to move to Bloomington for a per-
manent home ; he moved to Bloomington in March, 1849, and continited the practice of medicine
up to 1867, when he retired from his profession, having been a successful j^ractitioner for thirty
years; he then engaged in agricultural pursuits. While practicing his profession, he was three
times chosen a delegate to the National Medical Conventions ; he was twice chosen a delegate to
State Medical Conventions. Dr. Rogers has been more or less connected with politics since com-
ing to the West; while at Decatur, he held the office of Postmaster for two years ; in 1848, he
was selected at the Convention, at the village of Waynesville, to be a candidate for State Senator,
but was defeated ; in 1862, he again received the nomination of his party for State Senator, but
814 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
was again defeated ; he has been honored by his party by being made a member of every Demo-
cratic State Convention, except one, since 1844 ; has been chairman of the Democratic Central
Committee, McLean (_'o., for eighteen years out of twenty-four; was appointed a delegate from
Illinois to the Convention at Baltimore, which nominated Franklin Pierce ; he was an alternate
delegate to the Charleston Convention ; was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention, when Doug-
las was nominated. When the war came, the Doctor took strong ground for the Union, and did
much work in getting volunteers, and took the stump and advocated cru-ihiug the rebellion out
by the power of arms. In 18t)4, he was a delegate to the Convention which nominated McClel-
lan for President; when the Liberal movement was inaugurated. Dr. Rogers moved actively and
efficiently in the matter, and was placed in nomination as its candidate for the Legislature under
the minority representation system ; he was elected a member of the Lower House of the Assem-
bly, and has been reelected every two years since ; and is at present serving in that capacity,
and is recognized as one of the most active and far-sighted of its members.
OWEN" T. REEVES, Bloomington. The subject of this sketch was born Dec. 18, 1820, in
Ross Co., Ohio; after a period at the common schools of the day, he entered the Wesleyan Uni-
versity, at Delaware, Ohio; his studies were pursued uninterruptedly with the highest results,
and he graduated one of the most thoroughly learned students that ever went out of the institu-
tion, in 18o0; he received a merited compliment by being retained in the institution as tutor;
he also filled the responsible position of Principal of the Ctiillicothe, Ohio, High School for four
years, and engrafted upon the schools of that city many important changes in study and system
which remiin to this day ; he was recognized as one of the leading and most advanced educators
of the day in Ohio : meantime, and during his active school service, he read extensively the
primary law works, with a view to entering into the practice of the law, a profession for which
he had certainly many natural qualifications. In 1854, Mr. Heeves was attracted to and located
in the then young but promising city of Bloomington, 111. ; his known large experience in public-
school matters operated to bring his services in demand ; he drew up the charter of the Union-
School System, of Bloomington, in 1857 ; for five years he served faithfully and intelligently as
a member of the Board of Education; the magnificent system of schools in this city, and their
flourishing condition, are results, in a great measure, due to the efforts of Mr. Reeves ; and he
yet watches their development with earnest solicitude. In 1861, he was elected a member of the
Board of Supervisors for Bloomington Township ; in 1802, he was appointed City Attorney ; in
these offices Mr. Reeves is said to have discharged the duties incumbent upon him in a faithful
and praiseworthy manner, devoting to them his whole time and talents. In the latter part of
18H"2, when the country was struggling in the throes of civil war. Mr. Reeves responded to the
call for troops, and, with commendable energy and patriotism, oi'ganized the Tilth Illinois Infantry
Regiment ; this regiment he commanded as Colonel with marked distinction ; after his service in
the army. Col. Reeves returned to the walks and pursuits of private life. In 1867, he procured
the charter for the L., B. & M. Railroad, and took a prominent part in the organization of the
company and the construction of the road ; this varied and important business occ ipied actively
all his time; when the road was leased to the Wabash, Mr. Reeves became General Solicitor of
the leased line, and continued such so long as the road remained in the hands of the Wabash.
In 187-1, Col. Reeves joined Judge Benjamin in the orgvnization of the Bloomington Law School ;
during all this time he has enjoyed a large and important law practice; in the month of March,
1877, he was elected Judge of the T'lrcuit Court.
MRS. GEN. GILES A. SMITH, Bloomington. History is but a plain, unvarnished state-
ment of ficls, whether these facts be relative to the works of art or of nature ; and if of the lat-
ter, it may be of nations, kingdoms. States or individuals, the truths are just as important to be
left upon record ; there was many a hero in the war of the late rebellion of whom the world is yet
ignorant. or to whom history has not done justice. We would here mention the name of
Gen. Giles A. Smith, as we purpose giving a brief biographical sketch of his life. To go into
detail would require a volume half the size of this. He was a native of JeflPerson Co., N. Y. ;
was born Sept. 29, 1829 ; remaining at his native place until he had grown to man's estate, and
had received his education ; leaving his native place, he came west as far as London. Ohio,
where, for a short time, he was engaged in business; he then went to Cincinnati, and for two
years was in the employ of Day & Matlock, wholesale dry goods merchants. In 1856, he was
married to .Miss .McLain, who is a native of Madison Co., Ohio, and a resident of London at the
time of marriage : the same year they became residents of Bloomington, where she still resides.
From this date until 1861, he was engaged in the mercantile and hotel business, being engaged in
the latter business just previous to entering the army. From a Sunday until the following
Thursday he closed the hotel, settled his private affairs and raised a company of soldiers ; he
entered the service as (Japtain of Co. D, 8ih Mo. V. I., the regiment being commanded l)y his
brother, Morgan L. Smith; in the fall of 18(il, he was stationed at Paducah, from which place,
with liis regiment, he took part in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson ; also the battle of
Shiloh and siege of Corinth, where his regiment was first in the rebel works, and took posses-
sion. After the capture of Corinth, his regiment went to ]\Iemphis as a part of the 15th Corps ;
here Gen. Smith was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and, on the promotion of his
brother to a Brigadier, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel ; he soon after took part iu
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 815
Shei'man's first attack on Vicksbuvg, and afterward in the attack on Arkansas Post, where his
horse was shot from under liim, and himself slightly wounded; in the operations resulting in the
capture of Vicksburg he took an active and conspicuous part. By a brilliant and daring feat, he,
with his regiment, rescued Admiral Porter and his iron-clads, when they were surrounded and
hemmed in by the rebels. After the capture of Vicksburg, he was promoted to the rank of
IJrigadier General, for gallant and meritorious conduct on tlie field of battle. As brigade com-
mander, he took a conspicuous part in the campaign resulting in the defeat of Bragg, and at the
siege of Chattanooga and battle of Mission lUdge, where he was badly wounded ; recovering
from his wound, he returned to the field as brigade commander in the 15th (then the 17th) Army
Corps, under Gen. Frank P. Blair. On the 22d of July, 18(j4, was fought the memorable battle
of Atlanta, in which Gen. McPherson fell. The heaviest portion of this battle fell on the divis-
ion of Gen. Smith. His gallant and heroic conduct on this occasion forms no small part in the
history of that eventful daj' ; he then took part in Sherman's great march to the sea, in com-
mand of the Second Division of the Seventeenth Corps. After the surrender of Lee, he, having
been promoted to a full Major General, was transferred to the Twenty-fifth Army Corps, and
stationed at Brownsville, Tex. After the division of the corps, he declined the commission of Col-
onel of cavalry in the regular army, and returned to his home in Bloomington. He was appointed
by President Grant as Second Assistant Postmaster General, wliich position he held until his
resignation on account of failing health, in 1872. He then became a resident of Bloomington
and of San Jose, Cal., but a resident of the former place at his death, which occurred on Sunday,
JNov. 5, 187G. Thus perished a brave and gallant soldier, an honored citizen and fond husband
and father. Mrs. Smith is still a resident of Bloomington. She was with Gen. Smith during
most of his army life, and many of the scenes and incidents of war are indelibly impressed upon
her memory. She has possession of all of the General's papers and commissions of promotion,
which are, as they should be, highly prized by herself. Slie is a lady of fine mental culture, and
is amply able to conduct the education of their only daughter.
WILL S. SMITH, was born in Orange Co., N. Y., Feb. 18, 1851 ; he is the eldest son of
Matthew C. and Mary Jane Smith, who were both natives of New York State ; his father was
captain and owner of a vessel running between New York (]ity and Albany, on the Hudson River ;
he died February 18, 1857, leaving a family of five children — Anna E. (now Mrs. Dr. S. C.
Wilson), Will S., Matthew C. and Frank B. ; during his life-time, however, he recognized the
value of an education and made every effort to secure for his children that mental culture which
is imperishable ; but Will was not a studious youth ; the glorious fun of fishing, hunting, base
ball and other athletic sports, had for him a far greater charm than the problems of his arith-
metic, the puzzling intricacies of his grammar, the comprehensive knowledge contained within
the pasteboard lids of his geography, or even the polysyllables of his spelling-book ; all told, his
schooling amounted to less than four years of constant attendance ; to this day, he acknowledges
that it was his fault that not even a common-school education accompanied him when he embarked
for himself in the struggle of life ; he applied himself to several vocations and finally settled
down to learn the art of printing, which business he is at present engaged in ; he has worked in
some of the largest cities in the country ; in 1866, he, with his mother and youngest brother,
moved West and settled in Bloomington, 111., where his sister and next elder brother preceded
them about six months; he married Miss Sue A. Colvin, Nov. 13, 1873 ; she was born in this
county ; in 1876, Mr. and Mrs. Smith visited the Centennial Exposition, and made an extended
tour through the East, visiting nearly all of the largest cities, and spending some time at his old
home, where he had not been for ten years ; in 1878, he went to Chicago, 111., where he and his
wife are at present living.
H. P. SEIBEL, Justice of the Peace, Bloomington ; was born in Bavaria, on the Rhine,
June 1, 1831, where he received his education ; he came to this country in 1849, locating in
Cincinnati, where he was engaged in book-keeping ; while there he was a member of the School
Board for several years ; after which, he was engaged in the manufacture of pianos, in which
business he continued some four years ; he came to Bloomington in 1872, where he has since
lived, an enterprising and much respected citizen; he was iastrumjntal in establishing the
paper-mill, which was for a time operated successfully : he is the founder of the Mnennerchor
Society of Bloomington, in which he officiated as President for several years ; for the last two
years has served as musical director; this society is one of which the citizens of Bloomiajitoa
may well be proud. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1877; this, with many other
honorable and prominent positions, he has filled with credit. He married Miss Catharine
Hoffmann, of Germany, Nov. 11, 1855; she was born June 24, 1831; they have a family
of five.
THOMAS SLADE, attorney-at-law, Bloomington ; was born in fall River, Mass., in March,
1834 ; he was of Quaker parentage, all of his ancestors for generations back being of that
religious faith ; he received his preliminary education before entering colitge, .at the Fall River
high school and at Friends' Seminary, Providence, R. I; iu 1856, he entered the regular col-
legiate course of Brown University, in the c'.ty of Proviience, which course he finished in three
years. After graduation, he remained ia the institution as a resident graduate for some months ;
in March, 186U, he started for the West ; he landed in St. Louis in the same month, and at once
8in BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
entered upon the study of the law, being at the same time employed as a deputy in the United
States riicuit Clerk's office in St. Louis ; after a few months, in order to devote his entire time
to his studies, he abandoned this position and entered the law office of Knox, Smith & Sedge-
wick; Mr. Slade continued his law studies tintil December, 1862, before applying for almission
to the bar, at which time he was admitted to the bar of St. Louis, and at once entered upon the
practice of his profession in that city. Just at this time, the troubles incident to the rebellion
were convulsing the city of St. Louis, composed of so many conflicting elements and factions
arising out of the greit questions at stake, and Mr. Slade united with the National Guards, a
regiment which was at that time kept on duty in the city, at intervals standing guard over
prisons and other duty in that vicinity; being engaged in this service, the work of liis profes-
sion was considerably interrupted, but he continued to practice a^ opportunity allowed and was
building up a substantial and rapidly-growing business. In 1864, he was a candidate for City
Attorney before the Re.niblican convention of St. Louis; five candidates were before the con-
vention, but the contest was finally reduced to that between Mr. Slade and a Mr. Stewar', the
latter a one-armed soldier, the latter receiving tbe nomination after a vigorous fight, by a very
small majority ; no more fitting complin ent could have been paid to a young man, who arrived
a stranger in the city four years before, than the flattering support he received in that conven-
tion. In 1865, Mr. Slade decided to leave St. Louis, though regretting to leave the thriving
business he bad already established; but, having gone from a cool coast climate, he was never
satisfied with the wa^-m sultry climate of tlie St. Louis region, and for this sole reason he left
and came to Bloimington in quest of a cooler and more bracing climate ; he at once effected a
partnership with Mr. W. M. Hatch, who was then one of the longest resident attorneys of the
place, the firm being styled Hatch & Slade ; in 1872, this firm was dissolved ; in 1879, he
formed a partnership with Mr. H. E. Hadley, who is a young man with very flattering prospects
for success ; he is a graduate of the Chicigo College of Law. Mr. Slade, in 187', was appoiii'ed
a member of the State Bo ird of Education.
AUGUSTUS SEIBEL, baker, Bloomington ; was born in Bavaria, Germany, Jan. 23, 1845,
and came to this country in 18oB, locating in Cincinnati ; for some two years he attended school,
then begrtn the trade of a baker, wliich he followed until December, 1861, when he enlisted
with the 6th Ky. V. I.; he was in many of the heaviest battles and most severe skirmishes of
the war; was promoted to 2d Lieutenant, then to 1st Lieutenant and Regimental Adjutant ; lie
was mustered out at Brazos Santiago, Tex , Nov. 13, 1865. His place of business is 713 West
rhestnut street; he is a practical baker of many years' experience, which enables him to turn
out the best of bread, cakes and pies, wliich can be obtained at the store or from the delivery
wagon. He married Miss .Margaret Hofi'iiiann, of Cincinnati, July 2, 1867 ; they have been resi-
dents of Bloomington since 1868, and have a family of three children living.
"0. B. STILKS, cigar-maker, Bloomington; was born in Norwich, N. Y., May 7, 1839,
where he was raised, schooled, and learned the trade of a cigar-maker, in which business he has
had many years of experience; he came to Bloomington in 1866, and began on his own account
tlie manufacturing of cigars, and did an extensive business for a time, but, like many good busi-
ness men, met with adversity; but, being possessed of energy and perseverance, he began anew
with the determination to succeed, and is now doing quite an extensive business ; his place of
business is No. li;0 South Main street, where he superintends the manufacturing of fine cigars.
He married Miss Louisa A. Conly, of his native county, Nov. 15, 1860; they have one child —
Lottie M.
R. W. STUBBLEFIELD, dealer in and importer of Norman French liorses, Bloomington ;
he is a native of McLean Co.; first engaging in the stock business in 1868, when he began
buying, selling and shipping cattle and hogs until May, 1874, when he made his first importa-
tion of Norman horses ; since engaging in the business, he has imported twenty-three head ;
he has on hand now about forty head of thoroughbred and graded stock, among which are
importeil seven stillions and six mares; his stock-farm of 160 acres is located three miles west
of Shirley; he is also doing a feed and livery business ; located corner of Front and Lee streets,
in what is known as the old Jones livery-stable ; though his importations may not be so large
as some other dealers, no finer stock can be found in the State of Illinois than is found at his
stock-farm or at his stables in Bloomington.
T. VV. STEVENSON, hardware, Bloomington; T. W. Stevenson, of the firm of Stevenson &
Bro., is a native of Christian (Vj., Ky.; his people in 1863 left Kentucky and came to McLean
Co., where he has since been a resident ; in 1872, he was engaged in general job-woik and
repairing; this he followed until 1H75, when he engaged in the hardware trade with his brother.
J. C; in 1877. they built No. 107 East Front street, which is a fine brick, with heavy plate-glass
front, tlie building being 20x00 feet, tliroe Hoors and basement; thoy have the entire building
well stocked with a complete line of liardware and stoves; they are also agents for J. W. Reedy's
elevator, one of which ttiey are using in tlieir own establisliiiient. T. W. was married Nov. 30,
1876, to Miss Mary Gilder.<leeve, her people being old and prominent settlers of McLean Co.
There is probably no family of brothers now residing in Bloomington who are better or more
favoraldy known than the Stcvensons ; they are not only live, active business men, but some of
them have won distinction politically ; the brothers, T. W. and J. C, have shown as much energy
'%%i^c^v.
wcayTB
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 819
and good business tact as any ; beginning upon a very small capital, they have, in a few years,
established a business of which they may well be proud.
M. G. SIMONS, ice-dealer, Bloomington ; was born in AVyoming Co., Penn., Nov. 25, 1829,
where he spent his early life and obtained a schooling; he removed to DeKalb Co., 111., with his
parents in 1844, where he lived until 1863, when he came to Bloomington, 111., and engaged in
the ice business, continuing it one year; he then engaged with the C. & A. R. R. Co., and after
two years returned to the ice business, and is now prepared to supply the citizens with the best
of ice at reasonable rates. He is honorable and upright in his dealings, and a much-respected
citizen. He married Miss Ellen M. Brown, of De Kalb Co., 111., March 2, 1856; they have a
family of seven.
J. V. SC()TT, contractor and builder, Bloomington, is a native of Pennsylvania: in 1845,
he came West and located in Greene Co., Ind.; there he began learning the trade of a carpenter
and joiner, serving a regular apprenticeship of three years; he remained there working at his
trade until 1865, when he again moved West, locating the last time in Bloomington, where he
has since resided ; he has been actively engaged in his business since learning his trade; for
thirty-three years has been a contractor ; since his residence in Bloomington, he has, by close
attention to business, won the respect and confidence of the prominent class of citizens ; the
consequence has been, a large number of the finer class of prominent buildings have been con-
tracted to him for erection ; among the many of this class of buildings, may be mentioned
Funk's, Pollock's, Colwell's and Probasco's ; by a steady attention to his business and a respect
for the rights of other people, he has established a large business.
WILLIAM HAWLEY S.MITH, County Superintendent of Schools, Bloomington; was born
in Franklin Co., Mass., Oct. 7, 1845; he was brought to Christian Co., 111., by parents in 1855,
and was raised upon a farm, and received his early education at the district schools ; he
removed to Normal in 1865, and en'ered the State Normal University, graduating in 1870, and
the following year was Principal of the Granville Public School (Putnam Co.); from 1871 to
187M, was Principal of Tonica Graded School, after which he abandoned teaching on account of
his health, and went out on the road as commercial traveler, continuing at this until .January,
1875, when he resumed teaching, taking charge of the Farmer City Graded School, continuing
until the following November, when he was elected to the office of County School Superintend-
ent. Mr. Smith is a man of fine mental powers, social and genial, through which qualities he
has won the popularity that placed him in his present position. He married Miss Ellen H.
Galusha, of Morris, 111., July 19, 1870; they have two children — Arthur G. and Leslie.
DR. HERMAN SCHRffiDER, proprietor Grand Opera House, Bloomington; was born in the
town of Althaldensleben, near the city of Magdeburg, in Prussia, in 1821. His father was one of the
great Napoleon's old soldiers, who gave the signal of retreat from Moscow on the side of the
Emperor. On his deportation to Siberia he escaped from Russian slavery, and found, after a
long wandering, a home and wife in Althaldensleben. Here the doctor was born in a year of
great famine, and taken in a basket to the Kloyster Fields, by his laboring mother ; he had the
best schools the town and Kloyster could afl'ord, and, being of Catholic parents, was selected to
become a priest. As his parents were poor — aristocratic people, and even the Bishop, took hold
of this remarkable scholar, and furnished him with the means to study, but after the death of
his mother, he abandoned the idea of becoming a priest, and commenced tlie study of natural
philosophy and medicine. At the height of his studies, his main protector, Herr Nathusius,
died, and he commenced the study and work of an architect ; here he succeeded so well that soon
he became the contractor of Government buildings, and made money, with a great prospect before
him. He then married, in 1846, the youngest daughter of the late Baronet Prince von Buchau,
who was the General Adjutant of the great Gen. Blucher, at Waterloo, and last commander of
Cassel. But, with his thorough study of history and love for Republican principles, our doctor
became an agitator in press and public speeches, and, in the great historical year 1848, we find
him upon the barricades and among the revolutionary sjjeakers, and, as a contra revolution took
place, our doctor was prosecuted, and would hiive been shot, if he had not escaped at night with
his young wife io free America, disguised, in one of the old, rotten, wooden ships. In New York,
he soon found out that he could not succeeil, so he wandered as an emigrant to Cleveland, Ohio ;
here he found kind friends, and took up again the old study of medicine, and, after two years,
became a physician of note ; after practicing medicine in Mansfield and Mt. Gilead, Ohio, for a
while, he traveled by wagon to the West, and landed in the then little town of Bloomington, 111.
He settled, in 1852, near the Illinois Central depot, then a prairie, and constructed a shanty
cut of the first old log house ever built in Bloomington, and practiced medicine. Our doctor had a
sharp eye to business, and bought of Mr. Wm. Dimmet nine town-lots, and erected, in the course
of two years, thereon, thirteen houses, from lumber he made hiiBself from twenty acres of tim-
ber-land, which he bought. Rents were high then, and soon the doctor accumulated money to
buy from the Illinois Central Railroad 120 acres of land, now the south side of El Paso, and 80
acres, now the city of Oilman; he named it Schroederville ; he laid it out in lots, but sold it, in
1856, for a good price then, and commenced grape culture, and probably the first vineyards in the
West. His success was great, particularly in the propagation of grape vines and plants ; he soon
became the leading man in his new business, and has sold by this time, over twenty millions of
JJ
820 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
young vines all over America, even to France and Germany ; his ambition and profits were great,
and, in 18()6, he built the opera house, with two stores, opposite the Court House Square, in
this city ; in 1869, he helped build Minerva Block, the finest building in the city. Other valuable
blocks and city property he added year by year, besides nearly 10,000 acres of Western lands.
He invested in the Bloomington Coal Mine, and owned nearly one-fifth of the stock ; was twice
President of the mine, but sold out at a great loss, to devote his time to his nursery business.
In 1878, he erected his Steam Sausage and Meat Pressing Factory, on South Main street, a bus-
iness of great promise. His vineyards are laid out in Schrojder's Addition. The doctor has two
daughters — America and Minerva, and one son, Franklin. As a jovial, literary and business
man, he will not soon be forgotten in Bloomington.
A. C. SWEETSER, .lusiice of the Peace, Bloomington; was born in Oxford Co., Me., Feb.
23, 1839 ; he removed to Leeds, Wis., where he lived some four years, and thence to Blooming-
ton ; during his early life, he learned the trade of a miller, which he followed until 1861. He
then enlisted in Co. K, 8th I. V. I. (three months), and served until the expiration of the term ;
then re-enlisted with the 39th I. V. I.; he was in many severe battles and skirmishes ; before
Petersburg, on .June 2, 1864, he was severely wounded in both legs, from the effect of which he
was compelled to have the left leg amputated ; previous to receiving these wounds, he had served
some three years, and escaped without a scratch, though having many narrow escapes. After the
war, he returned to Bloomington, and, in 1867, was elected Town and City Collector, serving some
five years, and in 1873, he was appointed a Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue. Mr. Sweet-
ser is ii man of good business ability, social and genial, and a much-respected citizen.
JAMES STONE, Captain of Police, Bloomington; was born in .Tetferson Co., Tenn., .Tan.
21, 1845; he was brought to this county by his parents while quite young, and received a good
common-school education. During the late war, he enlisted with the 33d I. V. I., and served
two and a half years, and was in many of the severe engagements, escaping without a scratch
After the war, he followed school-teaching for about seven years. In 1873, he was appointed
upon the police force, where he bears the reputation of always discharging his duties to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned, through which he has won the friendship and respect of the citi-
zens of Bloomington ; he was appointed to the position of Captain of the Police, by Mayor
Bunn in 1877, which position he has since held, having been re-appointed in 1878, by Mayor
Reed. He married Miss Cynthia Foster, of this place, March 30, 1869; they have a family of
four — .Jennie E., Stella, Pearl and an infant.
H. H. SWAIM, Deputy Sheriff, Bloomington; was born in Marion Co., Ind., Dec. 16, 184n,
and raised, chiefly, in St. Joe, Mo., where he received his schooling. During the late war, he
enlisted with the First Engineer Corps, of Missouri, entered the army July 13, 1861, and partic-
ipated in many severe engagements, among which were Lexington, Shiloh, and the principal
engagements while with Sherman, through Georgia ; he escaped without injury. After the war,
he located in Bloomington, where he hMs since been engaged in various business capacities.
Many important positions of trust have been confided to him here, among which we may men-
tion that of Street Commissioner, to which he was elected in 1866, and re-elected in 1867, and
to his present position as Deputy Sherilf March 21, 1872. He married Miss Paulina Stewart :
they have one child — Leota P.
JOHN SPINNING, butcher, Bloomington; was born in Essex Co., N. Y., Sept. 6, 1843,
where he passed his early life; he came to Bloomington in 1873, and followed carpentering, also
contracting and building for a time; then engaged in the butcher's business; his market is
located at 304 North Main ; keeps the best quality of meats, both salt and fresh, and is a practi-
cal and well-posted butcher. He married Miss Nancy Simpson, Sept. 28, 1869 ; they have two
children — William S. and Roy.
J. R.. SCOTT, grocer, of the firm of Scott & Miller, Bloomington ; was born in Greene Co.,
Ind., May 29, 1852; his parents were John V. and Phoebe M. (Plumb) Scott ; he received a good
education, and began in mercantile life with A. Eversole, Esq., continuing with him for a number
of years, and thoroughly learning the business ; he opened business for himself in 1875, in com-
pany with Thomas Evans; tiiis partncr.ship lasted one year, when he became associated with his
present partner ; they are located at tlie corner of Main and Mulberry streets ; here they keep
a neat and well-stocked establishment ; they are careful and reliable business men ; they are
still young, but with a prospect of success before them. Mr. Scott married Miss Katie M.
Roberts, formerly of Carlisle, Penn., Dec. 20, 1876.
WILLIAM STAUTZ, butcher, Bloomington ; son of Jacoli and Bibianna (Uhri) Stautz, who
were early settlers of Rloomington ; the father died Sept. 24, 1S78; he had lived a prominent
and much respected citizen. The subject of tliis sketch was born in Bloomington, Nov. 24, 1859;
he now manages the afikirs of the butcher shop located at 501 W. Market street, one of the neat-
est and best arranged shops of the city, and has the reputation of keejiing for sale the best
quality of all kinds of meats, both salt and fresh.
F. R. SPRAGUI'I grocer, firm of Sprague & Johnson, Bloomington; was born in Union
Co., Ohio, Oct. 22, 1851, and brought to this county ))y his parents in 1857, locating in Lexing-
ton, where he was raised and schooled; he came to Bloomington in 1870, and in 1871 be
engaged with Aldrich & Bros, (wholesale grocers) as book-keeper, where he remained until
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 821
1875, after which he w.as with A. Anthony (grocer) until 1877, when lie embarked in the
grocery business on his own account; he is located at No. 61U North Main street; here he keeps
a fine grocery, in which is offered a well assorted stock of goods, and sold at hotioin figures.
PH. W LLIAM STAUTZ, butcher, in company with F. A. llomuth. Bloomington ; is a
native of Prussia, where he was born May l'>, 1868; at the age of 14 he emigrated to this
country, and came directly to Bloomington, where he has since lemained, engaged in the butcher
business, which has given him some eleven years' experience in the business, lie married Miss
Caroline Diedrick, of his native country, Sept. 28, 1877 ; they liave one child — .Matilda.
JAMKS B. STEVE\'SO\, Bloomington; was born in Christian Co.. Ky., and moved to
Illinois and located in Bloomington in 18')3 ; in 1867, in company with others, he helped to sink
the McLean Co. Coal Shaft, which was first sunk to a depth of about three hundred feet; this
vein they worked for a year or more, when they sunk it again to a second vein, which was
about four hundred feet from the surface ; this vein proved to be a better quality, but also very
expensive to work. After a period of about three years of discouragement and unforeseen dif-
ficulties, the company again pro-pered, and found a third vein of coal at five hundred and forty
feet below the surface, being the deepest working shaft in the State. The McLean County Coal
Co. are now raising from three hundred to four hundred tons of coal per day, and their pay
rolls vary from .$1(3,000 to $19,000 per month, giving employment to about three hundreJ men.
and reducing the price of coal to half its former cost, saving many thousand dollars to tliis
community.
CHAllLES SHACKLEFORD, Bloomington; was born in Maysville, Ky., on the 4th day of
October, 1840; his early youth was passed in acquiring the rudiments of book knowledge;
he eiitf-red Bethany College, Virginia, and after years of close and patient study, graduated
with much credit in 1860; he returned lionie and entered the law ofiice of Hon. .John A. Clarke,
one of the prominent attorneys of Maysville. For four years he applied himself with diligence,
and acquired a vast amount and wide range of legal knowledge. In 18(j4, he received the
necessary authority to practice in Kentucky. Through fidelity to the interests of his clients,^
Mr. S. worked himself into a really lucrative practice; but, like a great many others, he
thouorht, to achieve distinction, he must leave the scenes of youth and seek it among strangers.
At that day Illinois was the El Dorado for which all amb tioiis and aspiring spirits were push-
incr. Jlr. Sliackleford broke away from home and friends and familiar associations, and c^ist
his fortunes with the hospitable and op^-n-he rted people of Illinois; he located in Bloomington,
and very soon business of an important nature came pouring in upon him ; rapidly he acquired
an extensive practice in the St;ite and Fdleral courts in Illinois and Missouri, and now he has
at least sufficient business to keep him constantly engaged ; although he has a miscellaneous
practice of no small importance, his largest revenue is derived from his services connected with
trust estates fi>r Eastern capitali ts. This business he has manajred with uniform success, as he
has all the other details of his legal business. In 1875, the Democratic Cen'ral Committee of
Ohio, engaged Mr. Shackleford for a series of speeches in the campaign of that ye■^^, in the
interest of Gov. Allen. Mr. S. made an extended canvass, speaking in company with such
orators as Pendleton, Voorhees and .Judge Thurman. His speeches attracted wile attention,
and were puldished extensively as campaign do uments. He advocated with con-picuous ability
the increase of the currency in the interest of the West, and in all essential points he cham-
pioned Wes'ern issues.
W. W. STEVENSON. Superintendent McLean County Coal Company, Bloomington; was
born in Christian Co., Ky., Aug. 15, 1840. When 11 years old, he came to McLean Co., 111.,
and settled in Bloomington Whfn he was about 15 years old, he commenced to learn the trade
of printing, in the Pinlagraph office. He worked at his trade some eighteen months, theiice to
school, where he received a good education. In 1859, Mr. Stevenson commenceil farming on a
piece of Illinois Central Railroad land ; here he retiiained until 1863. He then entered the
butcher businei^s. Since then, he has been engaged in grocery, boots and shoes and hardware
busine.^s. In 1868, he was appointed Superintendent and Weigher of the McLean County Coal
Company. The shaft is 540 feet below the surface, being the deepest working shaft in the
State. The coal is of the very best quality. They are now raising from three hundred to five
hunilred tons of coal per day. They employ two hundred hands. Mr. Stevenson, in 1878. was
elected Alderman from the Third Ward on the Independent ticket. He is a Democrat in politics.
N. C. SWEENY, Bloomington; was born in Muskingum Co. Ohio, .Jan. 1, 188s, and is
the son of Joseph Sweeny, ot Marylanil, a farmer, who moved to Ohio at an early day. and
from thence to Illinois, about 1858 ; he died in McLean County, in 1871, at the age of 65 -■ nrs,
respected and honored. Mr. N. C. Sweeny came to Blootnington in 1860: he was at one time
in the lumber business, and also, for a short time, in the grain business. He is a Uepulilican in
politics, and, in 1876, was elected Alderman of the First Ward, which office he now fills.
STEPHEN SMITH, dry goods, Blootnington: one of the best-known bttsiness men of
Blootnington; was born near Clarksville. Tenn. When he was only 5 years old he moved to
Illinois with his parents, and settled in Greene Co. His father was a fartner, and a soldier of
the war of 1812. Mr. Smith was raised on the farm. When he was 18 years old, in 1847, he
commenced clerking in a store. In 1850, he formed a partnership with his brother. In 1851,
822 BIuGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
they moved their stock to Springfield and commenced the dry goods business. There Mr. Smith
remained until IRfiO, when he came to Bloomington, and, April 5, I860, began the dry goods
business in his present location, and to-day is the oldest dry goods man in Bloomington.
H. M. SENSENEY, coal merchant, Bloomington; waS born in Frederick Co., Va , and is
the son of John Senseney. At the age of "21, he came West and located in Bloomington, where
he has remained ever since, engaged chiefly in mercantile business. He has been in the retail
grocery line, in the coal business and a traveling agent on the road ; the first in the grocery line
from Bloumington. Mr. Senseney married Miss Love Ballard, in May, 1865 ; they have four
children, one girl and three boys.
ADLAI E. STEVENSON. ' Mr. S. is by birth a Kentuckian, having been born in that State
on the 2od day of October, 1835. In 1852, he came to Hlinois, and soon after began study at the
Wesleyan University ; he also pursued his studies, both scientific and classical, at Center College,
Ky. He was known as a thorough and practical student, and the time passed in the company of
professors and students was put to the best possible use. His mind was placed at the head-
waters of the fountains of knowledge, and of all that flowed through he retained only the most,
precious gems. In May, 1858, he was admitted to the bar, after a rigid examination — an ordeal
which is as greatly dreaded by the legal aspirant of to-day, if indeed not more than it was twenty
years ago. On the 18th of December, 1858, Mr. Stevenson located in Woodford Co., and for ten
years had a large and important practice there. In 1869, he located in Bloomington, and has
practiced his profession here since. Mr. Stevenson has been the worthy recipient of honors at
the hands of the people. In 1861, he was appointed Master in Chancery of Woodford Co., by
Judge Richmond, and was re-appointed to the position in 1863, holding the office for four years.
In 1864, Mr. Stevens received yet farther public recognition. In that year he was elected Pros-
ecuting Attorney for the Twenty-third District, within the boundaries of which was embraced the
counties of Woodford, Marshall and Putnam. This position he held for four years, and it is said
that he prosecuted for the State with so much vigor that his district was nearly cleared of law-
breakers. In 1864, he was a candidate for Presidential Elector, in the McClellan campaign, and
made a thorough canvass of the State. At this time, he attracted attention as a ready debater
and fluent speaker, and made a good record as a campaign orator. In 1874, Mr. Stevenson was
sent by the people of the 13th District to represent them in Congress, and while there he
demeaned himself in a manner to command respect from political friends and foes. In 1877,
President Hayes appointed Mr. Stevenson to a position upon the Board of Visitors to West Point
Naval Academy. All these positions have been filled intelligently and the duties discharged
fnithfully, and the most searching investigation into Mr. Stevenson's public acts would fail to
uncover either neglect or malfeasance. W'hile in Congress, Hon. A. E. Stevenson was a member
of the Committee on Territories, and the District of Columbia. He was appointed by the Speaker
of the House as a member of the special committee to investigate charges against Federal offi-
cials in the Custom House at New Orleans. While in Congress, Mr. S. constantly advocated the
reduction of expenses of the General Government, and opposed the admission of New Mexico as
a State in the Union, because of its lack of the requisite population. He favored the repeal of
the Resumption act and the remonetization of silver. He delivered a speech in Congress in Jan-
uary, 1877, advocating the organization of the Electoral Commission for the purpose of settling
the complications growing out of the late Presidential election. He favored the faithful execu-
tion of that law, and opposed schemes tending to delay the count of the electoral vote. He
became a law partner of James S. Ewing in June, 1869, which partnership still continues.
Among the important suits in which this firm have been engaged as counsel are the mandamus
proceedings against the towns of Waynesville and Old Town, recently decided by the Supreme
lourt in their favor. In both cases the writ of mandamus was denied, by which the towns were
relieved from a heavy bonded indebtedness. Mr. S. has been an active member of the Masonic
fraternity, being Past Master of Bloomington Lodge, No. 43, as well as a member of the Chapter
and Conimandery.
ISAAC W. STROUD, attorney at law, Bloomington; was born in McLean Co., 111., Sept.
16, 1845, and is the son of Elbridge Stroud, who was an early settler of this county, having
made his home hereabout 1830, coming from Ohio; his death occurred Feb. 20, 1855, when
about 42 years old. Isaac W. Stroud was admitted to practice law at the Illinois bar in 1874;
in 1875, he was elected by the Republican party as Treasurer of McLean County; this office he
filled until 1877.
MRS. C. TOWNSEND, wiiow. Bloomington; is the widow of Rev. J. B. Townsend (now
deceased). Mr. Townsend was a gentleman of more than ordinary mental capacity, though for
many years an invalid. In speaking of those who are gone, we feel that this history would be
incomplete, without a personal mention of Mr. T. He wa.s a native of Washington < o., N. Y.;
was born Aug. 8, 1810; his father intended him for the legal profession; for this purpose he
entered the Union College of Schenectady, N. Y., where he was graduated with honor in 1835;
he then spent one year in Castleton, Vt., as assistant principal in a seminary ; he then entered
the Auburn Theological Seminary ; finishing his theological course in the Union Seminary of
New York ; his liealth failing, he moved to Knoxville, Tenn., taking charge of a seminary for
young ladies; here he formed the acquaintance of Gen. John 11. Cook, of Virginia; his health
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 823
still being poor, he was induced to visit Gen. Cook at his home in Virginia ; regaining his health,
he again began preaching in Goochland Co., Va; in 1843, he went to the wild country of Mis-
souri, and began his work there ; shrinking from no duty and laboring almost incessantly, his
health again gave way, and he was compelled to desist; from here he went to St. Louis, and
took charge of the Free Church ; here, for six years, he was eminently successful ; his congre-
giition grew so rapidly, as to cause the erection of a large edifice, known as the Pine Street
Church; in 18")0, he accepted a call as the Pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church of Cincin-
nati; this appointment he held for nearly two years, when his throat again became so bad, that
he retired from the pulpit ; though he lived for twelve years after retiring, he did not after-
wards preach. For five years he was engaged in the grain trade in St. Louis ; then moved to
McLean Co., where he resided until his death, which occurred from consumption .Jan. 27, 1865.
As a financier, Mr. Townsend was as successful as in the pulpit. During his business in St.
Louis, he accumulated a fine property; though, by the treachery of those he thought were his
friends, he lost over $20,000; he still left, at his death, a fine property. Sept. 6, 1839, he mar-
ried Miss Cordelia Dunning, of Fairfield, N. Y. Mrs. Townsend is still a resident of Blooming-
ton. She is a pleasant, genial lady, and is respected by a large circle of friends.
THE BLOOMINGTON LEADER, Bloomington. The publication of the Weekli/ Leafier was
commenced on the 17th of December, 1868. by Orin Waters and .John S. Scibird, who were for-
merly owners of the Pantagrctph; on the 22d day of February following, the Dnily Leader was
started, and both publications have appeared regularly ever since; on July 12, 18611, the Evening
Leader was changed to a morning paper, and as such was published until Oct. 9, when it was
again changed to an evening paper ; Mr. Elias Smith was editor-in-chief, assisted on the local by
J. S. Scibird, one of the proprietors ; as a compliment to the publishers, the position of Post-
master was given to Mr. Scibird, who held the office for four years ; in 1872, a stock company
was formed, composed principally of leading politicians, who elected 0. Waters as Manager ;
hard times continued and it proved a financial failure; Feb. 19, 1874, 0. Waters purchased the
right, title and interest of the stock-holders and became sole proprietor and publisher; in .Jan-
uary, 1875, Mr. Waters became financially embarrassed and the establishment passed into the
hands of the present proprietor, Mr. M. F. Leland ; the Ijeader has grown to be a strictly first-
class paper, and is fearless in its advocacy of the right ; it is Republican in politics, and does not
hesitate to expose wrong, whether in the Republican party or out of it ; the H'eekb/ Leader enjoys
a large circulation and the confidence of its readers ; the Daily Leader is also a creditable and
enterprising sheet, and has a large advertising patronage and an entensive circulation ; journal-
istic ventures have been frequent in Bloomington, but in nearly every instance, with the exception
of the Leader and Pantagraph, tliey have been failures and short-lived. M. F. Leland, the present
proprietor and publisher of the Leader, was born in Sherborn, Middlesex Co., Mass., on the 28th
day of March, 1835; came to Bloomington, in 1858, and for a number of years was engaged in
the photograph business in this city ; was then one of the proprietors of the East Grove Street
nursery, in company with E. Beaumont : in 1869, he took a position on the Leader, as solicitor
and collector; subsequently he was local editor, and still later became proprietor and publisher.
Under his management the Jjeader grew in influence, and in the first three years the circulation
of the Weekly Ljtader more than quadrupled ; the daily also improved in its apjDearance and
support, and now enjoys the reputation of being one of the best and most reliable publications in the
State ; the job-printing department is one of the largest and best equipped in Central Illinois,
and turns out a large amount of choice work ; in fact, the Leader is established on a firm founda-
tion, and its future is as sure as the sunshine ; considerable money has been sunk in bringing it to
its present sound financial standing, an experience which we m.ay say all newspapers have to
pass through before reaching the goal which the ambition of the publishers anticipates.
WILLIAM W. TUTTLE, of the firm of Baird & Tuttle, Loan Agents, Bloomington ; was born
in New York, and is a graduate of Columbia College ; he came West in 1872, and entered into
partnership with Mr. Baird in the loan business. These gentlemen have control of the Phoenix
Nursery.
THOMAS F. TIPTON, Bloomington; was born in Franklin Co., Ohio, Aug. 29, 1833; hi.s
father, Hiram Tipton, removed from the Buckeye State to Illinois, in the year 1844, and settled
in the section now known as Money Creek Township. In March of 1845, his father died, Thomas
at that time being but eleven years old ; he continued to live with his mother until her second
marriage, in 1847, when he cut loose from the parental roof-tree, and began life on his own
account, and took his future into his own hands. At this time he is described as a boy, that, while
he had no vicious habits, possessed a quick and retentive memory, a deep reverence for truth
and honesty, and with a keen contempt for anything affected or snobbish. During the summer
months, he worked on a farm, and, in winter, he went to school, thus obtaining knowledge under
difficulties ; this was continued until he had attained to his sixteenth year, when he began teach-
ing, but in the winter going himself to school as a pupil, Mr. Tipton began the garnering of
Ipgal knowledge in the law office of H. N. Keitly, at Knoxville, 111., being a careful reader and a
close, pains-taking student ; at this time he was in the most robust health, being very strong and
active, and excelling in all athletic sports. In the spring of 1854, young Tipton was admitted to
practice, and, as a singular coincidence, attained his majority the same year. He began active
82-1: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
law practice at Lexincrton, and continued there until Jan. 1. 18G2, at which time his lucky star
directed him to lUoomington, and ia tlie spring of ISGo, lie formed a law partnership with Reu-
ben M. Ik'tijamin. In .l.inutiry, ISJG, Gov. Oglesby appointed him State's Attorney for the Eighth
.ludicial I'irciiit, and for two years he discharged ihe duties of the othce with infinite satisfaction
to the law-abiding people, and to the great annoyance of evil-doers of high and low degree. In
18(50, the Hon. Lawrence Weldon becatue a partner, and tlie firm was then known as Weldon,
Tipton & Benjamin; but, as his worth became recognized, Mr. Tipton was called higher up. In
August, 1870, he was elected Circuit Judge, io fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation ofthe
■venerable Jno. .M. Scott, who had been elected as a membe ■ of the Supreme bench ofthe State.
When Mr. Tipton took his place on tlie bench, the new constitution had been but just adopted,
making many radical changes, and opening up a vast field of unexplored legal work, thus mak-
ing work on the bench necessarily slow, and much more laborious than formerly; he was
rewarded for his fidelity to the interests of the people, and his efforts in behalf of equity, by an
indorsement in the w.ay of a reelection for the term of six years. He remained on the bench until
March 1, 1877, when he resigned to take a seat in Congress— another step higher. The 1st of
March. 1877, Mr. Tipton and John E. Pollock formed a law partnership under the style of Tipton
& Pollock, as it now stands; previous to his election to the bench Mr. Tipton enjoyed a large
civil ami criminal practice; it was as varied as litigation itself, and it was uniformly managed
with good tact and acknowledged legal acumen; he was not a lawyer simply to wring from quib-
bles ami teciuiical obscurities th it justice which else he could never reach, but he sought to win
upon the broad spirit of the law in its most elevated sense. He was elected to the Forty-fifth
Congress as a Republican, receiving 1-3,229 votes ; in Congress he favored the Silver bill ; intro-
duced a bill for postal savings banks ; opposed the further contraction of the currency and the
Wood Tariff bill ; also opposed the William and Mary College bill, and the " Potter revolution"
he opposed ; he was against the transfer of the Indian Bureau to the War Department.
CHARLES THEIS, grocer, Bloomington ; was born in Prussia, Oct. 7, 1824; during his
early life he received a fiiir education, and began mercanti'e life as clerk with a »vholesale house,
remaining some eight years ; he came to this country in 18-31, locaing in St. Louis, and foUoweil
clerking in variou- branches of mercantile business until 1857, when he came to Bloomington,
111., shortly tiiereafter embarking in the grocery business on his own account, and locating at
his present place of business. No". 712 W. Chestnut street; here he keeps a good line of groceries.
He marr.ed .Miss Frances Sommerheuser, of his native country, in September, 18;3(; ; she was
born Feb. 2, 1832 ; they have a family of six — Bertha, Clara, Charles, Julia, Ida and Flora.
L. L. TRACV, engineer at Water- works, Bloomington; was born in Chittenden Co.. Vt.,
(Jet. 21. 1818. During his early life, he obtained a good education, and for some ten years was
engineer for the Steamboat Transportation Company that plied between Whitehall and St. John,
Canada. This gave him a thorough knowledge of engineering. He abandoned steamboating in
18-30, and removed to Janesville, Wis., where he followed milling until 18(J5 ; thence to Aurora,
111., where he engaged in flouring. He came to Bloomington in 18tJ7. He had by his own
energy accumulated a large property, but, like many good business men, met with adversity and
lost severely: but, being possessed of untiring energy, he resolved to begin anew, and engaged
as engineer with William Fhigg, machinery manufacturer, and, since 1871, has been gradually
returning toward his once high financial standing. He was appointed by Mayor Reed to his
present position in 1878. He is a practical engineer, and considered the right man in the right
place. He married Miss Elizabeth Hill, of his native county, Feb. 12, 18-14. They have four
children living
G. F. TKVNER, grocer, ofthe firm of Tryner & Tewksbury, Bloomington ; was born in
Lincolnshire, England, Oct. 80, ISO'.). He came ;o this country in 1833, locating in New York
City, and there engaged in the tailoring business, which he followed until 1844, when he began
in the clothing and furiiisbing business. In 18 .(5, he removed to Salem, 111., and opened busi-
ness. In lsi')(). he came to Bloomington, and, for a number of years, was with his son, G. A.
Tryner (grocer). In 187(;, he engaged in business with his present partner. These many years
of mercantile experience enable him to command a good trade. His place of business is 103
West Front street, where he keeps a well-assorted stock of family groceries and provisions. He
has twice married— first to Miss Elizabeth Roberts, of Wakefield, England, in February, 1833;
she died in l^ol. He was married to his present wife in 1854 ; she was formerly Margaret H.
Sclover, of New .Jersey. He has eigiit children living.
THE EVE. H. R. Pcrsinger, editor, Bloomington. The Bloomington Sunday Mornin;/ Fj/e
was started on Jan. 20, 1878; it was the second attempt at Sunday journalism in Bloomington ;
the Sunday Herald, the first venture, commenced in July, 1877, and, after a painful struggle of
three months, died out: great doubts, therefore, were entertained as to the success of The Eue,
svnd the publisher, although confident, w.is discouraged and distrusted on every hand ; the office
was located in tlie second room, upstairs, over Living-ton's clothing house, corner .Main and
Washington streets; when the paper went to press about midnight on the Htth of January, the
press-room was tiironged with a crowd eager to see the infant; fears were whispered of its recep-
tion, and its early demise was predicted as certain ; in the face of the unlimited amount of dis-
trust exhibited, the editor sometimes looks back and wonders how he ever had the courage to
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 825
pursue his adventure ; but his confidence never once flagged ; a discouraging accident happened
at the very outset : owing to utter carelessness on the part of the pressman, who had been
drinking, two of the forms shifted out of phice on the press, and several columns of bright, new
type were mashed and ruined in spots ; although late and everybody worn out, the matter had to
be almost wholly reset, which occupied the whole night, and the papers were not all printed until
4 o'clock A. M. ; Sunday dawned dark, and threatening rain ; but a small army of excited news-
boys were soon scampering over the city, yelling — " Here's yer Sundai/ Mornhif/ Eye." and their
enthusiasm was enhanced by the reaily s iles they met with. The Eye was looked upon with
favor, and from that time to the present one — one and a half years — has constantly increased in
favor and circulation ; it, to-day, circulates in almost every home in the city; has been twice
enlarged and improved ; enjoys an envied advertising patronage, and is in a condition of gratify-
ing prosperity ; in material and influence, it has trebled itself in value, and is not incumbered
by a single debt In Octolier, 1878, it was removed to elegant rooms over the People's Bank,
corner of Center and Washington streets, wheie it now has the finest location and most cheerful
office in the city ; its subscription price is $2 a year, postage paid, or 5 cents a copy ; the city
circulation is far in excess of that of any other Bloomington local paper.
Its editor, Holland R. Persinger, was born at Xenia, Ohio, June 9, 1852 ; he began
his career as a journalist or printer in the office of the Sidney (Ohio) Dmiocrat, a weekly paper, in
February, IS'jy, finishing his apprenticeship in the office of the La Fayette Daily Courier ; he was
employed as city reporter and editor of the La Fayette Sundai/ Leader, nearly five years previous
to his advent in Bloomington. In 1877, thinking he could manage a paper of his own, he
traveled over Illinois in search of a loca'ion, landing at Bloomington, and, in January, 1878,
produced The Ei/e, of which he is still editor and proprietor.
J. THOMPSON, grocer, of the firm of Thompson & Jameson, Bloomington; was born in
Montgomery Co., Ohio, Oct. 19, 18J2, where he spent his early life ; he hts received a good busi-
ness education. During the late war, he enlisted with the 2(1 Ohio V. I., entering the service in
August, 1 861 ; he participated in many of the most severe battles of the war — such as Perry-
ville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga and Mission Ridge, and the march of Sherman to Atlanta; be
escaped without a scratch, and was mustered out after a service of thirty-seven months. He
then attended commercial college at Dayton, Ohio, for a time, and afterward re-entered the army
in the Quartermaster's Department at Little Rock, Ark., as shipping-clerk, which position he
held for six months; he then went to Galveston, Tex., where he was appointed collector for the
G.. H. & H. R. R Co. ; after remaining here awhile, he went to Lacey, Va., where he acted as
assistant Postmaster for two years. He has held a number of prominent and responsible posi-
tions. He is doing business at 701 North Main street, where he keeps a well-assorted stock of
goods, sold at bottom figures. He married Miss Amanda C. (farrier, July 81, 1868.
J. R. TANKER •^LEY, photographer Bloomington; was born in Middlesex Co., Va. ; at the
age of 18 years, he commenced to learn the photographic art with Shew & Marks, of Baltimore,
the leading artists of that city ; in 1867, he came West and located in Bloomington ; in 1870,
he commenced photographing in the rooms he now occupies, and is one of the oldest and finest
photographic artists in the city; has liad over thirty years' experience iu the art; those who
visit his parlors will see that he produces first-class work.
LEWIS B. THOMAS, insurance agent; Bloomington; was born in McLean Co. 111., Sept. 27,
1838, and is the son of William and Catherine (Hains) Thomas. William Thomas is a native of
Pennsylvania, having come to Ohio at an early day, where he was raised on a farm. In Febru-
ary, 1836, he came to Illinois, and located in what is now the city of Bloomington, McLean Co.
He was engaged in farming until about 1841, when he entered the saw mill business, and con-
tinued it for five years. He was elected to the office of (Jounty Treasurer and Assessor of
McLean Co., and filled the same for about thirteen years. He was also treasurer of the war
fund. He was engaged very extensively in the live-stock business and was, at one time, one of
the largest stock-dealers in this vicinity ; he followed this business about thirty-five years. In
1867, he filled. He entered the insurance business in 184D, and, in 1859, his son, Louis B.,
the subject of this sketch, succeeded him in the business. He represents the best insurance
companies in the country. Mr. Thomas was elected City Treasurer of Bloomington in 1860, and
filled the office with credit.
J. E. VOAK, M. D., Bloomington. Another of the old physicians of Bloomington, who
has been in constant practice for twenty years, is Dr. J. E. Voak. He was born March 16, 1829,
and is a native of Ya'es Co., N. Y. He began the study of medicine under Dr. D. Lathrop, of
Syracuse, N. Y.; attended and became a graduate of the Syracuse Medical College in 1855. He
also, in 1866, became a graduate of the Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, Phil-
adelphia. He began practice in Independence, Iowa, where he remained nearly two years ; was
also engaged in the drug business during this time. The next seven years he spent in practice
in Mason and Logan Cos., 111., and, in 1.H66, located in Bloomington, where he has since
resided, engaged in the practice of his profession. He is also the author of a medical work of
320 pages, known as Dr. J. E. Voak's Family Guide. This work is now found in huu'lreds of
families, and is, of itself, a proof of his study of the science of medicine and of his ability as a
physician.
826 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
AV. S. VINYARD, manufacturer of clothing. Bloomington. The success of any enterprise
depemls almost entirely upon the financiering of the party who is conducting it. Though a man
may meet with fair success as a merchant, he may be much more capable of conducting the busi-
ness of some lines of manufacturing. This seems to have been the case with Mr. W. S. Vinyard,
who is a native of Pope Co., 111., and was for two years engaged in the dry-goods trade in .Jack-
sonville, 111., and in this city from 1873 until 1878, when he engaged in his present business of
the manufacturing of overalls, jackets and jeans pants ; his factory and salesroom is located at
No 101 W. Market. The building being 90x22 feet, two floors, one would hardly suppose so
much business could be done in so small a space ; the first floor is used as a cutting-room, sales-
room, storeroom and office ; the second is given up exclusively to manufacturing; here, he has
twenty Wheeler & Wilson sewing machines, every one of which is kept going; he employs, in all,
about twenty-seven hands, most of whom are young ladies ; the most of his goods are shipped to
points in Illinois, after supplying the home trade. His business aggregates about $40,000 per
annum. In establishing and successfully operating his factory, he has done a business that is
not only a credit to himself, but a benefit generally to the citizens and the city of Bloomington.
DR. C. WAKEFIELD, Bloomington; was a native of Watertown, N. Y., and was born .July
,_^ 12, 1815 ; he is a direct descendant of *lr-Wakefield, who emigrated from England about the
//j/^yeari-ty80; his father, Joseph Wakefield, was a native of Rutland, Vt., and was one of the fir.^t
^ party of emigrants to AVatertown, N. Y.; here he improved a farm, married Susan Sawyer, who emi-
grated from New Hampshire, and raised a family of six children,. viz., Betsey, Elisha, Orion,
Zera, Cyrenius and Egbert. Cyrenius served out his minority with his brothers on his father's
farm, working during the summers, attending and teaching school during the winters. In the
spring of 1837, in his 22d year, he emigrated to Bloomington, 111, going by steamer around the
lakes ; at Chicago he took stage to La Salle ; in the night he was arousdl by a horn announcing
.the arrival of a steamboat, on which he took passage to Pekin, 111 ; from this point there was no
public conveyance to Bloomington ; he got his trunk carried on a load of merchandise and
reached Bloomington himself very comfortably in two days by his pedestrian ability. He lived
in this vicinity two years and taught a large school three miles south of the town for fifteen
months. The schoolhouse had an immense fire-place in one end, as stoves were a rare article in
the West at that time. He then bought land west of Farmer City, in DeWitt Co., and commenced
the labors of improving a farm. By teaching school winters and improving his land summers,
he, in four years, had a good farm, with a comfortable frame house upon it. This musi have
suggested the need of a housekeeper, for he then took another tour over the lakes back to
Watertown, N. Y., and, on the 17th of August, 1843, was married to Miss Harriet Richardson, who
had been, for many years, his old sch(>alma"^e. Another trip over the lakes and across the then
prairies, and they reached their cozy fut-m-house. where they commenced the duties and experi-
ences of domestic life. His plan was to enter into an extensive stock-raising business as soon
as he could. In .June, 1845, Dr. Zera Wakefield, who graduated in Cincinnati, and had, for ten
years, been doing an extensive practice in Arkansas, came North to visit his brother. He liked
the country so much better than the South that he concluded to settle here. After visiting his
friends East, he returned to Arkansas, settled up his business there during the winter, and, in
May, 1847, arrived for a permanent location. He and Cyrenius then formed a business partner-
ship : he advanced money against Cyrenius' farm and stock ; they then started a country store,
which was quite successful under the management of Cyrenius, while Dr. Z. Wakefield entered
immediately into the practice of his profession. After about two months, the miasmatic fevers
commenced and were of unusual prevalence and severity. With his accumulated skill in sub-
duing the violent congestive fevers of the South, he was able to break up the most severe cases
here in a few hours. His wonderful success created a great sensation, and his fame soon
extended fifty miles around. With the aid of a driver and a change of horses, he was quite una-
ble to fill all of the demands upon hira. When they could not get him, they wanted some of his
medicine, and this necessitateil keeping it prepared, with directions, to supply the demand. He
prepared concise recipes of the compound he used, and instructed Cyrenius in all of the arts of
compounding, so that he was able to supply the demand. This soon necessitated printed direc-
tions and a uniformity of bottles, and thus originated the highly-celebrated Wakefield's medi-
cines. During the simmerof i847, some demand for agencies arose in the surrounding country,
which was supplied to the extent of forty or fifty This condition of events gradually
changed their country store into a medicine laboratory. In June, 1848, after two years of prac-
tice here, Dr Z. Wakefield took a violent congestion of the lungs, which caused his death in
thirty-six hours. This was a heavy stroke on Cyrenius, who was greatly attached to his brotlier.
Tiie demand for these medicines was great, and, much of his means being invested in it, he
wisely bought his brother's interest and continued to extend their usefulness. He sold his firm
and moved to Bloomington in February, 18">0, in order to get better postal and express fticilities.
He applied himself diligently to the study of medicine and pharmacy to prepare himself for a
more extensive work, and here gained the title of Doctor. During his first few years in Blooui-
ington, he did quite •in extensive drug business in company with Robert Thompson. His medi-
cine laboratory was then in the rear of the drug store. In 1856, he built a brick labora ury
near his dwelling-house, and to which subsequent additions have given its present extensive
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 827
proportions. In 1857, he retired from the drug trade, and gave his whole attention to his medi-
cine business. He has pursued his business with wonderful energy until now (1879) he has
extended the local agencies over all of the Western .States and accumulated quite a large capital.
But his pathway has not all been sunshine, for, in February, 1853, he lost, by fire, his new two-
story dwelling-house, which he had built the fall before, with much of his furniture, and with no
insurance. In the great fire of Oct. lb, 1855, he lost, in addition to his half of the drug store
and building, his medicine factory and a tliree-story brick building, with small insurance. He
has lost heavily by security debts and insurance companies, all of which he waded through with-
out faltering. In 1871, Dr. Wakefield took in partnership his son Oscar, and his brothei'-in-law,
C. S. Jones, and surrendered to them the most of the labors and perplexing cares of his exten-
sive work, that he might improve his health and enjoy more completely the fruition of his many
years of toil. Since his retirement from active duties, he has spent considerable time in travel-
ing. In 1874, he spent the spring in Florida and other Southern States, and the summer in Col-
orado ; the summer of 1876 he spent with his fiimily at Atlantic City and the Centennial, and in
the summer of 1878 he, with his family, traveled four months in Europe. He has raised a fam-
ily of four children, viz., Emma, Oscar, Hattie and Homer; Emma is now Mrs. A. S. Eddy, and
) esides in Bloomington ; Oscar is married and occupies the Doctor's former residence, and he
occupies his fine stone residence, which he built in 1871 ; Hattie and Homer are yet in their
teens. Dr. Wakefield is a man of very firm and decided priiiciple ; politically, he is a Rerub-
lican. After the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he was among the foremo'^t in advocating
the formation of a new party, and he was one of those who organized the Republican party in
Bloomington, ai. the first meeting, Sept. 9, 1854. He is decided in his religious views, and fol-
lows his convictions to their legitimate results. He is at present a very liberal supporter of
the Free Congregational (]hurch of this city ; in fact, he is one of the most liberal citizens of
Bloomington, ever ready to assist those who are in real distress ; during the past winter, he
gave much time to the work of charity, being at the head of the Public Committee on Distribu-
tion, and, at the same time, vras a liberal subscriber to the cause. Dr. Wakefield is a man of
quiet, retiring manners, never seeking public office or any kind of notoriety. He was sought by
the public, a few years ago, as a member of the City Board of Education, which position he filled
very ably, and declined re-election. As a citizen, he stands among the foremost of the best-
known of the many public-spirited men of our city, having a fame that extends outside the city,
county or State, being, in fact, a man of national reputation.
WILCOX BROS., dealers in dry goods, Bloomington ; one of the best and largest stocks of
dry goods in Bloomington may be found at the above-named store ; Mr. Frank B. Wilcox is a
native of New York ; his first experience in the dry-goods business was as a clerk in that city ;
in 1868, he commenced business as one of the firm of Richardson & Wilcox, in Bloomington,
which afterward changed to Wilcox Bros.; these gentlemen now occupy a room 25x106 feet.
Mr, L. T. Wilcox attends to the purchasing of goods, and has had over eleven years' experience
in the dry goods busines-i ; he understands the quality of goods and knows the best places to buy
the same ; those wanting any kind of dry-goods, silks and dress goods, will do well to call on
^Vilcox Bros.
FRANKLIN WHITE, Bloomington; was born in Oswego, N. Y., May 13, 1833, and is the
son of E. White, a contractor and mill-builder; from 1839 to 1845, the family resided in several
of the leading cities— Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis; in 1845, they settled in Chicago, then a
city of 13,000 inhabitants; hei-e Mr. White remained until 1860; he learned the trade of a
pattern-maker in Chicago ; Mr. White states that he saw the first railroad laid out from Chicago,
and the first telegraph line laid into it ; he and his brother had a little experience in the mer-
cantile business in Chicago • in ^lay, 1860, Mr. White came to Bloomington and accepted a posi-
tion in the Chicago & Alton Railroad shops, as foreman of the pattern department; this place
he has filled ever since ; in 1876, he was elected to office as Alderman from the Sixth Ward ; in
1878, he was re-elected to same office, having proven himself a man of acknowledged ability.
Mr. White's political opinions are Republican.
Z. WATERS, M. D., Bloomington. The longest established and representative eclectic
physician of Bloomington is Dr. Z. Wateis, a native of Watertown, Jefferson Co., N. Y.; he was
born May 16, 1836, and, with his parents, removed to De Witt Co., 111., in 1844 ; early in life,
he decided upon the profession of medicine, and read the allopathic system, and, in 1859, com
menced practice in Van Buren, Crawford Co., Ark., where he continued for three years ; in
July, 1861, he returned to Bl omington. and. in October of the same year, entered the Ec'ectic
Mfdical Institute, of Cincinnati, where he graduated in the spring of 1862. He then enlisted in
the army as a private soldier, and was soon pr.imoted to the p sition of Assistant Surgeon of the
68th 1. V. I.; with his regiment, he joined the army ■ f the Potomac, where he was placed in
charge of what was known as the Octagon Hospital, two miles west of Alexandria. Va. At the
expiration of the term of enlistment, he returned with his regiment to Springfield, where they
were discharged in September, 1862; in October, 1862, he commenced the practice of medicine
in Bloomington, 111., where he has continued to the present time. Dr. Waters is the author of
the well-known "Waters' Family Medicines;" also the inventor of the "Waters' Abdominal
and Uterine Supporter." He is a member of the Illinois State Eclectic Medical Society, and of
828 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
the United States Eclectic Medicil Society : as a physician and as a man of honor, he stands
high in the estimation of the people of Blooniincrtnn.
JOHN C. WILDBERGER, saloon-keeper, Blooniington ; was born in Switzerland in 1888,
and is the son of Jacob and Mary F. Wildbarger, of Sw tzerland; in 1858, he sailed for America
and landed in New Orleans in April, 1853; here he remained but a short time, and then came
to Blooniington in the same yeir, which has been his home ever since. He enlisted in Co. A,
101st I. V. I., as Orderly Sergeant, in 1862, and was mustered out in 1865 ; he participated in
the battles of Resaca, Lookout Mountain (the battle above the clouds), Kenesaw Mountaia,
Atlanta, etc., and was with Stierman on the march to the sea, through the swamps of the Caro-
linas, and at Washington on the grand review ; he did good service and was only sick about two
months ; with this exception, he served full time. At the close of the war. he returned ho tie to
Bloomiugton ; Mr. Wiklberger was in the bakery business about five years : he was, also, for a
short time, a resident of .Morgan Co., Ill He married Hattie Weersh, of Switzerland; they
have four children — lohn, Casper, Hattie and Lotta.
FRANCIS X. VVOCHNER, brewer, of the firm of Meyers & Wochner, Blooniington : was
born in Germany in 1832: came to America in 1839, landed in New Orleans, thence to Illinois,
and located near Springfield, where he engaged in farming ; from there he came to Blooihington ;
here he entered with Mr. .Myers upon the making of beer ; they employ about ten men and draw
their patronage from the surrounding country.
S. R. WHITE, lumber, Bloomiugton. One of the prominent contractors and builders of
Bloomington is S. R. White ; he is also a dealer in lumber, lath, lime, shingles, etc, his estab-
lishment being located at 304 East Douglas street. Mr. White is a native of Huntington Co.,
Ind., ; it was there that he learned the trade of a carpenter and builder; since his residence in
Bloomington, he has, in many instances, proven iiimself a thoroughly accomplisLed workman as
well as a responsible contractor. He came to Bloomington in 1868. and first began working at
his trade, and in 1874, he embarked in the lumber trade, and contracting and building; iil this,
he has proven himself a good financier, as well as a reliable contractor; during the season, he
employs quite a number of men and frequently has several buildings in course of construction
ai thesame time ; he is now doing a good business, which is the result of his own energy,
industry and good financiering.
J. L. WHITE, M. D., Bloomington. Among the leading physicians of Bloomington, whose
name and ability are familiar to the people, is Dr. J. L White; he is a native of Westminster,
Mass : after receiving a liberal education here and at AVilliston Seminary, of Easthampton, he
began the study of medicine, graduating at the Harvard Medical College in December, 1853.
Previous to his graduating, he had been for some months one of the Medical house pupils «f
the Massachusetts General Hospital ; subsequent to this, he spent several months in foreign
travel and study. In 1854, he came West and located at Jersey ville. 111., where he resided,
engaging in the practice of his profession, until March, 1870, when he removed to Blooming-
ton Here, by his close attention to business and thorough knowledge of the science of medicine, he
has met with very gratifying success. He is a member of the Illinois State Medical Society and of the
Jersey and McLean County Medical Societies, in both of which he has held the office of I'res
dent. He has, at various times, contributed articles on medical subjects to various medical
journals. During the war of the rebellion, he was Surgeon of the Board of Enrollment of the
loth Congressional District; for six years he has been District Surgeon of the Chicago & Alton
Railroad. Feb. 10, 1857 he married Miss Harriet, daughter of Samuel Hawley, of Jersey-
ville, 111.
HENRY M. WAIT, Bloomington, was born in Franklin Co., Mass., in 1834; in 1856, he
came West, to Illinois; in 1867, he came to Bloomington, where he has been engaged in the
flour and feed business and in the manufacture of brooms Mr. ^^'ait, at the breaking out of
the war, enlisted in Company G, 18ih U. S. Inf., as First Sergeant; he served until the expira-
tion of liis term, and was honorably discharged ; lie was in a number of prominent battles, with
the Army of the Cumberland. Mr. Wait is a Republican in politics. He holds the office of
Health Commissioner.
CHARLES H. WAIT, proprietor of Wait's Hotel, Bloomington; was born in Windsor, Vt.,
May 10, 1H20, and is the son of ('apt. Joseph Wait, whose father was Gen. Marmaduke Wait.
The subject of this sketch was brought up on the farm and o-radu'^'ed from the district school
when very young, namely, when 8 years old ; he then entered the hotel business, as hostler and
bar-tender, in Perkinsville, Vt.; then was engaged in driving a four-horse team from Whitehall,
N. y.. to Claremont, N. H., over the Green Mountains, hauling flour, principally. In 1840, he
came West and located at Chicago, then a small town ; he became general manager of a stage-
route — one of the first at Cliicago ; in 1H42, he went to New Orleans, and was engaged in man-
aging an omTiil)US-line ; thence to Vincennes, Ind.. and in cliarge of iin omnibus-line running
from Louisville. Ky., to Vincennes, Ind. He married at Washington, Ind., in 1844, to Elizabeth
Lucas. In 1845, he commenced farming in Davis Co.. Ind., and farmed until 1853. He com-
menced farming a poor man, but, with good m inagement and hard work, he was very successful
From farming, he went to Washington, Ind., and purchased an important hotel, of whicii he
remained proprietor from 1858 to 1855. He then went to St. Louis and was engaged in the
BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP. 829
livery and sale stable business, doing a very extensive business and furnished many hnrses for
the Goveraineut. He was Government Inspector during the first year of the war. In 186:'), he
-came to Bloomington and married Mrs. M. C. Burch. He was tor about two years in the mer-
cantile bu'siness : with this exception, he has been engaged, during his residence in Blooming-
ton, in the hotel business, and keeps one of the most home-like and pleasant hotels in the city.
PRESTON WOOD, clergyman, Blooraington ; was born in Yorkshire, England, in 132-3, and
is the son of Preston Wood, a tanner and currier. When he was but 14 years of age, he com-
menced to learn the printer's trade in Leeds. England, and served as an apprentice for seven
years. In 1847, he preached his first sermon in York England, and was taken into the British
Conference. In 1852, he came to America, and landed in New York City; here he followed his
trade as a printer for one winter. In 18J2, he came West, to Illinois, and joined the Illinois
Conference, in Winchester, 111., in the fall of 1852. His firsi appointment was at Hillsborough,
111 ; thence to Waverly, Beardstown, Le Roy, Decatur, Atlanta, Clinton, Lincoln, Danville and
other places. In 1861 and 18h2, he was Chaplain of the 38th 1. V. I. He is the only surviving
one of four brothers who enlisted in the army. At the close of the war, he became Presiding
Elder of the D.inville District for four years; thence to Bloomington four years. He is now
finishing his second year as Financial Agent of the Wesleyan University. His son, Wdliam T.,
is a graduate of West Point, and is now Second Lieutenant in the 18th U. S. A.
JOHN F. WOOD, pattern-maker, Bloomingtnn. Among the many lines of industry and
enterprise represented in Bloomington, is the pattern minufactory of John F. Wood, locited on
East Douglas street; Mr. Wood is a native of Virginia: he came West in 1854, and located at
Bloomington, where he learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner; finding himself capjtble of
doing fine mechanical work, a'ld having a natural talent in that line, he learned the art of pat-
era-making, which, when properly done, requires the finest mechanical skill; he hus his estab-
lishment fitted with all the necessary business fecilities in the way of machinery, having un
engine of ten-horse power, and an endless variety of tools ; by his energy and industry, he has
established a fine business, receiving many orders for fine work in the State of Illinois and
many of the Western States; he also does a general repairing business; he is well-known to
the citizens of Bloomington, and many dealers in the State, as a man whose honor and integ-
rity is above reproach.
PETER WHITMER, banker, Bloomington; was born in Chambersburg, Penn., Feb. 22,
1828, where he was raised and schooled ; during his early life, he learned tlie trade of a har-
ness-maker and siddler ; in 1852, he came to Bloomington, 111., and began the harness and sad-
dlery business with M. L. Moore; this he continued for two y- ars, then for the ne.\t three
years he was in business with Parke & Hoopes, grocery and provisions; in 1857, he engaged in
the lumber business, which he followed successfully for some seventeen years ; during most, of
this time, he was in partnership with George Bruner ; Mr. Whitmer came to Bloomington with-
out property, but being possessed of energy and perseverance, he gradually climbed the ladder
of fortune, till lo-day, he is one of the solid men of Bloomington. In .January, 1875, he was
appointed President of the People's Bank, of which he was one of the original stockholders; in
business he has been a successful man, and has acquired a large property. He married Mis-.
Lucy McDonald, formerly of Winchester, Ky., Feb. 22, 1855 , they have raise I a family of six.
ALBERT WELCH, grocer, Bloomington. The aiiventof this gentleman to McLean Co.,d;ites
back to the year 1835, at which time there comparatively few settlers, and the coun ry pre-
sented rather a desolate appearance; he had but little means, but was possessed of willing hands
and a determination. He was married to Sarah, daughter of G. Randolph, Esq., of this county,
Oct. 22, 1846 ; they first located in what is now Randolph Township, where he entered his first
forty acres ; they prospered and gradually added to their land until they had 500 acres of as fine
land as may be found in McLean Co. They have raised a family of two boys and two girls. He
is now doing business at 225 East Front street, where he keeps a well-assorted stock of provisions
and family groceries.
W. M. WILLIAMS, grocer, Bloomington; was born in Montgomery Co., Tenn, Aug. 11,
1839; his parents removed to Christian Co., Ky., in 1843, where he was raised and educated ;
lie came to McLean Co. in 1856, and, for a time, was engaged in agricultural pursuits; in 1858,
he emigrated to Washington Co., Tex., where he began mercantile life, and, after a time, returned
and resumed farming. In August, 1862. he enlisted witli the 108tli 1. V. I , and was in many of
the most severe battles of the war; at the expiration of his enlisted term (three years), he returned
to Bloomington ; in 1866, he removed to La Fayette, Ky , where he embarked in the grocery
business, in which he continued until 1868, when he returned to Bloomington and opened a
grocery store; he is located at 204 East Front street, where lie keeps a fine grocery, in wliicli is
oflFered a well-assorted stock of goods, sold at bottom figures. He married Miss Sarah E.,
daughter of D. J. Livingston, Esq., an early settler of this county, Nov. 5, 1868.
MRS. ALLEN WITHERS, widow, Bloomington. But few of the citizens of McLean Co.
who are now deceased were better known or more respected than Mr. A. Withers; he was a
native of .lessamine Co., Ky ; came to McLean Co. in 1834. On May 2, 1836 he married Miss
Sarah Rice, who was also a native of .Jessamine Co. His first business in Bloomington was in
the dry-goods trade, which he followed until 1837, when they moved to Clark Co. Mo., wliere
830 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES :
they remained eight years : he returned to Bloomington and, in 1847, in company with Mr.
Temple, again embarked in the dry-goods business, the firm being known as Withers & Temple;
from this he engaged in the hardware business, which he continued for three years, when her
gave up the mercantile business entirely : moved to the country and engaged in the fine-stock
trade: he had been very successful in business; had just secured a fine property in Bloomins:-
ton, and was preparing to move there when he was taken sick, from which he never recovered ;
his death occurred March 3, 1864, in his 56th year. After his death, Mrs. Withers removed to
their residence in the city„ which is located at No 305 West Locust street ; she is a very pleas-
ant, genial lady ; is well known, loved and respected by a large circle of friends.
P. WEBBER, M. D., Bloomington. Dr. P. Webber is a nntive of France; born Jan. 5,
1813; became to the United States in I860, and lodited in Peoria, 111., where he remained
until 1869 : he is a regularly graduated M. D.. and, previous to his coming to the United States,
he had been a surgeon in the French army during their crusade in Africa; this was fr 'Ui 1834
ti 1839; when he left Peoria, in 1869, he came to Bloomington, where he has since resided.
His people were those of rank and nobility; the name used to be spelled De Webber, but, dur-
ing the time of Robespierre and the revoiutiou of 1704, his people, with many others, were
caused to suffer, and, as is the French custom, the name is now spelled without the De. The
Doctor has a good practice, having many patients from adistance who come to him to be treated fi.r
old chronic diseases, as he makes a specialty of this kind of human troubles, and has quite a repu-
tation in this respect. His oflBce and residence is lecaied at No. 607 West Market street.
H. B. WRIGHT, physician and surgeon, Bloomington. The science of medicine is of such
mjignitude that years may be spent in the study of some particular part of it. Dr. H. B. Wright,
one of the well-established physicians of recognized ability of Bloomington, has spent much time
in the study of that particular part of the medical science known as female diseases ; he is a.
native of Otsego Co., N. Y. ; was born Nov. '^0, 1824. He is a graduate of the Hahnemann
Medical College, Chicago ; he began his practice in Bloomington in 1869 ; his suite of rooms is
located at 211 North Main stree'. Having a great many lady patients, the Doctor has taken special
pride in fitting up his office and reception rooms : here he has every convenience, his office
being supplied with choice medical works, fine cabinets of medicines, elegant adjustable chairs,
as well as many fine and rare specimens of anatomy and geology ; since his practice here he has
met with a gratifying success, having cured some cases of female diseases of twenty-two years'
standing ; he is a pleasant, genial gentleman as well as a well-read physician, both of which are
conducive to his success.
S. C. WILSON, D. D. S., Bloomington ; among the leading dentists of this city who have
established a name and reputation for fine and lasting work is Dr. S. C. Wilson, who is a native
of Newburgh, N. Y. ; he wns born Aug. 20, 1841, and began the study of dentistry in 1857, with
Dr John Cottam. In 1861, he became a member of the 71st Regiment N. Y. Militia, and the
s ime year was ordered to Washington, D. C, participating in the first battle of Bull Run; he
returned to Newburgh, and in 1862, his regiment was ordered to Baltimore ; in 1863, he entered
the 168th N. Y. V. I., and remained in the army until 1864. Upon his return from the army,
he resumed the practice of dentistry, becoming a partner of his old tutor. Dr. Cottam, remaining
with him about one year, when he sold out to him and came West, locating at this city, where he
lias since resided, engaging in the practice of his profession. Here, by his close attention to
business and his thorough knowledge of dentistry, he has established a fine practice. His suite
of rooms are located corner of Jefferson and Main, where he is supplied with all the equipments
necessary to do first-class work.
H. D. WHITCOMB, painter, Bloomington; was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Feb. 13,
1830, and was taken by his parents to Monroe. Mich., in 1832, remaining until 1885 ; he then
leturned to his native county ; in 1839, he came to Illinois, and located in Putnam Co., where
he lived until 1851 ; thence to Ottawa, for one year. • He attended the Judson College (of Put-
nam Co.) for a time, and, by study and practice at home, he acquired a good education. He
resided for about five years in Lowell, La Salle Co. He practiced medicine in Amboy, Lee Co.,
for about eleven years. He is a man of fine physical as well as mental powers, and a natural
artist; his taste being in that direction, he removed to Bloomington, in 1868, and has since
given his attention to fine painting, in which he enjoys the reputation of being second to none.
He married Miss Laura C. Hurd, of Middleport, Niagara Co., N. Y., March 1, 1851 ; they have
five children.
JOHN T. WALTON, plow manuf^icturer, Bloomington. Prominent among the business
industries of Bloomington is the plow manufactory of John T. Walton, located at 21<i and 212
W. Washington street. Mr. Walton is a native of Bracken Co., Ky. ; he came to Bloomington in
1840, with his people; In 1849, he began work in the plow manufactory of Mr. Brokaw, serving
an apprenticeship of four years; in 1854, he, in company with Mr. H. Hastings, began business
in the manufacture of wagons and stocking plows; in the fall of 1855, he began business alone
in the manufacture of wagons; in 1857, he took Mr. A. Hamilton as a partner, and they began
the manufacture of plows ; in 1866, he >)ought Mr. Hamilton's interest in the business, and has
since conducted it alone ; he is now conducting one among the largest manufacturing establish-
ments in the city, liis factory being 50 feet front by 115 feet deep, three stories, besides an " L'*
NORMAL TOWNSHIP. 831
of two stories, 22x55 ; he gives employment to from twelve to eighteen men, and manufactures
about two thousand five hundred plows per annum. A more complete conception of his busi-
ness may be gained by referring to his business card, which is found in the business directory of
this work. This large business is the result of his own energy and industry and good financier-
ing. He is a man who is well known, it being frequently said of him, " His word is as good as
his bond."
NORMAL TOWNSHIP.
HIRAM BAKER, real estate, Normal; was born near Troy, N. Y., Sept. 27, 1818; son of
B. and Lucy (Ives) Baker, who were of English descent During his early life, he obtained a
good business education, laying the foundation for future usefulness. He came to Illinois in
1837, locating in Fulton Co ; then, in 1S41, removed to Peoria Co.. where he was engaged in
real estate some twenty-seven years ; in fact, Mr. Baker has been a successful dealer in real
estate thus far through life. He has improved a large amount of land ; now owns 230 acres in
the homestead located near Brimfield, 111., and a large tract of land in Henry and Ford Cos. ; alto-
gether, he owns 2,200 acres of improved land. He enjoys the reputation of being a public-spirited
and highly-respected citizen, having always taken an active part in all matters pertaining to the
good of the community. He married Miss Sarah Frye, of Peoria, 111., Feb. 16, 1847 ; they have
raised two children — Hattie P., now Mrs. George Champion, of Normal, and Frank R. ; he
married INIiss Delia A. Sheton, of Normal, June 3, 1875.
WILLIAM H. BEDINGER, farmer, P. 0. Normal; son of Joseph and Nancy P. (Moore)
Bedinger, who were among the early settlers of McLean Co. ; was born in Nicholas Co., Ky.,
Feb. 5, 1836, where he was raised and educated. He removed to McLean Co. with his parents
in 1856, settling in Normal Township. He owns 200 acres of as fine land as may be found in
the county. He married Miss Mary E. Bishop, of McLean Co., March 6, 1861 ; they have had
seven children, only three of whom are now living — Daniel H., John and Nellie.
CATHARINE BITTNER, farmer; P.O. Normal; widow of Conrad Bittner ; was born May
20, 1830, in Germany; came to the United States in 1854, and resided in Butler Co., Ohio,
where she married Mr. Conrad Bittner Sept. 20, 1855 ; they came to McLean Co. in 1856, and
located where she now resides in 1864. Mr. Bittner died July 10, 1866, beloved by friends and
relatives, and respected by all who knew him, leaving a family of two — -Anna E. (now Mrs.
George Bohrer) and John, who is superintending the home farm, which consists of 164 acres,
with a fine residence.
JESSE BLACKBURN, hardware. Normal ; was born in Lancaster Co., Penn , Oct. 15, 1829,
where he was raised and schooled ; also learned the trade of a cabinet-maker ; he came to Mer-
cer Co., 111., in 1847, where he followed his trade, together with carpentering, until 1849, when
he removed to Lee Co., Iowa, continuing his trade at different places until 1856, when he
removed to Nebraska, where he lived some four years, then returned to Illinois, where he mar-
ried Miss Eliza Baily, of Tazewell Co., 111., in September, 1859; they moved to Nebraska, where
they lived until 1865, then returned to Illinois; in 1867, they located in Normal, where they
have since lived; his present business he established soon after settling here, and, by square
dealing, has built up a flourishing trade ; they have a family of five children, three boys and
two girls.
L. H. BOHRER, farmer; P. 0. Normal; born in Brown Co., Ohio, July 17, 1830, where
he was raised ; during his early life, the advantages for an education were few; he came to
McLean Co., in 1856, where he has since lived, a well-to do citizen; he has made agricultural
pursuits his principal occupation thus far through his life. He married Miss Nannie Artist, of
McLean Co., 111., March 25, 1875; she was born in Clark Co., Ky., July 12, 1841 ; they have a
beautiful home and farm, consisting of ninety-three acres of highly-cultivated land ; they are
much-respected citizens.
W. P. BUCHANAN, stock-dealer ; P. 0. Normal ; was born in the city of Philadelphia,
November 6, 1853; he came to Bloomington, 111., with his parents in 1861, and receive 1 a good
business education ; he has followed farming and stock-dealing thus far through life, and has,
by his industry and good financiering, been quite successful; he located in Normal in 1876. He
married Miss Rebecca J. Dryer, of Normal, Oct. 13, 1876; they are well known and much
rGSDGCtGCl-
LESTER L. BURRINGTON, Principal of the High School, Normal University, Normal:
was born in Burke, Caledonia Co., Vt., March 24, 1838; he attended the district schools of his
native State, then the Green Mountain Liberal Institute, of South'Woodstock, Vt., now known as
the Green Mountain Perkins' Institute; he graduated at Tufts' College, near Boston, in 1866;
Mr. Burrington taught his first school in 1858, twenty-one years ago, in a district schoolhouse of
Vermont ; from there he went to Franklin, Mass., where he was Professor of Ancient Languages
in Dean Academy, where he remained about three and a half years ; he returned to Vermont
and took a similar position in Goddard Seminary ; here he remained about four years ; from
832 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
there he came West, and was in St. Paul, Minn., one year ; .Tan. 1, 1874, he accepted a position
in the State Normal University, with which he has been connected ever since.
GE(311GE CHAMPION, hardware, Normal; was born in the city of Bristol, England, Feb.
24, 1840, where he was educated ; he came to this country with his parents in 18')4, locating in
Elgin, where he learned the trade of a machinist, also that of a carpenter; lie enlisted with the
G9ih I. V. I. ; went out in 1^(')2, and served t > the expiration of his enlisted term (100 days),
after which he located in Chicigo, where he followed his trade until IHUT, when he came to
Normal and embarked in the hardware and tinware business, in company with his brother
Thomas; this partnersliip continued until 18T8, since which time he has managed the business.
He is a practical business man, industrious and accommodating, and has built up a large trade.
He married Mis'* Haitie Balier, of Normal, Jan. G, 18G9; they have three children — Gertie B.,
George and Frank B.
AVILLTAVI CLARK, farmer; P. 0. Normal: a pioneer of McLean Co.: was born in County
Tyrone, Ireland, April 9, 1806, where he received a good, common schooling. In 1831, he
emigrated to New Brunswick, and settled at St. .John's; thence to Illinois in 1840, locating in
McLean Co., where he has since resided, a well-to-do citizen. The trials and hardships of a
pioneer life are yet fresh in his memory. He married Miss Matilda Irvine, of his native country,
Jan. 11, 1830; she was born in June, 1810. They have, by industry and economy, accumu-
late I a property, consisting of 188 acres of land, under fine cultivation, and a beautiful res-
idence; they have had ten children — only four of whom are now living.
KKZIAH COLLINS, farmer, and widow of Elmer Collins; P. 0. Normal; was born in
Oxford Co., Me., April 2o, 1826, where she was raised and educated; she is the daughter of
Silas and Hannah (Davis) McLaughlin. They removed to Boston, where she married Mr.
Elmer Collins Sept. 16. 1847; he was engaged in the mercantile business in Boston until 1854,
when they came to McLean Co., 111., where he engaged in the grain trade, continuing two years;
he then turned his attention entirely to farming. He died Jan. 18, 1865, leaving a family of
sis — three boys antl three girls — four of whom are now living. He was a thorough business
man — beloved by relatives, and respected by all who knew him. His sons now superintend the
farm, which consists of 360 acres, under fine cultivation.
J(^H N W. COOK, professor of mathematics in the Illinois State Normal University, Normal ;
was born in New York April 20. 1844, and is the son of Col. H. D. Cook. In 18')1, Prof. (]ook>
with ills parents, c^me West and settled in McLean Co., 111.; here they remained until 1853,
then moved to Woodford Co , 111. Prof. Cook entered the State Normal University in 1862,
and graduated in 1865; he then commenced teaching school in Brimfield, Peoria Co., 111.; here
he remained but one year, and returned to Normal, and became Principal in the Model School
Department. In 1868, Prof. Cook became a teacher in the State Normal University, and was
professor of history and geography; in 1869, became professor of reading and elocution; in
1876, lie was appointed professor of mathematics.
W. F. COOLIDGE, farmer; P. 0. Blooniington ; was born in Watertown, Mass., June 20,
1829; the son of John and Mary S. (Bond) Coolidge, who were of English origin. During his
early life he obtained a good education, and came to Illinois in 1855, locating where he now
resiiles. He owns 400 acres of as fine land as can be fouml in McLean Co. He married Miss
vlary J. Hesketh May 25, 1852; she was barn in Maine Dec. 2, 1829 ; they have six children
living, whom thev are giving the advantige of a thorough education.
MRS. J0ANN\ H. COOK, Normal, (widow of the late H. D. Cook); was born in Wash-
ington (^0., N. v., Dec. 23, 1817; she married Mr. H. D. Cook, Jan. 21, 1841 ; he was born in
Madison Co., N. Y., March 6, 1817; he was I'aised in Oneida Co., where he was educated and
learned the trade of a carpenter ; he came to McLean Co., 111., in 1852, and, for a number of
yeirs, was connected with the Illinois Central Railroad Company. In 1860, he was elected to
the Slate Legislature. In 1861, he organized a company and entered the army, as Captain, with
the 4th Illinois Cavalry, serving through the entire war; he was promoted to Colonel in 1864;
and, through meritorious services, was appointed, in 1865, to the office of Military State Agent
of Illinois; he came to Normal in 1869, and, in 1873, was appointed President of the Board of
Railroad and Warehouse ('ommissioners, in which position he served until liis death, which
occurred Nov. 9, 1873. He was beloved by friends and relatives, and respected by all who
knew him ; he left a promising family of four children.
RKV. IL A. CIUSWKLL, Normal ; was born in West Virginia, near Wheeling, May20, 1820;
son of .lohn and ISebecca (Kilgort') Criswell, who were of Scotch origin ; during his early life
his school advantages wore very limited, but by home study he prepared himself, and entered
the West Alexandria Academy in 1844, continuing some four years ; then entered the Washing-
ton College, at Washington, Penn., and graduated in 1849 ; early in life, he had chosen the work
of the niinistry, and was educating himself for that work ; he entered the Princeton Theological
Seminary; took a thorough course, and graduated in May, 1852; dining this time, he was
licensed to jireach ; he came to Illinois in 1852; locited in Menard Co., and began preaching in
tlie North Sangamon ('hurcli, and was installeil over that (Miurch in November, 1853, wliere he
rem lined sixteen years. He served during the late war (in ditferent regiments) as (Chaplain;
he located in Normal in 1867, where he has since lived, continuing in the work of the niinistry.
NORMAL TOWNSHIP. 833
He maiTied Miss Elizabeth E. C-irson, of West Virginia, June 29, 1852; they are prominently
known and highly respected ; they have raised a family of nine.
A. F. DICIvINSON, attorney at law. Normal ; was born in Lewis Co., N. Y., in 18o4 ; he came
West and located in Wisconsin, in 185(i, where he was engaged in farming, and afterward taught
school. Mr. Dickinson was also engaged in publishing a leading newspaper calle<l the La Fayette
County Union, a strongly Republican paper ; in 18()7, he came to Normal and began in mercan-
tile business, and followed it about two years ; he next engaged in the land agent and insurance
business ; he has also been, for two terms, a member of City Council ; five years, Police M igis-
trate, and two years. Justice of the Peace. He graduated in the Law School of the Wesleyan
University, in 1875, and the same year commenceil the practice of law; he held the otlice of
Postmaster of Normal, for several years, and gave entire satisfaction, having proved himself a
man of ac'<novvledged ability.
S.\.MUEL B. L>ENNING, retired. Normal; was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., March 1,
1811, the son of Solomon and Ann (Hart) Denning, who died in 1814, and he was left to battle
with the world without parental care or advice ; he was raised by his grandfather, Valentine
Hart; he began doing for himself at the age of 15, and learned the trade of a weaver, which
business he followed several years. Feb. 7, 1833, he married Miss Elizabeth D. Alexander, who
was born in the city of Bedford, .Jan. 27, 1807 ; in 1835, they removed to Knox Co., Ohio, where
he took up farming; they came to Illinois in 1841, locating in Montgomery Co., where they
remained until 1849; thence to McLean, where they have since resided, well to-do citizens and
highly respected ; they have raised a family of seven ; they are finely educated. Mr. and Mrs.
Denning now live at the combined ages of 141 years.
WILLIAM EGINTON, farmer; P. 0. Normal ; was born in the city of Philadelphia, Oct. 19,
1816 ; the son of William and Jane (Gray) Eginton. He came to Bloomington, 111., in 1837, locat-
ing where he now resides, in 1844: here lie has since lived, a well-to-do citizen. He married
Miss Matilda Burr, of New Jersey, in July, 1838; she came with him to Illinois, April 1, 1844,
and at length died, leaving seven children to mourn her loss ; she was beloved by friends and
relatives, and respected by all who knew her. Mr. Eginton and family reside on the old home-
stead, which consists of eighty-three acres of well-improved land.
T. W. EVANS, dealer in ccal and grain, Normal; was born in Fleming Co., Ky., Oct. 17,
1817; son of Robert and Rhoda (Wilson) Evans, who were of Welsh descent. Mr. Evans was
raised in Madison Co., Ohio; during his early life, school advantages were limited. He began
doing for himself in 1840, dealing in wool and sheep, and accumulating property. He was twice
married ; first to Miss Eliza Jones, April 11, 1841 ; she died July 27, 1844, leaving two children
— Charles and Isaac, who are deceased. He came to McLean Co., 111., in 1854, where he has
since lived ; he has always taken an active part in all matters pertaining to the good of the com-
munity. He has followed stock dealing and farming for many years, and has been successful.
Jan. 4, 1856, he married Miss Julia A. Armstrong, of Jackson Co , Va. ; they settled in Normal
in 187(1; they have one child — Ellen H.
STEPHEN A. FORBES, Normal ; was born in Stephenson Co., 111., May 29, 1844, and is the
son of Isaac S. Forbes, a farmer. Prof. Forbes was brought up on the farm, and when about 14
years old, he entered the preparatory department of Beloit College. At the breaking-out of the
late war. he enlisted as private in Co. B, 7th I. V. C. ; he was promoted to First Sergeant, then
to 2d Lieutenant, and then to Captain, and did good service, and was honorably mustered out at
the close of the war; he then returned home, and thence to Chicago, where he commenced the
study of medicine in Rush Medical College, of Chicago. In 1867, he was teaching school in the
southern part of Illinois ; he became Superintendent of the public schools of Mt. Vernon, 111.
In 1872, he became Curator of the museum of the Illinois State Normal University ; since this he
has been appointed Director of the museum.
H. L. FISHER, retired, Normal ; was born in Norfolk Co., Mass , Oct. 30, 1819 ; the son of
Abijali and Fanny (Field) Fisher, who were of English origin. He was raiseil upon a farm, and
received a common school education Being of a mechanical turn of mind, he chose the trade
of cabinet-making ; he also learned the trade of a carpenter, which business he followed for a
number of years. In 1846, he removeil to Providence, R. I., where he mirriel a daughter of
Rev. G. W. Appleton, Oct. 12, 1847, after which they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he fol-
lowed liis trade for a time; from thence he went to Hamilton, where he was engaged in manu-
facturing and in mercantile business until 1849 ; from thence he went Dayton, and, in 1852, to
Tazewell Co., 111. ; then, in 1869, to Normal, 111., where he has since lived. He has served in a
number of prominent positions and discharged his duty to the satisfaction of all concerned. They
have two children — -Clarence C. and Herbert E. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have been workers in the
Baptist Church for upward of forty years.
PATRIt'K FLANAGAN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Normal; was born in Queens Co.,
Ireland, in July, 1829 ; he came to this country in 1851, locating in Cleveland, Ohio, and, in 1853,
went to California, and remained, engnged in mining some six years, and was quite successful;
he returned to Bloomington, 111., bought land, and is now one of the well-to-'lo fanners of .McLean
Co. He owns 171 acres of well-improved land, and a fine re idence in Bloomington. He married
Miss Hanuoi'a Curren, in October, 1869 ; they have five children — three boys and two girls.
8o4 BIOGRArUICAL SKETCHES:
A. D. FURMAN, farmer and nursery; P. 0. Normal: was born Oct. 9, 1829; the son of
Daniel and Laura (Cowles) Furnian. He came to Normal, in 1858, and, in 1860, lie went to
Bradford Penn., where he married Miss Sarah E. Andrus, Oct. "29, 1862; then returned to Nor-
mal, 111., and bought a piece of land, and began the gardening and nursery business; they set-
tled where tliey now reside, in 1868, and own seventy-four and one-half acres adjoining the
town plat of Normal, and a beautiful residence. They have three daughters and one son.
JOHN GREGORY, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Normal; was born in Tazewell Co.,
Oct. 8, 1821 ; son of Jehiel and Sarah (Van Dolah) Gregory; he was raised upon a farm, and
received a common educition. He was married twice, first to Miss Caroline Dawson, .Jan. 19,
1842; they came to McLean Co., 111., in 1844; she died Sept. 26, 1845. Mr. Gregory has
always taken an active part in all matters pertaining to the good of the couimunity in which he
has lived, and, by his industry, perseverance and integrity, has amassed a large pioperty, and
now owns 0,090 acres ; he has been quite successful in stock-dealing, which business he still fol-
lows. He is a respected citizen, and one of the solid men of McL' an Co. He married his pres-
ent wife July 9, 1846 ; her maiden name was Mary Ann Henline, of this county ; they have a
family of seven children, whom they are giving the advantages of a thorough education. Mr.
and Mrs. Gregory are active members of the Christian Church.
EDWIN C. HEWETT, President of the Illinois State Normal University, Normal ; was born in
M'orcester Co., Mass., Nov. 1, 1828 ; in 1852, he graduated at the State Normal School in Bridge-
water, Mass.; in 1853, became an assistant teacher at the Normal School, of Bridgewater, where
he remained four years. In the fall of 1858, he came to Illinois arfd entered upon his duties as
teacher in the Normal University, as Professor of History and Geography; in January, 1876, he
was made President of the Normal University, where he has remained ever since; in 1863, he
received the comj limentary degree of A. xM. fiom the University of Chicago. His long and use-
ful career as an instructor places him among the first in his profession.
H. E. HOBAIIT, dairyman and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Normal ; was born in Cortland Co., N.
v., Oct. 25, 1816, and was raised in Cayuga Co. until he was 16, and then removed, with his par-
ents, to Geauga Co., Ohio, where he lived until March, 1858, when he removed to Rock Co ,
Wis., and remained one year ; he then returned to Ohio and located in Macon Co., bought land,
and engaged in agricultui-al pursuits. In the spring of 1865, he came to McLean Co., 111., locat-
ing where he now resides, and engaged in farming, stock-raising and dairying: his farm lies
upon an elevated piece of prairie, presenting a beautiful view of Normal and Bloomington, as
well as the Soldiers' Orphans' Home — as fine a location as may be found in McLean Co. He has
always taken an active part in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community in which
he has lived. He married Miss Lynda A. Bassett, of Ohio. Oct. 2, 1849 ; she was born May 17,
1821; they have two sons — Howard E. and Frank B , who are promising young men.
JOHN HOSELTON, farmer; P. 0 Normal; was born in Washington Co, Md., Aug 2,
1817; oldest son of Christian and Eve (Rohrer) Hoselton, of German descent; his parents
located in Holmes Co., Ohio, where he was raised a farmer, and has followed agricultural pur-
suits thus far through life. He married Miss Nancy Dalbey, of Holmes Co., Ohio, April 25,
1842 ; she was born in Washington Co., Penn., Oct. 25, 1824 ; they came to McLean Co. III., in
1857, where they have since lived, prominent citizens, and have done much toward building up
and establishing churches and schools. They have been ardent workers in the M. E. <'hurch for
many years. They have, by industry and economy, accumulated a good property, and have a
family of seven children.
GEORGE P. HOWELL, farmer; P. 0. Normal; was born in Morris Co., N. J., Dec. 27,
1810 ; the son of Elias and Elizabeth ( Pierson) Howell, of English origin ; ' e was raised in
Licking Co., Ohio ; during his early life scliool advantages were limited; he came to McLean
Co. in 1852, where he has since lived, a liighly-respected citizen. He owns a good homestead,
finely located. In March, 1831, he was married to Miss Matilda Preston ; she died Jan 22,
1874, leaving a family of seven children — four sons and thret daughters.
J. C. JAYNES, farmer and stock-dealer ; P. O. Normal; was born in Oneida Co., N. Y.,
Nov. 21, 1825, where he was raised and received his early education. During his early life, he
learned the trade of a miller, in which business he continued some twelve years. He has twice
been married ; first, to Miss Eliza Champion, of Otsego, N. Y., in February, 1846 ; they came
west in 1861, settling in Woodford Co.. 111., where she died April 6, 1866, leaving two children
■ — Clarie and Mary A. (deceased). He returned to Otsego, N. Y., in 18ii6, and, Dec. 24, he
married Miss Mary 0. Champion ; they came West and located in Kappa, 111., where he engage I
in mercantile business, also suijerintending his farm. They own a fine farm of 160 acres ; also
a beautiful residence in Normal. They have one child — Viola I. They are much-respected cit-
izens.
G. G. JOHNSON, grocer, of the firm of Johnson & Chipman, Normal; was born in Corn-
wall, t'onn., March 25, 1852, his parents were Hopkins and Sarah (Lewis) Johnson. He was
left without parental advice and care while unite young, and was raised by an uncle, receiving
a thorough business education ; he came to Normal with his uncle, Lemuel Peck, in 1869. He
began doing business on his own account in 1873. Their place of l)usiness is neat and well
stocked.
Cp^V>>^
:i.,t
■ ■■•■.'3
DANVEf^S TP.
NORMAL TOWNSHIP. 837
JAMES KELLY, Normal; was born in the county of Derry, parish of Desertlinn, Ireland,
Dec. 18, 1815; he came to this country in 1821, with his parents, settling in Chautauqua Co.,
N. i'., where he was raised and schooled. In 1883, he removed to the city of Butl'alo, where he
served a regular apprenticeship at the trade of a brick-mason and plasterer, after which, he
attended school at Oberlin, Oliio. In 1845, he located in Flatteville, Wis. where he lived until
18(J5, when he came to Normal, where he has since lived. He married Miss Philomelia G. Cul-
ver Nov. 10, 853 ; they have two children — Alice M. and Lida A.
.J. S. LACKEY, M. D., Normal; was born in Madison Co., Ky., March 14, 1836. He is
largely a self-made man, having been left to battle with the hardships of the world without
parental advice or care when a mere boy; he was educated at Charlottesville, Va., and com-
menced a medical course. He came to Illinois in 1857, and graduated at the Chicago Medical
College in 18(Jl, and there began the practice of his profession ; in 1862, he came to Blooming-
ton ; in 1865, he removed to Augusta, Ark., where he remained for a time ; then returned to
Illinois, and settled at Stafford, where he remained four years; he located in Normal in 1872,
and, giving his entire attention to his profession, has built up a large practice. As a physician,
he is well-read and energetic. He married Miss Sallie Didlake. of Bloomington, Nov. 9, 1858;
they have three children — Keith, Eddie D. and M. P.
KICHAKD LONG, farmer, P. 0. Normal; was born in County Cork, Ireland, July 15, 1823.
He came to this country in 1815, and lived for a time in Salem, Mass., and also in different
parts of that State ; he resided in Rockland Co , N. Y., for three years ; in 1853, he removed to
Chicago; in May, 1854, to McLean Co , where he has since resided. He bought his present
farm in 1867, which consists of 83 acres of finely-improved land. He married Miss Mary
Corter in September, 1853 ; they have raised a family of eleven children, eight of whom are
now living.
WILLIAM M. LOEHR, farmer, stock-dealer and dairyman, P. (). Normal; was born in
Somerset Co., Penn., May 16, 1826, where he was raised and schooled. He came to McLean
(-'o.. 111., in 1845, locating in Bloomington. He has followed agricultural pursuits thus far
through life, with the exception of some five years, when he was engaged in the lumber busi-
ness, in Bloomington. He located where he now resides in 1873 ; his farm consists of 150
acres of as fine land as may be found in McLean Co., with a beautiful residence, located in the
center of a large grove of evergreens. He married Miss Margaret Brendel, of Montgomery
Co., Ill , in September, 1853 ; they have five children, whom they are giving the advantages of
a thorough education.
MRS. L. R. LUFKIN, Normal; widow of Charles U. Lufkin,and daughter of Addison and
Nancy (Hicks) Smith, who were of English origin; they settled in Shelbyville, 111., in 1830;
here Mrs. Lufkin was educated, and Oct. 28, 1855, was married to Mr. Charles D. Lufkin, who
followed mercantile business up to his death, which occurred in March, 1863 ; he left a family of
promising children, one daughter and four sons. Mrs. Lufkin and family located in Normal in
1878, that her family might finish their education. Mrs. Lufkin has been an active worker in
the Episcopal Church since a child.
HENRY McCORMICK, Professor of History and Geography of the State Normal Univer-
sity, Normal ; was born in County Mayo, Ireland, February 5, 1837, and brought up on the
farm until he was 16 years old; he then emigrated to America. He first located in Ohio,
where he was engaged in farming for two or three years ; he then went to Wisconsin. In
1859, he came to Boone <'o , 111., and commenced teaching school, and remained there until
1865. He then came to Normal and entered the State Normal University, and in 1868 graduated.
He then became Principal of the Normal Public Schools for one year. In the fall of 1869, he
became a member of the State Normal University Faculty, and his been connected with the
institution ever since, being now Professor of History and Geography.
JOSEPH MILLER, farmer; P. 0. Normal; was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, Jan. 14,
1829. He was brought to this country by his motlier, in 1834, settling in Fairfield Co., Ohio,
where he was raised until the age of 14, after which time he began to do for himself. During
his early life he learned the trade of wagon-making, also carpentering, and followed contractine;
and building for a number of years. He came to Illinois in 1854, locating in Bloomington,
where he followed his trade two years; thence to Renjaminville, where he lived eleven years;
thence to where he now resides. He owns 80 acres of fine land, and is a public-spirited and
well-to-do citizen, respected by all who know him. He married Miss Eliza J. Stimmel, of Frank-
lin Co., Ohio, .Jan. 29, 1857.
STEWART MOONEY, farmer; P. 0. Normal; was born in County Antrim, Ireland, March
3, 1833. He was raised in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. He came to the United States in
1852, and located in Harrison Co., Ohio where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and on the
8th of April, 1855, he was married to Miss MoUie Black, of Carroll Co., Ohio. He came to Illinois
shortly afterward, remaining until 1859; then returned to Harrison Co., Ohio, and in August,
1862, he enlisted with the 126th Ohio Inf., and participated in many of the most severe engagements
of the war, serving three years, and was one among the fortunate ones who escaped without a
scratch. He was taken prisoner at the battle of the Wilderness, and was confined in the
Andersonville prison several months. After the service he returned to Harrison Co., and, in the
KE
838 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
fall of 1865, he and his wife came to McLean Co., 111., and shortly located in Tazewell <"o.,
engaging in agricultural pursuits. They located where they now reside in 1875. He is a
thorough and practical farmer, and a much respected citizen.
T. NIHILL, Township Assessor ; Section 1 ; P. 0 Normal; was born in County Clare, Ireland,
in 1836. He came to this country in 1850, locating in Western New York, where he engaged
with the New York and Erie Railroad Co. In 1854, his pai-ents settled in Harrison Co., Ohio,
and he" then engaged in agricultural pursuits. They removed to McLean Co., 111., in 1856,
settling near Le Roy, and in 1862, they located in Normal Township, where they have since
lived : he has served as Township Assessor for nine years. He owns a beautiful little home farm,
which consists of eighty-two acres. Married Miss Caroline A. Bennett, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, in
January, 1858. They have a fomily of six, whom they are endeavoring: to give a good education.
His father died in 1872, at tlie ripe age of 78. His mother still survives, at the age of 90.
VIRGINIA C. OHR, Superintendent of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, Normal; was born
in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 28, 1836, and is the widow of Col. S. P. Ohr, who was a native of
Maryland. They were married Oct. 15, 1856. During the late war Mr. Ohr entered the army
as Captain in the 61st I. V. I. During his service he participated in many of the most severe
battles of the war, and arose to the rank of Colonel, serving three years. His death occurred
Sept. 14, 1864; after which Mrs. Ohr was appointed Superintendent of the Soldiers' Orphans'
Home, at Springfield, which position she held until 1860, when the Soldiers' Orphans' Home was
established at Normal, she being appointed Superintendent, and has since officiated in that
capacity. Mrs. Ohr is a lady of rare ability, having satisfactorily managed the affairs of this
institution since its establishment. Mrs. Ohr has four "daughters, two of whom are assistants,
and two finishing their education. As a family they are well known and highly respected.
THOMAS PISELL, farmer; P. 0. Normal; one of the pioneers of McLean Co.; was born
in Somerset Co., Penn., in 1814, and was taken to Richland Co., Ohio, by parents, where he was
raised ; he has followed agricultural pursuits thus far through life ; he came to McLean Co., 111.,
in 1852, locating at Twin Grove, and, in 1855, he located on the farm where he now lives; at
the time of settling, the country was comparatively new, and the trials and hardships of a pio-
neer life are yet fresh in his memory ; but he has succeeded in accumulating a good property ;
he owns a fine farm of 104 acres, the best watered farm of the county, there being an artesian
well near his residence which furnishes an inexhaustible quantity of fine water. He married
Miss Margaret Morrill, of Richland Co., Ohio, in September, 1836; they have raised a family of
nine, six of whom are still living — four boys and two girls.
S. J. REEDER, retired; P. 0. Normal; was born in Montgomery Co., Ohio, Jan. 21, 1824,
but was raised and received his early education in Fayette Co.; lie finished a good business edu-
cation at the Sidney Academy, Sidney, Ohio; he came to McLean Co., 111., in 184n, locating at
Randolph's Grove, and, for a time, taught school ; then took up agricultural pursuits, continuing
until 1863, when he sold out and removed to Normal for the purpose of educating his family.
He was appointed Postmaster of Normal in 1864, and was elected Justice of tlie Peace; after
having served some two years as Postmaster, he resigned, but served as Justice of the Peace
twelve years, and is at present Township Supervisor ; these positions he has filled with credit. He
has been an active worker in all matters pertaining to the interests of the community. He
married Miss Sallie, M. McWhorter, of Clinton Co., Ohio, April 10, 1849; she died April
4, 1874, beloved by friends and relatives, and respected by all who knew her, leaving a family
of six.
HANNAH ROGERS; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in Greene Co.,N. Y., July 1, 1808, her
maiden name being Hannah Hubbard. She married Elihu Rogers, who was born in Greene Co.,
N. Y., Oct. 8, 1805, and, in 1844, came West to Illinois, and located in Old Town Timber: he
came here worth perhaps SI, 200 or $1,500 ; invested in land, and was very successful in farming ;
at one time, he was among the leading farmers of the county ; he entered the grain business and
dealt very largely in grain ; he also erected a flour-mill, and, for a time, was doing well ; hut,
with the financial crash of 1857, he lost considerable money ; but he managed well and was a
hard worker, and contrived to accumulate considerable property. Mr. Rogers was a member of
tlie Second Presbyterian Church, and one of the first Trustees of this Church at Bloomington;
he purchased the lumber with his own money to build the Church, and donated to the Cluirch
$1,600 ; he died of bronchitis Dec. 2, 1872 ; he was respected and beloved by all. Mrs. Rogers
has erected a very fine residence on Main street, which is her home, and has built a business
block in Normal.
JEREMIAH ROOP, farmer; P. 0. Normal; was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., Jan. 10,
1822 : he was taken by his parents to Center Co., where he was raised and schooled, and learned
the trade of cabinet-making, whicli business he followed some sixteen years; being a thorough
mechanic and industrious, he accumulated a good property; he removed to Tippecanoe Co.,
Ind., where he was married April 20, 1849, to Miss Eleanor Gapen, of Boone Co., Iml.; they
came to McLean Co., Dl., in 1^55, locating in Downs Township, where he engaged in agricultural
pursuits, continuing until lHt;7, when they came and located where they now live, in ii beautiful
residence; they own a fine property, wliich is the result of their industry and economy; tliey
have three children — Alice, Frank and Burt.
NORMAL TOWNSHIP. 839
J. B. SARGENT, Township Collector: P. 0. Normal; was born in Douglas Co., 111., Dec.
28, 1844 ; his early lite was spent upon a farm ; at the age of 19, he entered the Asbury Univer-
sity of Greencastle, Ind., where took a thorough course, graduating in 18G0, and chose law for
his profession, but his health became so impaired that he was compelled to abandon it for a time.
Sept. 1, 1869, he married Miss Florence C. Farrow, of Greencastle, Ind.; then engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits for five years. In 1875, he came to Normal, and, in 1877, was elected Town-
ship Collector, and, in 1878, was re-elected. He is a thorough business man. He also-serves as
a Trustee of the Wesleyan University. Mr. and Mrs. Sargent are much respected by all; they
have raised a family of three — William F., Snowden G. and .lean B.
MRS. MARY M. SEWARD, Normal; widow of the late M. D. Seward, who was one of the
founders of the Bloomington Stove Works; was prominently connected witli this company until
his death, which occurred Oct. 22, 187Ci; he left a family of two. Mr. and Mrs. Seward came
to Bloomington in 1866. They were married .June 15, 1854; she was the daughter of William
M. and Mary M. Pettit, born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., July 29, 1832. He was born in the same
county Sept. 9, 1830. During his brief life in McLean Co., he had, by his integrity and social
qualities, won the highest regard of all who knew him.
MINOR L. SEY.vlOUR, Professor of Natural Science in the Illinois State Normal University,
Normal ; was born in Kings Co., N. Y., Sept. lU, 1835 ; his father, H. S. Seymour, was a farmer;
here on the farm the son remained until 19 years old ; he then set out to seek an education ; he
entered the academy at Owego, N. Y., and also attended the school in Ithaca, N Y., where now
is located Cornell University. In 185G Prof. Seymour came West; here he has been engaged
most of tiie time in school teaching in different pans of Illinois. In 1878, he was appointedl
Professor of Natural Science in the State Normal University.
SAMUKL M. SILL, farmer ; P. O. Normal; was born in Bedford Co., Penn., May 15, 1839 ;
he came to McLean Co., 111., with his parents, in 1854, locating in Dry Grove Township. He
married Miss Julia Stephens, of Oak Grove, in this county, Dec. 2, 1863; they settled where
they now reside in 1864, and own 164 acres of fine land. They have been quite successful,
which is the result of energy, perseverance and economy ; they have two children — Ida and
David E.
MRS. NANCY 0. SMITH, Normal; widow of the late Brainard Smith; was born in Berk-
shire Co., Mass., June 17, 1822; her husband was a native of Franklin Co., Mass., where he
was born May 28, 1818. They were married April 4, 1844. They located in Franklin Co., and
began farming; in 1856, they came to Illinois, locating in Christian Co., where they remained
until 1865, when they came to Normal for the purpose of educating their family, consisting of
three sons and three daughters, who are now finely educated. Mr. Smith died Aug. 21, 1877;
beloved by friends and relatives, and respected by all who knew him.
ALBi RT STETSON, Professor of Language and Reading in the State Normal University,
Normal; was born in Kingston, Mass., Aug. 6, 1834; he graduated from the Bridgewater
Normal School in the spring of 1853; after teaching three years, he entered Harvard University,,
from which he graduated in 1861; he taught school in Provincetown, Mass., until the fall of
1862, wlien he came to Normal; he became a member of the Faculty of the Normal University
Oct. 12, 18G2, and lias been connected with this institution ever since.
MRS. CATHARINE STUART, Normal; widow of Chambers M. Stuart, who was born im
Bath Co., Ky., Feb. 7, 1823; while residing there he taught district schools and farmed up to-
the fall of 1858, when he moved to Clark Co., Ky., where he continued the same occupation
until November, 1862, wliea he moved to Normal Township, iMcLean Co , 111., where he engaged
one year in farming; he then moved to Normal, and went to work at the carpenter's trade,
which he had learned in Kentucky, and at other times he taught school until his decease, Aug.
15, 1872. Feb. 18, 1847, he married Miss Catherine Stephens, of Bath Co., Ky., where she wa»
born Feb. 1, 1828; they were blessed with eight chilJrea, viz.: Mary T., James S.. Leander,.
Alpha D., Alice, George i\I., Lee and Fred; James S. died Feb. 26, 1871, aged 21 years, 6^
months and 17 days; Leander died in Augusi, 1851, aged 2 months. Mr. and Mrs. Stuart were
members of the Cliristian Church, and Mrs. Stuart is an active member at this time. Miss:
Alpha D. is a school teaclier, and now so engaged in Sec. 16, Mt. Hope Township.
A. C TAYLOR, Deputy County Clerk, Normal; son of George M. and I>lizabeth (Hawkins)<
Taylor; was born in Mahoning Co., Ohio, Jan. 23, 1851 ; he came to McLean Co., Ill , in I86I,
with his parents; they settled in Normal in 1863, where he was educated, attending tlie Normal
school; here he obtained a good business education, laying the foundation for future usefulness^
His first employment was as clerk in the drug business, then for a time in the gr," ; \ trade.
In December, 1876, he was appointed Clerk; and, in 1877, Deputy County Clerk. He was
appointed Secretary of the McLean County Republican Convention in 1877; these po.sitions he
has filled with credit.
WILLIAM G. THOMPSON, farmer ; P. 0. Normal ; son of Charles and Ann (Graves) Thomp-
son ; was born in Culpeper Co., Va., April 30, 1804 ; he came with his parents to Christian Co.,
Ky., in 1812, where they lived until 1835 ; thence to McLean Co., 111., where he has since lived,
and been a witness of the change from a wild and desolate, to a thickly-settled and well developed
country. He has taken an active part in public matters, and especially in the Church, being one
840 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
of the first to organize and establish the First Baptist Church, of Bloomington, and has since
been prominently connected with its growth and prosperity. He has been twice married ; first,
to Miss Louisa Hazard, in December, 1831; she died in July, 1838. And, Sept. 27, 1841, he
niarrieil Miss Mary Dodge, of (Julpeper Co., Va. Mr. Thompson owns 140 acres of beautiful land,
in sight of Bloomington, and finely located. Here he has resided twenty-six years, and has been
a resident of the county forty-four years. He has four daughters — Margaret, Minnie, (now Mrs.
John Burgart, of Bloomington,) Abbie and Hatde.
MRS. M. E. VANPELT, Normal ; widow of Rev. John F. Van Pelt. He was a native of Car-
rol Co., Ky., where he was born Jan. 27, 1821 ; the son of Samuel and Anzolitta (Goddardj Van
Pelt; he was raised and schooled in Carroll Co., and began early in life to prepare for the work
of the ministry, beginning to preach at the early age of 20 years, in the M. E. Church. He was
a member of the Kentucky Conference, some twenty-five years. He married Miss Mary E.
Wijrht. of Shelby Co., Ky., Sept. 26, 1850. They came to Normal, in 1864, and settled where
Mrs Van Pelt now resides. He organized the first M. E. Church of Normal, and labored
faithfully in the work of the ministry until his death, which occurred May 8, 1867. He died
beloved by friends and relatives, and esteemed by all who knew him, leaving a family of six
children — Samuel James W. (deceased), William M. (deceased), Mary L., John R., Sarah E.
H. K. VICKROY, fruit grower; P. 0. Normal ; was born in Westmoreland Co., Penn., Oct. 24,
1842 ; he came to Illinois in 1856, locating in Bureau Co., and was schooled at the Mt. Carroll
Seminary; in 1858, he began in the nursery business, continuing it until 1862, when he
enlisted with the 93d I. V. I. ; he participated in many of the most severe battles of the war ;
was mustered out after the service of three years ; after which, he returned to Bureau Co. ; in 1869,
he removed to Champaign, and took charge of the orchard and garden of the Illinois Industrial
University, continuing there until 1874, when he came to Normal and established his present
business ; his many years of experience enable him to thoroughly understand and successfully
manage his already extensive business : he is a man of fine social qualities, and a practical busi-
ness man. He married Miss Mary P. Graves, of Bureau Co., 111., Dec. 10, 1868 ; they have
two children — M. E. Louise and H. Edwards.
G. R. WOOLSEY, v|. D., Normal ; son of Jesse and Freelove (Rogers) Woolsey, who were
pioneers of Henry Co., 111. ; he was born in Henry Co., III., Sept. 21, 1840, where he was raised
and obtained his early education ; he attended the Mendota Collegiate Institute ; he graduated
at the Hahnemann Medical College, of Chicago, in March, 1868, and soon began the practice
of his profession in Normal, where he has built up a large practice, and established a fine repu-
tation ; his increasing practice testifies to his ability ; having had eleven years' practice in tliis
vicinity, he is well known and much respected. During the late war, he enlisted with the 112th
I. V. I., and participated in many of the most severe engagements, serving some three years.
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP.
JACOB BISHOP, farmer ana stock-raiser ; P. 0. Hey worth; was born in Frederick Co., Md.,
June25, 1797. At an early date, he moved with his parents to Fayette Co., Penn., where he lived until
March, 1812, when they moved to Ohio and settled in Licking Co., near the Perry Co. line ; during
the moving, they passed several bodies of troops going to fight the British. He lived in Ohio until
1820; he there married Miss Mary Ann Weedman May 10; she was born in Pennsylvania
Aug. 15, 1830. He came to Illinois and settled at Randolph Gi'ove, on his present place, and
the next season he built a house on his place. He and his brother-in-law, John Weedman,
bought an ox-team and did an extensive business breaking prairie ; in the fall of 1831, he hauled
100 bushels of oats to Chicago, and has made upwards of twenty trips since. He owns 300 acres
in this county, and has thirteen children — Sarah Ann, George B., Hannah, Charity, Jacob C,
Charlotte, John S., Mary E., Harriet, William F., Elizabeth, A. M. and Joseph A. ; all live within
twenty miles of the old homestead. Jan. 23, 1873, Mrs. Bishop died. Mr. Bishop is now 82,
and enjoys goo<l health, aiul has sixty-eight grandchildreu.
JAMES BISHOP, fanner, P. O. H ey worth ; was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Nov. 12,
1821, and lived there nineteen years ; he then went to Calloway Co., Mo., near Portland, where
he lived a year; he then came to Illinois, and settled in McLean Co., working by the month for
Mr. M. L. Bishop; in 1847, he came to his present place, and h;»s lived there since. He is not
an office-seeker, and has held no office, except connected with the schools and roads. He owns
508 acres in this county, located a])out three miles southeast of Randolph Station, on the Big
Kickapoo Creek ; it is well adapted to stock-raising, in which he is largely interested. March
26, 1846, he married Miss Mary Tiiompson, a native of Ohio; they have had ten children, seven
of whom are living — Chloe, George, Jane E., Arthur A., James, Charles and Ida May. His
parents, Aquilla and Susannah Winn Bishop, were natives of Virginia and Kentucky ; they were
married in Oiiio, and died in Champaign Co., Ohio, in 1839 and 1823 respectively.
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP. 841
BENJAMIN CHRISMAN. farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Hey worth ; was borti in Fayette
Co., Ky., on his fathers farm, Feb. 5. 1847, where he lived until 1867, when, with his parents,
he came to [Uinois, and settled on the present place, and has lived here since He married
Miss Eva Durgy March 14, 1872, who was born near Watertown, N. Y. ; they have two children
— Jennette and .Toseph H. He owns 277 acres in this township, located four miles northwest
of Heyworth, well adapted to stock, in which he is largely interested. His parents, Jefferson
and Jennette Clirisman were natives of Fayette and Jessamine Cos., Ky ; they were married
in Kentucky, and had six children, two living — Benjamin D. and Henry H ; they came to Illi-
nois and settled in McLean Co ; he died Oct. 5. 1876, and she died April 1, 1879.
HARRISON H. CLARK, farmer; P. 0. Randolph: was born in Licking Co., Ohio. July 6, 1836,
where he lived until he was 20 years old ; he then, with his parents, came West and settled near
his present place, where he lived four years ; they then moved to an adjoining farm that he and
his brother George had bought ; he lived there until August, 1862, when he enlisted in the 94th
I. V. I., and was in the service three years ; the last year he was Second Sergeant of Co. I. He
was at the siege of Vicksburg, Mobile and the other engagements of the regiment. On hisreiurn
from the army, he engaged in farmiig with his brother. In the spring of 1867, he came to his
present place and has lived here since. He owns 160 acres in tiiis county, which he has earned
by his own labor. In the winter of 1866, he married Miss Sarah Blandine ; she was born in
Licking Co., Ohio; they have had five children, four of whom are living — Ransom, Pauline,
Charlie and Lewis B.; deceased — May.
GEORGE H. CLARK, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Randolph ; is a native of Licking Co.,
Ohio, and was born May 5, 1834, on his father's farm, where he lived twenty-three years: he
then came West to Illinois and settled near his present place, and lived there three years, when
he occupied his present place, and has lived here since. He married Miss Eliza E. Bowers Jan. 23,
1856 ; she was born in Licking Co., Ohio ; they had five children, four living — Emma B., Myron
H. George L. and Chloe ; Nancy died. He visited this township the spring before he was mar-
ried and worked on a farm here for several months. He began farming on his own
account, on becoming of age, living with his parents until after he had married. He then moved
to a farm near by and lived there until the fall following, when he visited Minnesota, and
soon came to Illinois, as stated. He owns 165 acres in this county, which he has earned by
his own labor and management; it is located seven miles southwest of Bloomington, and two
and one-half miles northwest of Randolph.
MATTHEW COVARDALE, retired farmer ; P. 0. Randolph ; was born in Maryland, Aug.
13,1807. He married Mrs. Thompson, formerly Miss A. Collison, Feb. 8,1835; they have
no children : she has four children by former marriage — Frank, Mary Jane, William and Eliza-
beth. He lived in Maryland eight years, and, with his parents, moved to Hamilton Co., Ohio,
where he lived until the fall of 1830, when he came on horseback to Illinois, and settled in Ran-
dolph's Grove, wqrking by the month. He soon rented a small place and farmed until 183'i, when,
upon being married, he moved to a farm adjoining the present place, and now a part of same.
He lived there until 1843, when he moved to his present residence. He owns 393 acres in
this county, which he has earned by his own labor. His wife is a native of West Virginia;
she was born Jan. 9, 1810. Her former husband, George Thompson, was a native of Virginia;
they settled in this county in 1832 ; he died in August, 1833. Her son, William Thompson, married
Miss Cassandra French, who died in Iowa; they had two children — Oliver C. and Minerva.
His present wife was Miss Mary Jones ; they were married in Iowa, and have had nine chil-
dren ; seven living — Anstis, Mary J., Martha E., George, Daniel, Edith and Nellie. In 1868, he
returned from Iowa, and has lived here since.
J. 0. DAVIS, farmer; P. 0. Heyworth ; was born in Galena, Kent Co., Md., April 20, 1838,
where he lived eight years ; he then, with liis parents, went to Cecil Co., Md., where they engaged
in farming nine years ; September, 1856, he came West to Illinois, and worked by the month on
the farm for Judge Davis and L. W. Betts, with whom he continued eleven years ; he then
rented a form from the Judge, two miles east of Bloomington, and faimed the same for two years ;
then he came to the present nlace, which belongs to Judge Davis and contains '-27 acres, in the
rnanagement of which he is in partnership with the Judge ; they are largely interested in stock-
raising, for which the place is well adapted. He is no office-seeker, though he has been identi-
fied with the offices connected with the school and road. Dec. 8, 1867, he married Miss Mary
Moore; she was born in Pennsylvania, in 1850; they have five cliildren — Susie B., Frank L.,
Lorena M., Ella H. and James L.
G. M. DELANO, Postmaster, Heyworth; was born on Seguin Island, Me., June 17, 1823,
where he lived until he was six years of age; when, with his parents, he moved to Portland,
where they lived until 1839 ; they then moved to Boston, Mass., where he lived until 1853, during
which time he learned the harness-making trade ; he then came West to Illinois, and worked at
his trade in Bloomington until December of the same year ; he then went to St. Louis, Mo. ;
thence to Springfield, 111., where he followed his trade for two and one-half years, when he again
went to Bloomington and worked at his trade about one year ; he then moved to Leroy, and, in
1858, came to Heyworth and engaged in the business on his own account, and followed the same
until 1868. In July, 1861, he was appointed Postmaster, and has held tiie position since ; at
842 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
first, the business of the office was light, but, with the growth of the village aud surrounding
coiiniry, it increased until now it is fully four times the amount when he took charge, notwith-
standing that the territory has been lessened by new offices near by; in 1875, it was made a
money-order office. Nov. (3, 1851, he married Miss Annie O'Brien ; they had three children ; two
living, viz. : William and Mary.
J. D. DOWNS, farmer and stock raiser ; P. 0. Downs. The subject of this sketch was born in
Downs Township, this county, where he lived until he was '2i years old ; he then settled on his
present place, locating on the part situated in Downs Township, where he lived until the winter
of 1«78, when he came to his present place. He married Miss Eliza A. Cowden, Feb. 20, 1868 ;
they have four children, viz. : Frank E., Mary M., Albert F>.. and Frederick Lawson. He owns
214 acres in this county ; it is located three and a quarter miles southwest of Downs Station, on
the I. B. & W. Railroad, and ten miles southeast of the city of Bloomington.
W. W. ELDER, grocer, Heyworth ; is a native of Hamilton Co., Ohio: he was born on his
fither's farm Sept. I'.l, 1828. and lived there until he was H years of age, when, with his par-
eits, he moved to Fayette Co., lud., where they engaged in farming, remaining eight years,
when they came to Hlinois and settled in McLean Co., and engaged in farming; in 1850, he
began farming on his own account, and continued at same until 1856, when he came to
Heyworih and engaged in the grain business with Mr. Rutledge, and, the same year, built a
dwelling-house, it being the first built within the town plat ; he was identiiied with the grain
business at this point under diiferent firm names until 1872. In August, 1862, he enlisted in
€o. B, 94th Regt. I. V. I., and was elected 2d Lieutenant; was wounded at the battle of Prairie
Grove, Ark., from which time until February, 1863, he remained in the hospital ; h"i then came
home, and, in Jane, the same year, he received his discharge. In the winter of 1872, he
engaged in his present business, and has twice held the office of Supervisor of this township ;
also Justice of the Peace and School Treasurer. Feb. 14, 1850, he married Miss Amanda J.
Rutledge.
W. M. FOWLER, farmer and stock-raiser ; P.O. Heyworth; was born in Bosquoin, Hills-
borough Co., N. H., Oct. 22, 1807, where he lived ten years, when, with his parents, he moved
to Morgan Co., Ohio, where they engaged in farming; he lived there until he was 19 years of
age. He then, Dec. 14, 1826, married Miss Mary Hutchins, who was born in Lincoln Co., Me.,
.Nov. 10, 1804; they have had ten children, six living, viz., Mary Ann, Jane, Sarah S., Margaret
M., Louis and Sophia S. After his marriage, he engaged in farming on his own account near
liis father's place and followed the same eight years ; he then went to \Yashino:ton (now Noble)
Co., and engaged in farming; in 1861, lie and his sons-in-law put an oil well down on the fcirm
147 feet deep, and took 3,000 barrels from same ; he also gave leases for eight other wells ; in
1865, he sold his place and came to Illinois, and bought and settled on his present place ; he now
0 A'ns 24i) acres, having shared considerable among the children. After his marriage, while in
Ohio, he learned shoemaking, and had considerable trade in that business in connection with his
farm.
GEORGE W. FREEMAN, farmer; P. 0. Heyworth; was born in Oswego, N. Y., Dec. 27,
1827, where he lived about four years, when, with his parents, he moved to Wayne Co., where
they lived until 1848; he then moved to Ohio and settled in Hancock Co.; engaged in railroad-
ing and lived there until 1853, when he went to California, going by overland route with ox-team ;
his object was mining, and he met with fair success ; he remained there until summer of 1855.
Nov. i4, 1850, he married Miss Martha Anderson, a native of Richland Co., Ohio ; she remained
in Ohio during his trip to California ; on his return from there, he went to Ohio and sold out
his place and started for Iowa ; he stopped at Lyttleville, in McLean Co., on business, and, his
wife being ill, he determined to remain until spring, when he rented a fiirm near his present
place and lived on it a year; he then moved to a farm near by, thence to Heyworth, and served
as a Constable five years; he next moved to Funk's Grove, thence again to Heyworth and thence
to his present place, and has lived here since. He enlisted in the 94th I. V. I., but, upon exam-
ination, he was rejected, owing to his lack of teeth. He has held the office of Constable and
Collector ; he has also served three years, and is now on his fourth term as Supervisor. He
owns 255 acres, located three miles west and a half-mile north of Heyworth, which he has
earned hy his own labor. His parents, Morris and Orinda Freeman, were natives of New Jer-
sey and Vermont. He was a contractor and builder, and, owing to a certain contract, he
failed ; and, though but 14 years old, the son engaged on the farm at Iplj per month, in order to
assist his mother, who died in 1859.
ABllAII.\M FRY, farmer and stock-raiser ; P.O. Randolph; was born in Greene (^o., Penn.,
Jan. 6, 1816, where he lived until he was ten years of age; when, with his mother, he went to
Oliio ami settled on a farm in Licking Co., Ohio ; in August, 1826, his father died, while in Penn
sylvania, on his return from Ohio, where he was improving a farm ; shortly after this, the family
lu )ved to tiie farm in Ohio ; though he was quite young, he made a hand at the plow, and lived
with the family until iiis marriage, when he moved to an adjoining farm ; in'1854, he came to
Illinois, and, in the spring of 1855, he settled on iiis present place. lie has been Assessor of
tliis township about five years; he has taken an active interest in the schools of his neighbor-
Jiood, and has been Director of the same for twenty consecutive years. In October, 1837, he
q
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP. / 843
married Miss Sarah ^[yers, who was born in Ohio, and died April 22, 1863 ; they had two chil
dren — Perryander and J. B. ; the former enlisted in the l)4tli I. V. I., and died at Springfield
Mo., Oct. 16, 1862. His present wife was Miss Elizabeth Bishop; they were married Nov
1864; she was born in this township; they had two children; one living — Mary ; Laura died
June 25, 1873. He owns 430 acres in this township, which he has earned by his own labor and
management.
.J. W. FUNK, fixrmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Hey worth ; was born on his present place .Jan.
11, 1832, and lias always lived on the same; in 1865, after the death of his father, he took
charge of the place. July 30, 1866, he married Miss £. C. Fryer; they have two cliildren —
Jessie A. and .John W. He first took charge of the farm in 1865, after his father's death, and,
in 1868, he received the same as his share of the estate; his father, Jesse, was born in Clark
Co., Ky., where he lived about six years ; he then, with his parents, moved to Ohio; in 1824. he
came to Illinois ; and, in 1825. he settled on the present place and lived here until his death,
Feb. 6, 1865. The present Mrs. .J. W. Funk is a native of Scioto Co., Ohio ; she was born in
Porismouth, Aug. 30, 1843 ; her parents, .Jolin and Nancy A. (jlover Fryer, were natives of Ross
and Cliampaign Cos., Ohio; they were married in Portsmouth; her parents were early settlers
there; her father built the Government blockhouse at Urbana, and, Mrs. Fryer has the ax he
used for the same; there were fourteen men at work and but two axes. In 1865, they came to
Illinois and settled at Lincoln, where he followed his trade of carpenter and builder, and resided
there until 1869, when they went to Ohio, and remained there until 1873, when they came to
McLean Co., and lived one year with their daughter; they, then, again went to Ohio, where they
liveil until 1876, and then came to "iSlcLean Co. again, and have lived here since.
T. D. HARTSON, stock-dealer; another of the old settlers and natives of McLean Co.,
who is probably as well and favorably known as any farmer and stock-dealer in the county;
he was born in 1836, and, during his early life, he had to depend upon his own resources for
getting an education, as he was left an orphan at the age of 4 years ; his people, who were
natives of New England States, came West while much of Illinois was yet but sparsely settled
and improved, his father being one of the first settlers of De Witt Co., and establishing the first
store in that county in 1830 Mr. Hartson has spent most of his time in agricultural pursuits
and stock-dealing ; his farm of 200 acres is located five and one-half miles south of Bloomington,
on Sec. 7, Randolph Township. He, for the past three years, has been President of the ^IcLean
County Agricultural Society, which has been organized for the past twenty-six years ; he is
always ready to help forward anv enterprise that he deems for the public good, and is well
known as one of the en'fergetic, enterprising and thoroughly reliable citizens of McLean Co.
DAVID HOUGH AM, tarmer and machinist; P. 0. Hey worth : was horn in Highland Co.,
Ohio, Jan. 16, 1825 ; in 1835, he came to Illinois with his parents and settled in De Witt Co. ;
in 1852, he came to Lyttleville, where he, Mr. Rust, and a brother-in-law, built the present saw
and grist mill, and carried on the same eleven years ; he then sold out his interest, and has
since followed farming and his trade of machinist ; he formerly traveled with Mr. William
Stevens, they repairing machinery and building mills in different parts of the State. He formerly
carried the mail from Hey worth to Lyttleville, and was Postmaster of the latter place for a short
time. Nov. 11, 1853, he married Miss Mary Rust, who was born in Monroe Co., Miss., June 9,
1824, ; they have six children, viz.: Francis M., George W., Mary F., Thomas Jeff., Louisa J,
and David A. In 1850, he went to California by ox-team, and returned by Panama and New
York.
WILLIAM F. IJAMS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; was born in Mus-
kingum Co., Ohio, on his father's farm, July 7, 1816, where he lived until he was 21 years of age.
He married Miss Eley Robinson Feb. 2, 18:'>7, who is a native of Licking Co., Ohio, and was
born Oct. 25, 1818. The following December, he moved to a farm of his own, near by his
parents, where he lived until 1852 ; he then came West, to Illinois, and settled in Marshall Co.,
where he engaged in farming, and lived there two years ; he then came to his present place,
locating on tlie part situated in Downs Township ; in 1868, he moved to his present residence.
He is no office-seeker, his only offices being connected with the schools and roads. He owned
480 acres in this county, which he has deeded to his children, he managing the property during
life. He has eight children — Mary Ann, William H., T. L., Sarah E., Edith, Eliza J., Samuel
H. and Rosie.
H. A. KARR, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Hey worth ; was born in Hamilton Co , Ohio,
Aug. 5, 1830, where he lived nearly four years ; he then moved with his parents to Illinois, and
settled in McLean Co., where the present village of Heyworth now stands, where they lived
twenty-two years; they then came to the present residence, both being on the same farm, and
he has lived here since. At the age of 18, he worked around by the month, until he was 21
years old, making his residence at home; he then apprenticed to the caipenter's trade,
and followed the same for fifteen years, being transient in this neighborhood ; he then took the
management of a p >rtion of his father's fiirni, and has followed the same ever since He owns
174 acres in this county, which he has earned by his own labor. He married Miss Mattie E.
Story, June 10. 1861, who was born in Hamilton Co., 111. ; they have four children — Lyon,
Grant, Mary and Frank. His parents, Walter and Eliza A. Karr, were natives of Sussex Co.,
844 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
N. J.: they were married in Bamilton Co., Ohio: he died March 20, 1879; she died June
3, 1848.
NATHAN LOW, boots and shoes, Heyworth ; is a native of McLean Co., 111., and was born
on his father's farm .July 5, 1835, where he lived until 1855 ; he then visited St. Paul, Minn.
In 1855, he, in company with A. .J. Mason, engaged in the livery business in Bioomington. 111. ;
he continued in the business for six months, when he withdrew and went to Missouri, also visit-
ing Omaha, Neb., to look after a claim, which he found had been "jumped." In 185G, lie
engaged in the general merchandise business at St. .loseph, Mo., and in the following November
he exchanged the same for the Denman House, in Bioomington, which he sold in December,
18')7, and went to Missouri ; in the spring of 1858, he went as assistant wagon master in a
Government train to Salt Lake City, being discharged there in November of the same year: from
thence he went to California, stopping in San Bernardino Co. ; thence to Los Angeles ; thence to
San Francisco, in 1859; thence to Olympia, Washington Territory, where he conducted a sheep
ranche until 1861 ; in .July of that year, he took his stock to the Walla Walla Valley, and remained
until 1862 ; he then went to Florence City, Idaho, and engaged in gold-mining, remaining until
i860, when he returned to Heyworth, III., via the Panama and New York route, arriving here
in December, 18 >?>, when he engaged in farming in this township, and followed the same until
1867; he then went to Missouri, and engaged in the stock business ; in the spring of 1868,
he engaged in his present business. He married Miss Annie M. Hill Nov. 30, 1865 ; she is a
native of Holmes Co., Ohio ; they have five children.
D. H. McFARLAND, physician, Heyworth: was born in the village of Licking Creek,
Cumberland Co., Penn., Oct. 16, 1831, where he lived three years, when, with his parents, he
moved to Mercersburg, in Franklin Co., Penn. ; he lived there until he was 17 years of age ;
one year of this time he spent clerking in a general merchandise store, in Mercersburg. In
1848, with his parents, he moved to Clinton Co., Ind., and engaged in farming until 1852; he
then, with his brother's family, went to Monongahela City, Penn., remaining one year, and then
returned to Frankfort, Ind., and engaged as clerk in the iron, hardware and grocery business,
remaining one year, when he again went to Monongahela City and clerked for twenty-eight
months in a general merchandise and mining business ; then returning to Frankfort, he engaged
as clerk in the drug store of Dr. Dunn, and read medicine under Drs. Dunn, Byers and Carter
for three years ; he then went to Chicago and attended lectures at the Rush IMedical College, in
1857 and 1858 ; he then returned to Frankfoi-t and began the practice of medicine ; in 1859, he
came to Heyworth and engaged in the dry-goods business with his brother .J. C. ; they continued
one year, when the business was destroyed by fire ; he then engaged in the drug business and
ofiice practice in Louisville, Ky. In 1861, he was commissioned as First Assistant Surgeon 15th
Ind. V. I., and remained in the service one year, when, owing to ill health in his family, he
resigned, and settled in Heyworth, and has lived there since. In 1868, he went to the Rush
Medical College and presented himself for graduation ; he spent several months in the college
hospital, and received his diploma by direct examination. June 22, 1859, he married .Miss
Miriam F. Dunn, of Indiana.
S. MANN, hardware, etc., Heyworth; was born in Galesburg, Knox Co., 111., Sept. 12,
1842, where he lived one year, when, with his parents, he moved to Warsaw, Wyoming Co.,
N. Y., where he lived eighteen years ; he then went to Hornellsville, Steuben Co., N. Y., ;md
apprenticed to the tinner's trade, remaining three and one-half years ; he then went to War.saw
and engaged in the business on his own account, continuing fourteen months, when he sold out
and went to Kansas City, Mo. ; thence to Bioomington, 111. ; thence to Mason City, where he
worked at his trade about one year, and then engaged in the business on his own account, con-
tinuing four years ; he then came to Heyworth and established his present business ; at first, he
started in a very small way, and, by close attention to business and good management, he 1- ept
steadily increasing his stock, until now it not only embraces all the goods found in his line, but
includes a general tin, sheet-iron and copper manufactory, in which all goods in this line are
made to order in any pattern ; he also deals in agricultural implements, and keeps a full variety
of the best make on hand. Sept. 12, 1867, he married Miss Elmira Burnett, of HoruellsviUe,
N. Y. ; they had three children, two living — Frankie and VVillie.
H. A. MYERS, farmer; P. O. Bioomington, box 991 ; was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Aug.
23, 1827, where he live I until 1864. He was married Dec. 25, 1849, to Miss Levina Schechter,
of Richwood, Union Co., Ohio ; she was born in Knox Co. When but 20 years old, he took up
the management of tiie home farm and conducted the same until 1864; in 1851, he bought a
farm adjoining his father's farm, of 183 acres ; in 1864, he sold the two farms and came West,
bringing with him 1,400 head of sheep, and located two miles east of Bioomington; he next
moved to a farm six miles from Bloomington,'on Cheney's Grove road, containing 504 acres : he
then came to his presnnt place, located ten miles from Bioomington, and containing 257 acres.
When he came West, he was largely interested in wool-raising; lately, he has confined himself
to stock and general farming. They have had ten children, eight still living — Theodosia A.,
Henry S., Margaret ()., James F., William F., Rose L., Jennie and James S.
SAMUEL NICKERSON, dry goods, Heyworth ; is a native of this township and born on
his father's farm Sept. 16, 1849, where he lived eleven years; they then moved to a farm near
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP. 845
Heyworth, being there also about eleven years, when the famHy came to the village ; he liveJ
here two years; then went to Terre Haute, Ind., and engaged as clerk in a hardware store,
remaining two years ; he then returned to Heyworth, and was confined by sickness until the
following August, when he visited the lakes in Wisconsin ; returning in the fall, he remained
until the spring of 1877 ; he then traveled east, visiting his father's native place in Maryland,
and returned in July the same year. In the spring of 1878, he bought out Short & Dillon, for-
merly Wamsley Bros., and has conducted the business since. The business was first e.^^tablished
by Wamsley Bros about 18G-5, and was conducted by them until 1878, when they were super-
seded by Short & Dillon, who, in a few months, disposed of the business to Mr. Nickerson, who
found that, with no experience and a depleted stock, his task of putting the business on a good
footing was by no means a small one ; but, by close attention to business, coupled with the knowl-
edge that in buying lay the chief point of selling, together with a cautious study of the wants of
his trade, he soon had the satisfaction of seeing his business increasing, and each succeeding
month adding to its variety and extent, until now it is conceded that his is the leading business
in his line in Heyworth. Though gaining this point, he felt that, so long as there was a chance
to benefit his trade, there was something for him to do, and to meet this point, he, on March 1,
1879, put his business on the cash basis, thus securing to his customers goods at prices which do
not include the losses on bad accounts, which, in a credit business, are sure to occur in spite of
the best judgment.
E. J. PASSWATER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Heyworth; is a native of Hamilton
Co., Ohio ;• was born Sept. 15. 1821. and lived in Ohio till 1830, when, with his parents, he came
to Illinois and settled at the west end of Randolph Grove May IB, 1830. In the fall, his father-
entered the present place, and lived here until his death, Feb. 28, 1851. Mr. E. J. Passwater
married Miss Almeda Savage, who was born in Kentucky and died Feb. 12, 1865. After his mar-
riage, he began business on his own account. After his father's death, he and his brother Clem-
ent took the management of the farm and bought an additional eighty acres. After his brother
Clement's marriage, they divided the home farm, the original falling to E. .J., where he has lived
ever since. By his first marriage he had ten children, nine living — Martha .1., Ann M., Rhoda
C, Ervin P., Alice. Elizabeth, Levina, Enoch H. and George W. ; Almeda died. Sept. 7, 1871,
he married Mrs. Annie E. Jones Atchi'on, who is a native of this county ; they have one child
— Emma May ; she had two children by former marriage — Sarah G. and Charles N. His par-
ents, Pernell and Comfort Short, were natives of Delaware; she died April 25, 1844.
CLEMENT PASSWATER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Heyworth; was born on his
father's form, in Hamilton Co., Ohio, March 17, 1825, where he lived five years, when, with his
parents, he came to Illinois, and settled at the west end of Randolph's Grove ; this was in May
16, 1830: he lived with his parents until June 1, 1848, when he married Miss Rebecca Yocom,
of Kentucky. After his marriage, he began business on his own account, working part of
his father's farm, his wife remaining at her home in Sangamon Co., which place he ulso made his
home. In the spring jf 1849, he settled on eighty acres that he and his brother had bought
previously, and on which he lived until 1867, when he came to his present place, and has lived
here since. He is no office-seeker, and has held no office except connected with the schools.
By his marriage he has had seven children, six living — Emily J., Stephen H., William F., Enoch
D., James C. and John L.; Mary C. died.
.TOHN R. PETERS, of the firm of Slagel & Peters, blacksmiths, etc., Heyworth : was born
on his father's farm, in Shenandoah Co.. Va., Aug. 8, 1845, where he lived one year; he then,
with his parents, moved to Hardy Co., Va., where he lived until 1861, when, with his mother and
family, he came West to Illinois, and settled in McLean Co., at Lexington, where, at the age of
16, he was apprenticed to the trade of a blacksmith, according to State statute. After learning
his trade, he took a trip East, visiting his native county in Virginia, after which he returned to
Lexington and worked at his trade. In 1866, he went to Martin Township, in this county, and
engaged in the blacksmithing business on his own account. In 1868, he sold his business and
came to Heyworth and worked for Mr. Slagel, with whom, in the summer of 1871. he formed a part-
nership, an account of which will be seen elsewhere. Aug. 23, 1870, he married Miss Mattie E.,
daughter of Mr. J. Slagel ; she was born in Pendleton Co., Va. ; they have one child — Hurbet J.
WILLIAM QUINTON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Heyworth; was born in Kilkenny
Co., Ireland, March 21, 1811, where he lived until he was about 33 years of age ; he then went
to Australia and, in 1849, came to the United States, settling in California, and, in 1850. he came
to Illinois, settling on his present place, and has lived here since. In December. 1856. he mar-
ried Miss Mary Ann Mooney ; she was born in Wexford Co., Ireland, in December, 1833 ; they
had seven children, five of whom are living — Mary Jane, Elizabeth, John H., Sophia and Will-
iam. He owns 320 acres in this and DeWilt Co., which he has earned by his own labor and
management. His farm is localed four miles southwest of Heyworth, and is well adapted to
stock-raising. While in Australia he cared for sheep and followed farming, and when the Cali-
fornia excitement began, he left Australia for same and followed mining, and met with fair suc-
cess, but, owing to sickness, had to leave.
HENRY RALEY, fixrmer and stock-rai'^er ; P.O. Bloomington; was born in Bedford Co. ,^
Penn., Jan. 20, 1845; his parents moved to Clay Co., Ind., when he was but 6 months old, and
846 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
lived there until 185-5, when in the fall of that yeai' they came to Illinois and settled in Bloom-
ingion Township, this county, and lived there three years ; they then moved to Old Town Town-
ship, and he lived there until 1866. On Dec. 20, of that year, he married Miss Lizzie S.
■\Velsh; they have four children, viz., William A., Eugene E., Henry L. and Charles E. After
his marriage, he came to this township and lived here one year; he then moved to Hudson
Township, living there six years, and then came to^iis present place; in 1864, he enlisted in the
lo5th Keg. I. V. I., and remained in the service one year; he owns 206 acres in this county ; it
Ih located seven miles southeast of Bloomington, and four miles west of Downs, and is well
adapted to ftock-raising.
DR. A. F. ROGERS, grocer. Hey worth ; is a native of Leicester, Worcester Co., Mass., and was
born Oct, 11, 1812; he lived in his native town about three years, when, with his parents, he
moved to Bernardston Mass., thence to Swansea, N. H , where he lived until he was 6 years
of age; he then came West to Illinois, and settled at Waterloo, Monroe Co., where he was prin-
cipally engaged in farming until 1835, when he joined the Methodist Conference, and remained
in active service until 1858. He attended the tirst conference held in this county in Bloom-
ington, about 1842; in 1844 and 1845, he was on the Bloomington Grove Circuit, during which
time he held a revival in Bloomington, some forty to fifty being converted In 1858, he engaged
in the drug business in Leroy, and in 1865 he came to Hey worth, moving his drug business here,
which he continued until 1870, his store being the first in the place; he then engaged in preach-
ing until 1877; in the spring of 1879, he engaged in his present business. In the fall of 1835,
he married Miss Ann Eliza -Warnock, daughter of .Judge Warnock, of St. Louis, Mo.; she died
in 1842; they had four children — two living, viz.. Dr. L. H. and Mrs. Ann E Howard. In
1845, he married Miss Julia A. Gibbs, of Leroy ; they had eight children — five living, viz., Mrs.
Lucretia Whiting, Mrs. Ellen Stretch, Flora, Austin W. and Orvill.
0. C. RUTLEDGE, of the firm of I. Vanordstrand & Co., grain, lumber etc., Heyworth ; was
bora in McLean Co., 111., on his father's farm, located in the present township of Randolph,
Oct. 19, 1831, where he lived until the age of 27; in the summer of 1855, he bought grain in
heyworth for Mr. E. Birney, of Le Roy, this county, and thus did the first business transacted at
Heyworth; at first the business was very small — all the grain was handled by hand, and weighed
on small platform scales. In the fell a small warehouse was built, in which to handle and store
the grain. In the spring of 1856, Mr. Birney quit the business at this point, and the firm of
Elder & Rutledge was formed, doing business until April 1, 1858, when they consolidated with
Mr. I. Vanordstrand. and did business as I. Vanordstrand & Co.; during the following summer,
Mr. Rutledge withdrew from the firm; and on being married, he moved lo Downs Township,
engaging in farming; he remained there two years, when he returned to Heyworth and engaged
in the general merchandise business with Mr. .1. C. McFarland — the firm being McFarland &
Rutledge; they continued in the business until 1865; during three years of this time Mr.
McFarland was in the army, and Mr. Rutledge had the entire management; he then sold out
his interest, and bought an interest in the business of I. Vanordstrand & Co., and has continued
a member of that firm since ; in 1872, Mr. Elder withdrew from the firm. Mr. Rutledge is the
oldest living native resident of this township. In 1862 he was Assessor, and received the
appointment of Township Treasurer the same year; he has also held the oitices of Township
( lerk. Village Trustee, Corporation and School Treasurer. He married Miss Sarah \. Elder
June 8, 1858, who died in 1865; they had one clald — Mary F. He married Miss Letitia A.
Battershell, Dec. 24, 1866; they have two children living, viz., Lettie and Lyndon.
T. O. RUTLEDGE, farmer and stock-rai-er ; P. 0. Heyworth: is a native of Augusta, Ga.;
he was born Sept. 17, 18(Mi, and lived there six years; he then, with his parents, moved to
Henderson Co., Ky., where he lived thirteen years, when he came to Illinois and settled in San-
gamon Co., where he lived one year; in 1826, he settled on his present place and lias lived here
since. Jan. I, 1«29, he married Miss Cynthia Rutledge, of Kentucky; they were married in
tliis township, and had twelve children — seven living; live in this county, one in Missouri and
one in Kansas; he owns 343 acres in tliis county, having given all his children farms, all of
wliich he has earned by his own labor and management He came here in an old Wfigon, which,
with a team of oxen, constituted his possessions at that time. He was in the service sixty days
with Gen. Stillman, in the Black Hawk war, and was present at the General's defeat; after the
expiration of the sixty days, he enlisted for thirty days to assist in building block houses in
Chicago. His father died in Kentucky ; his mother and eight children came here in the wagon.
Being the oldest, the care of the farm and family principally fell to him. His mother died in
1M36, near Le Roy, this county.
R. H. RUTLEDGE, fqj-mer and stock-raiser; P. (). Heyworth: is a native of Henderson
Co., Ky.; he was born on his father's farm March 21, 1810, and lived there five years, when,
with his parents, he came to Illinois and settled in White Co., where they engaged in farming;
in 1824, they moved to Sangamon Co., thence to Logan Co., ami in 1S2<), they came to Randolj)h
Grove and settled near the present place. Aug. 20, 18;')(), Mr. Thomas Rutledge died; he was
born in South (jarolina, and married Miss Sallie Smith, of Georgia; they had twelve cMldren —
four now living. Mr. R. II. Rutledge being the eldest son at home, he look the management of
the farm. la 1H31, he improved a farm near Le Roy for his mother, his father having sold the
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP. 847
old hotnestearl just previous to his death. She moved to the Le Roy farm, taking the family,
except Mr. R. il., who, June 9, I80I, married Miss Charity Weedman, a native of Perry Co..
Ohio; this was the first marriage in McLean Co.; after his marriage, he entered a part of his
present place. In the fall of 1831, he made his fir.st trip to Chicago, going by ox team, and has
since made ui)wards of twenty trips by team to that point. He marketed at Fort Clark (now
Peoria) as early as 1827; he owns SoB acres in this township, which is well improved and
stocked; Oct. 16, ISTl!, he lost his dwelling-house by lire. In building his present residence,
he used eight-inch sills of oak and walnut, made from trees that have grown up since his settle-
ment here ; he had twelve children — six living, viz., Mary Jane, Sarah L., George T., Nancy E.,
Leander and Marquis De L.
J F. RUST, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Randolph; was born in Maury Co., Tenn.,
Aug. 11, 181t), where he lived about si.K years, when, witli his parents he moved to Monroe Co.,
Miss., wher-^ they lived two years; they then moved to West Tennessee and lived there four
years, when they came to Illinois, and settled in Hamilton Co. ; in the spring of 18o4, he came
to McLean Co. with a drove of cattle, belonging to Isaac and Jesse Funk, bringing some to
Funk's Grove; he then worked by the month for Mr. Jesse Funk, having hired to him in the
sourhern part of the State, and lived with him in all about six years; in 18o9, he bought 120
acres in De Witt Co. Oct. 22, 1840, he married Miss Elizabeth Lindley, a native of Christian
Co., Ky., and, in November following, moved to his farm and lived there six years; he then
sold out and moved to Randolph Grove, on a farm near his present place; in the winter of 1857,
he came to his present place and has lived here since ; he has marketed produce in Chicago,
also at Ft. Clark and Pekin ; he has given farms to all of his children, and has 400 acres for
himself and wife, all of which he lias earned by his own labor and management.
H. J. RUST, Sr., farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Randolph ; was borii in Maury Co., Tenn.,
Jan. 6, 1823 ; in 1829, he came to Illinois with his parents, who settled in Hamilton Co.; Nov.
28, 1834, they bought 100 acres in Randolph Township of Gov. Moore, for $6 per acre ; in 1847,
they moved to Lyttleville, where his father and others built a saw and grist mill ; in 1852, he
bought a land-warrant and entered his present place and has lived here since. Feb. 24, 1848,
he married Ruth E. Boroughs, who was a native of Dearborn Co., Ind., and died Nov. 27, 1862;
Sept. 31, 1863, he married Miss Elizabeth Hoover, who is a native of Clermont Co., Ohio. In
1846, he volunteered for Col. Baker's regiment, but was put in reserve and never called for. He
owns 183.} acres in this township, which he has earned by his own labor and management, his
start in life being a horse and saddle ; his parents, William and Nancy ( McGee) Rust, were natives
of Granville Co., N. C. ; they were born Feb. 23, 1793, and Nov. 11, 1789 ; they had nine chil-
dren ; both died in this township Aug. 5. 1868, and Aug. 25, 1873, respectively.
J. SLAGEL (of the firm of Slagel & Peters), blacksmith, Heyworth ; was born on his
father's farm in Randolph Co , Va., March 8, 1830, where he lived eighteen years; he then went
to Harper's Mill, in Pendleton Co., Va., where he was apprenticed to the trade of a blacksmith
with Jacob W. Harper, and remained six years, during which time, on April 17, 1851, he mar-
ried Miss Huldah Raines, of Pendleton Co., Va., and by whom he has had ten children, six
of whom are now living, viz., Martha E., Mary Susan,' Noah W., Charlie, Minnie and George J.
In 1854, he moved to Coles Co., ill., where he lived until 1857, when he came to Heyworth and
engaged in his present business ; beginning in a small way, he gradually kept increasing the
business, and, in 1871, he took Mr. J. Peters as a partner; the business flourished under the
management of the firm, and besides a horse-power engine, they added several improved
machines to facilitate the work in their carriage and wagon manufactory, and later they added
a feed and meal mill ; in 1872, when the depression that followed was beginning to be felt, the
firm began to curtail the business, believing such course better than to have a stock of goods on
hand made under the disadvantage of former high. prices; the working force was reduced and
the stock on hand disposed of, and no new stock was made except on orders ; the capital arising
from the sale of the stock was placed in good and marketable real estate, so that when the
depression became general and severe, tliough the firm experienced a great falling off in trade
and shrinkage of values, they were in no wise embarrassed by the change.
SA.MUEL R. STILLMAN, farmer; P. 0. Heyworth: was born in Sussex Co , N. J., on his
father's farm, Jan. 1, 1828 ; he lived there a few years, and then moved to Morris Co., N. J.,
and lived there until 1838, when, with his parents, he came to Illinois and settled on his present
place ; his father entered the place, buying it from the government at §1.25 per acre ; he lived
with his parents until 1849. Dec. 20, of that year, he married Miss Polly E. Peasley, a native
of Virginia; she died Nov. 17, 1870. In November, 1854, he moved to Lyttleville, in this town-
ship, and bought an interest in a saw and grist mill which h.u\ been erected for sawing ties for
the Illinois Central Railroad ; he carried on the mill until March, 1860, when he returned to the
present place ; in 1861, he sold his interest in the mill, and, in August, 1862, he enlisted in the
94th I. V. I., Co. B, and remained in service until the close of the war; he was in the siege of
Vicksburg, battles of Ft. Gaines, Ft. Morgan, Spanish Fort and the other battles of the regi-
ment. He owns 400 acres in this county, located on Mud creek, two and a half miles west of
Heyworth, on the main road to .McLean, which enjoys the reputation of running through the
best ten miles of land in the county. • Nov. 28, 1871, he marrie<i Miss Prudence E. Moore; she
848 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
was bora in Morgan Co., Ohio, Feb. 28, 1839; the members of the family are, Margaret (, .
Mirtin V.. Malinda J., Albert R.. Sylvester P., Herschel E., Maria L., Mary L , Samuel E., Ray
E. anil .Tiidsoii M.
A. R. STILLMAN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Heyworth; is the son of Samuel R. and
Polly E. (Peasley) Stillman, and was born in Lyttleville, Randolph Township, McLean Co., HI ,
March 10, 1855, and came with his parents to a farm adjoining his present place. Sept. 3, 1874,
he married Miss Sarah Xickerson, who was born in this tov^nship, and died June 3, 1875;
March 16, 1876, he married Miss Henrietta Greeney, who was born in this township ; they have
one child— Oakley E. After his marriage, he came to his present place and has lived here since :
it is located oq the main road from Heyworth to McLean, about three miles west of the former
pla' e.
J. S. STOCKDALE. farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Heyworth ; was born in Allegheny Co.,
Penn., Jan. 26, 1814. where he lived about sixteen years, when, with his parents, he moved to
Washington Co., same State, and engaged in farming, remaining there until 1854: they then
moved to Monongahela City, where he worked at wood-turning in a chair and cabinet-ware
factory, and remained one year; he then cime West to Illinois, and bought a farm in Sangamon
Co., which he sold the following fall and returned to Monongahela City, remaining there until
spring; he again came to Illinois, stopping with his brother-in-law, Mr. Porter, near Blooming-
ton, and lived with him until the following September, when he bought and settled on his pres-
ent place, which now contains 150 acres, located one mile from Heyworth, on the main road, to
McLean ; it is well supplied with living water, there being three or four mineral springs, which
though not improved give ample evidence of their worth ; one is in daily use, and is looked upon
as the family drug store. Feb. 26 1847, he married .Miss Margaret Curry, a native of Pitts-
burgh, Penn. ; they have three children, viz. : William B., James C and Alice V.
A. M. STRINGFIELD farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Randolph: was born near Murfrees-
boro, Tenn., Oct. 14, 1809, and lived in Tennessee about one year; when, with his parents, he
went to Huntsville, Ala., where he lived until the fall of 1819 ; when, with his parents, he came
to Illinois, and lived one season in White Co. ; then moved to Sangamon Co., where he lived
about one year; while there his father died ; in the spring of 1823, he, his brother and brother-
in-law, came to Randolph Grove, and he and his brother improved a farm for their mother, which
she settled on in the fall of 1823 : and, in March, 1824, Miss Temperance Stringfield and John W.
T'aylor were married ; this was the first marriage in what is now McLean Co. ; they lived there
until 1826, when Mrs. Stringfield and her children — Severe, A. M. and Virginia, went to Galena.
III., where they carried on a wagon-shop, and ran teams, which they continued for two years,
during which, Mrs. Stringfield died. In the fall, A. M. returned to Randolph Grove, and
engaged in farming on the place he helped to improve for his mother ; in November, 1831. he
took cattle to Galena, and in February, 1832, he settled on his present plnce. March 25. of the
same year, he married Miss Amelia Hand, a native of Ohio ; her parents settled near the east
side of the Grove in 1824; they had eight children, seven living — Thomas C, Jesse F., George
H , John H., Barbria H., Elizabeth V. and Mary E. In 1831. he was elected an officer
in the 39th Regiment Illinois Militia, being Captain of Co. B. He has been Justice of the Peace
for eight years. Supervisor of this township (two first terms after county organization), and has
served about four years since. Though he has given land to his children, he retains 300 acres^
for himself and wife. Mr. Stringfield was one of the early settlers of this county, and his early"
days are full of amusing and thrilling scenes and incidents among the Indians and wild animals;
he carries the scars of several wolf-bites — a full account of which, together with his adventures
with the Indians, would fill an ordinary book.
S. T. THERY, engineer and Police Magistrate. Heyworth; is a native of Jefferson Co.,
Ohio, and was born in Tiltonsville. where he lived about eighteen years. He was then appren-
ticed to the cabinet trade in Warren Co.. where he remained two years ; he then came to Illinois,
and settled near Le Roy, where he engaged in farming, and lived there most of the time until
1854, when he came to Heyworth and engaged at wagon manufacturing, continuing until August,
1862, when he enlisted in Co. B, 94th T. V. I., being Corporal: was in the service nearly three
years. In February, 1865, he was transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, and was made Com-
pany Clerk, which he held about one month, when he was promoted to Sergeant. He was in the
battles of Prairie Grove, Siege of Vicksburg, where he was taken sick and confined to hospital
one year ; after his di«charge. he came to Heyworth. and worked at wagon-making, following
the same until 1868. August 1, of that year, he took his present position, and has held the
same since. He has held the office of Town and Village Clerk about five years. In 1877, he was
elected Police Magistrate of Heyworth. Oct. 21. 1865, he married Miss Eliza J. Mills, who
was born in Ohio Co , Va. They have five children, viz.: Sarah A., Alma, Ida, Mamie and
Melorie.
T. M. THORNBURY. farmer; P. O. Randolph ; is a native of Chester Co., Penn , where he
was born Aug. 17, 1829, where he lived until he was 23 years of age, during which time he
learned the carpenter's trade, and followed it for seven years: he then engaged in butcherii'g
and marketing, at West Chester and Philadelphia, continuing in the business ten years. In
1802, he came West to Illinois, and settled on a farm three miles east of Bloominglon, and lived
RAXDOLPH TOWNSHTP. 849
there tintil 1867, when he moved to Bloomington, and entered into partnership with E. Barrier,
and buUt the Union Flooring Mills of that place ; he finally sold his interest, and bought the
flooring-mill and warehouse at Shirley, and conlocted the basine*s there for a year and a^half^
when he sold oot the btisiness : during this time he resided in Bloomington ; he then moTcd to a
farm about three miles northwest of Bloomington. and reniaine<l there until 1865, when he came
to his present place. Oct. 10, 1861, he married Mis. Mary A. Preston, formerly Miss Mary A.
Price : she is a native of Philadelphia.
GEOPvGE UHRICH. blacksmith, Heyworth : is a native of Chrichsville, Tuscarawas Co.,
Ohio ; he was bom Oct. 4. 1-^29, and lived there trntU he was 15 years of age, when he went to
Cadiz. Ohio, and wa? apprenticed to the trade of a blacksmith, and remained there until he was
18 years of age ; he then worked transient until he was 21, when he engaged in the business for
himself, at Uhrichsville, where he remaine-l until the spring of 1857. when he came to Illinois,
and stopped in Bloomington. remaining transient until 1859, when he came to Heyworth, and
engaged with Mr. Forsby, who carried on a shop at this place ; after working a few months, he
engaged in the business on his own account buying out a Mr. Graham, who also had a shop
here, and is carrying on the business since. Adjoining his is a wagon shop, and in new work,
the two shops work as one. thus giving each the advantage of the other, and enabling them to
do all kind of building and repairing in their respective lines. On Sept. 12. 1852. he married
Miss Adaline Brown, of Putnam Co.. X. Y. They have five children.
IS.A.AC VANORD-STRAXD. of the firm of I. Yanordsirand i Co., grain, lumber, etc., Hey-
worth: is a native of Washington Co., Penn.. and was bom Feb. 11. 1824, on his father's farm,
where he lived until the age of 20 : he then attende-l the Cross Creek Academy, where he
remained about eighteen months. In September, 1845. he came West to Illinois, settling in McLean
Co., and taught the Kimbler School at Diamond Grove: he then took charge of a general mer-
chandise btisiness for Mr. Wm. ilahon, assignee for his son John D. ; his wages in this capacity
were f8.3<; per month, his time lacking six days of being three months, and. to complete that
period, he spent the six days in the harvest field. After visiting Pennsylvania, he formed a part-
nership with H. J. Short and .J. X. Low, under the firm name of Short. Vanordstrand i Low,
general merchants, located at Short Point. In the following April. Mr Short withdrew, and the
firm became Vanordstrand k Low, who moved the business to Independence (the present site of
Mr. Vanordstrand' s residence), and conducted the business until February, 1848, when he
b-iught out Mr. Low, and conducted the btisines- until 1850, at which time his brother .John took
an interest with him, the firm name being I. and .J. Vanordstrand. In 1852, Mr. John Vanord-
strand sold his interest to his brother Parker, who was a silent partner. In 1856, the firm sold
oot to J. C. Frisby, who moved the business to a town then locate-J one and one-half miles north
of the present village of Heyworth. The following winter, the store burnt down, whhich proved
the coUap«e of both business and town. From 1856 to 1857, Mr. Vanordstrand was engaged in
setting up his former business and the management of his farm. In 18-57, he bought out J. 3.
and G. P. Barber, who were carrying on the grain and lumber business in Heyworth. April 8,
1858, he consolidated with Elder and Rutledge, the firm being I. Vanordstrand s Co. In 1872,
Mr. Elder withdrew. In Sept. 14, 1848, he married Miss Eliza Ann Low, a native of Blooming
Grove, this county, she was born April 30 1832. They had three children: two living, viz..
Willie and Craig.
W. VAXOKLSIRAXD. farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Heyworth: is a native of Randolph
Township, McLean Co., 111., and was bom on his father's farm, near the village of Heyworth.
Nov. 20, 1855, where he lived ab'Ot twenty-one years, except two years he spent at school, in
Lincoln, this State. Xov. 22, 1876. he married Miss N. M. Noble, who was born in Randolph
Township, this county. Dec. 26. 1858. They have two children, viz. : Charley V. and Carl. In
the spring of 1877. he came to his present place, which contains 160 acres, located two and one-
half miles from Heyworth, on the main road to .McLean.
L. D. WELCH, farmer and stock-raiser : P. 0. box 965. Bloomington : is a native of Ran-
dolph Township. McLean Co.. Ill , and was born Dec. 2, 1847. and has always lived in this
coonty. He Uved with his parents until he was 23 years of age, when they moved to Blooming-
ton, and he and his father worke-i the farm in partnership : hid father furnishing the help. In
1876. he traded a farm he owned east of this for the present place, paying the diflference in
values. Sept. 22, 1869, he married Arabella J. Lemen, who was born in Ohio : they have four
children, viz.: Minnie L., John E.. William B. and Gertrude May. At the age of 11 he joined
the M. E. Church, and has taken an active interest in its affairs ; he is Church Stewar<l and
Trustee, and has been Superintendent of the Sabbath school. He has not sought for oflBce in
countv affairs, and has held none except in connection with the schools.
.J. A. WELCH, farmer and stock-raiser : P. O. Downs : The subject of this sketch was bom
in Downs Township in this county, on his father" s farm. Jan. 6. 1849, where he live<l imtil he
was 23 years of age. He married Miss Myriilla J. Bishop, Nov. 23. 1>71 ; she was bora in
Randolph Township in this county: they have three children, viz.: Henry A. Jr., Florence and
Mary M. After this marriage, he came to his present place and has lived here since. He owns
227 acres in this township, which is located 10 nules southeast of Bloomington and four miles
8 uthwest of Downs Station.
850 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
LEXINGTON TOWNSHIP.
JOSEPH B. AMBROSE, clerk, Lexington ; born in Morgan Co., Ya., Nov. 8, 1821, which
was his home until his removal to Troy, .Miami Co., Ohio, in 184o, where he resided some three
years : in 1848. he returned to the county of his nativity, locating at Berkeley Springs, and sub-
sequently to West Virginia. He was married in 185o, to Miss Mary E. Hyre, who was born in
Upshur Co., West Va.; in the spring of 18.3-4, he removed to Illinois, locating at Lexingiou,
which has since been his home .Mr. A. has served as member of the Town Council two terms.
VALENTINE J. BECKER (V. .J. Becker i: Co.), drugs and groceries, Selma ; born in Buf-
falo, N. Y., Oct. 3, 1853, but removed to Illinois in early childhood, with his fatiier's family,
locating at Lexington, this county ; in .July, 1874, he was employed as clerk in the drug store of
McNaught & Butler, where he remained until Feb. 1'2, 1878: for a few months of the same year
he was with a drug firm at Kenosha, Wis., but engaged with Malt. W. Borland, pharmacist at
No. 378 West Van Buren street, Chicago, 111., in July of that year: he engaged in the drug
business, under the firm name of V. J. Becker & Co., at his present location, Jan 20, 18711.
GEOHGE BRADFORD, farmer. Sec. 21: P. O. Selma; born in Cumberland Co., Me., June
29, 1823, and is a son of David Bradford, who was born in the same State ; Mr. B. is a descend-
ant of Gov. Bradford, of colonial times, and therefore of the old Pilgrim stock; at the age of 13,
he moved to North Bridgewater, Mass., where he resided until his removal to the West; in the
fall of 1854, he removed to Illinois, locating at Pleasant Hill, his present home, where he fol-
lowed shoemaking for some years, and afterwards engaged in the drug business ; in the spring
of 1877, he sold his drug stock and became a tiller of the soil. He has filled the office of School
Treasurer seventeen years; was elected Justice of the Peace in 1872, and still holds that office;
owns 130 acres of land, valued at §40 per acre. In 1850, he was married to Miss Martha Paul,
who was born in Dedham, Mass. ; they have three children — George C, (.harles W. and Mary E.
JONATHAN CREERY, farmer, Sec. 25; P. 0. Selma; born in Wayne Co., Ohio, Aug. I,
1835, where he resided until 1853, removing to St. Joseph Co., Ind., in the spring of that year ; in
1855, he crossed the plains, arriving at Placerville, Aug. 10 of that year, where he engaged in
mining: some two years later he went to Southern Oregon, thence to Frasier River in 1858;
when they entered the British possessions, they had to pay a fee of 815 ; this entitled the miner
to a license good for three months, and at the end of that time the license was renewed for an
other quarter for the fee of §5 ; after a short stay, he returned to Oregon ; in 18(jl, he went to
Idaho, thence to Montana, some three or four years later, where he, with others, discovered the
Elk Creek mines, which proved to be very rich; in 1867, he returned to the States, and the fol-
lowing year, purchased- the farm known as the Esq. Thompson place, where he has since resided;
owns 220 acres of laml in Lexington Township. Married, in 1858, to Miss Rebecca J. Hatfield,
who was born near Elkhart, Ind.; four children — Viola, Hayden, William H. and Nina.
ALFRED B. DAVIDSON, attorney at law and .Justice of the Peace, Lexington ; born in
Ross Co., (diio, Sept. 8, 1833, but removed in early childhood, with his father's family, to Ill-
inois, locating near Bloomington in December, 1836, where he followed farming till about 19
years of age, then came to Bloomington and served as clerk until 1856; he was, for a time,
engaged in the mercantile business at Decatur, 111., l)ut returned to Bloomington, where he dealt
in groceries and grain. In August, 18(;2, he enlisted in the 94th I. V. 1., and was mustered
out at the expiration of his term of service : in October, 1865, he located at Lexington, his pres-
ent home, and engaged in the grain business: elected Police Magistrate in May, 1867, which
office he still fills; has also served as Town Clerk and Corporation Treasurer several years;
admitted to the bar of the State in .January, 1876. Mai-ried in 1858, to Miss Ellen G., daughter
of Dr W. H. Mitchell, of Decatur, 111.; they have five ciiildren — .Minerva, William H., Alfred J.,
Nellie B. and Anna J .Mr. D. is .Master of Lexington Lodge, No. 482, A., F. & A. .M.
GFORGE W. DAVIS, farmer, carriage and wagon maker ; P. 0. Lexington ; born in Ches-
ter Co., Penn., June 10, 1833, and is the youngest son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Hush) Davis ;
liis father was born near Philadelphia, Penn , .July 4, 1774; he was of Welsh, and his wife of
German, parentage. Mr. Davis resided in Cliester Co , the place of his Viirth, till about 15 yeai's
of age, when he went to Pickaway ("o , Ohio, anil learned the carriage trade with his brother;
he subsequently worked at his trade in Philadelphia ami Jleading, Penn.; thence to Ohio, where
he remained about one year; in April. 1855, he moved to Illinois, locating at Lexington, his
present home, where he worked at wagon-making for other parties; in the sjiriiig of 1857, he
went to Omaha, Neb., where he remained about eighteen months, and then returned to Pickaway
' 0., Ohio, and again, in August. 185'.i, went West, stopping in Ida, Kan., thence to Ft. Scott,
Kan.; thence to ]'enn.sylvania, returning to Lexington in 1863 ; owns 320 acres of land in Lawn-
dale Township, this county, and 120 acres in Iowa. In 1864, he was married to Miss Sarah
Biggs, who was born in Money Creek Township, this county ; she died in 1867; one child by this
union — Walter M. .Mr. D was married to his present wife, Catharine Morris, in 1869; she was-
born in Pickaway Co., Ohio; one child by second marriage— Jessie E.
LEXINGTON TOWNSHIP. 851
JOHN DAWSON, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 7: P. O. Lexington; born in Madison (^o.,
Ohio, Dec. 4, 1820, but removed, when about 12 years of age, with his father's family to Ill-
inois, locating in what is now Lexington Township, this county, in September, 1882 ; his father,
.James R. Dawson, was a native of Bourbon Co., Ky., and among the first settlers of this vicinity.
The subject of this sketch was in Chicago in 1833, when Gen. Scott's troops were there and
remembers asking his father to buy land in that city, and the request being promptly answered
by, " I don't want any land in this pond." Mr. D. has followed farming and stock-raising for
many years, and, in 1858, he also engaged in shipping cattle, which he followed for about ten
years. In 1875, on account of f^xiling health, he removed to California and there engaged in
raising fine cattle ; in April, 1879, he returned to his present home. He was married in 1844,
to Miss Arminta Adams, who was born in Boone Co., Ky.; eight children by this union, two of
whom are living — Thomas A. and Orlando F. Mr. Dawson owns 742 acres of farm lands in this
county.
CROGHAN DAWSON, farmer and stock -raiser ; P. 0. Lexington; was born in Madison
Co., Ohio, Oct. 10, 1822, and is a namesake of Maj. Croghan, who defeated the British and
Indians at Lower Sandusky, Ohio, in 1812; his father, .James R. Dawson, was born in Bourbon
Co., Ky., Oct. 10, 1794 ; he moved to Ohio when about 15 years of age, and, in 1816, married
Miss Mary Ogden ; they removed to Illinois in the fall of 1832, locating in what is now Money
Creek Township, this county. The subject of this sketch worked on his father's farm until 20
years of age, after which he became a tiller of the soil on his own account, combining with it
wolf-hunting, both as an amusement and, to some extent, a necessity in these early times, as his
wolfship possessed such fondness for the flesh-products of the fiirm that it became necessary
to kill wolves as well as weeds. In 1849, he married Miss Elizabeth Haner, who was born
in Fayette Co., Ohio ; her father's family came to this county when she was a child, settling
here as early as 1829 ; they have nine children living — Merritt, Ezra, Azor, James B., Ella (wife
of E. Campbell), General McClellan, Dolly, Captain John and the youngest, who is now waiting
for that legacy — a name ; they have lost one child — Emma, who died in 1854. Mr. D. owns 956
acres of farm-land, valued at i?30 per acre ; he has also given great attention to stock-raising,
and, in 1858, commenced shipping cattle quite extensively, and continued until 1870. He has
served one term as Assessor of Lexington Township.
GEORGE T. DEMENT, general stock merchant, Lexington; born in Alexandria, Va.,
March 19, 1815, but removed in early childhood with his father's family to Maysville, Ky,;
thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1824 ; in 1832, the Asiatic cholera made its first appearance on
this continent, and his father, Richard Dement, was its first victim in the city of Cincinnati ; in
1834, Mr. Dement located at Nashville, Tenn., and engaged in the manufacture of chairs, and
dealt in furniture. In 1837, he was married to Miss Ann E., daughter of Braddock Richmond;
she was born in Rhode Island. Mr. Puchniond's home, for many years, was with his daughter,
Mrs. Dement; his age at death was '.(2 years. With the exception of the above, there has not
been a death in this family for a period of over forty years. In the spring of 1838, he removed
to Illinois, locating at Treraont, Tazewell Co., whei-e he engaged in farming; since 1852, he has
resided at Lexington, his present home ; here he built the first warehouse, and shipped the first
grain sent by cars from this market ; Mr. D. also purchased the first safe brought to L., and a
gentleman from an adjoining township, who had not become accustomed to this style of furniture,
came into his store, placed himself in a good position to get the benefit of this, as he supposed,
artificial heater, remarking, " It's a very cold day." The following are the children of Mr. and
Mrs. Dement — Clara E. (wife of Gen. Franklin), Richmond S., George R., Martha A. and
Ambrose.
DAVID T. DOUGLASS, physician, Selma; born in Morristown, N. J., July 21, 1842 ; he
received his early education at the place of his nativity, where he resided until his removal to
Illinois in 1866 : his first location in the West was at Saybrook, this county ; he followed teach-
ing until 1869, when he entered Rush Medical College, Chicago, graduating at that institution
in February, 1871, commencing the practice of his profession at Saybrook soon after: in 1872,
he removed to his present home; owns 120 acres of land in Lexington Township. In 1872, he
was married to Miss Mary L. Pierson, who was born in Morrow Co., Ohio; one child by this
union — Miriam. The Doctor is a member of Lexington Lodge, No. 482, A., F & A. M.
JAMESP. DOUGLASS, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. II4 P.O.Lexington: born in Morristown,
Morris Co., N. J., which was his home till his removal to Lexington Township, this county, in
December, 1868. The year prior to his removal to this State, he was married to Miss Mary S.
Paul, who was born in Morristown, N. J. ; they have five children — Mary A., Lucretia J., Ida
B., and the twins — Emmett B. and Everett P. Mr. D. owns eighty acres of land, valued at
$3,200 ; has served as School Director three terms. As a relic of former times, he has a $4 Con-
tinental bill bearing date 1776 ; this promise to pay is as follows : " This bill entitles the bearer
to receive four Spanish mill dollars, or the value thereof in gold or silver, according to a resolu-
tion of Congress passed at Philadelphia, Feb. 17, 1 776." Mr. Douglass is a descendant of William
Douglass, whose name is found in early Scotch history.
CHARLES S. ELDER, Sr., physician and surgeon, Lexington ; born in Waterloo, Seneca
Co., N. Y., May 7, 1885 ; but removed in early childhood with his father's family to Conneaut,
,852 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Ohio ; in 1843, they removed to St. Clair Co., 111., and three years later to St. Louis, Mo. ; in
the fall of 1852, the family came to Bloomington, HI. The Doctor commenced the study of medi-
cine with Dr. W. A. Elder, of Bloomington; in the fall of 1858, and during the winter of 1859-60,
attended a course of lectures at Rush Medical «lollege, Chicago. In September, IStil, he
enlisted in the 3od Illinois Infantry as Musician, and was appointed leader of the band in the
summer of 1862, with rank of 2nd Lieutenant; by general order from the War Department dis-
charging bands, they were mustered out of the service in the fall of that year. After his return
from the army, he continued the study of medicine at Rush Medical College, graduating at that
institution, Jan. 23, 1863, and commenced the practice of his profession at Clienoa, 111., the fol-
lowing >priug; in 1875, he removed to Bloomington, where he was associated with his brother
in the practice of medicine until 1877, when he removed to Lincoln, 111., and embarked in the
drug business in connection with his medical practice; in March, 1879, he removed to Lexing-
ton, his present home. He married, in 1856, Miss Mary E., daughter of Dr. E. iNIartin. of
Bloomington, afterward a resident of Lexington ; Mrs. Elder was born in Fayette Co.* Ohio; they
have six children — Lora M., .Josephine, Edgar B., Lottie, Grace and Charles S., .Jr. The Doctor
is a member of Lincoln Lodge No. 210, A., F. & A. M. ; demitted from Chenoa Chapter No. 143.
JAMES FINLEY, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 33 ; P. 0. Lexington; born near Ripley, Brown
Co., Ohio, July 15, 1826, but removed in early childhood to Clinton, Co., that State ; he followed
boating four years on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers; in 1842, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio,
where he remained twelve years ; in the fall of 1857, he removed to Illinois, locating in Blue
Mound Township, this county, where he followed farming six years ; then moved to Marshall
Co., 111., bought land there (123 acres), which he sold in 1876, and returned to this county and
purchased the Haner farm, where he now resides. Married in March, 1849, to Miss Harriet
Owens, who was born in Ohio ; eleven children by this union, seven of whom are living — Mary,
Joseph W. C, Stephen A. D., Matilda B., Richard C, General D. and Maggie L. ; lost four —
Benjamin M., Ruth A. and Vallandigham ; one died in infancy.
NOAH FRANKLIN, farmer and breeder of fine cattle ; P. 0. Lexington ; born in Owen Co.,
Ind., June 29, 1831 ; in the spring of 1850, he removed tp Illinois locating in Money Creek
Township, this county, where he engaged in farming, and since the above date has given con-
siderable attention to stock-raising; at his " Spring Park Farm." one and a half miles west of
Lexington, he has several head of "short horns," which breed he makes a specialty ; owns
1,000 acres of farm land, valued at $30,000; since 1877, Lexington has been his place of resi-
dence. Served as Supervisor of Money Creek Township several terms. Married in 1854, to
Miss Sarah C, daughter of Jacob Spawr ; she was born in Lexington, her father having settled
here as early as 1826 ; they have four children living — Ida M. (wife of C. D. Bush), Minnie M.,
Noah E. and Bertram A. ; Lola died Jan. 2, 1863.
JOHN FULWILER, merchant, Lexington; born in Cumberland Co., Penn., Dec. 24, 1810,
where he resided until 27 years of age. In 1837, he located near Bloomfield, Perry Co., Penn.,
where he engaged in the iron business under the firm name of McGowan, Fulwiler & Co., their
works being known as the " Juniata Iron Works." Subsequently, he engaged in merchandising
at Shippensburg, also dealing in coal lands at the same time. The town of Tremont, which is
located about twelve miles west of Pottsville, was laid out by Mr. Fulwiler in about 1843. As
early as 1842, he made an extended tour through the Northwest, visiting Chicago, St. Paul, Council
Bluffs, Quincy, Galena, Springfield, Bloomington, Peoria and other places ; he again came West
in 1850-52, removing to his present home in the spring of 1854. Mr. F. has served as Super-
visor, member of Town Council and held other minor offices. In 1834, he was married to Miss
Mary Mahon, who was born in Cumberland Co., Penn.; by this union, there were ten children
■ — five sons and five daughters, seven of whom are living.
JOHN GALLEH UGH, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 1; P.O.Lexington; born in Madison
Co., Va., Dec. 25, 1826, where he resided until 18.')9, when he removed to Illinois, locating in
Lexington, this county, in the spring of that year, and the following year removed to Money
Creek Township where he engaged in farming; served two terms as School Director in that town-
ship; he removed, in 1871, to his present home: served as Assessor in Lexington Township
seven years, and is the present incumbent. Married, in 1851, to Miss Mary A. Weakley, who
was born in Rappahaiiiiock Co., Va. ; five children by this union — John M., Thomas J., Elizabeth
A., (wife of William Morris), Lucy E. anti Noah F.
DR. CHARLES T. GRAY, dentist, Lexington; born in New Market, Shenandoah Co., Va.,
May 24, 1822; removed to Pendleton Co., that State, when twelve years of age; thence south to
Highland Co., and, in the fall of 1855, to Oldtown, this county. He has resided at Lexington
since 1859, where he has been in the constant practice of Ins profession since. At the age of 18,
he commenced the study of dentistry, and has followed this profession during the past thirty-six
years ; he has been a member of the Town Council several terms and served as Township
Assessor one term. Married, in 1849, to Miss Jane C. Arbogast, who was born in Virginia ; she
died in 1868; seven children by this union, five of whom are living — Sarah J., wife of Wesley
Goddard ; Lucy C, wife of Shelby Bull; Amelia C, wife of Arthur Scroggin ; Mary V. and
Walter E. He was again married to Mrs. .^arah A. Goddard (McAboy) in 1875 ; she was born
in Virginia. The Doctor is a member of McLean Lodge, No. 206, I. O. 0. F.
#>,
/^.i^^^^^^^ y^. -&.
DAN VERS
LEXINGTON TOWNSHIP. 855
MARSTON HEFNER, stock-dealer and shipper, Lexington; born in Money Creeli Town-
ship this county, Jan. 27, 1834; his father, Michael Hefner, who was born in Virginia, settled
here in the fall of 1830, and was among the first settlers in this section. Mr. Hefner had Deen
farming and stock-raising until his removal to Lexington, his present home, in 1868. He still
owns a firm of 400 acres of tine farm land in ^louey Creek Township. In 1855, he was mar-
ried to Miss Mary P. Wood, who was born in Indiana; two children by this union — Charles F.
and Francis A. ; their adopted diughter, Daisy E., cime to them as a relic of the great Chicago
fire of 1871, her Either losing his life in the great calamity, and her mother's death soon occur-
ring on account of exposure and grief. Since 1867, Mr. H., on account of his wife's health, has
spent considerable time in the Eastern, Southern and Western States ; but, during the last two
years, her health has been such that she has been confined to her home. Mr. H. has been some-
what unfortunate in his business associations, having frequently indorsed for others, as was cus-
tomary with stock-dealers, having, in consequence, many debts of others to pay ; one party,
thougli refused further recognition in business matters, forged Mr. Hefner's name, where he
could not purchase liorses on his own account, thus placing in jeopardy the business reputation
of Mr. H., as well as his purse, involving him in a long and expensive litigation, costing, with
other surety debts, over $15,000. After these many years of expensive litigation, he has been
fully vindicated by the decision of the Supreme Court of the State in his favor.
SOLOMON HART, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 3 ; P. 0. Lexington ; born in Ashland Co.,
Ohio, April 4, 1836; when about 15 years of age, he removed to Wyandot Co., Ohio ; in 1859,
he went to California by way of Laramie, Ft. Kearney and Salt Lake, stopping in Carson City
during the winter of 1859-60, where he engaged in mining; he also spent one year, 1863, at
Placerville, Cab, and returned to Ohio in 1864 ; he came West in the spring of 1865, locating in
Lexington Township, this county ; has served two years as School Director in this township.
Married, in 1867, Miss Catharine Knipple, who was born in Somerset Co., Penn. They have
four children — Franklin G., .John \V., Cora M. and .Joseph C. Mr. Hart owns eighty acres of
farm land in Lexington Township.
HENRY HAYS, deceased, Lexington; was born in Virginia, May 28, 1810. On the 15th
of September, 1831, he was married to Miss Sarah B. Smith, who was born in Mercer Co., Ky.,
May 5, 1814, and, in the fall of 1835, they removed to Illinois, locating in Lexington Township,
this county. By this union there were nine children, seven of whom are living — William H.,
born Oct. 22, 1835; Matilda B, wife of C. M. Beebe, March 23, 1838; Sarah H., wife of A. Bur-
ton, Nov. 11, 1839; Ann E., wife of S. Howard, Feb. 18, 1842; Harriet D., wife of R. B. Beem,
Oct. 14, 1843; Henry C, whose sketch is given below; .James A., Feb. 21, 1846; Mary 0. was
born Aug. 23, 1832— died Oct. 10, 1845; Milton S., born May 10. 1835, died Oct. 22, 1845. By
second marriage there were four children — two living — Marion G., born Aug. 25, 1850; Frank,
October, 1859; Louisa S. died .July 1, 1858; Rayburn died Dec. 31, 1854. Mrs. Hays died Feb.
17, 1848, her husband surviving her some twelve years; his death occuri-ed March 5, 1860.
HENRY C. HAYS, Constable, Lexington ; born in Lexington Township, this county, Dec.
13, 1844, which has since been his home, with the exception of a few years. In 1861, he enlisted
in Co G, 33d 111. Inf., serving with that regiment until March, 1865 ; he was appointed Deputy
Sheriff in 1876, serving two years ; elected Constable in the same year, and is still serving in
that capacity ; served as Collector in Blue Mound Township two years, and Assessor one year.
Married, in 1866, Miss| Sarah B Graves, who was born near Shakerstown, Ky. One child by
this union — Erie W. Mr. Hays is a member of Lexington Lodge, No. 482, A., F. &. A. M.
GEORGE W. HISER, Sr., clerk, Lexington; born in Wayne Co., Ind., Oct. 2, 1843, where
he resided until 1856; his father, Henry Riser, kept hotel for many years about three miles west
of Centerville, Ind., and on the old stage route between Richmond and Indianapolis. In August,
1856, the family removed to Illinois, locating at Pleasant Hill, this county. The subject of this
sketch worked on his father's farm till 1860, then located in Lexington, his present home, and
followed teaming for a few years. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. G, 68ih 111. Inf.; the regiment was
soon ordered to Alexandria, Va., but returned to Springfield in September of that year, and
mustered-out. In January, 1864, he entered the store of S. R. Claggett, as clerk, and, in July
of that year, engaged with Goddard & McCurdy, dealers in lumber, and served in that capacity
about four years, with this and other firms. In 1868, he engaged with Geo. W. Knotts, and the
following year became a partner in the business, but, about a year later, sold his interest to Mr.
Knotts, and continued with the firm as clerk, till January 1874; also learning the tanner's trade
during this period. After leaving the employ of the above firm, he clerked for Mr. Claggett for
some three years, and, in May, 1878, engaged as clerk with the firm of Carnahan & Poole. Mar-
ried, in October, 1864, Miss Ella B. Popejoy, who was born in Lexington Township, this county,
Oct. 27, 1846; four children by this union — three living — Claude L., born Oct. 25, 1868; Orrin
L., July 12, 1874; Maidie L., Aug. 17, 1877; lost one— Dotta L , who was born Nov. 10, 1870,
died March 15, 1871. Mr Hiser was elected a member of the Town Council in the spring of
1878, and Supervisor in April, 1879.
ROBERT M. HOPKINS, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 32; P. 0. Lexington; born in Owen
Co., Ind., Feb. 6, 1830, but moved with his father's family, in early childhood, to Illinois; his
father, Patrick Hopkins, who was born in Delaware, was among the first settlers of McLean
LL
856 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Co., having located in what is now Martin Township, this county, in the fall of 1830. The sub-
ject of this sketch worked on his father's farm until about 26 years of age, then became a tiller
of the soil on his own account. Married, in 1850, Miss Mary L. Smith, who was born in Mis-
souri; she died in Sept. I860; two children by this union; one living — Charles C. ; William G.
died in 1864. Was again married, to Miss Letitia Lilly, who was born in Madison Co., Ohio:
five children by this union— Orange J., Mary E. and Ann E. ; lost two— Edmund M. died in
1868; one died in infancy. Mr. Hopkins owns 320 acres of land in Lexington Township, where
he has resided for the last t' enty-three years.
HEZEKIAH HORNEY, farmer and stock -raiser, Sec. 29 ; P. O. Lexington ; born in Fayette
Co., Ohio, July 3, 1826, where he resided until his removal to Illinois, in 1853, settling in Blue
Mound Township, this county, in October of that year. In 1865, he moved to his present home,
in Lexington Township; owns 280 acres of land. Married, in 1840, Miss Sarah J. Gaff, who
was born in Fayette Co., Ohio; five children by this union — Melissa C, Morgan M., Emma J.,
Edward C. and James P. ; served as Commissioner of Highways in Blue Mound and Lexington
Township for several years ; is one of the Township Trustees of Lexington Township. Mr.
Horney is a member of the Lexington Lodge, No. 482, A., F. & A. M., and McLean Lodge No.
206, I. 0. 0. F. He is giving considerable attention to the breeding of draft horses, and was the
first in this vicinity to introduce the Norman stock ; has taken several premiums at the State and
County Fairs ; also took second premium at the Missouri State Fair at St. touis, on three-year-
old draft horses, in 1870.
JAMES E. JOHNSON, Deputy Sheriff and Constable, Lexington; born in Tippecanoe
Co., Ind., Sept. 22, 1846, where he resided until his removal to Lexington Township, this county,
in the fall of 1860 ; here he followed farming until the war broke out, then enlisted in Company
G, 4th 111. Cav., in Aug., 1861, serving until mustered out at the expiration of his term of serv-
ice, Oct. 1, 1864. In the early part of the war he served as Orderly for Gen. Wallace, at Forts
Henry and Donelson ; was with his regiment and participated in battles of Shiloh, siege of
Corinth, siege of Vicksburg, battle of Black River and many skirmishes through Mississippi and
other parts of the South. Returned to Lexington Township in 1864 ; was appointed Marshal in
1876, elected Constable in 1877 and appointed Deputy Sheriff in 1878. Married in 1867, to
Miss Mary L. Bishop, who was born in Franklin Co., Ohio ; four children by this union — John
H., Jennie, Lena and Edna.
WM. H. KENNEDY, banker, Lexington; born in Brown Co., Ohio, Dec. 16. 1831, and is
a son of Hugh W. and Minerva E. (Logan) Kennedy; his father is a native of Virginia, but
removed to Ohio about fifty years ago ; his mother was born in Kentucky. The subject of this
sketch came to Lexington, his present home, in the spring of 1856. his first occupation being
that of clerk in the store of the late Dr. Goddard, serving in that capacity for the period of one
month, at a salary of $16, paying for his board for the same period .§15 ; he followed the occu-
pation of clerk some time, for various parties, and subsequently became a partner of I. Hai'ness, in
the clothing business, and afterward a partner of S. R. Claggitt, in general trade. In 1867, he engaged
in the live-stock business, but, the following year, the Bank of Lexington was established, and he
became cashier, which position he has since held. He has served as Town Clerk, School Direc-
tor and Township Treasurer ; owns 320 acres of farm lands, valued at §12.000. In 1858, he
was married to Miss Caroline, daughter of I. Harness ; she was born in Lexington ; six chil-
dren by this union, five of whom are living — Arthur M., Eugene A., Ella E., Luciau and
Lucy; Leonard A. died in 1865. Mr. K. is Secretary of Lexington Lodge, No. 482, A., F.
& A. M.
DAVID LAPSLEY, dealer and shipper of live-stock, Lexington ; born in Richland Co.,
Ohio, May 18, 1842, but removed to Huron Co., Ind., in childhood ; came to Illinois in 1858,
locating at Lincoln, Logan Co., where he remained two years ; then removed to Lexington, his
present home, and engaged in farming. Enlisted in the Marine Artillery in 1863 ; in connec-
tion with this organization, there was an attempt on the part of New York City to get the credit
for these soldiers, wlio were mostly from Illinois ; the attention of Gov. Yates being called to
this fact, an investigation was made, the fraud shown up and the organization disbanded, after
being in the service some seven months. Mr. L. was married in 1876. to Miss Clara M. Grove,
who was born in .Marshall Co., 111.; one child by this union — Zella. Mr. Lapsley is a member
of the Town Council.
WILLIAM McCRACKEN, merchant, general stock, Selma ; born in Franklin Co., Ohio,
July 28, 1828, where he resided until 1852, i-emoving to Illinois in the fall of that year, locating
at I'leasant Hill, this county. His business during the first nine years of his residence here
was in running saw-mills. In 1861, he enlisted in Company G, 33d 111. Inf., and remained with
the regiment till Feb., 1862, when he was transferred to tlie navy, being assigned to duty on
board gunboat Pittsburg; was discharged on account of disability oft" Fort PiHow, in April,
1862. In 1864, he engaged in the mercantile business at Pleasant Hill, where he has since
resided. He was married in 1864, to Miss Nancy J. McKee, who was born in Adams Co., Oliio ;
four children by this union — Maggie E., Jarpes H., George W. and Nellie M.
ISAAC S. MAHAN, Sr., attorney and Notary Public. Lexington. Born in Highland Co.,
Ohio, Jan. 2, 1831, but removed in early childhood to Brown Co., with las father's family, and.
/
LEXINGTON TOWiNSHIP. 857
in 1846, to Illinois, locating at Lexington, his present home, where for several years he worked
at the carpenter s trade and clerked in stores. In 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace,
which oiSce he held until 1877, a period of twenty years. He commenced the study of law in
1854, but discontinued until 1865, when he again resumed, being admitted to the bar of the
State in July, 1867; has served as member of the Town Council several terms, and also held
other minor offices. Married in Jan., 1857, to Miss Frances S., sister of Dr. Luce; she was
born in Erie Co., Penn., Aug. 2, 1S35 ; died Oct. 9, 1869. He was again married, in 1870, to
Miss Margaret J. Shephard (Kennedy), who was born in Sardinia, Brown Co., Ohio, Sept. 13,
1838 ; two children by this union — Isaac S., Jr., and Reba L. Mr. M. claims to have "had quite
an extended experience in railroading, but in view of the many dangers to life and limb,
he abandoned it many years ago. He is a member of McLean Lodge, No. 2U6, I. O. 0. F.
JACOB C. MAHAN, flour, feed and grain, Lexington ; born in Highland Co., Ohio, July
21, 1826, where he resided till the fall of 1842, then removing with his father's family to
Illinois, locating near Lexington, wnich at that time was a town of rather small proportions —
three or four dwellings and a blacksmith shop. In 1847, he engaged in merchandising at Lex-
ington, which he followed for several years, and, in 1865, with others, established the banking
firm of J. C. Mahan & Co., which is still operated under the same firm name. In 1867, he
built the first brick. block erected in the town of Lexington ; he has served as Supervisor, mem-
ber of the Town Council and Justice of the Peace. In 1849, he was married to Miss Ann E.
Brown, who was born in Frankfort, Ky.; she died in Sept., 1872 ; by this union there were
seven children, six of whom are living — George S., William Fi., Francis E., Ella G. (wife of N.
K. Jones), Permelia C. and Maud P.; ( harles K. died in 1866. He was again married, in 1873,
to Susie F. Poor, who is a native of ^lassachusetts ; of the two children by this union but one
is living — Melville P.; Herbert B. died in 1875. Mr. M. is a member of McLean Lodge,
No. 206, I. 0. 0. F. ; owns 400 acres of farm lands, valued at $12,000, and city properly,
valued at $15,0u0.
STEPHEN MERRILL, photographer, Lexington; born in Alleghany Co., Md., Oct. 11,
1830, where he resided until 18<]4, removing lo Illinois in the fall of that year; his first location
was Lexington, his present home, where he has since followed his present occupation. He has
served as a member of the Town Council three terms. In 1860, he was married to Miss Rachel
R. Rohrbough, who was born in Upshur Co.. Va.; they have two children — Swayze B. L. and
William B. Mr. Merrill has followed his present business for something over seventeen years ;
all work warranted and children's pictuies a specialty.
ALMARON J. MOON (Smith & Moon), general stock, Lexington ; born in Fayette Co.,
Ohio, Dec. 19, 1837 ; removing, at the age of 22, to this State, locating in Lawndale Township,
McLean Co., where, for several years, he followed farming and stock-raising; in 1863, he
removed to Lexington Township, and to his present home in 1870, and engaged in the mercantile
business, under the firm name of Smith & Moon ; he still owns 285 acres of farm land,
valued at .§11,400. Married in 1861, to Miss Zerelda J. Batterton, who was born in Lawn-
dale Township, this county, her father having settled in the county at an early day; they
have two children — Irena and Martha. Mr. M. is a member of Lexington Lodge, No. 482,
A., F. & A. M.
DAVID PARKHILL, farmer, carpenter and builder. Sec. 2 ; P. O.Lexington; born in
Fayette Co., Penn., Dec. 29, 1811, where he resided until 1845, then moved to Pittsbm-gh, that
State, where he worked at his trade, mostly in connection with steamboat building; in 1854, he
removed to Illinois, locating at Bloomington in March of that year, and two years later removed
to his present home ; owns eighty-two acres of land in Lexington Township. Married, in 1838,
to Miss Mary Reeves, who was born in AVestmoreland Co., Penn , in May, 1806 ; one child by
this union — Margaret Jane, wife of F. B Luccock.
JOHN W. POWLEY, dealer in stoves, tinware, etc., Lexington; born in Shippens-
burg, Cumberland Co., Penn., April 29, 1837, where he resided until his removal to Illinois, in
the spring of 1855; he located at Lexington, his present home, at the above date, and engaged
in his present business, manufacturing, in May of that year, the first tinware made in Lexing-
ton. In September, 1861, he enlisted in the 33d I. V. I. as musician, and remained with the
regiment until mustered out at (Jld Town Landing, Ark., by order of the War Department, in
August, 18t')2; in 1863, he crossed the plains, and after a short stay in Colorado, returned to
Lexington, and resumed his former occupation ; he has served as member of the Town Council
two years, and Constable six years. Married in 1867, to Miss Maggie K. Bricker, wdio was
born in Franklin Co., Penn.; five ohildren by this union — Reese B., Mabel E , Anna G., John
W., Jr. and Emma K.
CHARLES H. PREBLE, st'^ck-dealer and shipper, Lexington; born in Erie Co.. Penn.,
Feb. 25, 1832, where he resided until 1854, removing to Illinois in the fall of that year, locating
at Lexington his present home; he was engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1872, when he
engaged in his present business, which he has since followed ; he has served as member of the
Town Council tiiree terms, and is a member of the present board. In January, 1856, he married
:Miss Martha Kent, who was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y.: five children by this union— I'dith
M., Nettie, Lillian, Grant and Nannie.
858 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
THOMAS E. SCRIMGER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 23; P. 0. Selma ; born in Rich-
mond Co., Va., July 1, 1818, but removed to Ohio with his father's family in 18)5, locating near
Columbus, that State ; in September, 1852, he came to Illinois, stopping at Pleasant Hill, this
county, the first winter, and removing to the farm where he now resides the following spring.
Mr. S. was among the first to settle on a prairie farm in this vicinity ; owns 200 acres of land ;
he was the first Assessor of Lexington Township, after township organization. Mai-ried Sept.
24, 1840, to Miss Margaret McCracken, who was born in Ohio Jan. 1. 1817 ; died Jan. 28, 1862 ;
four children by this union — two living — George E. and Mary R., wife of S. H. Palmer. Henry
A. enlisted in Co. G, 33d I. V. I., in 1861; discharged Dec. 20, 1862; died Jan. 18, 1863.
James W., enlisted in Co. C, 94th I. V. I. in 1862; mustered out July 17, 1865: died July 14,
1866 Was again married Nov. 8, 1862, to Julia A. Parker, who was born in Steuben Co., N. Y.;
four children by this union — three living — EllaC, Josie E. and Schuyler E.; one died in infancy.
JAMES N. SMAIL, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 34; P. 0. Lexington; born in Morrow
Co , Ohio, March 15, 1850, where he resided until 11 years of age; in 1861, he removed to
Iowa, thence to Indiana the following year; in the fall of 1866, he removed to Illinois, locating
in Coles Co., returning to Indiana two years later; since the spring of 1874, his home has been
in Lexington Township, this county ; owns forty-six acres of land. Married, in 1873, to Mar-
garet A., daughter of Milton Bull; she was born in this county; children by this union —
Cora A, James A. Mr. S. resided in Kansas during the fall and winter of 1"(71 and spring of
1872, where he was engaged in teaching.
RICHARD STEVENSON, Postmaster, Lexington ; born in Chambersburg, Franklin Co.,
Penu., Dec. 2S, 1828, where he resided until 1850; then removing to Lexington, Va., where he
worked at carriage-making. In 1853, he was married to Miss Mary E. Buchanan, who was born
in Virginia ; by this union there were seven children, five of whom are living — Alice, Amelia, Fan-
nie, Nellie and (,'ora; lost two — Eddie died in 1865, Salliein 1855 ; in May, 1857, he removed to his
present home, where he followed wagon and carriage manufacturing for some ten years ; after-
ward engaging in other business, and is now a member of the firm of Edwards & Stevenson.
Mr. S. has served as Assessor, and for several years a member of the Town Council ; he was
appointed to his present position in 1878. Member of Lexington Lodge No. 482, A., F. & A. M.,
and McLean Lodge No. 206, I. 0. 0. F.
JESSE TRIMMER, deceased, Lexington: Mr. Trimmer was born in Hunterdon Co., N.
J., March 14, 1818: in the summer of 1826, he moved with his father's family to Illinois; first
stopping at Smith's Grove, this county, and soon after locating in what is now Money Creek
Township ; in the following October his father, John Trimmer, died, leaving to the care of his
widow a family of eight children. The subject of this sketch was married in 1839, to Miss
Amanda Gilmore, who was born in Fayette Co., Ohio; her father's family having settled in
Money Creek Township, in 1837 ; Mr. Trimmer's death occurred Aug. 27, 1876, his wife surviv-
ing him until Jan. 30, 1878 ; they had ten children, six of whom ai-e still living — Eliza A., wife
of John T. McNaught; John F., who enlisted in the 94th Illinois Infantry in 1864, was trans-
ferred to the 37th Illinois Infantry in 1865, and mustered out in May, 1866; Sarah E., wife of
Joseph A. Scott; David F., whose sketch is given below ; Mary and Enos A. William, the eldest
of the family, enlisted in the 33d Illinois Infantry in 1861, and served till November, 1862,
when he was discharged on account of sickness, and died soon after of disease contracted in the
army.
DAVID F. TRIMMER, loans, and dealer in live stock, Lexington; Mr. Trimmer, who is a
son of Jesse and Amanda Trimmer, was born in Money Creek Township, this county, July 27,
1851 ; until 19 years of age, he worked on his father's farm; then attended the State Normal
University at Bloomington two years, afterward being engaged in teaching. In 1874, he located
at Lexington, his present home, and, during the same year, he was married to Miss Josephine
McCafFerty. who was born in Money Creek Township ; they have two children — Floy and Myrtle.
Mr. Trimmer owns 240 acres of land in Money Creek Township, and a half interest in 200 acres
in Gridley Township.
DAVID II. VANDOLAH, stock-raiser and shipper; P. 0. Lexington: born in Money Creek
Township, tliis county, Nov. 8 1841 ; his father, James Vandolah, having settled in the town-
ship in the fall of 1835. The subject of this sketch worked on his father's farm until 1855,
when he came to Lexingioii, his present home, and attended school, soon after engaging in livery
and stock business, tlielatter iiaving been his principal business for a period of over twenty years.
Mr. v., with others, established tiie Bank of Lexington, Dec 16, 1868, under the firm name of
Harness, Vandolah & Co. He lias served as member of the Town Council several terms. Mar-
ried in 1864, to Miss Britiana Bray, who was born in Owen Co., Ind. ; two children by this
union — James and Sheridan. Mr. Vandolah has a fine stock-farm of 500 acres four miles west
of Lexington, well-watered, having several good springs which furnish pure water for stock
throughout the entire year.
JOHN W. WATERS, M. D., physician, (office in People's Drug Store,) Lexington; born in
.Montgomery Co., Md., Dec. 16, 1828, but removed in cliiMhood with his fatlier's family to Cen-
tral Ohio ; he received his early education at West Bedford Academy, and, at the age of 20,
commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Henry Waters, of Elizabethtown, Ohio, graduating
CHENOA TOWNSHIP. 859
at Sterling Medical College, at Columbus, in March, 1855, having commenced the practice of
medicine at Dallas, Darke Co., some three years prior to ihe above date. In the spring of 1855,
he removed to Illinois, locating at Selma, this county, where he resumed the practice of his pro-
fession ; during the winter of 1860-61, he attended lectures at Paish Medical College, at
Chicago, and again in 1864-65; he is also a member of the Illinois State Medical Society;
in 1868, he removed to his present home and became a partner with Mr. Reynolds in the drug
business, whose entire interest he purchased in 1871. What is known as the " Smith Block,"
was built by Dr. Waters, Milton and William M. Smith in 1868, and, in 1876, he sold his drug
stock to Grier & Poor. His iirst wife, to whom he was married in 1853, died the following year;
her place of nativity was Darke Co., Ohio ; his secmd marriage was in 1857, to Miss Nannie C.
Park, who was born in Washington Co., Penn. ; they have one sou — Frank P., now 21 years
of age, and a resident of Barbour Co , Kan., where he is engaged in the stock business.
Although the Doctor has had some business interests to look after, he has been in the constant
practice of his profession in this vicinity for the past twenty-four years. Owns 440 acres of
farm lands, valued at $30 per acre, and city property, valued at $12,000.
CHENOA TOWNSHIP.
S. C. ALLEN, general merchant: Chenoa ; was born in York Co., Maine, March 2, 1826;
when he was about 10 years old, he went to sea as cabin-boy on board his uncle's ship, and fol-
lowed the sea for seven years, during which time he made two voyages around the world and
one trip to Africa; he visited China, Sumatra, all of the West India Islands, and all the points
on the Atlantic coast from Greenland, to New Orleans. After leaving the sea, he learned the
hide and leather trade and settled in Peabody, Mass., and engaged in the manufacture of leather,
in which he was very successful ; he also afterward entered the wholesale hide and leather busi-
ness in Boston, and continued that with good success until 1857, when he removed to Illinois ;
he followed farming in New Rutland for several years, and then built a store in that place and
engaged in general merchandising ; he came to Chenoa in 1869 and continued merchandising
until 1875 when he was obliged to succumb to the pressure of the times, and suspend business;
he shortly settled up his affairs, however, and resumed trade, and is now doing a successful busi-
ness, having one of the largest stocks in town of such goods as suit the demand. He was mar-
ried March 4, 1856, to Mrs. M. J. Mover, of Kensington, N. H.
JAMES BRADY, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O. Chenoa; was born in County Dublin,
Ireland, Feb. 2, 1837; he came to America at the age of 11 years, and lived two years in
Toronto, C. W.; in 1853, he came to Putnam Co., 111., where he lived till 1862 ; he then came to
Yates Township, McLean Co., when that township was very new ; the deer were so plentiful they
had to be driven away from the corn ; he lived there two years, and, in 1864, settled on his pres-
ent home, one mile south of Chenoa. Mr. Brady is a self-made man, a most successful farmer
and a prominent stock-dealer, having made some of the largest shipments of stock from McLean
Co.; he owns a well-improved farm of 156 acres. He was married August 25, 1858, to Miss
Jane Boyd, who was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in July, 1839 ; they have eight children —
Lawrence H., Edwin M., Samuel T., Louis R., Mary E., Jennie A., Roscoe J. and Gracie H. Mr.
Brady was a member of the first Board of School Directors in his district, both in Yates and
Chenoa Townships, and helped build the schoolhouses in both districts. He has served as
Director seven years, and been Treasurer of the Board of Highway Commissioners three years.
BESLEY & WIGHTMAN, dealers in hardware, stoves, tinware, farm machinery, etc ,
Chenoa. This firm was established in 1866, and has had a steadily increasing trade in every-
thing that pertains to their line of business ; among the goods handled by them may be men-
tioned the following: The Harrison wagon, Nichols, Shepard & Co.'s thresliing machines and the
Sweepstake threshing machine. Buckeye reaper and mower, Furst & Bradley sulky plow and
rake, etc., Marseilles corn-sheller and Keystone and Barlow rotary corn-planters; in cooking
stoves they represent the Challenge Stove Works, of Peoria, and the Bloomington Stove Company ;
their leading base-burner is the "Climax," manufactured by Tap pi in & Rice, Akron, Ohio ;
besides these, they carry a complete line of heavy and shelf hardware, tinware and general
house-furnishing goods. G. W. Besley, the senior partner, was born in Oakland Co., Mich ,
May 19, 1841; came with his parents to Waukegan, 111., in 1853; in 1861, he left home, going
to Oquawka, Peoi-ia and Clinton, 111., learning the tinner's trade in the last-named place. In
September, 1864, he enlisted in Co. D, 146th I. V. I., was promoted to Sergeant and served ten
months, doing provost duty at Quincy. Springfield and Mount Sterling; returned to Waukegan
and remained till his removal to Chenoa in 18tJ6. He was married Feb. 3, 18()9, to Miss Sarah
M. Bacom, of Chenoa, and has two children — Winnie A. and .Flora J. J. E. Wightman was
born in Steuben Co., N. Y.. June 10, 1837; in 1838, his parents removed to McHenry Co., 111.,
where he remained *ill 1852, when he went to Chicago and learned the tinner's trade ; he first
started in business in McHenry, 111., in 1857; two years later he removed to Waukegan, and
860 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
thence, tliree years afterward to Clinton, 111., where he followed the hardware and stove business
until 1866, when he came to Chenoa; he has served six years as Alderman, and is the present
Mayor of the city, to which office he was elected in the spring of 1877 ; he has been President
of the Board of Education for the past ten years. He was married Dec. 31, 1857, to Miss
Isabella M. Atkinson, of St. Charles, 111., and has three children living — Henrietta E., llaltie B.
and John E , Jr.
A. H. COPELAND, ticket agent for the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad Co., and man-
ager of the Western Union Telegraph Office, Chenoa; was born in Middlebury, Vt., June 7,
1830: after receiving an academic education, he learned the printer's trade, which, owing to ill-
health, he abandoned, after following it five year^ and entered the Middlebury po-t office as
Assistant Po-tmaster, and, at the same time, manager of the American Telegraph Office; a.fter
about a year, he left the post office, and engaged in the book, news and publishing busine-s, con-
tinuing, however, in charge of the telegraph office, and also agent for the National and Fiske &
Co.'s Express for several years ; in 1868, he came to Chenoa, and assumed charge of the C, A.
& St. L., ticket office. Mr. Copeland was married Nov. 12, 1855, to Miss Frances L. Copeland,
of Granville, Ohio, and has two children — George E., now clerk in the Internal Revenue Office,
in Springfield, and Hattie A. Mr. Copeland is eminent in the Masonic fraternity ; he was made
a Mason in Lodge, No. 2, at Middlebury, Vt.; exalted to Royal Arch degree in
Jerusalem Chapter, No. 3, Vergennes, Vt.; received the degree of Royal and Select Master in
Vergennes Council ; was charter member of Potter Chapter, R. A. M., and Middlebury Council,
R. cS: S. M.. at Middlebury, Vt.; he is Secretary of Chenoa Lodge, No. 292, A., F. cSi A. M., and is
also Past High Priest and charter member of Chenoa Chapter, No. 143, R. A. M. He has also
been a prominent Odd Fellow ; was Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Vermont, and, since
coming to Chenoa, has represented the Lodge in the Grand Lodge of Illinois; he has held all the
offices in the Lodge, both here and in the East, and is Past D. D. G. M., of Chenoa Lodge, No.
387, and is also Encampment member.
C. J. CHISAM, freight agent of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad Company, Chenoa;
is a native of New York ; he was born in Taberg, Oneida Co., March 13, 1856 ; when about 14-
years old, he entered a dry-goods store, in Holland Patent, in his native county, and continued
clerking until 1872; he then came West, and entered the service of the Chicago, Alton & St.
Louis Railroad Company as cashier of the freight department at Springfield, 111., where he
remained until his appointment as freight agent at Chenoa; he is careful and punctual in the
dischai-ge of the duties. of the position, and all having freight business to transact with the road
are always sure of a prompt and gentlemanly attention, while the company are equally certain
that their interests will be guarded with the same promptness and vigilance.
HENRY CRABB, blacksmith and manufacturer of wagons, buggies, etc., Chenoa; was born
in Forfarshire on the eastern coast of Scotland, fifty miles from Edinburgh and the same dis-
tance from Aberdeen, on the 15th of November, 1830; at 15 years of age, he learned the trade
of a blacksmith, and afterward worked in large machine-shops in Arbroath, a large manufuctur-
ing town in his native county, where he became familiar with all branches of the machinist's
«rade ; in August, 1854, he left home and came to America ; he came direct to Tazewell Co., III.,
and worked two years in Washington and awhile in Morton ; he came to Chenoa in 1866, and
started his blacksmith and wagon shop, which he still continues ; he manufactures wagons and
buggies, does horse-shoeing and a general repairing of plows, farm machinery, etc. He was
married Jan. 29, 1866, to Miss Margaret S. Guthrie, of Peoria, a native of Glasgow, Scotland ;
they have four children— Jennie M., Annie C, Harry G. and Grace G. Mr. Crabb has served
one term as member of the Chenoa Board of Aldermen.
FR\NK A. DUNN, traveling auditor of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad; P. 0,
Chenoa; was born in Androscoggin Co., Me., Sept. 9, 1850; in 1864, his parents removed West,
Fettling in Richmond, Ind., where they still reside; in 1867, he entered the office of the Pitts-
burg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad as message-boy to learn telegraphing, and, in 1868, was
appointed operator at Bradford Junction, Ohio, and continued in the employ of that road at
ditlerent points until 1871 ; he then went to St. Louis as train-dispatcher for the St. Louis & Iron
Mountain Railroad Co., which position he held until 1873, when he went to Peoria and took a
like position with the Toledo, Peoria & Wai-saw Company ; in 1874, he took the Chenoa Station as
agent for the same road, and continued as such one year, when he was appointed traveling
auditor of the road ; he is one of the most faithful and efficient officials in the empTby of that
company. He was married Sept. 19, 1875, to Miss Addie W. Payne, a daughter of J. D. Payne,
of Chenoa, and has two children.
EVAN DA VIES, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Chenoa; came' to McLean Co, in 1858 —
twenty-one years ago; he was born in Merionethshire, Wales, April 10, 1826, and developed
those liardy traits of character, for which the people of that country are noted ; and these habits
of industry, frugality and integrity have been of inestimable value to him, in the more fertile
valley of the Mississippi ; he was raised on a firm, and came to the United States in 185(), and
after living two years in Oneida" Co., N. Y., removed to Illinois, locating in Chenoa. Township,
McLean Co., and is therefore one of the earliest settlers in the township; he owns a good farm
of 160 acres, the result of his own eftorts. He was married April 9, 1852, to Miss Ellen Evans,
CHENOA TOWNSHIP. 861
who was born in Merionethshire, Wales, in May, 1823 ; they have had three children, two of
whom are living — Jennie E. and Charles H.; one son, David E., died Oct. '24, 1873, at the age
■of 19. Mr. Davies held the office of School Director for six years in succession.
G. V. EWING, M. D., physician and surgeon, Chenoa ; has been a practicing physician in
this county for the past ten years; he was born in Ashland Co., Ohio, Feb. 12, 1831 ; his gen-
■eral education was obtained at the Vermilion Collegiate Institute in his native town — Hayesville,
Ohio ; in 1849, he began the study of medicine, and after reading one year, he entered the
Cleveland Medical College, where lie graduated and received the degree of M. D. in 1852 ;
returning to Hayesville, he practiced medicine there two years, removing thence to Stephenson
Co., 111., in 18-J4, and was engaged in practicing his profession there for fifteen years, coming to
Che-noa in 186'.). Dr. Ewing has never dabbled in politics, but has devoted all his energies to
the study of medical science, and the duties of his extended and successful pr.ictice. He is a
member of the Stephenson and Woodford County Medical Societies. He was married March
22, 1852, to Vliss Martha Kuhn, a daughter of Rev. .lacob Kuhn, professor of languages in the
Vermilion Collegiate Institute. She died in 1866, leaving five chiMren, four of whom are living
— Frank C. (now of Wheatland, Cal.), Mary V.. Florence N. and Granville R. He was married
again April 28, 1870, to Miss E. S. Wilson, 'of Lexington, Ohio.
.JOSEPH EVANS, retired farmer; P. 0. Chenoa; was born in Worcestershire, England,
March 26, 1811. He learned his father's trade of a glover, but on becoming of age, engaged in
merchandising. In 1844, he came to this country and settled in Morton, Tazewell Co., 111.,
seven miles from Peoria. He began life in this State poor, and, though land in those days was
cheap, was able to purchase but forty acres, but by industry and economy he gradually accumu-
lated some money, which he invested in land, selling it when he could do so at a profit; he con-
tinued this on a more extended scale, as his means increased, making it a rule, however, never to
buy more than he could pay for. Three years after Mr. Evans' settlement in Morton, Mr. Lin-
■coln, then in Congress, secured his appointment as Postmaster, which position he held eleven
years. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1850, serving eight years. In 1864, he. purchased
■ a farm of 160 acres, in Chenoa Township, whither he moved in 1866 ; in February, 1877, he
moved into the city; he served as Justice of the Peace from 1870 to 1874, and for the past three
years has been Commissioner of Highways. He was married in April, 1836, to Miss Harriet
HoUoway, Worcester, England, and has seven children living — Harriet, now Mrs. Griesser, of
Tazewell Co.; Mary, wife of Francis Webb, of Tazewell Co.; Alfred; Jane, now Mrs. William
Roberts, of Ringgold Co., Iowa; Herbert, Ralph and Dora.
ROBERT J. ELLIOTT, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 19; P. 0. Lexington; was born in
Mahoning Co.. Ohio, July 14, 1889; the family descended from John Elliott, the missionary, and
the first man to translate the Bible into the Indian dialect; his parents died when he was quite
young. At the age of 16 he went to Lawrence Co., Penn., to live with an uncle, and was living
there at the breaking-out of the war of the rebellion; he enlisted in Co. D, 134th Penn. V. I.,
in 1862, and was mustered in at Harrisburg, Aug. 10; he served nine months in the army of the
Potomac, taking part in the five-days battle of Fredericksburg, and the five-days battle of Chan-
cellorsville ; he was mustered out in May, 1863, and, in the fall of the same year, came to Illinois,
and settled on a farm in Lexington Township; in 1871, he removed to Chenoa Township, where
he now resides. He was married Nov. 1, 1864, to Miss Emeline Flesher, a daughter of George
Flesher, of Lexington Township ; she was born in McLean Co., March 31, 1845; they have five
children — George H., Willie D , Peter W., Frank L. and Arty C. Mr. Elliott has served six
years as School Director.
WARREN M. FALES, dealer in general merchandise, Chenoa. The above-named gentleman
.has done business in Chenoa for the past sixteen years. He was born in Dedham, Mass., April
11, 1833. When he was 18 years old, he learned the carver's trade, which he followed about
five years, and then engaged in the mercantile business, in which he continued until his removal
to Illinois, in 1861. The first year in this State he spent in Wenona, and in 1862 came to Chenoa
and opened a store. He is not only the oldest merchant now in business in the town, but he
carries the largest stock both in extent and variety, consisting of dry goods, boots and shoes,
clothing, hats, caps, notions, groceries, queensware, etc. ; his large store occupies the west half
of the Hamilton Block, the upper part of which contains two public halls. Mr. Fales is a suc-
cessful business man, owning considerable property in town, Ijesides a section of land in Texas
and a qSarter-section in Kansas. He is now engaged in building a fine residence in the city.
He has served several terms as Alderman of Chenoa, and been several years a member of the
Board of Education. He was married May 15, 1863, to Miss Charlotte B. Nichols, of Reading,
Mass., and has three children — Florence Elizabeth, Warren Dexter and Susan Agnes.
DR. J. M. GALLEHUE, dentist, Chenoa. In the practice of dentistry, perhaps more than in
any other profession, superior ability is necessary to success in a country town, owing to the
prevalent idea in the public mind that fii-st-class dental work is only to be obtained in the larger
cities ; but notwithstanding this mistaken notion. Dr. Gallehue has, during his five years' prac-
tice in Chenoa, satisfied the people that they can not only obtain as fine work, but at much lower
prices than in the cities ; he is the only dentist in the place, has an extensive practice, and all
his work is warranted to give entire satisfaction to his customers. Dr. Gallehue was born in
862 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: '
Madison Co., Va , Nov. 16, 1852, being a son of John Gallehue, now of Lexington, in fliis county.
He came to McLean Co. with his parents at the age of 7 years; he left home in 1870, and the
next year began the study of dentistry in Lexington ; after one year, he went to El Paso, 111.,
and continued his studies with Dr. M. H. Patton, of that place; after completing which, he
practiced with him about eight months, coming to Chenoa in 1874. He was married March 25,
, to Miss Mary McLean, of Lexington, and has one child — Herbert Glenn.
JOII\ CHRISTIAN GERISCH, o'f the firm of Gerisch Bros., dealers in live stock and pro-
prietors of the Chenoa Meat Markets, Chenoa ; is a native of Germany ; he was born in Hoch-
statten Hesse-Darmstadt, on the 25th of March, 1848. When he was 14 years old, he was
apprenticed to the butcher's trade; after completing which, he worked one year, and in 1865
came to the United States ; remained a short time in New York City, and then came on to
Chenoa; he spent but a few months here at that time, however, but went to Peoria and stayed
two years, and then returned to Chenoa and entered upon his present business with his brother
John Adam Gerisch ; they have now been in business as a firm for eleven years, are the only
firm engaged in their line of trade in the town, and do an extensive and prosperous business,
having two markets in the place ; they are among the most successful business men of Chenoa.
Mr. Gerisch was married Jan. 25, 1872, to Miss Lena A. Fellwock, of Livingston Co., and has
two children — Minnie M. and Nettie A.
JOHN ADA.M GERISCH, of the firm of Gerisch Bros., dealers in live stock and proprietors
of theC'henoa Meat Markets, Chenoa; was born in Hochstatten, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, Dec.
12, 1839. His father owned an oil-well and farm near the Rhine, just at the foot of the vine-
clad hills, in the richest part of Germany, ten miles from Darmstadt, the capital of the State, and
twenty-two miles from Heidelberg. Mr. Gerisch came to this country in 1868, and after spend-
ing a short time in New York City and Gutfenburgh, N. J , he came to Peoria, 111., and the next
year (1864) he came to Chenoa. and in 1865 began the butchering business with his brother
Jacob Gerisch. In the fall, he went to Chicago and remained six months, returning to Chenoa
in the spring of 1866, since which time he has been engaged in business here. He was married
Oct. 7, 1867, to Miss Augusta Amelia Fellwock, of Livingston Co., 111. ; she was born in Saxony,
Germany, Sept. 25, 1844, and came to this country with her parents when but a child.
E. P. G. HOLDERNESS, M. D., physician and surgeon, Chenoa; was born in Manchester,
England, Nov. 5, 1832, being a son of Dr. William Holderness, a physician of that city. The
same year, 1832, his parents emigrated to America and settled in Kentucky, being among the
early pioneers of that part of the State ; his father is now a resident of California. When but
a boy. the Doctor learned the printing business in the office of the Ripley Bee, in Ohio, but
abandoned it for the more congenial employment of studying medicine under his father's
instruction ; he practiced with his father until 1855, when he became a student of the Eclectic
Medical Institute, in Cincinnati ; In 1856, he came to Bloomington and continued his studies,
working in the mean time at the printer's trade to meet expenses; be then taught school in
McLean and Peoria Counties, and, in 1858, began practice with Dr. J. W. Waters, of Pleasant
Hill (now of Lexington) ; he graduated from the Missouri Medical College, of St. Louis, in 1860,
and continued to practice in Pleasant Hill one year, removing thence to Towanda, where he
remained until 1876, when he came to Chenoa, where he enjoys a large and lucrative practice.
Not satisfied with previous attainments, in the winter of 1864-65, Dr. Holderness attended a
course of lectures at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, and another course in
1874-75, receiving the degree of M. D. from that institution, also. He was mari'ied, in 1861,
to Miss Lurinda Mitchell, of Pleasant Hill, 111., daughter of William H. Mitchell, now of Fair-
bury, 111.
T. H. HARDER, attorney at law and real estate and loan agent, Chenoa ; is a native of
Wayne Co., N. Y. ; he was born Feb. 28. 1852 ; in 185^, his parents removed to Illinois, settling
in La Salle Co. ; he left the farm at the age of 18 years, and spent about two years in traveling
in different Western States. In September, 1872, he became a student in Union Christian College,
in Indiana, where he remained over two years ; after leaving college, he came to Livingston Co. and
taught school during tlie winter, and spent the following summer in the law office of Lawrence &
Strawn, having previously read law in private for about a year; in the fall of 1875, he entered
the Union College of Law, Chicago, being admitted to the senior class ; graduating in June, 1876,
he returned to Pontiac and began practice with tlie firm with wiiom he had studied the summer
tiefore. In March, 1877, he removed to Chenoa and engaged in the practice of his profession ;
he has succeeded in establishing himself firmly in a practice which is quite extensive, consider-
in"- the time lie has been liere. He was married Nov. 23, 1876, to Miss Lomenda Garner, of
Pontiac, and has one child — Delight.
THOMAS Y. HERVEY, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Chenoa. Among the prominent
citizens of the township who have settled here more recentlv, is the above-named gentleman,
who came from Livingston Co. in 1874; he was born in Ohio Co., W. Va., Jan. 13, 1837. He
came to Illinois with his parents in 1849, the family settling in Peoria Co. ; there he resided
until September, 1862, when he enlisted in Co. A, 47th I. "V. I., and served till th^ close of the
war; he was present at Nashville when Gen. Hood attacked that city; also participated in the
biege of Vicksburg. battles of Jackson, Miss., Old Spanish Fort, Fort Blakely and several minor
CHENOA TOWNSHIP. S6^
engagements. In 1866, he removed to Livingston Co. and purchased 160 acres of land in Pike
Township, whicli he improved and made his home till his removal to Chenoa Township in 1874 ;
he still owns his farm in Livingston Co , and iifty acres in his home place, making 210 acres in
all ; both farms are well improved. While in Pike Township, he served three terms as School
Director, one term as Supervisor, and one as Collector; he is now a member of the Board of
School 'trustees. He was married Dec. 26, 1806, to Miss Mary Hawcridge, of Peoria Co., 111.,
a native of Stockport, England, and has four children — Nettie E., Walter D., Charles M. and
Margaret M.
WILLIAM A. HAYNES, of the tirm of Haynes, Jordan & Co., dealers ingrain, land, stock,
coal etc., Chenoa; was horn in Marshall Co., 111., Jan. 12, 1886 ; he i.s a son of Samuel Haynes,
who was born in Genesee Co., N. Y., in 1799, and emigrated to Marshall Co., 111., in 1835, and
is now a resident of Chenoa. Mr. Haynes received a public-school education, and in 1863
started in the grain business, in Sparland, 111. ; two years later, he removed to Lacon and
engaged with his brother, W. S. Haynes, in the grain and lumber trade; in 1869 he came to
(Chenoa and formed a partnership with R. J. Jordan, his brother becoming a member of the
firm about a year afterwards. On the burning of their elevator, in 1873, the firm embarked in
banking, intending to abandon the grain business, but a favorable opportunity presenting itself,
they sold out their bank and resumed the grain business in the spring of 1878. They are prin-
cipally engaged in buying corn during the fall and winter and holding it for the spring market ;
they have had in store, during the past winter, about 250,000 bushels of corn. Mr. Haynes and
his brother own four warehouses — two at Chenoa, one at Weston, and one at Meadows. They also
own about 1,300 acres of land, lying mainly in Livingston Co., besides quite an amount of town
property. He has never sought official positions, and with the exception of that of School
Tru-tee, for the past eight or nine years, has held no public office. He was married Jan. 1,
1856, to Miss Delphia Fosdick, of Marshall Co., 111.
WILLIT S. HAYNES, of the firm of Haynes, Jordan & Co., dealers in grain, land, stock,
coal, etc., Chenoa; is a native of Illinois. He was born in Marshall Co., March 1838, being a
son of Samuel Haynes. He remained on the farm until the breaking out of the rebellion, when
he enlisted in Co. H, 53d I. V. I.; was promoted to Sergeant, and participated in the battle of
Hatche River, Tenn., and several minor engagements. He remained with his regiment about
two years, and, in July, 1863, was detailed as a clerk in the Quartermaster's Department, and
stationed in Memphis. After about two years, he went to Vicksburg in the same capacity, where
he served another year. Returning in 1866, he engaged with his brother, William A. Haynes,
in the grain and lumber, in Lacon, 111., and continued till 1870, when he came to Chenoa and
became a member of the firm of Haynes, Jordan & Co., whose operations in the grain and
banking business are given above. His business career, as well as that of the other mem-
bers of the firm, has been a successful one. He was married Dec. 28, 1871, to Miss E. A.
Bowen, a daughter of Alfred Bowen, formerly of Woodford Co., but now a resident of Chenoa ;
she was born in West Virginia Dec. 28, 1846; they have one child — Eldon Roy, born Jan. 14,
1879.
WILLIAM HOTSENPILLER, farmer and stock-raiser ; P.O.Lexington. Chenoa Township
not only received a large addition to its population during the years 1867 and 1868, but this
increase was from a class of people far above the average in intelligence and enterprise. Among
those who settled in the township in the former year was the subject of this sketch. His resi-
dence in McLean Co., however, covers a period of twenty years. He is a native of Virginia,
born in Shenandoah Co. on the 23d of February, 1838, and there lived until 1859. On arriving
at his majority, he came West and engaged in farming in Lexington Township, McLean Co. In
1867, he removed to his present farm in Sec 33, where he owns eighty acres of land. He has
served nine years as School Director, and takes an active interest in the subject of education, as
well as in all matters relating to the good of the community. He was married April 4, 1861,
to Miss Frances M. Derham, of Lexington, who was bom in Morgan ' o., Va., Dec. 6, 1839;
they have seven children — Virginia May, Mary Emma, Annie Grace, William Milton, Charles.
Elmer. James ^Ladison and Bessie Eunice.
ROWLAND J. JONES, farmer ; P. 0. Chenoa ; was born in Montgomeryshire, Wales, Feb.
8 1808. He was raised a farmer, and, in 1850, came to America and lived five years in
Utica, N. Y. In 1855, he moved westward to Cambria Co , Wis., and the following year to
McLean Co , and settled in Yates Township, six miles southeast of Chenoa, being one of the
earliest settlers in that part of the county. The northern part of the county was then, for the
most part, an unbroken prairie, with not a house for miles. Deer and other wild game were
plentiful. Mr. Jones was then a poor man, but has been industrious and economical, and his
labors have been rewarded with success, as he is to-day one of the most reliable .and highly-
respected citizens of the township. He removed to his present home in 1867. He was married
May 12, 1838, to Miss Jane Davis, of his native county ; of eight children, two are now living
— Sariah and Abbie, the latter the wife of Rev. C. H. John, of Chillicothe, Mo. Two sons, Jona-
dab R. and Josiah D., died while in the service of their country, both members of Co. K, 94th
I. V. I.; Eliakim died in Utica, N. Y , when but a child ; John E. died in 1867 at the age of 17 ;
the others died in infancy. Mrs. Jones died March 16, 1868. Mr. Jones was married again
864 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
March 5, 1870, to Mrs. Hattie Harper, who was born in the north of Irehiud, and raised in
the north of Scotland.
ROSCOE G. JORDAN, dealer in grain, real estate, stock, coal, etc. (firm of Haynes, Jor-
dan & Co.), Chenoa ; has been a resident of McLean Co. for the past twenty-three years. He
was born in Oxford Co., Me., July 6, LS34. He received an academic "education in the North
Bridgeton Academy, and, in 18-')6, came to Blooraington, and, after clerking awhile in the Pike
House, engaged in buying grain. About a year later, he removed to Hudson, and continued
in the grain and mercantile business until his removal to Chenoa, in 1867. He erected a steam
elevator, which burned down in 1873. The tirst two years he did business alone, and, in 1869,
the firm of Haynes, Jor<lan & Co. was formed. Mr. .Jordan is a large real estate owner, having
no less than 700 acres of farm lands in McLean Co., beside his interests in Western lands. His
business career in Chenoa has been a successful one, the firm of which he is a member being
among the heaviest grain-dealers in McLean Co. He was married May I, 1860, to Miss Mary
Dunham, of McLean Co., and has three children — Mary F., Arthur D. and Abbie. Mr. Jordan
has been a member of the Chenoa Board of Education for the past nine years, and for several
years, Alderman of the city.
ANDREW JACKSON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Chenoa. About a mile southwest of the
city of Chenoa, on Sec. 15, is undoubtedly the finest farm in Chenoa Township, and one of the
finest in McLean Co. It contains 480 acres, under a high state of cultivation, and with good
improvements, the barn especially being noticeable as the best in this part of the county. The
history of the proprietor, Mr. Jackson, is the history of thousands of other successful farmers
in this Western country. Coming to Illinois, twenty-five years ago, a poor man in all but that
energy of character and habits of industry, which warrant success, he worked on a farm by the
month the first year, in Peoria Co., then rented a farm for several years, and finally, accumu-
mulating a sufficient sum, engaged in farming on his own land. He was born in Washington Co.,
Penn., Aug. 5, 1829 ; came to Peoria Co.. Ill , in ISol, landing in Peoria, April o. In 1868, he
removed to his present home, purchasing 210 acres of land, subsequently adding thereto, until
he now owns 480 acres in one body. He was married, Oct. 4, 1854, to Miss Sarah Keyes, of
Peoria Co., 111., who was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, Oct. 9, 1833; they have two children —
Oscar I. and Estella B. Mr. Jackson has served several terms as Commissioner of Highways
and School Director.
A. D. KEEPERS, dealer in dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, etc. ; P. 0. Chenoa.
Although this gentleman has only been engaged in business in Chenoa since 1875, he has suc-
ceeded in building up an extended and healthy trade. Having an experience of seventeen years
in the dry-goods line, he is enabled to adjust his stock to the demands of his trade, buying only
in such quantities and of such goods as his customers demand ; he has few remnants left on
hand, and his stock, in consequence, presents an exceptionally neat and attractive appearance.
He keeps a full line of dry and fancy goods, boots and shoes, groceries, etc., and is one of the
most successful and substantial business men of the place. Mr. Keepers was born in Morris Co.,
N. J., July 26, 1848. When he was about 7 years old, his parents removed to Illinois, locating
in Gardiner, Grundy Co. He remained on the farm until 1862, and then entered a dry-goods
store in Wilmington. He remained there but a short time, when he went to Gardiner, and, after
clerking about five years, engaged in the dry-goods business for himself, in which he continued
until his removal to Chenoa in 1875. He was married, Aug. 17, 1870, to Miss Tillie Burlew, of
Watseka, 111.
WILLIAM E KETCHAM, general insurance agent, and dealer in groceries, provisions,
crockery, etc. (firm of Ketcham & Seybolt) ; P. 0. Chenoa. ; was born in Otisville, Orange Co.,
N. v.. Sept. 9, 1838. In 1856, he came to Tremont, Tazewell Co., 111., and engaged in civil engi-
neering on the Tonica & Petersburg R. R., ami assisted in the survey of that I'oad from Wash-
burn to Petersburg, 111. In 1858, he was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Tazewell Co., serving two
years. In Jan., 1861. he obtained a position in the Post Office Department in Washington, D. C,
antl, in September f(jllowing, was transferred to the pay department as Paymaster's (^lerk, and
lielil that position till Aug., 1865. In Sept , 18(55, he came to Chenoa, and, with A. B. Seybolt,
engaged in the grocery business, which they still continue. For the past three years, he has
been transacting a general insurance business. In March, 1871, their store was destroyed by fire,
and they at once erected their present two-story brick building, forming a part of Union Block.
He has served as <'ity Clerk for nearly five years. He was married, Jan. 21, 1868, to Miss Mary
A. Clapp, of Cleveland, Ohio, and has three children living — John, Lillian and Anna.
WILLIAM KOCH, fanner and stock-raiser ; P. O. ('henoa; is a native of Illinois; born in
Tazewell Co., April 3, 1843. His father, Caspar Koch, one of the pioneers of Tazewell Co., is
still living there, and is a prominent citizen of the county. Mr. Koch resided in Tazewell Co.
till 18(15, when he went to El Paso, Woodford Co., and, in 1867, came to McLean Co. and settled
on his present farm on Sec. 28, in Chenoa townshi]), where he owns 170 acres of land. He was
married, on tlie 6th of February, 1873, to Miss Lydia A. Groutsch, also a native of Illinois, born
in Peoria Co., May 15, 1S49 ; they have two children living — Emma Bell and Lui Franklin. .Mr.
Koch possesses. the characteristics of his German ancestors, of industry, thrift, and careful man-
agement, combined with the intelligent progressiveness which marks the people of the West;
CHENOA TOWNSHIP. 865
and it is not, tlierefore, to be wondered at that, during tlie past half-doze i years, while others
have succumbed to the pressure of the times, poor crops and low prices, he has made sure and
■steady progress on the road to success.
LILIE BROTHERS, cigar manufacturers, Chenoa, have been engaged in business here since
1875 ; they are both natives of German}' ; Adolph Lilie, the elder, was born in Hanover Aug.
17, 1845 ; he came to this country in I'^SiJ, and, after spending one year in New Jersey, came
West to Chicago, from which place he went to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he remained about
six months ; he then returned to Chicago and clerked about two years in a wholesale wine
house, after which, he learned c'gar making, and followed it until his removal to Chenoa in
1875. He was married Aug. 27, 1873, to .Miss Fannie Bode of Chicago, a native of Saxony,
Germany, and has three children — Harry, Walter and Adolph. The younger brother, Henry
Lilie, was born in Hanover, Nov. 19, 1851 : came to the United States in 1868 ; learned his
present trade in MattisDu, Cook Co., 111., and remained there until 1875, when he came to Che-
noa: Lilie Brothers are the only manufacturers of cigars in the place, and make all grades of
cigars, the finest Havanas as well as the more common grades.
JOHN MORROW, farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Chenoa; is a native of Illinois; he was
born in Peoria Co., Oct. 5, 1836, being a son of Thomas Morrow, one of the pioneers of that
•county, a native of South Carolina, and who moved from Indiana to Illinois in the year 1832.
Mr. Morrow was raised on a farm near Princeville, 111.; in August, 1862, he entered the Union
army as Second Sergeant of Company K, 86th I. V. I.; took part in the battles of Hartsville
Ky., Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Buzzard Roost, Keoesaw Mountain, Jonesboro', siege of
Atlanta, and was with Sherman on his famous march from Atlanta to the sea, then up through
■the Carolinas and Virginia, participating in the battles of Bentonville and Averysboro', N. C,
and was present at the surrender of Johnson's army; a few weeks before being mustered out,
he was promoted to First Lieutenant. Returning to Peoria Co., he lived there till 1869, when
he removed to his present home, where he owns a well-improved farm of 160 acres. He was
married Nov. 8, 1866, to Miss Maggie Hervey, who was born in Ohio Co., W. Va., July 20, 1839 ;
they have two children living — -William C. and David Thomas. He served as Collector one term
and School Trustee four years in Peoria Co., and since living here, has been School Director
'three years ahd Commissioner of Highways three years.
BE^JJAMIN J. MARRIOTT, saloon and billiard hall, Chenoa; was born in Lincolnshire,
England, Oct. 14, 1836: he was raised on a farm, and, in 1856, came to this country, and com-
ing direct to Peoria Co., 111. began work as a hostler in a hotel in Brimfield ; he was afterward
employed for a short time in a brick yard, after which, in 1859, he went to work on a farm in
Orange Prairie; in 1862, he went to El Paso, and learned the carpenter's trade, which he fol-
lowed in that place six years ; in 1869, he came to Cticnoa and worked at his trade for a while ;
he helped to build Mr. Balboch's store, and several bui'dings in the country ; he then engaged
in his present business, which he has followed mainly to the present time. He was married
Nov. 2, 1865, to Mrs. Eliza Kreis of El Paso, who was born in Tazewell Co., 111., May 4, 1844 ;
they have six children — Elizabeth. Charles H., George W., Alice M., John F. and Mary A.
W. A. MILLER, proprietor of the Exchange Hotel, Chenoa. " We eat to live and live to
-eat," and therefore, to point out a good hotel is an act of kindness which is sure to be appre-
ciated by the hungry traveler; of the Exchange Hotel it can be said with truth, tiiat in quality
and variety of fare and attention to the comfort of its guests, it is not excelled by any house oa
the line of the T., P. & W. R. R.; its tables are always supplied with the best the market
affords, and the genial manner of the proprietor makes the traveler feel "at home" at once.
Mr. Miller was born in Fulton Co., Penn., July 28, 1849; in 1854, his parents removed to
Carroll (Jo., 111., where he was raised on the farm, attending school at the Ml. Carroll Seminary
until he was 19 yeai-s old; he then went to Grundy Co., Iowa, and remained one year; in 1871,
he went to Livingston Co. and worked on a farm during the summer, clerking in a hardware
store in Dwight the following winter; in April, 1872, he came to Chenoa, as clerk in the
Exchange Hotel, of which he became proprietor Jan. 1, 1874. He was married Dec. 3, 1873, to
Miss Nellie Thomas, a daughter of Dr. J. H Thomas, of Chenoa. Mr. Miller is now serving his
second term as Alderman of the city.
PROF. J. A. MILLER, Superintendent of Public Schools, Chenoa; was born in Brown
Co., Ohio, Feb. 5, 1842; until the age of 21, he remained on a farm; in 1863, he entered a
select school in Sardinia, Ohio, teaching school the following winter; in 1864, he became a stu-
dent in the Southwestern Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, where he spent one year, April 13,
1865, he was married to Miss Alice S. Chaney, of Brown Co , a native of Highland Co., Ohio;
they have two children living — Cora E. and Leona G. The same year, 1865, he engaged in mer-
■cantile business in Marathon, Clermont Co., Ohio, which he continued two years, after which he
taught school one year in his native county ; in the spring of 1868, he removed to Illinois and
taught three years in Eppard's Point Township, Livingston Co.; in 1871, bnth Prof, and Mrs.
Miller entered the Illinois State Normal School, where he remained two years, Mrs. .Miller teach-
ing the second year in Bloomington ; in 1873, he became Principal of the Public Schools in
Towanda, and held that position five years, Mrs. M. also being engaged in the schools ; in 1878,
iie came to Chenoa as Superintendent of the Public Schools, with Mrs. Miller as principal
866 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
assistant. Prof. Miller has had an experience of 100 months, or over eleven school vears lit
teaching, and both himself and his wife are regarded in educational circles and by the people in
this section of tlie State as most able and efficient instructors.
J. M. .MUELLEK, firmer and stock-raiser; P. O. ("henoa; was born in the Kingdom of
Wurtemberg, Germany, Oct. '21, 1821 ; he wr.s raised a farmer, and came to the United States in
18o3, spending a part of the first year in J'almyta, Mich., near Adrian; he then removed to
Coldwater, and lived two years and a half, removing thence to Chicago ; in 1860, he came to
Chenoa Township and rented a farm ; not having money enough to move his -family from Chicago
by rail, he purchased a team on credit for the purpose, and, after moving his family, he had 75
cents in money, and was in debt §210 for his team ; he continued to rent until 1870, when he
removed to his present farm, which he had purchased in 1868 ; he owns 160 acres, well improved,
with a fine orchard, containing a great variety of trees adapted to this climate. He was married
in April, 1847, to Miss Katharina Layer, who was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, June 13,
1827; of eight children, sixare living — William G. (of Rantoul, Champaign Co., 111.), Mary L.
(wife of C. P. Dickens, of Chicago), August G. (of Chicago), Louise C. (wife of August Balhach,
of Chenoa). Edward J. and Louis Alfred.
E. M. PIKE, of the firm of Pike Brothers, dealers in lumber and building material, hard
and soft coal, ice, etc., Chenoa ; was born in Casco, Me., July 1, 1838 ; in 1854, his father, Har-
rison »V. Pike, came to Illinois with his family, consisting of a wife and seven children, and
located in Bloomington, where he resided until his death, which occurred June 2, 1877 ; he was
a prominent stock-dealer and real-estate owner, a man of unusual energy, a successful financier,
and acquired a comfortable fortune ; in 1859, the subject of this sketch entered the State Nor-
mal School, where he spent two years, and, in August, 1861, he recruited a portion of the 33d
I. V. I., known as the Normal Regiment, and was made Orderly Sergeant of Co. A.; he was in
twelve engagements, including the battles of Fredericktown, .Mo., Cotton Plant, Ark., Driscol s
Plantation, Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Big River Bridge siege of Vickshurg, etc. On his
return, at the close of the war, he was appointed on the police force in Bloomington, and, in
1866, was elected Sheritf of McLean Co., serving two years, after which he served during the
winter as assistant to Revenue Collector Pierce ; in 1869, he came to Chenoa, and, with his
brothers, N. H. and A. H. Pike, engaged in the lumber business. He has been a member of the
Board of Supervisors for the past three years, besides other public offices. He was married July
28, 1869, to .Miss Eunice Fugate, of Bloomington, and has two children — Edward Scott and Eunice
Augusta. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pike are earnest and active workers in the cause of temperance.
DR. S. M. PAYNE, physician, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Lexington; was born in
Salem Township. Washington Co., Ohio, Aug. 25, 1819; his early life was passed mainly on the
farm ; he was educated at Marietta College, in his native county, and, at the age of 28, began
the study of medicine with Dr. M. D. Sheldon, having previously pursued his studies in private;
he graduated at the Eclectic Medical College, in Cincinnati, in 1847, and settled in Jonesborough,
Greene Co., Ind.; he obtained the means of ob'aining his education by grafting fruit-trees, and^
when he began to practice, he had saved enough money in addition to purchase a horse,
buggy and harnesn, his pill hags full of medicine, and had $1.50 in cash. He was married Nov.
15, 1847, to Miss Elizibeth Franklin, who was born in Owen Co., Ind., Feb. 15, 1829. After
practicing three years in Jonesborough. he removed to Spencer. Owen Co., where he remained
one year; in 1851, he came to McLean Co., bringing with him !f!400 in money, and spent two
years near Lexington, and then removed to the head of Mackinaw Grove; three years later, he
settled on his present farm ; his business during his residence in Illinois has been practicing
medicine, farming and dealing in lands ; among other methods, he purchased land-warrants,
which he located in Iowa and Missouri; in this he was very successful, and he owned at one
time, besides his home farm of 480 acres, over 1,200 acres of Western lands: he was also for
many years successful in the stock business; he now owns a fine farm of 240 acres, extending
along the entire front of which is a private roadway, lined for a mile on either side with a row
of beautiful maples, planted by the Doctor which in summer forms one of the most attractive
drives to be found in the county. Dr. Payne, although repeatedly solicited to allow his name to
be used in connection with official positions, has kept clear of politics. He has four sons living
— Leland M. (of Money Creek Township), Carmel D., Wilber F. and Charles H.
DEWEY liUGER, dealer in drugs and medicines. Chenoa; was born in Catskill, Greene Co.,
N. Y., July 29, 1854, and lived there till about the age of 12 years ; he then went to New Jersey,
and attended flie public schools of that city for tiiree years ; when lie was 15 years old, lie came
to Chenoa, and about a year later entered the drug store of T. J. Banta, and remained in his
employ until October, 1878, when he engaged in business for himself; a full supply of all goods
in his line can always be found at his store ; of drugs, medicines, toilet-articles, perfuinerie?.
paints, oils, lamps and lamp-goods, stationery, flower-pots, hom(x>pathic medicines, cigars,
tobaccos, etc., he keeps a complete stock, and customers desiring any of the above-named
articles can rely upon being serveil in a conscientious manner with goods of pure and reliable
quality. Mr I'uger was married Oct. I'i, 1878, to Miss Ollie Jackson, of Eureka, 111.
A. F. SOU I'H WI(;K, of the firm of Southwick & Lenny, de.ilers in drugs and medicines;
was born in Mooers, Clinton Co., N. Y., June 29, 1832; his early life was passed on his fiilher'a
CHENOA TOWNSHIP. 867
farm; but when he was 16 years okl, he entered the employ of the Northern & Ogdensburg Rail-
road as foreman ; in 1853, he came West and followed railroading in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa,
Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, during which time he served as
Supervisor and Conductor of several roads, including the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien, and
the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroads ; in 1861, he came to Chenoa as foreman on the C. & A.
Railroad. In 1862, he enlisted in Co " B," 1st N. Y. Marine Artillery, serving five months,
when he was wounded during practice on shipboard ; after his discharge, he entered the employ
of the T. P. & W. R R. Co., as yardmaster at Peoria ; the next year, he entered the service of
the Government as Conductor and Superintendent of Repairs on the military railroads, and
served about two years : returning to Chenoa, he was appointed City Marshal and Street Com-
missioner, holding the former position two years, and the latter most of the time up to February,
1878, when the firm of Southvvick & Lenny was formed. He was married Aug. 15, 1855, to
Miss Sarah Cherry, of Pulaski Co., Ind. ; she died .July 21, 1856, leaving one child — George H.,
now a reEideut of Ottumwa, Iowa. Mr. South wick was married again, .April 13, 1861, to .Miss
Mary Campbell, of Missouri ; they have two children — Charles E. and Eliza Julia.
J. R. SNYDER, proprietor of the Bank of Chenoa, Chenoa ; was born on a farm in Rensse-
laer Co., N. Y. Aug 5, 1829. He was educated at the Poultney Seminary, Vermont, after which
he began the study of the law, in the office of H. Z. Haner. a prominent lawyer of Troy, N. Y.
After remaining with him two years, he entered the law school at Ballston Springs, where he
spent one year. He then went to Albany, and remained a year in the Albany Law School, grad-
uating in 1852. Coming West, he located at, Earlville. La Salle Co., 111., and began the practice
of hia profession, afterwards engaging in the banking business also. About six years later, he
engaged in farming, his fai-m of 300 acres, near Earlville, being acknowledged the finest improved
farm in La Salle Co. In 1867, he removed to Amboy, 111., and established himself in banking,
coming to Chenoa in 1869. He started the Bank of Chenoa, the first in the town, and the only
one existing at the present time. He erected his present fiae bank building, in 1871, and, in
1874. built the Snyder Block, one of the finest in the State, outside of Chicago, besides other
buildings in the city, including a commodious and attractive residence. He has always been
active,in improving and building up whatever town he has lived in. He is a gentleman of
acknowledged financial ability, and, whether managing his own private interests, or administering
public affiUrs, has always brought them to a successful issue. He served as Supervisor in La
Salle Co., one term, and as Township Treasurer, several years. During his residence here, he
has been Township Treasurer about four years ; Mayor of Chenoa, two terms, and President of
the City Council, one term, under the Princeton charter. He was married, in 1852, to .Miss
Elizabeth Boyington, of Troy. N. Y., who died in 1864, leaving three children — Hattie E , now
wife of R. F. Davis, of Bloomington; William B., in business in Chenoa, and Lester H., cashier
of the Bank of Chenoa. Mr. Snyder was married again, in 1866, to Miss Elizabeth Cleveland,
of La Salle Co. They have three children — Ida M., Arthur J. and Nina B.
FREDERICK SCHULTZE, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Chenoa; among the most success-
ful farmers of McLean Co., are many from the Old World, who, not satisfied with the opportuni-
ties, or the want of opportunities for success, in the fatherland, have sought a new home in the
fertile valley of the Mississippi ; such a one is Mr. Schultze He came to this county a poor
man, and was obliged to run in debt for supplies for his family, the first season, until he could
raise a crop. Now. but few farmers are in a better financial condition. He owns 160 acres on
southeast quarter of Section 25, and is free from debt. He was born in Prussia, April 8, 1815;
at the usual age in that country — 14 — he was apprenticed to the trade of a wagon-maker, but, on
completing his trade, he engaged in farming. He came to this country, in 1859; lived one year
in Bloomington Township, and then removed to Towanda Township when it was quite new, and
there resided until his removal to his present home, in Chenoa Township. He was married, in
March, 1845, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Scherneka, of his native town, who was born Feb. 17,
1822. They have had five children, four of whom are living — Frederick W., now of Waldo Town-
ship, Livingston Co. ; William, August and .John.
A. B. SEYBOLT, of the firm of Ketcham & Seybolt, dealers in groceries, provisions, crock-
ery, etc., Chenoa; was born in Otisville, Orange Co., N. Y., April 25, 1829. He followed farm-
ing, with the exception of two years in the engineering corps on the New York & Erie Railroail,
until 1853, when he engaged in the grocery business, in Chemung Co., N. Y., whence, in 1857,
he removed to Illinois, locating in Washington, Tazewell Co. The next six years were passed in
in surveying, on the line of the Tonica & Petersburg Railroad. June 10, 18(52, he enlisted in the
70th 111. Vol. ; was made Orderly Sergeant of Co. H, and served his term of enlistment, three
months. He then went to Cairo, 111., as clerk in the Paymaster's Department, and, after
remaining there a year, went to Nashville, in the same capacity. Six months later, he entered the
secret service of the Government, as Inspector of baggage, stores, contraband goods, etc.; his
duties in that capacity requiring him to travel constantly over the military railroads in th«
South. He came to Chenoa on the close of the war, and entered his present business. Ou the
15th of September, 1869, he was appointed Assistant Assesst.r of Internal Revenue, under Col.
E. L. Baker, of Springfield, and, on the 11th of November following, was commissioned U. S.
Internal Revenue Detective, under Gen. 1. J. Bloomfield, and served till June 6, 1871. He
868 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
assisted in working up the crooked whisky cases in this State, and, during his term of office, closed
up and contiscated a large number of illicit distilleries. He has been Chief Engineer of the Fire-
Department, and Fire Marshal of Clienoa for several years -past, and has served one term as
member of the Board of Aldermen. Mr. Seyb di was married .May 2, 1850, to Miss Sarah A.
Jackson, of his native town, and has three children. His eldest daughter, Arrietta C., now wife
of Dr. D. C. Everson, of Cawker City, Kan., was for several years of the fifth generation, in the
maternal line, then living ; her great-great-grandfather being then alive. Tlie others are: Flor-
ence H , now Mrs. Elton Clapp, of Chenoa, and Cora J.
JAMES SEERV, farmer. Sec. !(>; was born in County West Meath, Ireland, in ISin. In
the year 1852, he left Ireland, and emigrated to America, landing at New York, where he
remained, alternating between that city and Allegany Co., until the year 1854. He then went to
St. Paul, Minn., remaining there a short time ; he removed to Freeport, 111., and, after remaining
a chort time, went to Canton, Fulton Co., Id., and remained there until the breaking-out of th&
war. In the spring of 1861, he entered the army, enlisting in Co. K, 7th 111. Cav., under Col.
Pitt Kellogg, Lieut. Col. Prince, Acting Colonel in Command. Mr. Seevy remained two years
in the army, participating in the battles of Corinth and luka, and in all engagements his regi-
ment went through under the commands of Generals Halleck, Pope and Rosecrans, and was alsO'
■with Gen. Grierson on his raid through Georgia, during Sherman's march to the sea. Mr Seevy
left the army in 186-3, because of disability from disease, which he contracted while in service.
He returned to Putnam Township, Fulton Co , 111., and, after one year's residence there, mar-
ried, and remained three years longer, and then removed to Joshua Township, Fulton Co.,
bought a farm, and remained until 1877. He then removed to Peoria City, bought a building,
and conducted the grocery business for one year. In 1878, he removed to Chenoa Township^
McLean Co., and bought and settled upon eighty acres of land on Section 16. His farm is all
under cultivation, and is valued at about ?4:0 an acre. In 18t>4, he was united in marriage to
Miss Mary Barry, of Fulton Co., 111., who was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1844. They
have had a family of five children, two of whom, John Joseph and Sarah Jane, are dead ; and
James Augustine, Nellie and Francis De Sales are living.
HUGH VAUGHAN, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 31; P. 0. Chenoa; was born in Mont-
gomeryshire, Wales, in 1830; his parents soin removed to the adjoining county of Merioneth,
where he was raised and where his mother still resides. In 1858, he came to the United States ;
lived over two years in Oneida Co., N. Y., and in 1860, came to McLean Co., settling on Section
1, Lexington Township, just south of his present home ; there he bought eighty acres of land on
which he resided until ten years ago; he then purchased in addition, his home farm of 16(>
acres, now owning 240 acres ; his farm, completely surrounded by a neatly kept osage hedge^
presents in summer a most attractive appearance. Mr Vaughan was married in January, 1862,
to Miss Ellen Jones, of Merionethshire, who was also born in Montgomeryshire, Wales, in 1834.
They have six children — Edward R., Viola, Elizabeth Mary, Grace, Robert and Margaret. Mr.
Vaughan has served eight years as School Director. He is an example of an enterprising, pub-
lic-spirited and progressive farmer.
WILLIAM WIKOFF, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Chenoa; has lived in McLean Co., since
1852; he was born in Adams Co., Oiiin, Nov. 7, 1832; he was raised on a farm, receiving such
education as the common schools in his vicinity afforded ; in 1852, he came to Illinois; from
Pekin to Bloomington he came in a, hack, and then walked to Pleasant Hill, where he engaged
in carpentering ; he soon afterward entered a farm of 174 acres, in Lawndale Township; and
assisted in building the first house on the prairie in that township ; he continued to work
at his trade for awhile, and afterward settled on his farm, where he engaged in farming
and stock-raising, and where he resided until 1876, when he removed to Chenoa; he still retains
his farm in Lawndale, to which he has added until it now contains 338 acres, under a good state
of cultivation and improvement ; he also owns a farm of 160 acres in Cherok« e Co., Iowa. Mr.
Wikotf was married Feb. 11, 1858, to Miss Cleopatra M. Collins, of Adams Co., Oliio, who was
born in Washington Co., Ohio, July 1. 1838; they have two daughters — Florence and Lmma, the
latter the wife of D. H. Pingrey, of Bloomington, 111.
J. H. WATT, engineer for Haynes, Jordan & Co., Chenoa; was born in the city of Dublin.
Ireland, Jan. 6, 1839, of Protestant parents, and in early childhood accompanied his parents to
Americi; the family settled on a farm in Port Canad.a, Penn.; Mr. Watt had his own way to
make in the world, I)eiiig set to work at blowing the bellows in a blacksmilh-shop, when he was
so small as to require a block to stand on for that purpose. He came West at 15; his father
removing to Peoria Co., Ill ; he followed farming and running a corn-sheller and threshing
machine, until 1861 ; he then entered the Union army as a member of Co. H, llth I. V. C, and
served till 1863, engaged mainly in scouting duty; he was then discharged by reason of injuries
received; returned to Illinois and ran a stationary engine, in Chillicothe; removing thence to
•McLean Co., and farmed at .Meailows, two years ; he then went to Kansas, and remained nearly
a year, and in 18()'.», carno to (Ihcnoa, since which time lie lias been constaully in the employ of
Haynes, Jordan & Co., as engineer. He is a leading Odd Fellow, a member of Chenoa Lodge,
No. 387, and has held all the offices in the lodge from Doorkeeper to Noble Grand. He was
married Aug. 27, 1863, to .Miss Nancy J. Spears, a daughter of .Jacob Spears, of Blue Mound,
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 869
111.; she was born in Westmoreland Co., Penn., Oct. 27, 1842; they have two children — Henry
L. and Charles .J.
CHARLES WISE, farmer and stock-raiser : P. 0. Chenoa. The above gentleman has lived
in McLean Co. since 1853, being a son of Frederick Wise, who came to the county from Pekin,
111., where he had located with his family on their arrival from Germany five years before. Mr.
Wise was born in Baden, Germany, Dec. 25, 1837, and was therefore about 10 years old when
his parents removed to this country. On coming to McLean Co., in 1853, they lived two years
in Bloomington, then removed to Cheuoa Township Mr. Wise owns 160 acres of land on Sec.
20, and is one of the most successful farmers of the township. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Co. C,
94th I. V. 1., and served until the close of the war, taking part in the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark.,
siege of Vicksburg, battles of Fort Morgan and Blakeley, Ala., besides several minor engage-
ments. He was married April 16, 1868. to Miss Paulina Barneck, a daughter of Frank Barneck,
of McLean Co. She was horn in Austria Feb. 26 1850. They have one child — Frank Wise. Mr.
Wise is, at the present writing, serving on his third year as School Director.
DAVID ZUCK, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Ciienoa; was born in Franklin Co., Penn.,
Nov. 8, 1830 In 1844, his parents emigrated to Illinois, and settled in Fulton Co., where his
mother still resides, his father having died in March, 1865. Mr. Zuck lived in Fulton t'o. until
March, 1869, when he removed to McLean Co., settling on his present farm. He owns a farm
of 106 acres on Sees. 28 and 33. He also rents 200 acres, in addition. He knows how to take
advantage of the various circumstances of his surroundings and turn them to a profitable issue,
and is one of the most prosperous farmers of the neighborhood. He was married Dec 5, 1852,
to Miss Catharine Fink, of Fulton Co., 111., who was born in Frederickstovvn, Md., April 8, 1834,
and came to Fulton Co. with her parents in early childhood. They have nine children, all living
— Sylvester, Solomon Marion, William Fenton, Mary T., Charles A'lva, Elmer, Sarah Ellen, Ida
Alice and Ira. Mr. Zuck has served as School Director three years.
LOUIS ZEIGLER, grain merchant, Chenoa ; was born on the river Rhine, in Bavaria,
Germany, .July 17, 1837. In 1852, his father removed with his family to this country, and set,
tied in Ohio; he went to Maysville, Ky., and learned the wagon-maker's trade; three years
later, he went to Russellville, Ohio, where he worked as a journeyman two years; he then came
to Bloomington and followed his trade until 1859, when he settled in Chenoa ; he established
the first wagon and plow business in the place, building a small shop in 1860, and adding a
blacksmith shop in 1861 ; in 1865, he erected the Chenoa Plow and Wagon Factory, costing, with
the machinery, .s>6,000; he continued in this business until 1870, when his manufactory was
burned down. He was then elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the Illinois State Senate, and served
two years. After revisiting his native country, he, in 1873, in company with John Dehner, of
Pontiac, purchased the Chenoa Flour Mill, and ran it till 1876, when that was destroyed by fire.
In 1877, he erected another mill, which, in its turn, burned down in March, 1878, since which
time he has been engaged in the grain business. In 1861, he was elected .Justice of the Peace,
and served four years ; he also served two terms as Mayor of Chenoa in 1869 and 1870, and was
a member of the Republican Central Committee of McLean Co. five years, from 1872 to 1877.
He was married Dec. 25, 1862, to Miss Maggie .J. Gample, of Livingston Co., and has two chil,
dren — William Henry and Jennie Louise. Mr. Zeigler is a prominent member of the Masonic
fraternity ; for twelve years, beginning in 1861, he served as Master of Chenoa Lodge, No. 292,
A., F. & A. M. ; was the first High Priest of Chenoa Chapter, No. 143, R. A. M., for five years
from 1870, and at present fills that otfice ; he has been connected with the Grand Lodge of
Illinois since 1862, being at present Grand Senior Warden ; he has also been a member of the
Yates City Consistory of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Masons, in Peoria, since 1869.
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP.
JOHN C. BADDELEY, Township Collector ; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co. ; born in Cheshire, England, Jan. 22, 1817, where he attended school until 12 years
of age, when he was apprenticed to learn the dry-goods trade. He emigrated with his parents
to America, and landed in New York in June, 1832; coming West, they located near Cleveland,
Ohio, and in 1835 came to Illinois and settled in Empire Township, McLean Co. His father,
John W. Baddeley, laid out the first town in Empire Township, situated southwest of "he present
town of Le Roy ; here they engaged in the dry-goods trade until the present town of Le Roy
was laid out by A. Gridley and Gen. Covell, about the year 1836 ; Messrs. Gridley and Covell
then compromised with Mr. Baddeley by giving him a deed of twenty-seven choice lots in
Le Roy, under which agreement he was to abandon the town which he had laid out, and remove
his stock of goods to Le Roy, where he continued in the general merchandise trade until 1852,
The subject of this sketch then went to Mahomet, where he was engaged in trade until 1855,
when he went to West Urbana, now Champaign, and opened the first store in that town, and
was also the first Po.stmaster of the place ; he continued in business here until 1863, when he
870 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
removed to Piatt Co., where he lived three years, and in 1!S66 returned to Le Roy, where he
engaged as clerk for J. Keenan for seven years. He has since been connected with the grocery
trade, first with Adam .Vlurray, until he sold out to his brother Robert, since which time he has
been onnected with the latter gentleman. He was elected to the office of Township Collector in
1877, and re-elected in 1878, which office he now holds, and to which office he was elected both
terms without opposition. Mr. Baddeley remembers vividly the sudden changes of the weather
which occurred in December, 183(3; he and John Williams were out bringing in loadj of live
hogs with teams; the day was mild, after a warm rain ; the ground was coverr-d with water ;
suddenly the cold west wind came with a roar, and froze everything up immediately ; the water
froze in waves as blown by the wind ; the fowls froze in the mud while crossing the yards ; Mr.
Baddeley' s clothes being wet, froze on him instantly; tliey had at that time arrived within a
short distance of the house of the Hon. Mahlon Bishop, where they went for shelter ; the har-
ness upon the horses was frozen stiff, and when the traces were unhitched they stood out
straight: the cold was so severe that the harness could not be removed from the horses for two
days; Mr. Baddeley succeeded in reaching home with his sled and one yoke of oxen, the other
■oxen, which were turned loose in the timlier, were recovered in two days. He married Dec. 12,
1839, to Joannah Karr ; she was born in Ohio, March 26, 181'J ; she died Feb. 26, 18i4, leaving
one child, since deceased. His marriage with Ellen Karr was celebrated Nov. 16, 1844 ; she
was born in Ohio .June 7, 1821 ; they have six children, now living, by this union, having List
one by death ; the living are Anna (now Mrs. William Rike), .Jennie (now Mrs. William Beeney j,
Sadie (now Mrs. John Ross), Thomas J., (Charles H. and Minnie; the deceased, James (J., was
killed while serving his country during the late rebellion, near Cumberland Gap, Va., Jan. 3, 1864.
T. J. BARNETT, retired farmer and merchant ; P. 0 Le Roy ; one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co ; born in Bourbon Co., Ky., Jan. 21, 1818, At 1-3 years of age, he, with his father,
Moses Barnett, emigrated to Illinois, and located in what is now Empire Township, McLean Co.,
in the spring of 1832. He was engaged in farming, breaking prairie and teaming, during which
he made frequent trips to Chicago with oxen, until about 30 years of age, when he engaged in
the general merchandise trade at LeRoy, which he successfully followed until 1874, when, on
account of failing health, occasioned by close personal attention to his mercantile trade during a
period of twenty-three years, he retired from active business. In po'iticu, he was an old-line
Whig until the formation of the Republican party, which he then joined, and of which he has
since been an active member. He has often been solicited to allow the use of his name as a can-
didate for the State Legislature, and other State and county offices, but, having no desire for
office, nor the time to spare from his business, he has alw.ays refused the use of his name for any
office, but has done much in support of his party. He was a personal friend and acquaintance
of President Lincoln. His marriage with Emeline Gibbs was celebrated Feb. 18, 1845; she was
a graduate of Oberlin College ; born in Belpre, Ohio, Aug. 11, 1818 ; six children were the fruit
of this union, of which five are now living, viz. : Alice, born Aug. 19, 1846, now Mrs. John S.
Young; Emma, July 1, 1848, now Mrs. Denton Young; Orrin, Oct. 13, 1853; Laura, May 16,
1856, now Mrs. William Brown ; and George, July 17, 1858.
ROBERT B ARR, farmer, Sec 6 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the early settlers of McLean Co. ; born
in Frederick Co., Va., Jan. 24, 1811 ; his father, Pater Barr, was born in Virginia, and followed
milling until 1818, when he removed to Franklin Co., Ohio, where he died in 1825 ; his mother's
maiden name was .Margaret Basteyon ; she was born in Virginia, and died in McLean Co., III.,
July 12, 1871. The subject of this sketch returned to Virginia after the death of his father,
and followed milling until he emigrated to Illinois, and located upon Sec. 6, Town 21, in what is
now Empire Township, in the winter of 1837. He first purchased 120 acres of land, upon which
was a log-cabin with sod chimney, in whicli he lived two years, when he built a frame house,
doing all the labor himself, cutting the timber, framing and finishing. This was the first frame
house for several miles. In this house he lived until 1860, when he erected his present resi-
dence. When jNIr. Barr came to Illinois, he liad not the means to pay the postage upon a letter.
He was the oldest son, and for several years supported his mother, three brothers and three sis-
ters, and his mother until her decease. He lias battled with fortune until he now owns 285
acres of land, with good buihlings. His marriage with Mary Jane Gasaway was celebrated Dec. 29,
1868 ; she was born in Ross Co., Ohio, May 14, 1846 ; four children were the fruit of this union —
Ada, born March 1, 1870, died Aug. 14, 1871 ; Robert Lee, born Oct. 1, 1871 ; Carrie, .Jan. 1, 1874 ;
Nellie, Dec. 21, 1876. Mr. Barr was Assessor of Empire Township eleven years ; has held the
offices of School Director and (Commissioner of Higliways. Mrs. Barr was daughter of Thomas
Gasaway, who emigratetl frcuii Ohio and located in Empire Township in 1857, where he still lives.
WILLIAM H. BEENEY, merchant, firm of Beeney & Galusha, dealers in hardware,
stoves, tinware, farm implements, wagons and farm machinery, etc., Le Roy ; born near New-
ark, Ohio, Nov. 28, 1851. His fatiier, Edward Beeney, emigrated to Illinois, and located in
Downs Township, McLean Co., in 1854, wliere he engaged in farming until his decease, which
occurred in the fall of 1855. William Beeney remained upon the farm until 1857, when he,
with his mother, removed to LeRoy, where he attended school until 17 years of age, devoting
his spare time, when not in school, to learning tlie tinner's trade. After leaving school, he fin-
ished liis trade, and worked at the same for six years. In 1875, he, with his brothers, under
%
■;;S;,.
■'l?-: ■
'W
LE ROY
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 873
the firm name of Beeney Brothers, engaged in the general hardware, stoves and tinware busi-
ness, until April 15, 1878, at whicli date he associated with M. R. Galuslia, and have since suc-
cessfully followed the above business, under the firm name of Beeney & Galusha. A card of
their business is to be found in the Business Directory of Le Roy, in another part of this work.
His marriage with .Jennie Baddeley was celebrated Oct. 14, 1875; she was born in Le Roy,
McLean Co., 111., Sept. 17, 1850 ; they have one child by this union — Guy S., born June 1,
1877. Mrs. Beeney is the daughter of John C. Baddeley, one of the early pioneers of McLean
Co., who located here in 1885, and whose biography appears among the sketches of Empire
Township.
JAMES BISHOP, farmer, deceased, Sec. 10; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.;
born in Fauquier Co., Va., April 3, 1806. His ancestors came from England with William Penn.
In the fall of 1809, he removed with his parents to Ohio, and located in what is now Clark Co.,
where he lived until 1831, when he came to Illinois, aud, Jan. 12, 1835, he entered his first 240
acres of land, being the homestead farm upon which he located in 1837, and engaged in farming
and stock-raising until his death, which occurred May 24, 1877. He built the house which now
stands upon the old place, in 1835, and where Mrs. Bishop now lives with her youngest son,
James Q. Mr. Bishop married, March 9, 1837, Margaret Cannady ; she was born in Hopkins Co.,
Ky., June 15, 1808; she was the daughter of John Cannady, who located in White Co., 111., in
181tt ; then to Blooming Grove, about the year 1828; he died in Empire Township, Sept. 25,
1835; Mrs. Cannady died Dec. 12, 1855. James and Margaret Bishop were the parents of five
children, viz. : Caroline, born June 2(3, 1838 ; John Allen, May 3, 1840 ; Emily, Aug. 30, 1848 ;
Rnchel, Miiy 23, 1846, and James Q., Nov. 24, 1848. The last-named now lives upon the old
pUice. He married Martha J. Powell, Feb. 16, 1873: they had one child by this union, now
deceased. Mrs. Bishop died Nov. 11, 1873. He married for his second wife, Margaret V.
Powell. Their nuptials were celebrated March 11, 1875. She is a sister of his first wife, and
was born in Pennsylvania, Oct. 23, 1856. They have two children by this union — Minor, born
May 19, 1876, and Clinton Emery, Jan. 12, 1878. Mr. Bishop owns, upon his home farm, 564
acres of well-improved land, upon whicli he has good farm buildings, located one mile northeast
of LeRoy.
HON. MALON BISHOP, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 15 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Clark
Co., OMo, Dec. 25, 1810, where he assisted his father in farming until 20 years of age, when he
rented land and engaged in farming three years for himself until the fall of 1834, when he took
with him his wife and child, his team and household goods, six sheep and two cows, and drove
to McLean Co., 111. ; upon his arrival, he purchased a claim upon which there were ten acres
broken, and an old log cabin without chimney, a puncheon floor, clapboard door hung with hick-
ory l)ark ; and in this cabin he lived for six years, when he erected what is now used as -a
kitchen to his present residence, which was erected in 1842 ; he entered his first 160 acres of
State land upon Jan. 12, 1835 ; he frequently made trips with his team to Chicago, taking up
grain which he exchanged for goods, the trip consuming from eleven to fourteen days. Mr.
Bishop has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion and education, having filled difiTerent
oifices in the school district, and has been an active member of the M. E. Church since February,
1842, Mrs. Bishop becoming a member of the same the following September. He held the office
of Justice of the Peace from 1837 to 1839, and Township Supervisor two years during the war;
he was elected to the State Legislature in 1842, and served during the winter of 1842 and 1843.
His marriage with Catharine .J. Foley, was celebrated March 23, 1831 ; she was born in Ohio,
Aug. 20, 1H12 ; eight children were the fruits of this union, viz. : Nancy Jane, born May 1, 1832,
now Mrs. Mark M. Craig, of West Township; Stephen L., born Jan. 14, 1835; James F., born
Dec. 6, 1836, died Aug. 6, 1862; Elias, born .Jan. 12, 1839, died March 11, 1864; Catharine,
born April 4, 1842, now Mrs. William Hammond, of West Township ; Elizabeth, born June 22,
1845, died Aug. 24, 1869: Sarah A, born April 1, 1848, died in infancy; Malon, born June 13,
1849 ; the last-named lives at home : he was married Jan. 30, 1878, to Emeline Smith ; she was
born in Ohio, Oct. 30, 1860, and is the daughter of Wesley Smith, formerly of Newark, Ohio.
JOHN A. BISHOP, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec 9; born in Empire Township, McLean
Co., 111., May 3, 1840 ; he was the oldest son of James Bishop, who first came to Illinois in 1831.
and entered his first land Jan. 12, 1835, located upon Sec. 10, where he lived until his decease,
which occurred May 24, 1877. His biography appears among the sketches of Empire Township.
The subject of this sketch assisted his father in farming and stock-raising until 31 years of age,
when he was married Feb. 14, 1871, to Mary E. Wiley; she was born in McLean Co., Feb. 11,
1844; they have one child by this union — James F., born Nov. 19, 1871. Mr. Bishop has lived
upon his present place since his marriage ; he has in his home farm upwards of four hundred
acres of land, all under fence, upon which he has good farm buildings, his house being erected
in 1871, and his barn in 1872 ; he also owns 170 acres of land in other parts of the county; Mr.
Bishop's home farm is located one mile north of Le Roy ; he is extensively engaged in feeding and
shipping stock in connection with farming. .Mrs. Bishop was the daughter of James Wiley, who
located in McLean Co. at a very early day.
JOHN BONNETT, farmer, deceased ; was born in the State of Pennsylvania, in the year
1778 ; at an early day he emigrated to Ohio, and lived in Licking and Knox Cos. until he
874 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
emigrated to Illinois. He was united in marriage with Elizabeth Yontz, at Mt. Vernon, Knox Co.,
Ohio, in the year 1820; she was born near Hagerstown, Md., February, 1802 ; she rode horse-
back from her native place-to Licking Co., Ohio, in the month of February, when only 14 years
of age ; after living there a few years, they removed to Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., where her mar-
riage with the subject of this sketch was celebrated ; their children were nine in number, viz. :
Susan, born April 27, 1821 ; William, March 1, 1823; Yontz, March 7, 182(3; Isaac, November.
1828; Lewis, April, 1830; Daniel G., March 9, 1832 ; .Tames, March 8, 1834 ; Sarah C, Oct.
21, 1835; and John, born Sept. 14, 1841. In the spring of 1828, Mrs. Bonnett visited her
native State, making the trip upon hor,seback. In the spring of 1851, John Bonnett, with his
wife and four children drove from Ohio to Illinois in a large three-seated carriage ; the spring'
was unusually wet, and they experienced much inconvenience from high water ; they came
through Springfield, Indianapolis and Covington ; they found the water of some of the sti-eams
which they crossed so high that the water came into the carriage, and the occupants were obliged
to stand upon the seats to prevent getting wet ; they crossed the Wabash and Sangamon Rivers
in a ferry ; near Monticello the bridge was unsafe; they walked across the bridge, hauled the
carriage by hand, then secured long grapevines and tied to the horses' necks, which they then
swam across ; their goods were shipped down the Wabash Canal, from Sandusky city to Covington,
then overland by ox-teams to Monticello ; in the fall, they removed to McLean Co., and located
in Empire Township, two and one-half miles southeast of Le Roy ; they located upon Sec. 35,
where Mr. Bonnett purchased 300 acres, upon which they then moved ; they experienced much
difficulty that fall in obtaining flour and meal ; the former being with difi&culty obtained at fill
per barrel ; they often went to Bloomington and Pekin to obtain provisions. In 1836, Mr. and Mrs.
Bonnett both became members of the Episcopal Church, and lived consistent Christians to their
death. Early in the year 1852, they suffered by death the loss of their youngest son. Upon the
morning of the 27th of May, 1852, Mr. Bonnett, while reading his Bible was stricken with apo-
plexy, and upon the 2d of June, 1852, he passed down to the dark valley like unto his fathers before
him, without a blot or stain ; Mrs Bonnett continued to live upon the old place with her son
James until her decease, which occurred Sept. 4, 1873 ; they now lie buried in the beautiful
cemetery located one mile east of Le Roy, and over their graves stands a large marble monument,
erected sacred to their memory by their loving children, of which three are now living in Iowa ;
two, Yontz and James, live upon the old place ; the surviving daughter was united in marriage
with George M. Sellers, and lives within one mile of the old home ; the biographies of the latter
three appear among the sketches of Empire Township in this work.
YONNTZ BONNETT, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 2 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; this gentleman was born
in Knox Co., Ohio, on the 7th day of March, 1826 ; he is a son of John and Elizabeth (Yonntz)
Bonnett, whose sketch will be found among the biographies of Eaipire Township. Y'ontz Bon-
net emigrated previous to his parents, and located upon Sec. 35, Empire Township, in 1851 : he
has a vivid recollection of the difficulty experienced in the fall of 1851, of obtaining flour and
meal, which at times could not be obtained short of Pekin. The subject of this sketch preceded
the family, and selected a location upon Sec. 35, and upon the arrival of his father the contract
was closed for 300 acres of land at $13 per acre, and upon which, at that time, were two com-
fortable sets of farm-buildings, which have since been replaced by. two other sets of a better
quality; the location of the family here occurred too late to raise a crop, and the following year
they put in sixty acres of corn, eight acres of wheat, some oats and vegetables. Upon the 24th
of December, 1853, Yonntz Bonnett and Rachel Birney were united in marriage; she was born
in Harrison Co., Ohio, March 28, 1830; they have two children now living by this union — John
W., born Feb. 21, 1855, and Belle, born Aug. 27, 1858; upon the marriage of Mr. Bonnett, in
1853. he located upon his present place, where he has now 300 acres under good cultivation ; and,
aside from farming, he is largely engaged in stock-raising, feeding and shipping.
JAMES BONNKTT, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 35; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Ivnox Co..
Ohio, March 8, 1834 ; here he followed farming until 17 years of age, when he emigrated to
Illinois and located in Empire Township, McLean Co., in 1851 ; he is a son of John Bonnett,
whose sketch appears in this work ; the goods of the Bonnett family were shipped to Sandusky
city, then down the canal to Covington, from which place they were drawn by three ox-toauis
of two yoke each, to Illinois, the subject of this sketch driving one of the teams; he after-
ward, with an older brother, returned to Covington for salt with two ox-teams, loading back with
twelve barrels, drawn by two yoke, the other nineteen barrels drawn by four yoke of oxen, the
salt selling for .$5 per barrel. Mr. Bonnett has always lived, upon the old place upon which his
parents first located in 1851, and where he has 500 acres of laud upon which he has good farm-
buildings ; he now has 500 sheep, 60 head of cattle, 100 hogs and some horses, and is largely
engaged in raising, feeding and shipping stock. He was united in marriage with Sarah Kiue-
hart, April 2, 1862; she was born in Kuo.k Co., Ohio, July 21, 1836 ; they have four children
now living by this union, viz. : Oscar, born March 13, 1864 ; Robert, born Aug. 3, 186(; ; John
Yontz, horn Sept. 16, 1873, and Fannie, Ijorn Feb. 9, 1877.
NATHAN T. BRITTIN, farmer, deceased ; Sec. 4; one of the early pioneers of Illinois.
The subject of this sketch was bom in Ohio Oct. 18, 1809; he was raised upon a farm until 20
years of age, when he emigrated to Illinois and located upon Sec. 1, Empire Township, McLean
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 875
Co., 111., in the year 1829; here he laid a claim which he entered, wlien the land came into
market, and upon which he improved, and afterwards added by purchase, until he had accu-
mulated upwards of one thousand acres of land; his first house'was a log cabin, with stick
chimney, plastered with mud, raccoon bodsteai, with one leg, in which poles were inserted,
extending to the end and side logs of the house ; his first <?upboard and table was a dry goods
box, from which they ate their food and placed their dishes and provisions. Mr. Brittin com-
menced in life without means, but by his hard labor and economy, he accumulated a good prop-
erty at the time of his decease, owning upwards of one thousand acres of land, and holding
upwards of $oU,000 in securities, which occurred Oct. 10, 186U. Mrs. Brittin was born in
Warren Co.. Ky., near Bowling Green, Feb. IG, 1816; her maiden name was Sarah Barnett ;
she died Aug. 7, 1878, in Empire Township; Nathan T. and Sarah (Barnett) Britten were
the parents of nine children, all of whom lived to grow up and become the heads of families.
W. P. Conaway was born in JNIcLean Co., 111., Peb. 18, 1839; his father, Chalton D., emi-
grated to Illinois and located in .McLean Co. about the year 1880, where he lived until 1856,
when he removed to Logan Co., where he died two years later. W. P. Conaway was
brought up to farm labor until Aug. 10, 1862, when he enlisted in the 94th Regt. I. V. I., and
served in the Union army three years, being in the campaign of Missouri and Arkansas, and
was also engaged in the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama; he was in many
engagements, among which were Prairie Grove, siege and capture of Vicksburg, Morganzia,
Yazoo, Fort Morgan and Spanish Fort, Mobile Bay; in the summer of I860, he was sent to Gal-
veston, Tex., where he was mustered out of service July 17 ; he received his discharge in Spring-
field, 111., in August, 1865 ; he then returned to Empire Township, where he has since followed
farming. His marriage with Katuriah Brittin was celebrated Nov. 21, 1861; they have two
children by this union — having lost two by death ; the living are Nora May, born Feb. 11.
1870, and Banton G., born Aug. 9, 1871.
. JAMES BROCK, farmer, Sec. 5; P. 0. Le Roy. The subject of this sketch was born in
Granger Co., East Tenn., Jan. 7, 1833 ; he was raised upon a farm until 17 years of age, after
which he was engaged in school-teaching during the fall and winter, and farming in summer,
for a period of eight years ; he emigrated with his family to Illinois, and located four miles-
southeast of Bloomington, McLean Co., in January, 1861 ; the following spring he rented land,
and for four years was engaged in farming near Bloomington ; in the spring of 1865, he located
upon a farm of 110 acres, which he had purchased in West Township, where he lived until
1870, when he disposed of the above, and purchased 140 acres of his present place, to which he
has since added, until he now owns 260 acres of land, upon which he has good farm buildings,
and which he has acquired by his own personal labor, assisted by his wife, to whom he was-
united in marriage Jan. 6, 1854, in Tennessee : her maiden name was Rachel Aikin ; she waa
born in Granger Co., Tenn , Oct. 14, 1830 ; four children were the fruit of this union — Enoch,
born Sept. 17, 1855 : Sarah F., born May G, 1865 ; Rachel M., born Oct. 27, 1868 ; the deceased
is Emily May, born Oct. 27, 1872 ; died Dec. 1, 1874.
J. W. BROWN, Postmaster and dealer in stationery, notions, etc., Le Roy ; born in Mus-
kingum Co., Ohio, Nov. 7, 1841 ; at 9 years of age, he emigrated with his parents to Illinois
and located at Lewiston, Fulton (,'0., living there two 3'ears, when they removed to Bloomington,
where he attended school until 17 years of age, when he entered the Wesleyan University, where
he remained until the spring of 18G1, when he enlisted for three months in the 8th I. V. I., and
after serving his term of enlistment, and being mustered out of service, he returned to Bloom-
ington, where he engaged as clerk in the dry goods trade until August, 1862, when he again
enlisted for three years in the od 111. Cav. ; he was immediately sent to the front, and
was engaged in the campaign through Missouri and Arkansas, then to Memphis, where he was
located at the time the place was attacked by the rebels under Gen. Forrest, who was defeated by
the above regiment, assisted by the 106th 111. Inf., and one regiment of colored troops;
after remaining in Memphis several months, they were sent to intercept the rebel Gen. Hood,
with whom they fought and held in check for twenty-seven days, until the Union forces had con-
centrated at Nashville, which place he attacked, but was badly defeated. In the spring of 1865,
he, with his regiment, was sent to St. Paul, Minn.; from there they were sent to Dakota Ter-
ritoi'y to fight Indians, and in the fall returned to St. Paul, where they were mustered out of
service Nov. 25, 1865 ; he then returned to Bloomington, where he engaged as dry-goods clerk
un il 1870, when he removed to Le Roy and engaged ift clerking until 1877, when he received
the appointment of Postmaster, which oflSce he now holds : he also keeps a complete stock of
stationery, notions, etc.; his business card appears in the business directory of Le Roy, in
another part of this work. His marriage with Josephine Hayes was celebrated, Jan. 9, 1868 ;
she was born in Bloomington, Nov. 1, 1848; they have two children now living by this union,
having lost one by death ; the living are — Walla, born April 1, 1869, and Clyile, born Oct. 26,
1871. Mrs. Brown was daughter of Silas Hayes, one of the early settlers of Bloomington, who
emigrated from Connecticut in 1834.
HIRAM BUCK, farmer, Sec. 6; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the pioneers of Illinois; born in
Seneca Co., N. Y., March 20, 1801 ; his father, William S. Buck, was a soldier of the Revolu-
tion, and assisted in the capture of Cornwallis, at Yorktown. Hiram Buck received a common.
876 BIOGRAPHICA.L SKETCHES:
school education ; he remembers the war of 1812, as three of his brothers were soldiers in it,
one of whom was captured at Queenstown Heights. In 1818, he removed, with his parents, to
Hamilton Co., Ohio, the journey being made from Seneca Co. to the headwaters of the Alle-
ghany River on sleds, then floating down the river from Orlean Point on a flat-boat, a distance
of 900 miles, the time consumed being seventeen days. He then engaged in farming, which
business he followed until 26 years of age, teaching school during the winter for five years: here
he became acquainted with Gen. Harrison, who was afterward elected to the highest office
within the gitt of the nation. During the seven years following his leaving the farm, he was
engaged in supplying the steamboats on the Ohio River with wood, for which he received, deliv-
ered. SI. 25 per cord, and also made several trips down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to New
Orleans, taking down provisions, etc. In 18'26, he removed to Switzerland Co., Ind., where he
lived until 1833, when he emigrated to McLean Co., 111., and located at Randolph's Grove, where
he lived for a while, in a cabin near Campbell Wakefield's house; his first claim of eighty acres,
for which he paid $oO, he entered in 1835. He opened the first hotel in Le Roy in 1837, which
business he followed, in connection with farming, for eight years, when he located upon his
present place, where he has since lived ; his first tax receipt was for 20 cents, which increased
until it reached upward of ^500. He became a subscriber to the Star of the West upon the pub-
lication of its first number, and has continued his subscription, which he has always paid, for fifty-
two years. Of township, county and school offices he has had his share, having been Justice of
the Peace eighteen years. Postmaster at Le Roy seven years. County Commissioner, Surveyor,
County Judge under the Constitution of 1848 for eight years. Supervisor of Empire Township
four years, which office he now holds, Township Trustee of Schools, School Director, etc.
In 1874, he was appointed, by Gov. Beveridge, one of the Trustees of the Illinois Industrial
University, of Urbana ; in 1875, he was elected Trustee of the Lombard University, at Gales-
burg, which office he now holds. Mr. Buck is one of if not the largest landholder in Empire
Township, and has never laid a claim against a deceased estate. His marriage with Mercy Karr
was celebrated April 4, 1827 ; she was daughter of Capt. John Karr, one of the patriots of the
Revolutionary struggle ; the golden wedding of the above couple was celebrated April, 1877 ; it
was attended by friends and relatives, from far and near ; they came from surrounding counties
and cities and States: they came from Iowa and from Cincinnati, Ohio; over one hundred
representatives of all ages, from childhood to old age, came, among the latter being upward of
thirty over sixty years of age; they gathered around the table, bountifully supplied; prayer
was offered by the Rev. D. P. Bunn, of Decatur; the address of welcome was delivered by C.
A. Buck, youngest son of the aged couple, out of respect to whom this vast company had
gathered, and who showeil unmistakably their feeliBgs of love and respect by the many and
valuable presents which they brought, among which was a heavy silver-headed cane to Mr.
Buck, from the Hon. David Davia, of Bloomington, a solid gold-headed cane, from his neigh-
bors, the presentation speech being made by Rev. D, P. Bunn, responded to, with much
feeling, by the recipient ; they also received a set of upward of fifty pieces of china, with
gold band; ^ii's. Buck was the recipient of a solid silver castor, from her children, large
silver sugar-spoon, the gift of Mrs. Judge Davis, a §5 gold piece, from Mrs. Campbell Wake-
field, a set of solid gold sleeve buttons and cufiF pins, from ladies of Bloomington ; of the
above company gathered, three had witnessed the marriage ceremony, fifty years previous. The
children of Hiram and Mercy Buck were — Amanda M., born July 10, 1828 (wife of James
H. L. Crumbaugh, living three-quarters of a mile south of the old home) ; Thomas L. Buck,
born Oct. 23, 1831 (lives in Le Roy); Elizabeth R., born Feb. 21, 1834, died Feb. 13, 1837;
Martha E., born Dec. 14, 1838 (now wife of John McConnell, lives in Downs Township) ; Nancy
J., born Feb. 10, 1843 (now Mrs. Isaac F. Dawson, of Downs Tp.), and Charles Albert Buck,
born Aug. IVt, 1849 (he is a graduate of Lombard University, of Galesburg, and lives across the
road from his parents).
THOMAS L. BUCK, f\irmer; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Switzerland Co., Ind., Oct. 23, 1831 ;
he emigrated, with his parents, to Illinois and located in Randolph's Grove in 1833 ; his father
opened a hotel in Le Roy in 1837, which he kept eight years, after which the subject of this
sketch remained with his father and engaged in farming until marriage, when he located upon
Section 6, Town 21, and followed farming until the fall of 1874, when he removed to Le Roy,
that he might have better privileges of churches and schools ; he now owns 160 acres of laiid
upon his home farm, 80 acres in De Witt Co , 35 acres within the city limits of Le Roy, where
he resides, upon all of which he has good buildings, and also several hundred acres of timber
and pasture. He is now one of the Aldermen of Le Roy, which oflice he has held for three
years. His marriage with -Mary J. McConnell was celebrated March 16, 1859 ; she was born in
Hamilton Co., Oliio. June 16, 1829; they have two children by this union— Rose E., born Jan.
25 1860, and Orral M., born Aug. 23, 1862.
CHARLES ALBERT BUCK, farmer. Sec. 6 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; the subject of this sketch is the
youngest son of Hiram Buck, whose biography appears in this work ; he was born in Empire
Township, McLean Co., Aug. 19, 1849; he attended the common schools during his youth,
among which was the school at Le Roy ; at 19 years of age, he entered the Normal University,
at Normal, whicii he attended one term, when he entered the Lombard Univei-sity, at Galesburg,
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 877
in 1870, from which he graduated in the spring of 1875 ; he has since engaged in farming, in
partnership with his father, during the summer, and school-teaching during the fall and winter.
His marriage with Harriet Claycomb was celebrated Feb. 3, 1876 ; she was born in Warren Co.,
111., Dec. 2o, 1848; they have one child by this union — Nannie Mer, born Aug. 16, 1877.
GEORGE W. BUCKLES, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Le Roy. The subject of this
sketch is among the oldest settlers now living who was born in McLean Co. ; his birth occurred
Feb. 14, 1834, in what is now Empire Township ; he was the oldest son of Peter and Jane ( Kut-
ledge) Buckles, who were among the early settlers, locating in Empire Township, McLean Co.,
about the year 1828 or 1829. Peter Buckles was born in Tennessee, Dec. 10, 1809 ; the maiden
name of his wife was .lane Rutledge ; she was born in Kentucky, in November, 1814 ; they were
united in marriage May 10, 1833, and located upon Sec. 29, Empire Township, where they passed
the remainder of their days ; they were the parents of ten children, six of whom are now living,
the oldest being George W., born Feb. 14, 1834; Thomas J., born April 16, 1836 ; Robert, born
in 1840; Andrew J., born April 7, 1844 (his sketch appears in this work) ; Martha (now Mrs.
Davis Ross, lives near Shirley), Emma D. (now Mrs. William Gay, Empire Township) ; Mrs.
liuckles died Nov. 2, 1868; Mr. Buckles died April 21, 1871. The subject of this sketch
remained upon the farm until ^lay 22, 1856, when he was united in marriage with Mary Bishop;
she was born in McLean Co., July 18, 1838; she was the daughter of William G. Bishop, who
was born in Tennessee, in 1785, and located in Money Creek Township about 1835, where he
was appointed the first Postmaster, which office he held for eighteen years ; he died April 13,
1862 ; Mrs. Bishop's maiden name was Jane Briggs ; she was born in South Carolina, Jan. 30,
1796, and now lives in Money Creek Township. The children of George W. and Mary (Bishop)
Buckles were nine in number — Harriet, born March 21, 1857; Rebecca J., born Dec. 3, 1858;
William Robert, born March 17, 1860; Peter D., born July 25, 1862, died Sep. 4, 1864; Clar-
rissa A., born Nov. 20, 1863, died Aug. 29, 1864 ; Olive W.. born Nov. 15, 1865, died March 17,
1867 ; Thornton A., born Feb. 25, 1868 ; Laura E., born Nov. 10, 1871, died Oct. 3, 1872, and
Nolan A , born Nov. 9, 1878.
ANDREW J. BUCKLES, farmer. Sec. 29; P. 0. Le Roy; born in McLean Co., 111., April
7. 1844; he was the youngest son of Peter and Jane (Rutledge) Buckles, who located in Empire
Township, McLean Co. about the year 1828 or 1829 ; Peter Buckles was born in Tennessee,
Dec. 10. 1809; the maiden name of Mrs. Buckles was Jane Rutledge; she was born in Ken-
tucky, in November, 1814; married May 10, 1833, and lived in Sec. 29, until her decease;
Mrs. Buckles died Nov. 2, 1868; Mr. Buckles died April 21, 1871 ; their children were ten in
number, of whom six are now living — George W., born Feb. 14, 1834; Thomas J., born April
16, 1836 ; Robert, born in 1840; Andrew J., born April 7, 1844 ; Martha (now Mrs. Davis Ross),
and Emma D. (now Mrs. William Gay.) The subject of this sketch has always lived upon the
old place where he was born, and where he is now engaged in farming, his farm being located
about one mile south of Le Roy, where he has about one hundred acres under fence and culti-
vation. His marriage with Angeline Watt was celebrated Oct. 3, 1867 ; she was born in De Witt
Co., 111., Oct. 5, 1849; they have two children, now living, by this union — Frank P., born Nov.
24, 1872; Ada B., Aug. 10, 1876. Mrs. Buckles was the daughter of P. P. Watt, who was born
and raised in De Witt Co., 111., and located in McLean Co. in 1865; where he lived until his
decease, which occurred March 26, 1876 ; Mrs. Watt died in Logan Co., in October, 1853.
S. F. BAKNUM, lumber and grain merchant and miller, Le Roy, whose portrait appears in
this work, was born in Canton, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., Aug. 11, 1824; when he was 10 years
of age. his parents moved to Erie Co., N. Y., and in the year 1847, came to Defiance, Defiance
Co., Ohio ; after the death of his father, his mother, in the spring of 1864, moved to Blooming-
ton ; she now resides with her son, Mr. Barnum, in Le Roy. The subject of this sketch
remained, however, in the State of New York, and from the age of 14 up to the age of 23 was
employed in woolen-mills in Erie Co., which employment he was compelled to give up on account
of ill health, turning his attention to farming. In 1856, he came to Le Roy, and engaged in
farming, returning the same fall to New York State, and dm-ing the year 1857 filled the position
of book-keeper in the wholesale produce and commission house of Irving Kester, in Buffalo.
In the fall of 1858, he formed a copartnership with Henry Case in the general mei-chandise
business, in Eden Valley, Erie Co., N. Y.. and having continued in the same for two and one-
half years, sold out his interest, and in the year 1861 again turned his attention to farming,
continuing at such up to 1865, when he came to Bloomingtoii, and was engaged as a book-keeper
in the house of Bruner & Whitmer up to the year 1870, when he moved to Le Roy and started
the lumber business, in connection with Mr. Bruner, to which was afterward added that of coal
and grain. In 1872, having purchased the "Empire Flouring Mill," they took in also as a
partner Joseph Keenan ; in 1876, they purchased the interest of Mr. Bruner, and have con-
tinued up to the present time as the firm of Barnum & Keenan. Before Mr. Barnum's removal
to Le Roy, he held the ofBce of Justice of the Peace for twelve years in Erie Co., N. Y. He has
been married twice, his first wife being Miss Clarinda Bunting, of Eden, Erie Co., N. Y. ; mar-
ried in 1844 ; she died in 1862 ; they had three children, two living — Matilda M. and Henry I ,
and one dead, Henry. He married his present wife, Miss Adeline E. Patterson, in the fall of
1865 ; they have two children — Percy D. and George P.
878 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
ZACHARIAH CHICK, wagon-maker, Le Roy; born in Dimington, Somersetshire, England,
June 6, 1826; at 14 years of age, he was apprenticed for six years to learn the wagon-maker's
trade ; after completing the same, he worked in his native town a short time, when he went to
the Channel Islands and worked upon the Island of Jersey upward of one year, when he volun-
teered as carpenter and shipped from Portsmouth upoa the British flag-ship Penelope, going to
the southwest coast of Africa, where he remained about fifteen months, making the coast at
Sierra Leone Cape Palmas, Island Fernando Po and the adjacent islands, among which were the
Cape de Verde and Canary Islands ; after returning to England, he received hia discharge and
worked at his trade until he emigrated to America, landing in Quebec, Canada, May 9, 1851 ;
remaining in Canada two months, he came to Chiaago, and worked at carpentering until fall ;
he then went to Griggsville, Pike Co.; worked as journeyman during the winter, and the follow-
ing spring started a wagon shop of his own, which he continued two and a half years ; upon
Oct. 3, 1854, he started for England, and arrived at Liverpool upon the 16th of November fol-
lowing. He was married Dec. 16, 1854, in Barrington, to Caroline Bond; she was born in
Barringfon, Somersets>iire. England, Dec. 3, 1826; she was the daughter of Thomas Bond, of
Barrington, Somersetshire, England, a prominent contractor and builder; Mr. Chick was a son
of John Chick, who was born in Somersetshire, England, April 23, 1787, and who also was a
prominent contractor and builder at the time of his death. In the spring of 1855, Mr. Chick
ftgain sailed from England with his |wife, landing in New York, April 16 ; coming West, he
worked at the agricultural machine shops at Ottawa, fifteen mouths, and, in June, 1856, he
removed to West Township, McLean Co., where he followed farming for five years ; in the spring
of 1862, he located in Le Roy, and engaged at his trade, which business he has since success-
fully followed; the children of Zachariah and Caroline (Bond) Chick are Thomas Z., born Aug.
28, 1857; John Bond, April 29, 1860; Sarah Bond, Jan. 17, 1862, and Caroline, June 26, 1864.
GEORGE M. CONRAD, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Le Roy; the subject of this sketch
was born in Henry Co., Ind., July 27, 1840; he was the son of Adam and Hannah (Maples)
Conrad; his fiither was born in Hardy Co., Va., Nov. 30, 1796; he located in Indiana in 1839,
and at Twin Grove, McLean Co., Ill , in 1864, where he lived until his decease, whicli occurred
Nov. 30, 1873, aged 77 years; he lies buried in the beautiful cemetery at Twin Grove; Mrs. Con-
rad was born in Lewis Co., Ky , Oct. 9, 1803 ; she now lives with the subject of this sketch,
who has erected a residence for her especial benefit upon his place near his own, and although
now in the 76th year of her age, she is in possession of all her faculties and daily attends to her
own household duties, which afford to her much happiness; G. M. Conrad came West with hia
p:irents and was engaged in partnership with his father until 1866, when he entered the law
office of .Judge Tipton, at Bloomington, where he read law one year, and, in 1867, he engaged
in the grocery trade at Bloomington, under the firm name of Hardisty & Conrad, which firm
was dissolved in 1868; in 1869, he removed upon his present place, where he has 121 acres of
land under cultivation, upon which he has good farm buildings. He was united in marriage
with Matilda Sexton, Feb. 15, 1869 ; she was boi-n in Fond du Lac Co., Wis., June 24, 1848 ; they
were the parents of two children, of which one died in infancy; the living, Lola E., was born
April 15, 1878.
CHARLES COPE, farmer. Sec. 23 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the old settlers ; born in Fred-
erick Co , Va., Oct. 21, 1813; he emigrated with his parents when quite young, and located in
Marion Co. until about 34 years of age, the last twelve yeai-s of which he was engaged in buying
cattle and driving them across the Alleghany Mountains to Lancaster, where he could dispose of
them; in 1847, he came to Illinois and located in Empire Township, McLean Co., at which date
he purchased eighty acres of his present place, and, in 1849, purchased 400 acres, upon which
he then settled, and where he has since continued to live; he now owns 640 acres, upon which
he has good farm buildings. His marriage with Mary E. Crumbaugh was celebrated Jan. 28,
1847; she was born in Kentucky, Oct. 3, 1827; she was the daughter of Daniel and Martha
(Robinson) Crumbaugh, who emigrated from Kentucky to Sangamon Co., 111., in 1828, and located
in Empire Township, McLean (Jo., 111., in 1830; Mrs. Crumbaugh died June, 4, 1857, leaving
ten children; Mr. Crumbaugh died May 19, 1874; the children of Mr. and Mrs. Cope were
twelve in number, of which five are deceased; the living are — John J., born .Tune 19, 1849;
William, Nov. 30, 1854; Francis I\I., July 25, 1857; Eleazer H., Nov. 3, 1860; George L., Dec.
28. 1862; Mary E., Jan. 12, 1866; Ann M. R. C, Sept. 22, 1869. Mr. Cope has been School
Director for eighteen years ; is a life-long Democrat, having cast his first vote for Andrew Jack-
son, and has voted the Democratic ticket for forty-five years. His limited school education was
obtained in a log schoolhouse with log benches and mud fire-place ; of the deceased children,
four died in infancy; one, Isabel J., was born Aug. 13, 1852, married George W. Simpson, and
died Sept. 19, 1876, leaving one child — Mai-y F.
JAMES H. L. CRUMBAUGH, farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 7; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the
pioneers of McLean Co.; born in Henderson Co., Ky., May 1, 1826; he emigrated with his
father Henry Crumbaugh to Illinois in 1S28. and first located in Sangamon (.o. for two years,
when they removed to what is now Emj)ire Township, McLean Co., in 1830; Henry (Brumbaugh
was born April 26, 1789, in Frederick Co., Md.; he died Oct. 22, 1877, in McLean Co., 111.; his
widow still survives him, and lives upon the old place; her maiden name was Sarah Baldock.
/
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 879
The subject of this sketch remained with his father and engaged in farming and stock-raising
until 27 years of age, the last ten years of which he was in partnership with his father in the
above business, as well as buying and driving cattle to Chicago ; he removed upon his present
plHce iu 1857, where he purchased "210 acres, where he has since lived, and to which he has
since added by purchase, until now he owns 950 acres, all of which is under fence and cultiva-
tion. His marriage with Amanda M. Buck was celebrated Sept. 28, 1851 ; she was born Feb.
10, 1828; three children were the fruit of this union— Laura E., born Aug. 26, 1852; Edith,
May .31, 185ti, and Hiram H., June 20, 1861; Mr. Crumbaugh has frequently made trips to
Chicago with oxen and horses, loading up with grain and provisions, and back with salt, leather,
etc.; he hauled the lumber for his present buildings from Bloomington in 1865 and 1867.
DANIEL T. CRUMBAUGH, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Le Roy; born in McLean Co.,
111., .Jan. 24, 1882. His father, Daniel Crumbaugh, was born Dec. 7, 1791, in Frederick Co.,
Md.; he came to Ohio in 1812, then to Scott Co., Ky.; he served in the army in 1813, and was
engaged against the British and Indians ; he emigrated to Sangamon Co., 111., in 1828, and, in
18.30, located in what is now Empire Township, McLean Co., where he lived until his decease,
which occurred May Ul, 1874. His first wife was Susan Winters, of Scott Co , Ky., with whom
he was united in marriage in 1816; she died, and for his second wife he married Martha
M. Robinson, of North Carolina ; she died June 4, 1857. Daniel T. Crumbaugh was raised upon
the farm until 21 years of age, when he, with another brother, purchased 160 acres of land,
which they worked in partnership until Oct. 17, 1859. when he was united in marriage to Mar-
garet Willey. She was born Sept. 29, 1840, in McLean Co.; she died Aug. .31, 1864, leaving three
children, viz.: David, born Oct. 5, 1860; Martha M., Aug. 5. 1862; and Daniel T., June 15,
1864. His marriage with Laura A. Stine was celebrated Nov. 22, 1869. She was born in Mon-
roe Co., Ind., May 8, 1845. Two children were the fruit of this union, one of which is deceased.
The one living is James Wilmer, born Oct. 12, 1875. Mrs. C. was daughter of Elias and Mary
Siine, who emigrated from Indiana and located in McLean Co., 111., in 1848. Mr. Stine died in
1858. Mrs. Stine now lives with Mrs. Crumbaugh. Of township and school oflSces, Mr. Crum-
baugh has had his full share ; in politics, is a Democrat, but has never run for of&ce.
JOHN E. CRUMBAUGH, farmer and stock -raiser. Sec. 14; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in McLean
Co., 111., Aug. 3, 1837. His father, Henry Crumbaugh, was born April 26, 1789, in Frederick
Co., Vld. In 1810, he removed to Kentucky, where he lived several years, and, in 1828, he
located in Sangamon Co., 111., living there until March, 1830, when he located in McLean Co.
and followed farming until his decease, which occurred Oct. 22, 1877. He was married in April,
1820, to Sarah Baldock, who survives him, and is now living with the youngest son upon the
place first settled upon in 1830. John E. Crumbaugh was brought up on the farm until 27 years
of age — the last four years receiving one-third of the crops. He first removed upon his present
place in 1 8-64, living one year, when the next three years upon the farm of James Pemberton,
and, in 1869, purchased 105 acres, and located upon his present place, where he has since lived.
He now owns 295 acres upon his home farm, and has good farm buildings. His marriage with
Margaret Pemberton was celebrated Dec. 29, 1859. They had three children by this union, viz.:
Simeon H., born June 30, 1861, died June 10, 1864 ; Martha E., July 17, 1867 ; Cory May, May
18, 1873.
GEORGE W. DAVIS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Wood Co , W. Va.,
Aug. 11, 1829 ; he emigrated with his parents when 6 years of age, and located in Champaign
Co., Ohio, where he engaged in farming until 26 years of age, when he purchased the home farm,
upon which he engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1869, when he emigrated to Illinois
and located upon Sec. 7, Empire Township, McLean Co., and purchased 100 acres of land, upon
which he has since lived. His marriage with Maria Benedict was celebrated March 15, 1854 ;
she was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Aug. 30, 1834 ; they have seven children by this union —
Elias M., born Dec. 9, 1854 ; Jeremiah F., Nov. 18, 1856 ; Angeline M., Oct. 9, 1858; Sarah L.,
Dec. 6, 1861 ; George H., June 4, 1864 ; Mary J., Sept. 6, 1866; Samuel E., Nov. 8, 1870. The
father of Mr. Davis died Nov. 8, 1861, 79 years of age ; his mother died at the age of 74; both
died in Champaign Co., Ohio. Mrs. Davis father died in Champaign Co.. Ohio, Ma'-ch 8, 1859.
Her mother is now 80 years of age, and lives in the above county.
HENRV C. DICKERSON, retired farmer; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co.; born in Hamilton Co., 111., Aug. 30, 1825 ; his father, Michael Dickerson, located
in McLean Co. in 1829, where he died in 1835 ; at 21 year^ of age, Henry C. entered 40 acres of
land, and paid for the same with money which he had earned at ?5 per month ; two years later, he
bought 80 more, and a few years later found him the owner of the old homestead and other land
to the amount of upward of 700 acres in this county, and 900 acres of land in diiferent parts of
Kansas : he has settled on his three married children 5^9,000. Although not a member of any
church, he contributes liberally to their support, having donated some $600 toward the erection
of the M. E. Church in Le Roy. He built the Empire Mill and Elevator, one of the best mills in the
county, at a cost of upward of $25,000 ; he has had his full share of misfortunes, having lost by
security debts $15,000, and, in April, 1877, his residence, which he had erected at a cost of
17,500* with $1,500 worth of furniture, was destroyed by fire, upon which there was an insur-
ance of $2,500 ; during the suiumer of the same year, he lost nearly $8,000 by the Phoenix Bank
880 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
at Bloomington, aside from which he has lost larg;ely in smaller aaiounts. Although Mr. Dick-
erson has been a resident of McLean Co. for a half of a century, he has traveled largely in the
Western States and Territories. His marriage with Leodicy Maxwell was celebrated Oct. 27,
185t ; she was born in McLean Co. July 16, 1830; they have five children — Elizabeth J., Corelia,
Adelaide, Rose L. and Belle. Mr. D. has driven ox-teams to Chicago with grain, loading back
with goods, the trips being from twelve to fifteen days ; has also driven hogs to the same market,
and cattle and liorses to Milwaukee.
C. P. DICKERSON, farmer, Sec. 31; P. 0. Le Roy; born in what is now Randolph
Township, McLean Co., 111., June 26, 1827 ; he is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, living set-
tler now living who was born in this county ; his father, Michael Dickerson, was one of the first
settlers of McLean Co., where he died Feb. 10, 1836. Calep B. Dickerson lived upon the farm
with his mother until 22 years of age, after which he rented land and followed farming until
1851, when he purchased 100 acres of land upon his present place, where he has since lived : he
now owns 140 acres, with good farm buildings. He married Tabitha Buckles April 3. 1851 ;
they have twelve children by this union, viz.- VVHUam E., born March 18, 1852; Mary J., June
19, 1854 ; Adaline, June 22, 1856; Franklin, July 8, 1858 (deceased) ; Henry D., Dec. 8, 1860
(deceased) ; James A., June 20, 1862 ; Wesley A., Nov. 23, 1864; Maranda Ellen, May 27, 1866 ;
Charles, March 21, 1868 ; Geoi-ge, June 31, 1872 ; Tilden and Matilda A., twins, born June 18,
1876. Mrs. Dickerson was the daughter of Abram Buckles, who was born in Virginia June 28,
1800 ; he emigrated with his father and located in White Co., 111., in 1810. In 1819, he married
Mary Williams, and, in 1832, he located at Buckles' Grove, McLean Co., where he died May 17,
1878. Mrs. Buckles died Dec. 19, 1876.
ELIADA DICKINSON, retired farmer ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Hartford Co., Conn., Sept.
1, 1810 ; he was raised to farm labor until 21 years of age, when he went to Bristol, Conn., and
worked at the foundry business six years, when he emigrated to Illinois and located in Griggs-
ville, Pike Co., in June, 1836; here he entered 400 acres of land, upon which he lived until
1859, when, selling his farm, he engaged in the merchandise trade at Perry four years, selling
out in 1863, and purchasing 220 acres of land in Sangamon Co., upon which he lived two years;
in the summer of 1865, he purchased 240 acres of land in West Township, McLean Co., which he
deeded to his son, and afterward purchased 200 acres, upon which he lived until 1876, when he
moved to Le Roy, and, in 1878, he purchased his present place, which contains twenty acres,
one-half of which is within the corporation, and where he has since lived. Mr. Dickinson first
voted for Jackson for President; he supported the Democratic party many years, joining the
Republican party upon its organization, since which time he has been an ardent suppoi-ter of
the same ; of township and school offices he has had his full share, and held the office of Justice
of the Peace, while in W^est Township, five years. His marriage with Lois B. Fancher was cele-
brated Nov. 24, 1833; she was born in Bristol, Conn., Sept. 29, 1812; she died in Sangamon
Co., 111., Nov. 10, 1864, leaving three children — Sarah Ann, born Dec. 10, 1839 ; David Monroe,
Oct. 29, 1842, and Mary Thalia, July 5, 1847.
WILLIAM H. DOOLEY, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 2 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Clark Co.,
Ky., Aug. 15, 1834 ; his father, William Dooley, emigrated from Kentucky in the fall of 1851,
living in Bloomington until the spring of 1852, when he purchased 1,500 acres of land in Old
Town Township, upon which he located and followed farming and stock-raising until his decease,
which occurred June 7, 1869 ; his widow is now living in the same township. The subject of
this sketch remained with his father until 20 years of age, when he was united in marriage, Oct.
12, 1854, to Eliza J. Noggle ; she was born in Ohio, May 7, 1835, (her parents emigrated from
Ohio and located in McLean Co. in 1850) ; eleven children were the fruit of this union — John J.,
born Aug. 18, 1855, died Oct. 28, 1858; Alice C, born May 26, 1857, died March 22, 1874;
Lillie M., born Sept. 10,1860; Milton H., born Feb. 21, 1862; George E., born March 9, 1864; Mary
A., born Nov. 1, 1866, died Sept. 4, 1872 ; Frank R., born July 26, 1868, died May 18, 1869;
Damaris M., born April 11, 1870; Obadiah M., born Nov. 14, 1871 ; Ilattie, born Aug. 12, 1875,
and Lida B., born Nov. 4, 1877. Mr. Dooley moved upon his present place May 1, 1876; he
has 920 acres in his farm upon which he has good buildings, his house being built during the
summer of 1873, at an expense of upward of $7,000, and is considered by many, as the best
farm house in the county ; he is extensively engaged in raising, feeding and shipping stock, of
which he ships his hogs mostly to Indianapolis, and cattle to (Chicago; he feeds from 125 to 150
head of cattle, and from 200 to 300 hogs, about 30 horses and some sheep.
JOHN DUNLAl*, farmer. Sec 2; P. 0. Le Roy: one of the early pioneers of McLean Co. ;
horn in White Co., 111., April 21, 1827; his father, Moses Dunlap, emigrated from Tennessee to
White Co., at a very early day, where he lived until about the year 1828, when he emigrated
north and located at Blooming Grove, and entered land joining the old liome of Judge McClenn ;
living liere about five years, they went to Arkansas, but returned and entered land in Empire
Township, McLean Co., in 1834, upon which he lived until his decease, which occurred May 6,
1858. Mrs. Dunlap died June 23, 1863. The subject of this sketch emigrated with his parents
to McLean ('o. in 1828, and, with tlieni, located upon Sec. 2, Empire Township, in 1834, where
he has since lived with the exception of seven years, in which he was engaged in farming in
M<'irshall Co., Iowa, and Cherokee Co., Kan. Mr. Dunlap is an industrious, hard-working man,
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 881
a good business manager, and much respected in the township in which he lives; he has accumu-
lated a good property, and raised a family of ten children, having lost three by death ; the living
are — Henry, Josephine, Rosella, Moses, James, Stephen, William, Lucinda C, Margaret A. and
Eliza. His brother James was one of the first white children born in McLean Co , being born in
Blooming Grove, April 1, 1829; he never married, but made his home with his brother John
until his decease, which occurred May 29, 1878.
P. C. ESKEW, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Patrick Co., Va., where he was raised upon
afarm until 18 years of age, when he emigrated to Illinois and located in McLean Co., November,
183-1 ; he entered his first land, eighty acres, at Long Point Timber in 1837, upon which he
erected a log house, and, in 1889, sold his claim with improvements ; he then engaged as farm
laborer until 1841, wheia he followed farming for himself until 1846, at which time he entered
eighty acres of land at Buckles' Grove, and, in 1852, entered eighty acres more adjoining, and
afterward added twenty acres of timber, upon which he lived until 1877, when he rented his
farm and removed to Le Roy, where he now lives. He married, April, 1837, Julia Troxel ; she
died Aug. 18, 1838, leaving one child— Leona, born Aug. 14, 1838, now Mrs. Oliver Harding,
living in Empire Township. He married for his second wife, Sarah Johnson. Oct. 7, 1841 ; she
died June 11, 187G ; nine children were the fruit of this union — Catherine, born Aug. 27, 1843,
(married Alexander Free,) she died in Kansas, May 1, 1876; James M., born Sept. 16, 1845,
farming in Empire Township ; Louisa, born June 1, 1847, died March 6. 1864 ; Ellen, born June
13, 1851, (married John Allen,) she died May 20, 1875, in Kansas; Matilda, born June 9, 1849,
now Mrs. Jonas Arnold, of Downs Township; Martha A., Oct. 1, 1853; Mary, born Oct. 4,
1856, (married F. Phillips.) died April 6, 1876, in Downs Township ; Paran, June 16, I860, died
in January, 1861. and William A., born March 10, 1862. His marriage with Mrs. Harrier P.
Dickerson, was celebrated Feb. 13, 1877; she was born in Hamilton Co., Ohio, March 20, 1828 ;
she was a daughter of Jacob Karr, who emigrated from Ohio, and located in Empire Township
in 1839, where he lived until his decease in 1840; her first marriage with Robert F. Dickerson,
was celebrated Jan. 1, 1845; he was born in Hamilton Co., 111., Oct. 30, 1823; he emigrated
West with his parents in 1825, and located in McLean Co., where he lived until his decease,
which occurred Oct. 16, 1875; eleven children were the fruit of this union, viz. : Merritt M.,
born Oct. 27, 1845, now merchant of Monticello, Piatt Co. ; James L., born July 4, 1847, now
farming in Fayette Co., Iowa; Martha, born Feb. 20, 1849, now Mrs. George Pray ; Emma E.,
born Nov. 16, 1850, now Mrs. F. Molesworth; Owen L., born Nov. 15, 1852, died in infancy;
Clara, born Sept. 11, 1854; Mary, born March 27, 1857, died in infancy; Ida May, born March 25,
1859, now Mrs. John Pogue, of Texas ; Robert F., born Sept. 25, 1861 ; Mary S., Sept. 24, 1863,
and Harriet R., Oct. 11, 1865; of the above, four are now living at home. Mr. Eskew is a strong
temperance man ; has been a life-long Democrat; was never an aspirant for office, though often
being urged to allow himself to run for ofiBce he always refused. Of township and school offices,
be has had his share, having been Commissioner several years, School Director sixteen years, and
Town Collector, of Downs Township, one year, and now holds the office of Road Commissioner
in Empire Township.
T. D. FISHER, M. D., Le Roy; (whose portrait has a place in this work), was born in Ligo-
nier, Westmoreland Co., Penn., Oct. 1, 1826; his father Abel was of Quaker origin, and was
born in Pennsylvania, June 3, 1788, and died March 19, 1876 ; his mother, whose maiden name
was Hannah Stewart, was of Scotch descent, born in Westmoreland Co., Penn., and died June
29, 1840. Dr. Fisher lived at home until he was 21 years of age, and received his early educa-
tion at the " Ligonier Academy ; " in the year 1848, he read medicine under Dr. T. Richardson,
of Pleasant Unity, Penn., and, in 1850, attended his first course of lectures at Cleveland, Ohio,
in the Medical Department of the Western Reserve Medical College ; in May, 1853, he com-
menced the practice of medicine in Le Roy, and having attended the Rush Medical College, of
Chicago, during the session of 1856-57, graduated from that institution, and has ever since coia-
tinued the practice of medicine in Le Roy, and has built up a large and lucrative practice. He
w.as President of the McLean County Medical Society in the year 1876, and was also a member
of the Illinois State Medical Society. He married Miss Henrietta Lisenbey, of De Witt Co.,
111., in the year 1853. Dr. Fisher may appropriately be called a " self-made man," being emi-
nently a man of self-reliance ; having accumulated the means by which to obtain a medical
education by teaching school. He has always been a strictly temperate man, using neither
tobacco, whisky or any intoxicating liquors.
M. R. GALUSHA, hardware merchant, firm of Beeney & Galusha, dealers in hardware,
stoves, tinware, agricultural implements, farm machinery, etc.. Le Roy; born in Madison, Jeffer-
son Co., Ind., Nov. 22, 1844, where he attended school until 12 years of age; he then worked
upon the farm in summer and attended school in winter until 16 years of age when he ran upon
the Ohio River one year as cabin-boy. In the spring of 18G4, he enlisted in the army until the
close of the war and was mustered out of service in the spring of 1865 ; he served in the
army of the Tennessee, under Gen. Thomas, and was in several engagements, the heaviest being
the battle of Nashville, on Dec. 28, 29 and 30, 1864, where the rebels, under Gen. Hood, were
defeated with great loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. He remained in Nashville duringthe
winter, and until he received his discharge, when he returned to Indiana, and in the fall of 1865
882 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
he came West and located in Downs Township, McLean Co., TIL, where he followed farming
until the fall of 1877, when he sold out ami, in the spring; of 1877, removed to Le Roy and asso-
ci^ited with William H. Beeney in the above business, which he has since followed. His mar-
riage with Emma Karr was celebrated Oct. 'I. 1860 ; she was born in Empire Township, McLean
Co., 111., Nov. 14, 18")0. They have two children by this union— Harry, born May 8, 1870, Jes-
sie, Aug. 22, 1875. Mrs. Galusha was daughter of .Jesse Karr, one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co. He emigrated from Ohio and located in this county in 1885. Mr. Galusha was the
son of Hiram Galusha, who emigrated from Vermont, and located in .Jetferson Co., Ind., previ-
ous to 1840, where he engageil in nianufaciuring tobacco until his decease, which occurred in 1852.
DANIEL GILMORE, farmer: P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Derry, Rockingham Co., N. H., April
5, 1807, where he attended school and followed farming and coopering until 22 years of age,
when he made a trip around the world in the sailing ship Clay, which voyage consumed nearly
two and a half years. In 1882, he emigrated South and located in Pope Co., Ark., upon the
Arkansas River ; here entered and purchased 1,000 acres of land, upon which he farmed and
raised cotton, the latter being his chief product ; he then put up machinery for making cotton
warp, which he manufactured largely and for which he found a ready majket. He was also
engaged largely in the general merchandise trade. The above pursuits he followed until after the
breaking out of the rebellion, when he, being a strong Union man, was obliged to leave, by wnicli he
lost some $15,000; he came North in 18(34, and located in Le Roy, McLean Co., ID., and engaged
in farming, which business he has since followed. He married, Sept. 22, 188fj, to Maria Scott ;
she died .Jan. 2, 1839. He married, for his second wife, Mary .Jane Menefee, Dec. 22, 1842; she died
]\Iarch 14. 1848, leaving two children — -Martha and Daniel, Jr. He married, for his third wife
Mary J. Nease, June 30, 1850; she died May 24, 1861, leaving three children — Alice, Hiram N.
and William Sampson. His marriage with Mrs. Catharine Watson was celebrated Sept. 9, 1869 ;
she has two children by her tirst husband, Levi L. Watson ; her children are Hattie A., now Mrs.
0. P. Joseph, and Jennie V., who remains at home. Mr. Gilmore was an old-line Whig until
the organization of the Republican party, since which time he has been an active member of the
same.
THOMAS D. GILMORE, farmer, Sec. 3 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Warren Co., near Bowling
<5reen, Ky., Nov. 18, 1814. He attended school a limited time, until 12 years of age; he then
went into the blacksmith-shop of his father, learned and worked at the trade until 22 years of
age. when he emigrated to Illinois and located on the spot where he now lives in the fall of
1886. He drove his team of oxen all the way from Kentucky, bringing with him his wife and
two children and all of his property, which consisted of two yoke of oxen and wagon, one
horse, saddle and bridle, his blacksmith tools, a few household goods and $4 in cash — the latter
he invested in pork, obtaining one hundred pounds. He then put up a log cabin with puncheon
floor, clapboard door, with wooden hinges ; a raccoon bedstead, with one leg, in which poles
were inserted, the other ends being fastened in holes made in the side and end logs of the
house ; boards were laid across from the side rail and upon one of the side logs of the house, when
the rude structure was complete. He made stools, which were used for chairs, and a clapboard
table. Having completed his house and manufactured the above furniture, he set up his forge,
bis skill as a blacksmith soon became known, work poured in upon him, and he was kept con-
stantly at work, his custom extending as far as Farmer City, Cheney and Randolph Groves. He
would labor from 4 A. M. until 9 or 10 at night, and then attend to his chores. He had the
misfortune to lose his t^hop by fire, and, the year after he settled here, his leg was broken by a
tree falling upon him, wiiich confined him to the house for four months. Ke first entered 40
acres of land, and has since added by purchases until he owns 155 acres, upon which he has
lived since 1886, with the exception of a short time while on a visit to Kentucky He followed
his trade here, with the exception of eight years in which he was engaged at his trade in Le Roy,
until 1855, since which time he has given his attention to his farm. His father, Andrew H.
■Gilmore, was born in North Carolina, and emigrated to Kentucky when quite young, where he
lived until he emigrated to Illinois in 1H.'S7, where he purchased land and built a house but a few
roils from his son, in which he liveil until his decease, which occurreil Oct. 17, 1870, at the ripe
ohl age of 98 years. Thomas D. (Jilinore and Matilda Savage were married in Kentucky Jan. 2,
1834. Three children were the fruit of this union — Martha Frances, born Nov. 21, 1884, now
Mrs. James W. Wright, of Le Roy; Mary M.. May 1, 1836, died Aug. 15, 1863 ; and Joseph P.,
June 5, 1838, now living in Oregon. Mrs. Gilmore died Oct. 5, 1839. Mr. Gilmore married
Wary J. Bratinaman Dec. 11, 1 H40. She was born in Augusta Co., Va., Feb. 11, 1821. Six chil-
dren were the fruit of this union — Andrew I)., born March 2, 1842, died in infancy; Ira F.,
Nov. 10. 1^43, lives in I'ailua Township; Lucinda M., Jan. 14, 1850, now Mrs. R. C. Charles-
ton, living in Kansas ; Kentucky G., Feb. 9, 1855, now Mrs. F. Hendricks, of Padua Township ;
Elizabeth A., July 24, 1859; Augusta M., Sept. 16, 1862. Mrs. Gilmore was daughter of David
land VLary (Hulderman) Brannaman, who emigrated fron; Virginia and located in Padua Town-
ship in 1886. Mr. B. died in the fall of 1846. Mrs. B. died in the spring of 1870.
E. E. (iRFKN.MAN, retir('(l merchant ami farmer ; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the early pioneers
of McLean Co.; born in Washington (Jo., Ohio, Jan. 23, 1816. His grandfather, Jeremiah Green-
man, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army during the revolutionary struggle, and was a warm
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 883
friend and associate of Gen. Washington. At tlie close of the war, he located in Washington Co.,
Ohio, where he died about the year 1827. His father, .John Greenman, emigrated to Illinois with
his family and located in the southeast part of Blooming Grove, Aug. 29, LS29. He taught school
during the following winter, and, during the summer, clerked for James Allin, of Bloomington,
while his sons raised a crop of corn upon eighteen acres of land rented of William Dimmit, upon
land now completely covered by buildings, being located between the Court House and the
Illinois Central Railroad. He entered his first land Feb. 2, 1830, being the west half of the
southwest quarter of Sec. 4, and upon which now stands a part of the city of Bloomington, the
whole tract being now improved by business and dwelling houses. His first house he built upon
wtiat is now West Washington street, where he lived until the spring of 18.31, when he with his
family removed to De VVitt Co., engaged in farming during the summer, and died in the fall of
the same year. The subject of this sketch, with the family, returned to Bloomington, and, the
following year, raised a crop at Old Town, when he learned and worked at the carpenters trade
in Bloomington nearly two years, after which he went to Dixon's Ferry, Lee Co., where he
assisted settlers in laying claims and erecting houses for six months, then to Plattville, Wis., where
he followed his trade, selling goods and mining two years. Returning to Bloomington, he worked
at his trade for one year, when he went to Iowa, and the next, two years was engaged building a
mill, farming and working at his trade. In the spring of 1842, he again returned to Blooming-
ton and was engaged one year in peddling goods through the country with a one-horse buggy.
In the spring of 1848, he was associated with S. D. Baker, now a prominent merchant of Bloom-
ington, and engaged in the general merchandise trade at Le Roy, which business he successfully
followed until 1858, when he retired from active business until 1865, at which date he engaged
in the grocery trade, which he followed until 1869, when, on account of ill health, he retired
from active business. In 1878, he was elected Township Treasurer, which office he has since
held. When Mr. Greenman located at Blooming Grove, there were only thirty-seven families
there. They have nearly all passed awav, there now being two or three living, of which Mr. G.
is the oldest of the first settlers at Bloomington. His marriage with Martha A Pearce was cele-
brated Feb. 14, 1848. She was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Feb. 27, 1831. She died .luly 14,
1864, leaving three children now living, having lost five by death. The living are — Mary B.,
born Oct. 18, 1853, now Mrs. Scott Crumbaugh ; John E., Sept. 6, 1855 ; and Charles E., March
1, 1861.
0. S. HARDING, farmer and stock-raiser ; Sec. 4, Town 21 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; bnrn in Henry
Co., Ind., Dec. 12, 1826; his father, Saul Harding, was anativeof Kentucky, and, with his parents
was driven to Ohio by the Indians at a very early day ; they then removed to Indiana, and were
among the first settlers of the State, living in Rush, AVayne and Henry Counties, emigrating from
the latter county in 1841, to Wapello Co., Iowa. The subject of this sketch remained with his
father, farming, until 21 years of age, after which he engaged in farming for himself until April
6, 1850, when he started by team overland to California, taking the Oregon route, crossing the
Rocky Mountains at South Pass, and arriving at Placerville July 26, having been nearly four
months upon the trip. He engaged in mining in the vicinity of Placerville, until November fol-
lowing, when he went to San Francisco and embarked upon a sailing vessel for home. He was
landed upon the coast of Guatemala, from which place he packed across the counti-y upon mules
to New Granada, thence via San Carlos, down the San .Juan River to the coast of the Caribbean
Sea, thence to the Isthmus of Darien, from which point they sailed to New Orleans, where they
arrived after a tedious and perilous voyage. He then returned to Jefferson Co., Iowa, and engaged
in farming and stock-raising until 1867, when he returned to Illinois, and located in Empire
Township, where he has since lived. He owns upwards of 200 acres of land, and is engaged in
farming and stock-raising. He married Leona Eskew, Jan. 15, 1857 ; she was born in De Witt
Co., 111., Aug. 14, 1838 ; eight children were the fruit of this union — Paran H. T., born Dec. 20,
1857 ; Julia H., born Dec. 11, 1859 ; William H., born March 6, 1862 ; Rufus A. J., born Jan.
22, 1864; Nimrod, born May 31, 1868; (Joey E., born Aug. 29, 1871 ; Mary E., born Jan. 5,
1874 ; Dolly .May, born Feb. 3. 1877. Mrs. Harding is the oldest child of P. C. Eskew, one of
the early settlers of McLean Co., and whose biography appears in this work.
EDWARD HEALEA, farmer: P. 0 Empire. The subject of this sketch was Ijorn in Har-
rison Co.. Ohio, .M.iy 1, 1829; he was raised upon the farm of his father, until 19 years of age,
when, in 1848, he rented land and engaged in farming until 1856, when, with four horses and a
Pitt's thresher, he started AVest, continuing his journey until he arrived in Empire Township,
where, after setting up his machine and threshing a few bushels, he disposed of the same and
one team of hoi'ses, driving the others back to Ohio, and the following summer again brought a
thresher to Empire Township, which he sold after using one season, and, in the spring of 1858,
he removed with his family to McLean Co., where, after putting in iiis crop upon rented land,
he ordered a threshing machine from Ohio, following threshing during the season for sixteen
years; he still owns this machine and now declares it to be as goo<l as new. jMr. Healea con-
tinued to live upon rented land until 1868, when he removed upon his present place, which he
had purchased in 1865, and which he has since brought from its wild prairie condition to a high
state of cultivation. He owns 160 acres upon his home farm, upon which he has expended a
large amount of skillful labor, as the pleasing surroundings of his dwelling will at once show. In
884 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
front of his residence lie has planted a large number of useful and ornamental trees of boib
native and foreign growth, and his familiarity with the names and nature of each of the many
different kinds will show the careful study he has given to the same. He does not confine his
farming to the raising of corn and grain. His grape-vines may be counted by the hundred He
also raises a large amount of raspberries, cherries, peaches ami apples, with which his neighliora
are liberally and gratuitously supplied. He has for the past three years been engaged in ship-
ping hay to New Orleans and the Eastern markets, the same being the production of his own
farm. He is also largely engaged in buying corn for J. 0. Peckham & Co., Providence, E. i.>
having purchased upwards of 12,000 bushels during the present season. His marriage with
Amy Tilton was celebrated Feb. 19, 1848 ; ^he was born in Ashland Co., Ohio, Sept. 24, 1829;
three children were the fruit of this union — George G.,born Nov. 29, 1849: John, born .June 18,
1851, and William, born Nov. 6, 1861. They alSo have an adonted daughter, Mary Healea, born
Dec. 17, 1866.
LINDLEY HEELING, farmer. Sec. 2. Town 21 ; P. 0. Empire. The birthplace of tids
gentleman was in Harrison Co., Ohio, Feb. 5, 1826. His father. Fielding Hefling, died when the
subject of this sketch, was but 10 years of age, leaving six children, of which Lindley was the
second son, and upon him and his elder brother fell the care and labor of supporting the family,
which duty they nobly performed until each member was old enough to provide for himself.
In his youth, he had the advantage of three months' schooling during the year; by close
application to his studies and devoting his spare time to the same, he was able to obtain a
fair education, and at the age of 17 years engaged in school-teaching, which occupation he fol-
lowed in connection with farming, until upwards of 21 years of age, when he was united in mar-
riage Aug. 20, 1848 to Elizabeth Gardner; she was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, Oct. 20. 1827;
he then rented land upon which he farmed for six years, when he removed to Illinois in 18-i-5 ;
he first located four miles from Bloomington for eighteen months ; he then removed to Old Town
Timber, where he rented land four years, when he purchased forty acres upon which he lived
until 1865, when he then sold out and purchased his present place of eighty acres, where he has
since lived. The children of Lindley and Elizabeth Hefling were nine in number, of which four
died in infancy ; the living are — Sarah, born Aug. 26, 1849, now Mrs. Albert White, De Witt
Co.; Anna M., born Feb. 18, 1851: now Mrs. Ross Arrowsmith, of Padua Township; Ada, born
June 18, 1853, now Mrs. John Healea, De Witt Co.; Freeman D., born July 7, 1860 ; Lulu, horn
Sept. 14, 1867. Mr. H. has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion and education. He
has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for a period of twenty-five years ; Mrs.
H. having been a member previously. Township and school offices have been his in plenty,
having filled the office of School Director many years in Ohio and Illinois ; was the first Town
Clerk of Old Town Township, and two years Collector, and two years Collector in Empire Town-
ship, and Assistant Collector for two years, and other petty offices. He is a strong temperance
man, which he carries into local politics, measuring to a certain extent the capacity of the can-
didate which he supports by his temperance principles.
D. 0. HOWARD, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Henrietta, Monroe Co., N. Y., Sept 2,
1821 ; he was the third son of Eleazer Howard, who was born in Windham Co., Conn., Aug. 20,
1793; he located in Ohio in 1840, aiTd in 1851 located in McLean Co., 111., where he lived until
his decease, which occurred March 17, 1872, in the 79th year of his age. He was married to
Matilda Wood, in Connecticut, Feb. 1, 1815. Mrs. Howard was a native of Windham Co., Conn.;
she was born Feb. 17, 1792 and died March 1, 1878. The subject of this sketch followed farm-
ing and milling with his father and younger brother until the emigration of the father to Illi-
nois, after which, he, with his brother, continued the same until 1855, when he sold his interest
in Ohio, and emigrated to Illinois, and located in Empire Township, McLean Co., where he has
lived for a period of twenty-four years. He now owns upwards of 200 acres of land, upon
which he has good farm buildings ; his brick residence being built in 1868. his barn a few years
later. Of township and school offices he has held his full share, having held the office of School
Director seven years. Supervisor of the township two years, and other petty offices. His mar-
riage with Sarah Ann Smiley was celebrated Feb. 28, 1847 ; she was born in Bradford Co., Penn.;
she died May 8, 1848, having one child — Sarah, now Mrs. Geo. Riddle, born Feb. 19, 1848. His
marriage with Sarah E. Smiley, was celebrated in Pennsylvania Nov. 23. 1852; she was born in
Crawford Co , Penn., .\pril 10, 1880; they have five children living — William H., born Dec. 1,
1853, married and engaged in farming and teaching; Charles W., born Nov. 26, 1855, farming;
Homer D., born June 26, 1858; Frank, born May 7, 1868, and Mary M., born Nov. 29, 1866;
the last four living at home Mrs. Howard's father, William H. Smiley, was born in Bradforcl
Co., Penn., in 1792. He was married to Susan Burch, in Crawford Co.. Penn., in 1828. and died
in Bradford Co., Penn., Sept. 2, 1848. Mrs. Smiley was born in Crawford Co., Penn., Jan. 1, 1803,
where she has lived for uj)wards of three-fourths of a century.
R. S. HOWARD, furniture and undertaker, Le Roy ; born in Madison Co., Ky., June 15,
1827; he was raised upon a farm until 17 years of age, when he commenced to learn the tra<l6
of cabinet-maker; which he followed until June, 1846, when he enlisted in the 2d Regt. Ky.
Vol. Inf., to serve one year in the war with Mexico ; leaving Louisville with his regiment in
June, he went down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, thence by vessel to Brazos,
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 885
at the mouth of the Rio Grande River, then marched to Mexico, crossing at Matamoras ; he
served under Gen. Taylor, and was in many engagements — the heaviest being tlie battle of
Buena Vista, in which his regiment suifered severely in killed and wounded — among the former,
the Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel and his Captain ; he remained in Mexico until June, 1847, when
he, with his regiment, returned to New Orleans and were mustered out of service ; returning to
Jessamine Co., Ky., he again resumed his trade, and after completing the same, he engaged in
the furniture business until 1859, when he emigrated to Illinois and purchased a farm in Empire
Township, McLean Co., upon which he located and followed farming until the winter of 1862,
when selling out, he removed to Bloomington and engaged in the furniture trade for a period of
ten years; closing out his business in 1872, he ihen came to Le Roy and purchased the furniture
business of H. M. Morehouse, which he has since continued ; he admitted R. C. HoUowell as a
partner in 1876, since which time the style of the firm has been Howard & HoUowell. Mr.
Howard is a strong temperance advocate, and has never used intoxicating liquors, profane lan-
guage nor played cards. He has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion, having been an
active member of the M. E. Church since 1844 — his wife becoming a member soon after. His
marriage with Lavina Sageser was celebrated Dec. 27, 1848; she was born in Jessamine Co.,
Ky., Dec. 17, ISoO; they have no children of their own, but have raised, from infancy, a nephew
of Mrs. Howard's, by the name of Joseph S. Sageser; he was born in Jessamine Co., Ky.,
March 24, 1856. Mr. Howard has extende i to him all the advantages of a liberal education.
After attending the common schools at Bloomington until 16 years of age, he entered the Com-
mercial College, graduating from the same after a study of two years, when he entered the Wes-
leyan University at Bloomington, where he attended for four years ; he is now attending his
first course at the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia. Mr. Howard proposes to have
him graduate from the Wesleyan University, at Bloomington, during the coming year, after
which he will return to the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and remain unt\l he grad-
uates from the same.
CHARLES M. INGLE (deceased); one of the early settlers of McLean Co.; born in Wash-
ington Co., East Tenn., Feb. 22,1829; his father, Henry Ingle, located in McLean in 1886
and followed farming until his decease, which occurred in the spring of 1849 ; his widow died
Dec. 14, 1853. Henry Ingle was a shoemaker, and would peel the bark, dry and grind the same,
then tan his own leather, which he would then manufacture into boots and shoes for the settlers
for many miles distant; Charles M. Ingle also learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed
during the winter for many years after the death of his father ; in 1857. he abandoned his
trade, and gave his whole attention to farming ; he removed upon Sec. 2, Empire Township, in
1862, where he purchased eighty acres of land, to which he afterwards added, and at his decease,
owned 120 acres, upon which he had good farm buildings. He took a deep interest in the cause
of religion, and lived a consistent and devoted Christian life, having been an active member of
the Baptist Church for a period of upwards of twenty years — Mrs. I. joining at the same time.
His marriage with Hannah M. Bunn was celebrated March 9, 18-34 ; she was born in Ross Co.,
Ohio, March 7, 1835 ; two children were the fruit of this union — one of which died in infancy ;
the living — Lillian Jane, was born Aug. 9, 1858. Upon June 30, 1878, Mr. Ingle ceased from
his labors, and passed down the dark valley, neither a great nor remarkable man, but a kind hus-
band and father, a good neighbor, a true Christian, and one of whom his contemporaries will
admit that his life was not a failure, and did not live in vain ; of his father's family of ten chil-
dren only two now survive. The surviving daughter of Charles and Hannah (Bunn) Ingle was
united in marriage with Charles W. James July 6, 1875; he was born in Coles Co., 111., April
10, 1851 ; he is a young man of good education, having attended the two universities at Bloom-
ington for a period of three years ; he then followed teaching for seven years, and is now engaged
in school-teaching during the winter, and farming in the summer upon the old farm of the
parents of his wife. The children of Charles and Lillian (Ingle) James are two in number —
Irus K., born Dec. 19, 1877, and Blanche N., born Sept. 15, 1878.
DANIEL JACKSON, (deceased) farmer; born in Fauquier Co., Va., Jan. 16, 1808; he was
brought up to farm labor until 18 years of age, when he emigrated to Champaign Co., Ohio, liv-
ing two years, then to Sangamon Co., 111., a short time, and in the fall of 1830, came to McLean
Co. and laid a claim upon Sec. 5, Empire Township ; he made his home in the winter of 1830
and 1831 with John W. Dawson, and when not in his employ, made improvements upon his
place; in 1834 and 1835, he entered his claim of 160 acres, upon which he lived until his
decease, which occurred March 20, 1861. When Mr. Jackson located here, his property con-
sisted of one yoke of oxen and one horse ; he worked, during harvest, at 25 to 50 cents per day;
he often made trips with his oxen to Cliicago, taking up wheat, which he sold at 35 to 40 cents
per bushel, receiving his pay in groceries, salt, leather, etc. His pine lumber, door, windows,
etc.. for his first frame house, he hauled from Chicago with oxen — the trip consuming about two
weeks. Commencing in life without capital, he had, at the time of his death, accumulated
upwards of five hundred acres of land, a part of which was his original claim, upon which he
located in 1830. His marriage with Margaret Waldon was celebrated Feb. 12, 1832 ; she was
born in Rockingham Co., Va., May 5, 1809 ; ten children were the fruit of this union, of which
eight are now living — Mary Ann (now Mrs. R. R. Dalton), Elizabeth J. (now Mrs. Narley),
iiS6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES;
Esther (now Mrs. F. Walils), Andrew, Ruth (now Mrs. Rehker), Margnret, Armanda R. and
Daniel T. Mrs. .lackson now lives upon the old liome, with her son Andrew; he was born May
5, 1840, and biought up on the old farm until Aug. 11, 1862, when he enlisted in Co D, 94tli
Kegt. Vol. Inf., and went forward to battle for the Union; he served througd the campaign of
Missouri and Arkansas, after which he served in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama;
he was in many severe engagements, among which was the battle of I'l-airie Grove, siege and
capture of Vicksburg, Yazoo City, Morganzia, Fort Morgan, Ala.; after taking the above fort,
he was engaged in several raids in Alabama, one of which was up the Fish Kiver, where they
destroyed the rebel salt works of upwards of 1,200 kettles; upon the 2tJth of March, 1865, was
in the attack upon Spanish Fort, Jlobile Bay, which continued until April 9, when it surrendered;
he was then forwarded to Galveston, Tex., when he was mustered out of service July 17, 1865,
receiving his discharge Aug. 9, 1865, at Springfield, 111., having served in the Union army three
years; he then returned to Empire Township, and located upon the old place, where he has
since successfully followed farming.
J. KEEN AN, merchant and banker; Le Roy : born in Clinton Co., Ohio, March 10,
1828. He attended school and assisted his father in farming until 18 years of age, when he
engaged in business for himself in Ohio, the last four years of which he engaged in farming.
Se'ling bis form in Ohio, in 18-i4 he came to McLean Co., and purchased a farm, upon which he
lived until 1865, when he removed to Le Roy, and, after dealing in real estate one year, engaged
in the dry goods trade, which business he has since successfully followed. In 1872 he added a
general banking business, and does the only banking in Le Roy. He is also afsociated with S F.
Barnum in buying and supplying grain to the Eastern markets. They do an extensive milling
business, supplying their choicest brands of Hour in lots from a few sacks to a carload. They
also deal in lumber and coal, meeting the demands of Le Roy and the country tributary to ii.
His business card appears in the Business Directory of Le Roy. Mr. Keenan is truly a public-
spirited citizen, and has probably done as much as any one to advance the interests of Le Roy.
He is among the most successful and one of the wealthiest merchants in Le Roy. His marriage
with Hannah Sidles was celebrated Oct. 8, 1848 ; she was born in Ohio, Jan. 5, 1828 ; they have
four children now living — Walter M., born Nov. 17, 1850; Clara B., April 2, 1859 ; Arthur J.,
April 17, 1862; and Luther C, May 5, 1866. In the fall of 1866, Walter M. entered the Hills-
dale College, where he attended two years, and in 1868 he entered the Michigan University at
Ann Arbor, and graduated in 1872, and, after completing his law studies, he associated in the
law business with Baker & Osgood, remaining in this business until 1878, when he engaged in
the dry goods commission trade, corner of Monroe street and Fifth avenue, Chicago, under the
firm name of Albright & Keenan, which business he has since successfully followed. Clara B.,
after attending the High School at Le Roy, attended the Ladies' Seminary one year at Monti-
cello, after which she entered the Female College at Evanston, where she attended two years, and
is now receiving instruction at the Academy of Design, in Chicago.
JOSEPH KERSHAW, retired farmer; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Lancashire, England, May 8,
1802, where he worked in the cotton mills until 24 years of age, when he emigrated to America,
landing in New York Sept. 7, 1826. Upon landing, his capital consisted of one single copper
penny. He then sold his bedding, and with the proceeds reached Boston, and walked to
Stoughton, where he worked for the Stoughton and Canton Manufacturing Co., until he had a.
capital of f 13, when he started to walk to New York, and on the way was robbed of all his
money, save his copper penny. He worked at cotton spinning in the mills in New Jersey and
Philadelphia, until 18o0, when he emigrated to Williamson Co., 111., where he located eighty
acres of land, and in 1836 entered eighty more, making a farm of 160 acres, upon which he lived
until 1853, when he sold out and removed to Downs Township, McLean Co., where he [)urchased
400 acres of land, and engaged in farming and stock-rtiising until 1870, when he removed to
Le Roy, where he has since lived. His marriage with Hannah Robinson was celebrated in Eng-
land, Sept. 3, 1823 ; she was born in England, Dec. 10, 1799, and died March 2, 1859, leaving
five children now living — John W., Hannah, Francis, Mary Ann and Phoebe. His marriage with
Lucinda Gilmore was celebrated June 6, 1860 ; she was born Jan. 4, 1817 ; she emigrated from
Kentucky, and located in McLean Co. in 1858 ; she is now in her i)3d year, is in possession of
all her faculties, and does all the iiousehold labor for herself and hiisl)and. Mr. K., now in the
78th year of his age. enjoys good health, and attends to the " chores" which his neat little place
requires. He now keeps two horses and a cow, which he daily attends to. Arriving in New
York without means, he has struggled against poverty, and succeeded in securing a good prop-
erty, and has settled a good share upon his children, reserving enough to support himself anil
wife tliroMgii life.
TIIO.MAS W. KEYS, physician and surgeon, LeRoy; born in County Fermanagh, Ireland,
Jan. 18, 1838; he emigrated to America when 10 years of age, and landed in New York, July
12, 1849; coming West, he, with his parents, located in Fond du Lac Co., Wis., where his
father located UiO acres of land upon which he settled, and where he still lives. The subject of
this sketch remained with liis father and attendeil the common school until 18 years of age, when
he engaged in teaching in tiie common school during the fall and winter for five years, during
which period he devoted all his spare time to his studies to further advance his education.
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 887
At the age of 21 he was elected Superintendent of Schools; at the age of 23, he taught in graded
schools, as Principal, at Taycheedah ; in 1862, he was Principal of the High School at Mattoon,
for one year, and in I860, he attended Rush Medical College, at Chicago; in 1834, he was chosen
Principal of the Public School at Lexington, and in the spring of 1865, commenced the practice
of medicine at Rapp, Woodford Co., until the fall of 1868, when he was appointed Principal of
the school at Atlanta, one year, and in 1869, he located in Le Roy, where he has continued the
practice of medicine ; he is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk,
Iowa, from which college he has his diploma, and also holds a diploma from the State Board of
Health of Illinois ; he was elected to deliver the valedictory address at the time of graduating
from the college at Keokuk. His marriage with Jennie McGill was celebrated Oct. 8, I860 ; she
was born in Erie City, Penn., March 28, 1848 ; her parents emigrated West, and located in Lex-
ington, 111., in 1853, where they still live; the children of Thomas W. and Jennie (McGill) Keys
are three in number — William M., born Oct. 28, 1866; Minnie P., born Feb. 1, 1870, and Carrie
D., born June 1, 1873.
JAMES KIMLER, farmer, Sec. 28; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the early pioneers of McLean
Co.: born in Loudoun Co., Va., Aug. 16, 1811; he emigrated with his father Moses Kimler, when
quite young, and located in Bourbon Co., Ky., where he was raised upon a farm, until 1827,
when he removed to Montgomery Co., Ind., living here until he emigrated to Illinois, in the year
1832 ; during the three years following, he was employed by his uncles John and Calep Kimler,
near Bloomington ; in the winter of 1835, he went to Milwaukee, Wis., where he engaged in
stock-dealing, buying his cattle in McLean and surrounding counties, driving them to Milwaukee,
where they were disposed of, when he would return for another drove; he followed this business
several years, the last three years of which he was engaged in partnership with Benjamin Cox;
in 1836, he, with Benjamin Cox, located a claim of 865 acres, in Milwaukee Co., Wis., which
they entered, upon its coming into market in 1839, and sold the same in 1843 ; a portion of this
claim is now built up with solid buildings; a part of the city of Milwaukee now standing upon
the same ; in 1843. he purchased seventy-six acres upon Sec. 17, Empire Township, where he
lived until 1848, when he located upon his present place, where he has since lived, and where he
now owns 260 acres of land, within one mile of Le Roy. He was married to Cassandra Jane
Clearwater, Jan. 28, 1838; she was born in Putnam Co., Ind., Oct. 22. 1821 ; their children were,
Mary J., born Nov. 10,1838; Elizabeth, born May 13. 1840, died Oct. 22, 1843; Martha E.,
born Aug. 24, 1842; Harriet B., born Feb. 13, 1845; Sarah C, born Dec. 17, 1847; Elizabeth
A., born March 23, 1850, and Caroline, born May 20, 1853. Mrs. K., was daughter of Reuben
and Jane Clearwater; her father was born in North Carolina, March 6, 1781 ; died April 9, 1865,
in McLean Co.; her mother was born in Tennessee, June 20, 1781 ; her maiden name was Jane
Miller; she died June 3, 1864; in 1835, Mr. Kimler's father, Moses K., came to Illinois and
located upon Sec. 29; he died in Le Roy, February, 1850; Mrs. K. died at the residence of her
son in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. K. have taken a deep interest in the cause of religion, having joined
the M. E. Church in Le Roy in 1840.
JOHN KLINE, farmer. Sec. 16; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Franklin Co.. Penn., Feb. 27. 1827.
where he attended the common schools, until 15 years of age, when he learned the blacksmith
trade, which he followed until 1850, when he went to California via the Isthmus, sailing upon
April 11 ; he was shipwrecked upon a reef of the Caucus Islands, upon the 25th of May, but
after a detention of one week, resumed his voyage, reaching San Francisco, Aug. 13, having been
four months and two days upon the trip ; he immediately went to mining upon his own account
for eighteen months, meeting with fair success ; he then formed a partnership with Sam Austin,
and engaged in dealing in provisions and mining supplies, freighting the same from Stockton to
the mines with their own teams; he followed this business until June, 1853, when he returned
to Pennsylrania, and in October, 1853, came to Bloomington, McLean Co., 111.; then to Le Roy,
where he purchased a farm of 190 acres in Downs Township; he then worked at his trade in St.
Louis, during the winter of 1853 and 1854; returning to Le Roy he rented his ftirm ; then went
to Pennsylvania for the summer, and in the fall returned to Le Roy, and after working at his
trade for Messrs. Gilmore & Wright a short time, purchased the interest of Mr. Gilmore, con-
tinued in business with Mr. Wright until Dec. 25, 1855; in the spring of 1856, he purchased
seventy acres of his present place, to which he has added by purchase, until he now owns 140
acres, upon which he has good farm buildings ; he followed farming upon his present place from
1856 to 1858, when he again associated with his old partner, Mr. Wright, and continued the
blacksmith trade, until 1862, since which time he has given his whole attention to farming; he
was one of the first Aldermen of Le Roy, serving two terms ; President of the Board of Trus-
tees while Le Roy was a village ; Township Trustee several years, and Supervisor of the Town-
ship. His marriage with Ellen Buck was celebrated Jan. 15, 1856 ; she was born in Indiana,
Dec. 7, 1830 ; she was the daughter of Hiram Buck, one of the early settlers of McLean Co.;
Mr. Kline has seven children now living, having lost two by death : the living are Lida, born
Oct. 29, 1856, now attending the Wesleyan University, at Bloomington : Erwin', Jan. 1, 1858,
living at home; Lenora, Sept. 1, 1859, now teaching at Le Roy; Clara, April 18, 1861, now
teaching at Mansfield; Charles and Grace, twins, April 11, 1865; Harry B. and Irvin, twins,
Aug. 4, 1869, the latter died in infancy.
888 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
D. L. MOREHOUSE, retired merchant and farmer; P. O. Le Roy; born in Lower Canada,
near Montreal, Feb. lU, 180U; at 3 years of age, his father, with the family, was driven from
home by the English, during the war of 1812, escaping without removing anything of value,
save the horses which they rode, ana upon one of which Mrs. Morehouse rode, and took with
her the subject of this sketch and an infant, making their way to Onondaga Co., N. Y.; they
lived there one year, then to Genesee Co., and, in 1817, located in Orleans Co., where they lived
uniil 18o2. Mr. M. received a limited education in his youth, being employed in various pursuits
for the support of his father's family, three years of which he worked upon the Erie Canal, [n
the winter of 1830, he attained his majority, and started out to seek his fortune, taking with
him all his worldly possessions, which were tied up in a pocket-handkercliief ; he worked that
winter cutting cord-wood, at IGf cents per cord, working in the woods, with the snow two to
three feet deep, and receiving his pay in corn, at 44 cents per bushel, which he hauled to mar.
ket, a distance of seven miles, and exchanged for goods ; in the spring he hired out for one year,
for $10 per month, and the two years following he worked eight months each year, at $12 and
$13 per month. The following fall, he married his present wife, then a poor orphan, and the
next day commenced to cut logs to erect his log house, which was a rude structure, with a stick
chimney, plastered with mud, with stones piled up some three to four feet at the back, as a fur-
ther protection from fire ; they then went a distance of seven miles and ran in debt $19 for such
household articles as they were obliged to have, which debt was a source of great anxiety to Mr.
Morehouse until liquidated, the following winter, by hauling staves; his first cupboard and
table was an old chest, which answered the double purpose, and which he now has in his house
as a relic. Having become settled in his log house in the spring of 1834, he commenced farm-
ing for himself, which business he followed until 1858, when he found his financial aifairs would
allow a wider field of labor, which he extended by engaging in the mercantile trade, and also
purchased a lathe machine saw, grist and shingle mill, which dilferent branches of business he
successfully carried on until 1857, when he sold out his store, rented his farm and mills, and, com-
ing to Illinois, he formed a business partnership, in the latter part of the year, under the firm name
of Humphrey, Wakefield & Co., and engaged in the grocery and milling business at Le Roy. He
sold his milling interest in 1859, and, in 1860. he, with his son Cyrus S., engaged in the general
merchandise trade, which they followed until 1864, when his son succeeded in the business, and
Mr. Morehouse retired until 1873. when he purchased the dry-goods store of T. J. Barnett, and
after running the same several months, sold the stock to his son C. S., at Champaign City. Mr.
Morehouse commenced life without capital, and has, by his own hard labor, economy and care-
ful business management, in which he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife, accumulated
a good property ; he has settled upon his children upward of $12,000, and has reserved enough
to support himself and wife through life. He has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion,
having been an active member of the M. E. Church since 1830, his wife joining about the same
time. Mr. Morehouse has held an ofl&cial position in the Church nearly always since he was admitted
a member; is a hard worker ; contributes liberally, having donated $1,000 to the erection of
the M. E. Church at Le Roy, and a like amount to the Centennial of Methodism, in 1866. His
marriage with Mary A. Smith was celebrated Oct. 29, 1833 ; she was born in Morris Co., N.
Y., April 19, 1810; six children were the fruit of this union — Olive A., born Oct. 15,
1834 (now Mrs. Dr. S. H. Birney, of Urbana) ; Hiram N., born Oct. 22, 1836 (now farming near
Le Roy); Cyrus S., born Dec. 13, 1839 (merchant at Champaign); Amos R., born Feb. 9, 1842
(lumber merchant. Big Rapids, Mich.) ; Orrill M., born .July 5, 1844 (now Mrs. E. C. Barthlow),
and Philo F., born Sept. 4, 1847, died Sept. 1-5, 1849.
J. W. MURFIELD, farmer; P. O. Empire; born in Jefferson Co., Ohio, Aug. 18, 1821 ; he
removed, with his parents, to Franklin Co., where he lived with them until 21 years of
age, when he purchased a farm and engaged in farming in Franklin and Union Counties, until
he emigrated and located in Empire Township, McLean Co., in the spring of 1865 ; he then pur-
chased eighty-seven acres of land, to which he has since added by purchase, until he now owns
one hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which he has good farm buildings. His marriage
with Malinda McCauleyans was celebrated Dec. 31, 1843; she was born in Virginia .luly 5,
1816. and died in McLean Co., 111., July 30, 1875, leaving four children, viz., Barbara C, born
March 21, 1846; Vianna, born April 11, 1852; John M. C, born July 8, 1854, and Madison E.,
born Oct. 11, 1857. Mr. Murfield married for his second wife Matilda J. Downing, May 28,
1876; she died Aug. 12, 1877. His nuptials with Mrs. Kate Clement were celebrated Feb. 11,
1879; she was born in Pennsylvania July 16, 1833 ; her maiden name was Kate Stine ; of the
deceased children, two died in childhood, and one — Isabel J. — was born Aug. 23, 1847, married
C. H. Cayton, and died Nov. 5, 1872, leaving three children.
AD.\M .MURRAY, stock-dealer and livery stable, Le Roy ; born in Coshocton Co., Ohio,
March 22, 1843, where he followed farming until 19 years of age, when he enlisted Aug. 22,
1862, in the 122d Ohio Vol. Inf.; he served first in VVest Virginia, then with the Army of the
Potomac, under its ditl'erent commanders, until the close of the war, being mustered out of serv-
ice July 3, 1865, at Cleveland, Ohio. He was in many hard-fought battles, among which were
the battle of the Wilderness, Winchester, Petersburg!! and at the siege and capture of Richmond.
After his discharge, he returned to Ohio, and in the spring of 1866, came West, and located at
-.■»«r
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LE ROY
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 891
Le Roy, McLean Co., 111., where he has since lived ; he has been extensively engaged in buying
and shipping stock to the Eastern markets, in connection with which he, in 1875, also engaged
in the grocery and_ provision trade; lie sold his store in 1878, and now, in connection with his
stock business, keeps the only livery stable in Le Roy. His marriage with Ale.xine McMakin
was celebrated May 5, 1870 ; they have four children, now living, by this union— St. Elmo,
Kate A., Ada and Charles P.
.JOHN W. MAREAN, retired blacksmith, Le Roy; the subject of this sketch was born in
the city of Frederickton, British Provinces, July 10, 1821 ; his fiither, Aaron Marean, was born
sixteen miles north of Portland, in the town of Standish Cumberland Co., Me., where he lived
and followed blacksmithiug (with the exception of five years when he lived in the Provinces,
from 1818 to 1823) until his death, which occurred in 1834; .John VV. removed from the place of
his birth with his parents to their native place, Standish, when he was two years of age ; here
he spent the days of his boyhood; attended the common schools during the;winter and worked
at blacksmithiug during the summer until 17 years of age, when he finished his trade, which he
followed in Standish until 22 years of age, when he removed to Portland, where he lived one
year, then to Lewiston two years, and, in 1840, removed to Richmond on the Kennebec River,
where he followed his trade until he emigrated West, when he located in Bloomington, McLean
Co., 111., in the spring of 185B; in the spring of 1857, he removed to Le Roy and followed his
trade until August, 1862, when he enlisted in the 94th I. V. I.; he was mustered in as Corporal
of Company G ; he with his regiment went to St. Louis, and was engaged in the campaign
through Missouri and Arkansas; then to Vicksburg and New Orleans, and, in the fall of 1863,
was detailed to return to Le Roy and recruit for the regiment, remaining here tlrrough the fall
and a portion of the winter ; he returned to his regiment, then at Brownsville, Texas, and, in
the spring of 1864, went via New Orleans to Ft. Margan, Alabama, and, after capturing the
above fort, remained there during the winter, and, in the spring, he was detailed to assist in
making up a pontoon train, going to Mobile, from which place he marched across the country to
Baton Rouge, on the Mississippi River; after the surrender of Lee, an order being issued for
all soldiers on detailed duty to report to their regiment, he made his way back to Mobile, Ala.,
and joined his regiment, having, with a companion traveled a distance of upward of eight hun-
dred miles upon a capital of 50 cents, being often placed in peculiar circumstances ; the writer
of this article is inclined to the belief that the rebel element with whom he was contending,
involuntarily contributed liberally to their support during this tedious and perilous journey ; in
June, 1865, he was forwarded to Galveston, Texas, where he received a sunstroke which came
near proving fatal, and his partial recovery may be attributed only to the careful nursing and
skillful medical attention which he then received ; after recovering sufficient strength, he came
via New Orleans and Cairo to Springfield, 111., where he was mustered out of service in August,
1865. Mr. Marean served in the army three years, and has his health much impaired from the
eflfects of the hardships and exposure of army life, but more especially suifers from effects of
the sunstroke received while in Galveston in the summer of 1865; to such an extent has he suf-
fered from the latter cause, that he works but very little at his trade, devoting his attention to fine
stock. His marriage with Emily Wilson was celebrated in Portland, May 18, 1846 ; she was
born in Westbrook, Cumberland Co, Maine, June 18, 1818; three children were the fruit of
this union — Sarah A., born March 12, 1847 (now Mrs. J. V. Smith, of Le Roy); George Edgar,
Sept. 9, 1849 (now living at home); Annie Wilson, Nov. 14, 1851, died Aug. 24, 1852, in Rich-
mond, Elaine.
WILLIAM OLIVER, farmer. Sec. 1 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Washington Co., Md., Jan. 30,
1808; he was the son of John Oliver, who was born in the North of Ireland Nov. 28. 1773, and located
in what is now Ross Township, Ohio, in 1811; he was in the war of 1812, and, at its close,
returned to his farm in Ohio, and followed farming until his decease, which occurred Feb. 12,
1852. The mother of William Oliver was born in Maryland Sept. 2 , 1789 ; her maiden name
was INIary Beck ; she died Sept. 13, 1852. AYilliam was the oldest son and was brought up on
the farm until 26 years of age, when he rented land for several years, until he purchased a farm
upon which he lived until he emigrated to Illinois and located upon Sec. 1, Empire Township,
McLean Co., in the fall of 1852 ; here he purchased 200 acres of land, upon which he settled, and
where he has since lived. His marriage with Mary Cowvill was celebrated in Ross Co., Ohio,
April 24, 1834 ; she was born in the above county May 14, 1803 ; six children were the fruit of
this union, three of which are deceased, viz., William, born Feb. 2, 1843, died Feb. 18, 1864, and
two which died in infancy ; the living are Mary Jane, born April 23, 1836, John, March 28,
1838, and Henry H., Feb. 21, 1841 ; the father of Mrs. Oliver was Eleazer Cowvill ; he was born
in Virginia and died in Ohio at the age of 86 years. The maiden name of her mother was Jane
McFarland, born in Massachusetts and died in Ohio, aged 74 years.
JACKSON OLIVER, farmer, Seo. 19 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Ross Co., Ohio, Feb. 13, 1817 ;
his fathijr, John Oliver, served in the war of 1812, after which he followed farming in Ohio until
his death Feb. 12, 1852 ; he was born Nov. 28, 1773, in Ireland. The maiden name of Mrs.
Oliver was Mary Beck ; she was born Sept. 21, 1789, in Maryland, and died Sept. 13, 1852.
Jackson Oliver emigrated to Illinois and located upon Sec. 19, Empire Township, McLean Co.,
in the fall of 1854 ; here he purchased 213 acres, to which he has since added by purchase until
NN
892 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
he now owns upward of six hundred acres, upon which he has good farm buildings ; he erected
his two-story brick residence in 1860, and barn in 1870. Mr. Oliver was united in marriage
with Clarissa Cutright Nov. 5, 1843 ; she was born in Ross Co., Ohio, May 19, 1821 ; seven chil-
dren were the fruit of this union, viz., Henry, Sarah J. (deceased), Robert, Leroy P., Lewis D.,
John W., and one which died in infancy ; they have also raised two orphans from infancy, one
until 18 yeai-s of age, at which time she married ; the other is now 10 years, and is being edu-
cated as one of their own children. Mrs. Oliver was daughter of William Cutright, who was
born in Ohio -Inly 18, 1701, where he died Nov. 10, 1846. Mrs. Cutright was born .Jan. 25,
1782, in Virginia ; she is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Oliver, and is in the 98t,h year of
her age. Mr. Oliver has taken a deep interest in the ciuse of religion and education, having,
with his wife, joined the C. P. Church in Le Roy in 1862, and has filled the office of School
Director several years in the district where he lives. «
EGBERT OLIVER, farmer. Sec. 30; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the old settlers of McLean Co.,
born in Ross Co., Ohio, Aug. 16, 1849 ; at 5 years of age, he emigrated with his parents to Illi-
nois, and located upon Sec. 19, Empire Township ; he is the second son of Jackson Oliver, whose
biography appears among the sketches of this township in this work. The suhject of this sketch
attended the common schools until 19 years of age, and assisted his fixther upon the farm until
20 years of age, when he was united in marriage with Cornelia Watt March 17, 1870; she
was born in Illinois Oct. 1, 1850; they have two children by this union — Pleasant Jackson, born
Dec. 13, 1873 ; Milvin A., June 24, 1876. Upon the marriage of Mr. Oliver, he removed upon his
present place, where he has since lived ; he has good farm buildings, and owns upward of forty-
two acres and works eighty acres belonging to his father. Mrs. Oliver is a daughter of Pleasant
Watt, who was born in Kentucky and died in McLean Co., 111., March 26, 1876.
LE ROY W. PRAY, farmer and stock -raiser ; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Franklin Co., Ohio,
Feb 21, 1840; he emigrated to Illinois with his father, Daniel Pray, and located upon Sec. 25,
Empire Township, McLean Co., in the fall of 1852, where he assisted his father in farming until
1861, when, after vain efforts to join a regiment from Illinois, the regiments having been made
up, he went to St. Louis and enlisted as private in the 8th Mo. V. I., being mustered into service
June 16, 1861; after being engaged in the interior of the State for a few months, they were
stationed at Cape Girardeau two months, and from there to Paducah, Ky., where they remained
until February, 1862, when they went up the Tennessee River to Ft. Henry, and from there to
Ft. Donelson, on the Cumberland River, where, after severe fighting for two days, in which the
8th Missouri lost heavily, the fort was captured, with 15,000 prisoners, upon the 16th of Feb-
ruary, 1862 ; he was next engaged in the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, from which place,
while on the march to Corinth, he was wounded at the skirmish of the Russell House, May 17,
1862, and was sent to the hospital at St. Louis, where he remained a short time and returned
home on a furlough ; after returning again to the hospital he was refused a permit to join his
regiment, but, watching his opportunity, he prepared himself, and, when the first detail was
ready to march, he stole in their ranks and with them marched away ; by inquiry, he found his
regiment lay at Memphis, where he succeeded in joining them, remaining here until December,
1862, when he was forwarded to Vicksburg, where, with his regiment, he was engaged upon the
unsuccessful assault upon the above place on the 28th and 29th of December, 1862 ; he was then
in the battle of Arkansas Post on Jan. 10 and 11, 1863, and, during a part of the winter, was
engaged upon the canal opposite, which was within shelling distance of Vicksburg, and which
rendered the labor dangerous and tedious; about the 17th of April, steps were taken for the
reduction of Vicksburg, and from that date until the capture of the same, July 4, 1863, he was
either on the march or in active service, being engaged in the battles of Jackson, jSIiss., on May
14 ; Champion Hills, May 16 ; seige and capture of Vicksburg; second battle of Jackson, July
14 to 18 ; he then returned to the rear of Vicksburg, remaining until fall, when they went to
Chattanooga, Tenn., and engaged in the battle of Mission Ridge, which engagement was
brought on by two companies of the 8th Missouri crossing the river, making their way in rear
of the rebel pickets, when, capturing the same without alarming the rebel camp, they were
sent to re-inforcc the 9th Army Corps, but, before reaching Knoxville, the rebel army had with-
drawn; during the winter following, he was stationed at Larkin's Ferry, guarding the pontoon
bridges, and, in April, they started on the march to Atlanta, and were engaged in the battles of
Rome Cross Roads, Lay's Ferry, Buzzard's Roost, Resaca and Kenesaw Mountain ; arriving
within a few miles of Atlanta, he was sent back to St. Louis ; mustered out of service, receiving
his discharge July 7, 1864, having served in the Union army upward of three years ; he then
returned to Empire Township, where he has since followed farming, with the excep-
tion of two years, when he went to Nebraska and laid a soldier's claim. He married
Sept. 14, 1864, to Mary, daughter of Hamilton Gilbert; she was born in this township July
15, 1844 ; she died June 14, 1876, leaving one child now living — John H., born Jan. 23,
18(56. His marri'ge witli Emily, daughter of .James Bishop, was celebrated Aug. 7, 1877 ; she
was born in Empire Township Aug. 30, 1843.
WILLIAM PFITZP:N.\1EYEII, farmer and brick manufacturer; P. O. Le Roy ; born in Wur-
(emburg, Germany. April 14, 1837. He attended school until 14 years of age, when he learned
and worked at brick-making until he attained his majority, when he emigrated to America,
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 893
landing in New York in May, 1848. Coming West, he worked two years at his trade in Pulaski,
Logan Co. ; then two years in Blooniington, McLean Co., and, in 18')4, returned to Germany,
where he was married, March 27, 1855, to Sophia Rutter: she was bora in Wurtemburg, Ger-
many, .Jan. 18, 1827. Upon the 3d of May, 1855, he, with his wife, sailed from Germany, and
landed in New York the June following. Coming West, he located upon Sec. 28, Empire Town-
ship, McLean Co., where he has since lived. He now owns sixty acres of land, upon which he
has good farm buildings, his two-story brick residence being erected in 1876. He cultivates
about thirty acres of his farm, but has given his attention mostly to burning brick, of which he
has burned as high as six hundred thousand in a single season. Two children were the fruit of
this union — Sophia Matilda, born April 9, 1867, died July 28, 1862 ; Hugo Ulrich Gustav., born
July 9, 18(J8.
WILLIAM M. ROSS, farmer, Sec. 35; P. 0. Empire; born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Feb. 8,
1848, where he attended school and followed farming until 19 years of age, when he emigrated
to Illinois, and located in Empire Township, McLean Co., in the spring of 1867. He then hired
as farm-laborer, until he was united in marriage with Mary E. Ross, April 6, 1871 ; she was
born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Sept. 26, 1853 ; she was the daughter of Talmage Ross, who emi-
grated from Ohio, and located in McLean Co., in 1855. The children of William M. and Mar'y
E. Ross were four in number, \iz. : Lemuel Talmage, born Aug. 14, 1872; Harly Davi->, Sept.
25, 1874: William A., Oct. 16, 1876, and George, Sept. 11, 1878. In 1871-72, he farmed upon
rented land, and in Sept., 1872, he purchased eighty acres on Sec. 35, upon which he located in
the spring of 1873, and to which he has since added by purchase, until he now owns 118 acres,
upon which he has good farm buildings, all of which he has made by his own hard labor.
JAMES RUTLEUGE, (decea-ed) farmer; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.;
born Feb. 22, 1808. He emigrated from Kentucky to Illinois, and located in McLean Co.,
about the year 1830, where he entered laud, upon which he live I until his decease, which occur-
red Nov. 30, 18G3. He was united in marriage with Pruily Vandeventer, in Logan Co., 111. ;
she was born in Tenn., March 6, 1816 ; she came with her parents to Sangamon Co. ia
1825 ; when 10 years of age, she came with John Buckles to this county, and was the first
white woman that ever cooked a meal's victuals at what is now known as Buckles' Grove,
Empire Township. They were the parents of seven children now living Mrs. Kutledge is now
64 years of age, and is now keeping house in Le Roy, and has moved but once during the
past forty-seven years. In a brief letter, written by her, to be presented to the meeting of old
settlers, she makes mention of her first meal, cooked at Buckles' Grove, as being the first meal
cooked by a white woman at that place, she then being but 10 years of age, and the date being
1826. She also draws a beautiful illustration of the contrast between that date and the present,
showing the wonderful changes that have since occurred.
AMOS RUTLEDGE, farmer ; P. 0. Le Roy. This gentleman is a native of McLean Co.;
born in what is now Empire Township, Feb. 17, 1841. He is the son of James Rutledge, whose
sketch appears among the biographies of Empire Township. The subject of this sketch was
brought up on the farm until he attained his majority, when he was united in marriage, upon the
25th of Nov., 1862, to Hannah Gilmore ; she was born in Ohio, and located in Illinois in 1856.
He then commenced farming for himself, which he followed until 1867. He then engaged in the
dry-goods and grocery trade in LeRoy one year, by which transiction he lost some $6,000, and,
leaving him largely in debt, he then engaged as farm-laborer, and has since successfully followed
farming, and has paid up his liabilities in full. He is now largely engaged in farming as well
as purchasing gra n, upon a liberal salary, for the firm of J. 0. Peckham & Co., of Providence,
R. I., to which place he ships largely, having purchased upwards of 40,000 bushels durini? the
last four months. The children of Amos and Hannah (Gilmore) Rutledge were six in number,
of which five are now living, viz. : William, Etta. Almeda, Fred and Calla.
GEORGE M. SELLERS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Ivnox Co., Ohio,
Sept. 8, 1837, where he followed farming until the fall of 1859, when he made a visit to Wil-
liamson Co., Texas ; after remaining during the winter, purchased a mule, upon which he started
for home through the wilds of Texas and the Indian Territory. He arrived at Smithton, Mo.,
upon the 18th of jNIay, having made a trip of 800 miles alone, through a dangerous and perilous
country. He then returned to Ohio, where he, with another pariy, purchased 1,500 head of
sheep, and started to drive them overland to Texas; arriving in Edgar Co., he wintered his
sheep, and, in the following spring of 1861, drove tiiem to McLean Co., and herded the same for
two years. In 1863 he sold a part of bis sheep, and returned to Ohio, where he purchased 150
head of cat tie, which he brought to this county and sold. In the spring of 1864 he purchased 136 acres
of his present jdace, to which he has since added, until he now owns 230 acres, with good buildings,
and is extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising. His marriage with Sarah C Bonnett
was celebrated Oct. 8, 1863; she was born in Knox Co , Ohio, Oct. 21, 1835. They have two
children by this union — Lizzie R., born Nov. 4, 1865. and Mary, born Sept. 19, 1871, died Sept.
20, 1873. Mrs. Sellers is a daughter of John and Elizabtth (Yonntz) Bonnett, whose biography
appears in this work. The father of Mr. Sellers, John Sellers, lives upon the place upon which
he located in 1824, and is upwards of 80 years of age. He has held several offices, among
which he was a member of the new Constitutional Convention in 1855. His wife died in Ohio in
894 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
1838. After the marriage of George M. Sellers, he lived a short time in Le Roy ; then two years
in Bloomingfon ; since which time he has lived upon his pleasant place, situated within view of,
and at a distance of one mile from, Le Roy. In 1877 he was elected as Highway Commissioner
for three years, which position he now holds.
CHARLES STERLING, farmer, Sec. 4, Town 21 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Fairfield Co.,
Ohio, Nov. 24, 1821 ; his father, Thomas Sterling, died when the subject of this sketch was 8
years of age, after which he assisted his mother until her second marriage, when he commenced
labor for himself. His first wages <were S>4 per month, the receipts of which were used for the
support of the family until he was 20 years of age ; he was then employed by one man for a
period of seven years in succession, when he commenced to farm for himself, in 1846, which
business he followed in Ohio until the fall of 1854, when he emigrated to Illinois and located in
Empire Township, McLean Co. The following spring, he, with his brother Samuel, rented land
which they worked in partnership together, until he purchased 160 acres of land in Sec. 35,
where he lived eight years, when, disposing of the above, he purchased his present place in
1864, where he has since lived. He now owns about 200 acres of land, upon which he has good
farm buildings, which he has accumulated by his own hard labor, energy and economy, in which
he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife, to whom he was united in marriage Dec. 17,
1848 ; her maiden name was Anna Kesler ; she was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, Jan. 7, 1827 ;
they had seven children by this union — Thomas, born Feb. 21, 1851, now practicing law at
Springfield, 111. ; Isabella, Dec. 18, 1852, now teaching school at Decatur; Sarah E., Nov. 14,
1854, now Mrs. N. Vance, DeWitt Co.; John A., Feb. 1, 18')7 ; Joseph, March 5, 1859; Eda
Alice, Sept. 9, 1862, and one which died in infancy ; of the above John A. and Joseph are now
attending the Wesleyan University at Bloomington. Mr. Sterling has filled the office of School
Director for several years, and is now School Trustee.
SAMUEL STERLING, farmer. Sec. 4, Town 21; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Pickaway Co.,
Ohio, Sept. 27, 1824 ; his father died when his family were quite young, after which he contin-
ued to live with his mother, working out what spare time he had until 18 years of age, when he
engaged as farm laborer until he emigrated to Illinois and located in Empire Township, McLean
Co., in the fall of 1854 ; he then, with his brother, engaged in farming until 1859 ; then farmed
alone for five years, after which he purchased forty acres, upon which he lived six years, when
he disposed of the same and purchased eighty acres of his present place in 1871, where he has
since continued to live. His marriage with Martha West was celebrated Sept. 18, 1860 ; she was
born in Harrison Co., Ohio, Dec. 1, 1832 ; they have four children now living by this union,
having lost five by death; the living are — John C, born .Lan. 22, 1863; Elizabeth, March 27,
1866; Ada B., Sept. 15, 1876, and James E., April 17, 1878. Mi-s. Sterling was the daugh-
ter of W. H. West, who emigrated from Harrison Co., Ohio, and located in Empire Township,
McLean Co., in 1855 ; Mr. and Mrs. West both died in McLean Co. in the fall of 1862.
JOHN TIPTON, farmer. Sec. 29; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Oct. 27,
1835, where he attended school until 11 years of age, when he emigrated to Illinois with his
parents and located in McLean Co.; near where Towanda now stands ; his father died some six
months after his arrival, after which he remained with his mother and managed the farm until
he attained his majority, when he rented land and engaged in farming for himself until 1870, when
he purchased 120 acres of land upon Sec. 29, Empire Township, which he exchanged for his
present place in 1878. His marriage with Nancy E. Rucker was celebrated July 4, 1871; she
was born in Madison Co., Ky., and died in McLean Co., Ill , July 4, 1873, leaving no children.
Mr. Tipton is a bi'other of Thomas F. Tipton, a prominent lawyer of Bloomington, more gen-
erally known as Judge Tipton, having held the office of Judge for eight years ; his sister, Mrs.
William S. Tuttle, now lives in Saybrook, McLean Co.
SILAS AVATTERS, retired farmer and merchant, Le Roy ; one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co. ; born in Stafford v^o., Va., Nov. 19, 1803. At 11 years of age, in 1814, he, with his
parents and brothers and sisters, crossed the Alleghany Mountains in a two-wheeled cart drawn
by one horse ; the parents have since passed away, but the children, of whom there were nine,
all are living, the youngest being 65 and the oldest 79 years of age. In 1830, the subject
of this sketch located in what is now Empire Township, McLean Co., where he has lived for a
period of nearly half a century; he first entered 180 acres of land, to which he afterward added
until he was in possession of 640 acres, a portion of which he still owns. He has always fol-
lowed farming and stock-raising, and for a period of ten years was also engaged in the mercan-
tile business in Le Roy and neighboring towns. He has always taken a deep interest in the
cause of religion and education, having been an active member of the M. E. Church since 1825,
and filled every office in the Church which is given to a layman ; he has had his full share of
township and school offices, and held the office of Associate Judge of McLean Co. during the
term of Judge McClum, in 1850-51. His marriage with Christiana Conaway was celebrated Feb.
12, 1824; she was born in Bourbon Co.. Ky., June 9, 1799 ; she died Oct. 25, 1866, leaving four
children, having lost two by death; the living are: Chalton D., born June 17, 1826; John T.,
born Aug. 22, 1827; America, born Nov. 9, 1828; Nancy, born Jan. 30, 1831. His marriage
with Mary Jane fBaddeley) Barr was celebrated Dec. 21, 1868 ; she was born in Manchester,
England, March 3, 1823 ; she emigrated with her parents in 1835.
EMPIRE TOWNSHIP. 895
CFIALTON D. WATTERS was born in Bourbon Co., Ky., June. 17, 1826 ; he settled with his
parents upon his present place in 1830, and is the oldest contiLuous resident upon any one place
in Empire Township, having lived upon his present place for nearly half a century. He has
always followed farming, and has in his home farm 2'Jl acres, situated one mile from Le Roy,
upon which he has good farm buildings. His marriage with Sarah C. Moore was celebrated Dec.
211, 1852 ; she was born in Virginia, Sept. 20, 1829 ; eight children were the fruit of this union,
of which six are now living — Silas, Miller C, John T., William, Christie Ann and Mattie May.
BRUCE WATT, farmer. Sec. 29 ; P. 0. Le Roy. The subject of this sketch was born in
De Witt Co., 111., June 19, 1855, where he attended the common school until ten years of age,
when he located with his father upon Sec. 29, Empire Township, McLpan Co.. where he lived
until the decease of his father, P. P. Watt, which occurred March 26, 1870. Mrs. Watt died in
Logan Co., 111., in October, 1853. The subject of this sketch lived in Le Roy one season after
the death of his father, and in the winter of 187G he purchased his present place, where he has
since lived. His nuptials with Carrie Pence were celebrated April 26, 1877 ; she was born in
McLean Co., 111.. Sept. 25, 1857; they have one child by this union — Sibyl, born Oct. 31, 1878.
MATTHEW D. WEBB, farmer. Sec. 33: P. 0. Le Roy; born in Union Co., Ohio, Nov. 23,
1845, where he lived upon his father's farm until 17 years of age, when he enlisted March 17,
1863, in the 96th 0. V. I.; he remained in camp at Columbus. Ohio, until April 1, when he was
sent to New Orleans, and was engaged in the Red River Expedition, where he was in many
engagements, among which was the battle of Sabine Cross Roads and Pleasant Hill ; he then
remained at Morganzia Bend a short time, after which he was engaged in the capture of Ft.
Gaines, Ft. Morgan, Ft. Blakely, and Spanish Port, when the city of Mobile surrendered to the
Union forces, where he remained a few months ; when he was forwarded to Galveston, Texas ;
then to Brownsville, where he was mustered out of service and received his discharge, in the
early part of the summer of 1866, at Columbus, Ohio, after serving in the Union army for a
period of over three years ; in September, 1866, he came to Illinois, on horseback, and located
at Le Roy, McLean Co., where he followed carpentering a short time, and in 1871, he located
upon his present place, where he has since lived, and where he has a farm of eighty-five acres,
two and one-half miles from Le Roy. His marriage with Nancy M. Rutledge, was celebrated
Nov. 24, 1870; they have two children now living, by this union — Malinda M., born June 4,
1873, and Laura B., April 26, 1877. Mrs. Rutledge is the daughter of James and Prudy Rut-
ledge, who were among the early settlers of McLean Co., and whose biography appears in this
work.
GEORGE YONTZ WEST, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Le Roy. The subject of this sketch
was born in Knox Co., Ohio, Sept. 21, 1847; his father, John C West, was born in Knox Co.,
Ohio, and followed carpentering and farming until 1851, when he emigrated to Illinois, and
located in Empire Township, McLean Co., and in 1869, he removed to Taylor Co., Iowa, where
he now lives. He was married in Ohio, to Susan Bonnett ; she was the daughter of John Ben-
nett, whose biography appears in this work; Mrs. West was born in Ohio, April 27, 1821; she
died a few years after removing to Illinois, and lies buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery, one mile
east of Le Roy ; at 20 years of age, George Y. West, made his home with James Bonnett, and
commenced dealing in stock, his first purchase being ten hogs; he has since enlarged his busi-
ness, buying, feeding and shipping cattle, horses and sheep to Chicago and the Eastern markets ;
he located upon his present place in April, 1878, where he has about 100 acres ot land, which
he purchased in 1874. His marriage with Hester I. Scott was celebrated March 21, 1878; she
was born in Clinton Co., Ind., March 1, 1853 ; she is the daughter of William E. Scott, now living
in Empire Township.
JAMES S. WILEY, farmer. Sec. 36; P. 0. Le Roy; a native of Empire Township, McLean
Co., 111.; born on the 5th day of Aug. 1839 ; his father, James Wiley, was born in County Tyrone,
Ireland, June 10, 1810; he emigrated from his native country to the West India Islands, in 1828,
where he was employed as book-keeper and overseer of a large plantation upon the Island of
Jamaica until 1835, when he emigrated to America, and to McLean Co., 111., and until 1845, fol-
lowed the mercantile trade at Le Roy and neighboring towns; he then engaged in farming, which
business he followed until his decease, which occurred on the 5th of June, 1860 ; he now rests
in the beautiful cemetery situated one mile east of Le Roy ; during his life he was largely identi-
fied with the interests of the township, was one of its most influential citizens and filled many
offices, among which was Justice of the Peace for sixteen years, and was the first Supervisor of
Empire Township, and held the office continuously until his decease. His widow now lives in
Le Roy ; she is a sister of our much respected and worthy citizen Silas Waters, and is one of a
family of nine children, who, with their parents, crossed the Alleghany Mountains in 1814, in a
two-wheel cart, drawn by one horse ; the children are all now living; the youngest now 65 and
the oldest 79. James S. Wiley lived with his father, attended school and followed farming until
17 years of age, since which time he has given his whole attention to farming; he removed upon
his present place, in February, 1869, where he owns 120 acres of land, under a high state of
cultivation. His marriage with Kate Williams was celebrated Jan. 19, 1869; she was born in
McLean Co., Sept. 10, 1843; they have two children— James B., born May 27, 1870, and Daisy
A., Dec. 20, 1872 ; Mrs. Wiley was a daughter of Aaron S. Williams; he was born in White Co.,
896 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES :
111., and was one of the early settlers of this county. He married Nancy Conaway, who emi-
grated with her parents from Kentucky, and located in what is now Empire Township, McLean
"Co., in 18'.0. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are now living in Normal.
THOMAS M. WHITAKER, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the early settlers of McLean
■Co.; born in Mason Co., Ky., March 10, 1807. His father, .James Whitaker, was born ia Mary-
land, near Havre de Grice, and emigrated to Kentucky when quite young ; here he followed
.farming, and worked at the trade of stone and brick m ison until iiis decease, which occurred in
Kentucky about the year 1840 ; he married, in Kentucky, Cordelia Field ; she was born in
Maryland, and died in Kentucky, in 1840. The subject of this sketch learned the trade of a
brick mason, which he followed, with farming, until 23 years of age, when he was united in
marriage with Matilda Barnett upon the 'Illh of February, 1830 ; she was born in Dayton, Ohio,
Nov. 11, 1811; she was the daughter of Moses and Catherine (Ellis) Barnett, who emigrated
from Kentucky and located in Empire Township, McLean Co., in the spring of 18ol ; Mr. Bar-
nett died in 1855; Mrs. Barnett died May 15, 18G5. Mr. Whitaker followed farming eight
^ears in Kentucky after his marriage, when he emigrated with his ftimily to Hlinois, and landed
in Le Roy Dec. 31, 1837: he located upon his present place in 1841, where he has lived for a
period of thirty-eight years; upon his locating here he had no capital, save one team, a strong
arm and willing hand ; he then purchased forty acres of land on twelve months' time ; he then
•put up a log house, in which he lived some fifteen years, when it gave place to his present pleas-
ant and convenient place. Mr. Whitaker has sutfered all the hardships and privations of frontier
life ; he now owns upward of 200 acres of land, which, aside from raising a large family, he has
accumulated, with the assistance of his amiable wife, by their hard labor, energy and industry.
Their children were ten in number — Charles A., born Nov. 3, 1832; Catherine. Sept. 10, 1834 ;
Mary Jaue, .July 3; 1836 ; Alvin, Jan. 29, 1841 ; George M., Feb. 16. 1843 ; John 0., May 10,
1845: Alfred and Albert (twins), June 26, 1848, and two deceased; Alvin served in the
Union army for upward of three years ; at the battle of Petersburg, he was color-bearer of the
39th Regt. ; was wounded and taken prisoner while still holding to the glorious old flag; after
laying in rebel prisons, he was paroled ; the wnr closed soon after, and he received liis dis-
charge. In politics, Mr. Whitaker has been a life-long Democrat, having cast his first vote for
Andrew Jacks n, and has worked hard for the success of the party ; he has never sought polit-
ical honor but has held some petty offices, among which was School Director in his district for
several years. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker have trod the path of life peacefully together for nearly
half a century, and should their lives be spared but a few short months, by the kindness of the
same Providence which has so long watched over and protected them, they will live to witness
the anniversary of their golden wedding.
JAMES W. WRIGHT, blacksmith, Le Roy; one of the early pioneers of Illinois; born in
Indiana, ^Nov. 5, 1827. He emigrated with his parents when 1 year old, and located in Vermilion
Co., near Danville, 111., in the fall of 1828; he was raised to heavy farm labor until 21 years of
age, when he met with an accident by a tree falling upon him, which broke his leg and caused
him to relinquish farming ; he then went to Danville, where he learned and worked at the
blacksmith trade for three years, and, in the winter of 1851, removed to Bloominglon, McLean
Co., where, after working one year, he came to Le Roy and associated with T. D. Gilmore, in the
blacksmith trade two years ; then one year with John Kline, under the firm name of Wright &
Kline; then two years with Robert Ingle, when Mr. Wright bought his partner's interest, and
continued three years alone ; he then admitted his old partner John Kline, which partnership con-
tinued two years, since which time Mr. Wright has continued business alone Of town and school
offices he has held his share, having been Town Trustee, School Trustee, one of the first Alder-
men, and was elected the second Mayor of the city of Le Koy, which office he held for two years.
His marriage with Martha F. Gilmore was celebrated Feb. 14, 1853 ; she was born in Warren Co.,
Ky., Nov. 21, 1834 ; nine children were the fruit of this union, four of whom are living, viz. :
Matilda, E., born Feb. 3, 1854, now Mrs. Townsend L.Smith; William, born June 27, 1858 ;
James W., born March 25, 1869; McLean, born March 22, 1877; the deceased are Thomas D.,
Stephen A. Douglas, Joseph Price, Cora Bell and Francis. Mrs. Wright was the daughter of
Thomas D. Gilmore, one of the early settlers of McLean Co., who emigrated from Kentucky, and
located in Empire Township, in 1836, where he now lives, at the age of 64 years. Her grand-
father lived to the ripe old age of 98. Mr. AVright's mother was one of nine children, all of
whom are now living, the youngest being 65 years, and the oldest being 79 jears of age. Silas
Waters is one of the number. The above family of nine children with their parents crossed the
Alleghany Mountains in a two-wheel cart, drawn by one horse, during the year 1814.
JOHN YORK, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 4; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Knox Co., Tenn.,
April 17, 1829; he removed with his parents to Monroe Co., Tnd., when quite young, and was
brought up on a farm here until 18 years of age, when he enlisted in the 4th Ind. V. I., to serve
during the war with Mexico, leaving home June 8, 1847, going down the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers to New Orleans, then by vessel to Brazos Santiago, Texas ; from there to Vera Cruz,
where he landed in October; he served in Mexico during the war : leaving Mexico in July, 1848,
he retured via New Orleans and Cairo, to Madison, Ind., where he received his discharge In
the spring of 1849, he emigrated West, and located in Empire Township, McLean Co , 111., where
CHENEY'S GROVE TOWNSHIP. 897
he first purchased 100 acres of land, upon which he removed in 1850, and to which he has since
added by purchase, until he now owns 280 acres upon his home farm, with good farm buildings,
his residence being erected in 1877 His marriage with Sarah F. Ingle was celebrated May 26,
1850; she was born in Tennessee, March 6, 1831. She was the daughter of Henry Ingle, and
sister of Chas. M. Ingle, both deceased, and whose biographies appear in this work. Mrs. York
died Jan. 11, 1878, leaving thirteen children, viz; Henry, Charles, Francis, Milton, Stephen,
Mary, McLellan, Peter, Robert and Eva, (twins), Irwin, David and Richard.
CHENEY'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.
G. W. BARTON, M. D., Saybrook ; was born in Bedford Co., Penn., May 11, 1838. In the
year 1859, he came to Bloomington, McLean Co., iind spent seven years in teaching school in
the neighborhood, and attending the Wesleyan University, of Bloomington. In 1862, he entered
the army and served as a private for three months; after his discharge, he again enlisted for
three years, and acted as Hospital Steward in the Marine Hospital at New Orleans until the close
of the war, upon which he entered the " Chicago Medical College" and graduated in the year
1869, and was appointed House Surgeon and Physician, Mercy Hospital, at Chicago. In 1870,
he came to Saybrook, where he has continued the practice of his profession, and has now quite
an extensive practice. He married Miss Olive Hinsdale, daughter of Morris Hinsdale, of Gen-
esee Co., N. Y., July 7, 1869 ; she was born in Genesee Co., July 21, 1840 ; they have two child,
ren— Olive L., born Jan. 28, 1874; Charles M., Aug. 17, 1875.
HON. W. II. CHENEY, deceased, whose portrait will be found in this work, was born Feb.
19, 1822, near Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and died in Cheney Grove, 111., Aug. 24, 1878- He was
the tenth child and fourth son of Jonathan and Catharine Cheney. In 1825, his parents came to
Illinois and settled in the grove which now bears their family name. At that time, their nearest
neighbors lived at Blooming Grove, twenty-five miles distant. As may be supposed, educational
facilities were rare. In this family Mary, the eldest daughter, instructed the younger chil-
dren, and afterward taught school iji tiie neighborhood. The subject of our sketch attended
school in the winter season until 19 years old, when he began his life business of farming
and siock-dealing. During his boyhood, his frequent playmates were little Indian boys, who
taught him to use the bow and arrow witli considerable dexterity. He was rather fond of
hunting, and, in his youth, killed a great many wild turkeys, deer and wolves. In the win-
ter of 1843, he shot ten head of deer. When not quite 21 years old, he married Miss Mary
Jane OrendorflF, aged 16. She was the daughter of William and Lavina (Sales) OrendorflF, and
was born and educated in Blooming Grove. This grove was named by her mother, and
when the town which is now the city of Bloomington was started, its name was tsiken from the
grove. She was a most affectionate wife and mother ; was entirely devoted to the interests and
welfare of her husband and children, and was universally loved and respected. Their children
were nine in number — Lavina, .Jay, Kate, Charlie, Emma, Willie, Harry, Mary Belle and Min-
nie Estelle ; six are now living— Lavina, wife of W. H. Beckwith, lives in Saybrook; Charlie,
who married Miss Lizzie Pugsley, resides near the homestead, which adjoins Saybrook. The
remaining four live in their childhood home. Jay died in infancy, Willie when not quite 3
years old, and Emma at the age of 22. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Cheney made himself
a home, where he all his life resided, on the southern edge of the grove, about a mile and a
half from the head of the Sangamon River. This stream runs through his farm, which is
composed of about a thousand acres. George Cheney's farm adjoins his, and for many years
the two brothers dealt in live-stock as partners. A remarkably close friendship existed between
them ; George's death was mourned most deeply by his brother. Mr. Cheney possessed a deeply
religious nature, and, although not a member of any religious denomination, yet he entertained
a profound respect for Christianity wherever he found it truly exemplified ; and particularly
after the loss of a portion of his family, did he turn his thoughts toward the life yet to come ; in
the beginning of his last illness he remarked, among other things, that he held the kindest of
feelings toward every person living. In politics, he was always Republican, and bore a promi-
nent part. In 1867, he was elected to the State Senate to succeed Hon. Isaac Funk. The grant-
ing of the charter for the La Fayette, Bloomington & Mississippi Railway Company was due
principally to Mr. Cheney's exertions. The road afterwards built by this company passes
through Saybrook, near his home. To him was accorded the honor of first "breaking ground"
at the commencement of the work. May '28, 1873, Mr. C. married Miss Caroline Brown,
daughter of Demas and Mary Brown, of Medina, Ohio. She is a most estimable lady, and highly
regarded by all who know her. Their children are three in number— George, Nellie and Wilbur
Haines ; they, with their mother and the unmarried brother and sisters, constitute one family.
Mr. Cheney's manners were cordial, yet accompanied by a dignified bearing that immediately
commanded respect. In character, he strongly resembled his mother, who was a person of rare
898 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
good sense and judgment, and whom he always treated with the kindest respect and reverence.
He was always a temperate man, and never used tobacco in any form. In his dealings he was a
man of whom it might well be said, " His word was as good as his bond." True to his friends,
and to his enemies also true, for they always knew where to find him. In public enterprise in
his vicinity he was ever the leading spirit. Possessed of restless, indomitable energy, his mind
was always at work devising improvements, both public and private, which he rarely failed to
carry through. The old adage, " Where there's a will there's a way," was unusually verified in
his case. He possessed the will and he made the way. Like many pioneers, he was noted for
open-handed hospitality. Scattered over the country there are scores of men who will recollect
his home as a welcome stopping-place in their travels, before the days of railroads in the West.
He was a very social man, and delighted to entertain his friends in his own home. Fond of music
and possessing an excellent voice, he spent many an evening singing, for the enjoyment of his
family. '• John Paulding," "Sinclair's Defeat" and other ballads of the olden time. Having,
from his childhood, practiced incessant industry, he had little pity for need caused by idleness,
but no deserving poor one ever left his presence unaided. His was an extremely sensitive, nervous
organism, and any hurt, either physical or mental, caused him intense suffering. He was a
most affectionate husband and fiither. The welfare and comfort of his family seemed to be his
greatest care and pride. His place in the hearts of his intimate friends cannot be filled. In
his death, the community where he had lived lost an active worker, and the world an honorable
man. His grave is in the fiimily lot in the new cemetery, and can be seen from his late resi-
dence.
R. J. CHENEY, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; is the youngest son of Jonathan Cheney, the fii'st
settler in this township, and was born on the homestead in this township Aug. 24, 1828. He lived
with his parents up to the age of 20, assisting them on the farm, when, having entered land on
Sec. 33, he improved it and lived upon it for two years, when, having sold it, he entered and
improved a farm in Belleflower Township, which he afterward sold, and, on Feb. 15, 1870,
moved to his present home, where he has since resided. He has held the office of Supervisor of
Belleflower Township one term. He married Miss M. E. Green, daughter of Thomas W. Green,
of Belleflower Township, Dec. 10, 1846. She died March 5, 1858. They had four children,
three living — Oscar, born Nov. 6, 1847; Alonzo, May 29, 1851 ; Lyman, July 8, 1853 ; and one
dead — Rebecca, born July 11, 1856, died Sept. 28, 1874. He married his second wife, Miss
Maria Rice, daughter of Henry Rice, of Empire Township, Oct. 10, 1858. Her parents were
among the early settlers of this county. They have three children — Margaret, born Dec. 17,
1859; Frank, Jan. 23, 1862; and Mary, Sept. 22, 1863.
EZEKIEL COILE, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was boi-n in Washington Co., E. Tenn., Nov.
13, 1834. In the year 1849, his parents moved to this county, and, the first two years, lived
upon the farm of E. Myers, and then entered and improved the farm on Sec. 16, where they
have ever since resided. His father died there Oct. 4, 1877. His mother still lives with her
son. His farm contains 160 acres. He has been Township Collector for one term. He married,
Sept. 17, 1861, Miss Helen Lewis, daughter of William D. and Nancy Lewis, of Cheney's Grove
Township, who came to this county in the year 1856, from Kentucky, and died here. Tiiey
have a family of seven children, all living — Mary, born March 27, 18(')4; Esther M., May 6,
1867; Sarah, May 22, 1869 ; Tacy J., Nov. 22, 1871 ; John H., May 25, 1875; Rosa W., Oct.
18. 1876 ; and Robert V., Nov. 1, 1878. Mrs. Coile was born July 12, 1843.
T. S. COLLINS, dry goods merchant; Saybrook; was born in Butler Co., Ohio, Feb.
28, 1886. Upon the death of his father, when he was but 5 years of age, he went to live among
his relatives until he was 16 years of age, when he went to Warren Co., Ind., and started in
life for himself, unaided, and first worked upon a farm during the summer, attending school
during the winter, and, at the age of 19, taught school. In 1858, he moved to Illinois and set-
tled in De Witt Co., teaching school, and from there went to Maroa, Mason Co., and clerked
until the fall of 1862, when he enlisted as a pi-ivate in Co D, 116th Regt. I. V. I., and was pro-
moted to First Lieutenant of same company, serving as such until the close of the war, in 1865.
Having returned to Maroa the same fall, engaged in mercantile business until the year 1873,
when, having started a branch store at Gibson, Ford Co., 111., took charge of it until 1876, when
he came to Saybrook and opened a large dry-goods store, and also formed a copartnership with
G. R. Means in the grocery, boot and shoe business. He married Miss Hattie Hedger, daugh-
ter of Thomas Hedger, of Maroa, May 24, 1866. They have five children — Willie, born Aug. 4,
1867; Bertie, Sept. 14, 1869; Minnie, Oct. 7, 1871 ; Olive, Sept. 14, 1874; and Grace, Sept.
20, 1877.
JOHN M. CRIGLER, dentist, Saybrook; was born in Rockingham Co., Va., Dec. 13, 1847.
In 1849, his parents moved to McLean Co., and settled in Dry Grove Township, six miles west of
Bloomington, being among the early settlers of tiiis county. They now reside near Stanford.
The subject of tiiis sketch, at the age of 18, started in life upon liis own resources, and his suc-
cess in his profession is due to his own energy and ability. He first went to Pekin College,
Pekin, 111., for one year, and in December, 1867, went to Bloomington and commenced the
study of dentistry with Dr. S. C. Wilson for one year, and on Sept. 14, 1868, came to Saybrook
and opened an office. In connection vvitli Mr. Hepburn, built the first brick business house,
CHENEY'S GROVE TOWNSHIP. 899
and also, in 1871, the brick block known as " Crigler's Block," and also has been engaged in
the real estate business — mostly in Kansas lands. He was a charter member of the "Central
lUinDis Dental Society," of Springfield ; has also been Town Trustee two terms, and President of
the Board one term. He married Miss Love E. Ballard, eldest daughter of Dr. J. L. Ballard,
Dec. 21, 1871. They have one child — Maud F., born Aug. 2, 1874. Dr. Crigler has a large
practice, and from September, 1868, to September, 1878, his practice amounted to $30,207.
THOMAS CUNNINGHAM, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook ; is the second son of Robert Cunning-
ham, and was born in Clarke Co., Ind., Nov. 18, 1818, and came with his parents to this town-
ship at the age of 11 ; he resided with them until he was 22 years of age, when he married Miss
Minerva A. Spence, Feb. 21, 1841 ; she was a daughter of .James and Susanna Spence, of Liv-
ingston Co., 111., being the first settlers of that county, having moved there in 1833. After his
marriage, he built a house on his father's farm, and lived there until the year 1846, when he
went to Livingston Co., purchased a farm, and, having sold it, returned in 1848 to his house in
this township ; and, having entered and improved his present farm, moved upon it in the spring
of 18-')1, where he, at present, resides. His wife was born Nov. 21, 1821 ; they had six children,
four living — Phoebe A., born Dec. 10, 1841, (who married Granville Michaels, they have one
child — Willie G., now living with his grandparents) ; James W., born Feb. 6, 1851 ; Harvey .J.,
born Nov. 26, 1855, and Lewis H. B., born .Tune 14, 1859; and two died — LucindaJ., born April
28, 1844, died Sept. 24, 1872, she married .John Armstrong, of Livingston Co., leaving one child,
born April 2, 1866, and is living with his grandparents ; and Ellen C., born Dec. 12, 1854, died
Sept. 13, 1855.
W. E. CUNNINGHAM, farmer ; P. 0. Saybrook ; is a son of Robert Cunningham, one of the
pioneers of this county, and was born in Clarke Co., Ind., May 11, 1828; when he was about a
year old, his parents came to Illinois and settled in the year 1829, in Cheney's Grove, in this
township, on Sec. 27; his father died here Sept. 28, 1858, and mother, April 6, 1859. The sub-
ject of this sketch remained with his parents up to his marriage with Miss Irene Cunning-
ham Nov. 6, 1849 ; she was a daughter of Joseph Cunningham, of Clarke Co., Ind. ; shortly after
his marriage, he entered the land, improved it, and has remained there ever since. His wife
was born Feb. 20, 1824 ; they had eight children, four living — Joseph C, born Sept. 17, 1850;
George T., born Oct. 26, 1851 ; Parker D., July 15, 1853, and Mary I-;., born Sept. 18, 1859 ; and
four died— Albert M., born July 19, 1855, died Nov. 12. 1865; David, born Jan. 4, 1858, and
died Jan. 11, 1858 ; Carrie L., born Feb. 18, 1862, died Sept. 80, 1863 ; and Naomi B., born Dec.
17, 1864, died Aug. 26, 1866.
ELIJAH ELLSWORTH, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook ; born in Clark Co., Ohio, l»ec. 15, 1815.
He lived, until he was 40 years of age. with his parents in that county. His mother died in the
year 1846, at the age of 84, and his father at the age of 90. In the year 1856, Mr. Ellsworth
came to Illinois, and settled in this county, at " Old Town Timber," in the " Frankberger house,"
living there for about eight months. In the year 1867, he purchased and improved the farm
upon which he now resides, containing 200 acres, unincumbered. He married Miss Ellen Pow-
ell, June 18, 1886, daughter of Stephen and Lydia Powell, of Clark Co., Ohio, who came from
Virginia at an early day. Her father died at Chillicofhe, Ohio, and her mother in Indiana,
Mrs. Ellsworth was born May 3. 1818 ; they had four children, three living — Walker, born Sept.
6, 1838 ; Hamilton, Aug. 8, 1842, and Duncan, Aug. 7, 1844, and one deceased — Charlotte, born
Sept. 7, 1840, died Sept. 7, 1876. His two sons, Hamilton and Duncan, enlisted in Co. B, 107th
regiment I. V. I., in our late civil war, and served until its close.
T W. GARRISON, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in Jefierson Co., 111., April 14, 1859.
His father died, Oct., 1851 ; his mother still lives in that county. The subject of this sketch
lived with his parents up to the age of 13, and, after the death of his father, worked upon a
farm in Marion Co., Ohio, for six months, then moved to .Johnson Co., Mo., and, returning from
there to Illinois, went from there to Iowa, and, in the fall of 1860, came to Bloomington, McLean
Co., where he enlisted in Co. C, 20th regiment I. V., and served for twenty-two months, and
was wounded at Fort Donelson, and at the battle of Britten's Lane, Tenn., Sept. 5, 18()2, and
was in hospital at .Jackson, Tenn. After his discharge, he vtent to .lefferson Co. for two years,
and, in the winter of 1864, came to McLean Co. and lived there until 1874, when he went to
California, farming, and also engaged in the grocery business at Markwest, and, in the year
1876, returned to McLean Co., and settled on Sec. 6, where he has since resided. He married
Miss Melinda J. Hawkins (daughter of Joseph and Amelia Hawkins, of Jefferson Co., 111.),
April 5, 1860; she was born in Jeiferson Co., 111., Aug. 23, 1844; they had eight children,
five living— Cora L., born Feb. 22, 1864; Birdie A., Aug. 30, 1866; Rosa B., Aug. 15, 1870;
Hattie E., Aug. 5, 1876, and Clyde D., Dec. 14, 1878, and three deceased — Ora R., born Aug. 14,
1868, died March 20, 1870; Amelia E., born July 13, 1874, died June 14, 1875, and an infant
unnamed.
HENRY GERLING, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in Buffalo, N. Y., May 27, 1857.
His father Henry was born in Mecklenberg, Swerin, Dec. 13, 1827, and his mother Nov. 22,
1825. When he was quite young, his parents removed to McLean Co., and settled two miles
southwest of Bloomington, where they now reside. Mr. Gerling lived with them until he was
21 years of age, when he purchased and moved upon a farm in that neighboi hood, and remained
900 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
there until the spring of 1879, when he purchased his present farm on Sec. 21 of this township.
He n.arried, Feb. 1, 1877, Miss Resa Alberts, daughter of Adam and Dora Alberts, of Blooming-
ton Township, in this county. Her father died, Feb. 15, 1863, and her mother married William
Finger, of Bloomington Township, her present husband, who was born Feb. Itj, 1814; she was
born in 1810. Mrs. Gerling was born May 30, 1858. They have one child — Herman, born
May 30, 1877.
P. R. GILMORE, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook ; was born in Warren Co., Ky., April 9, 1815;
when he was 18 years of age, he learned the trade of blacksmithing, working at it for three
years. In 183l5, he came to McLean Co. and settled in Old Town Timber, in tliis county, carry-
ing on his trade for two years, when he returned to Kentucky for four months ; he then returned
to McLean Co. and first settled in Cheney's Grove, having married at that time Miss Eveline
Owen (daughter of Samuel Owen, of Cheney's Grove Township), Jan. 10, 1839; four years after-
ward, lived on the firm of W. H. Cheney, farming and blacksmithing; from there he went to
north of Cheney's Grove for two years; then to the farm of S. Ball for two years; from there to
the village of Le Roy, blacksmithing for two years ; tnen to the Newland farm in Cheney's Grove,
and, in 1857, moved to where he at present resides; his wife died Oct. 9, 1873 ; she was born
June 25, 1815 ; they had twelve children, eight living — Mary F., born Oct 22, 1842; James T.,
May 22, 1844; Robert P., Feb. 4, 1847; Caroline M. (now Mrs. Samuel Reams, of Cheney's
Grove Township), Jan. 1, 1850; Catharine (now Mrs. David Vanschoick, of Cheney's Grove
Township), Sept. 28, 1851 ; Rhoda (now Mrs. William Johnson, of this township), March 28,
1854; America (now Mrs. James Perry, of Saybrook), Feb 12, 1859; Davidson, June 25, 1859;
four deceased — William H., born Nov. 16, 1839, died May 20, 1841 ; Eliza J. (married to Jacob
Lloyd), born Jan. 13, 1840, died Feb. 20, 1869; George F., born Jan. 6, 1846, died March 1,
1846 ; Samuel, born Jan. 29, 1856, died Feb. 92, 1858.
LEVI HELLER, carriage and wagon maker, Saybrook ; was born in Taylortown, Clark Co.,
Ohio, Oct. 3, 1847; when he was about 8 years of age, his parents moved to St. Louis, and, the
next spring, moved to Weston, Mo., for one year, and from there to Bloomington, remaining 4n
or near there for four years, and then moved to Benjaminville, 111., for two years ; then returned
to Sharpsburg, Mo., and, in 1862, came to Bloomington; Mr. Heller, at the age of 15, after the
death of his mother, started out to carve his own fortunes, working upon a farm for two years,
when he enlisted in Co. I, 145th I. V. I., and served six months ; upon his return, lie com-
menced learning the trade of wagon making at Canton, Fulton Co., 111., and then established
himself in business at Lancaster, Peoria Co., 111., for two years, and then in Glasford, in same
county, for over three years, and, in 1872, came to the village of Arrowsmith, McLean Co.,
remaining there up to 1878, carrying on the business of wagon making and blacksmithing, and,
in April, of the same year, came to Saybrook, and, at the expiration of eight months, formed the
present copartnership of Heller & Nelson. He married Miss Sophia Jones, of Lancaster, 111.,
Oct. 14, 1868 ; they had four children, two living — John L., born Aug. 11, 1874, and Nellie M.,
Jan. 12, 1877; two deceased — Edward A., died Aug. 3, 1873, and Mamie, July 27, 1873.
D. B. HEKEFORD, dealer in dry goods and groceries, Saybrook ; was born in Woodford Co.,
111., Sept. 15, 1851 ; at the age of 16, he was thrown upon his own resources, and, having gone
to Bloomington, in this county, worked for two years at the trade of carpenter, after which, he
studied law in the office of Gapen & Ewing for two years, and, being admitted to the bar in the
year 1878, commenced the practice of the law in Chenoa, of this county, and continued such for
eighteen months, and then came to Saybrook, and, having taught school for two winters, clerked
in the store of T. S. Collins for about one year ; having bought out the business of A. H.
Antrim, he opened his present store on the 18th day of February, 1879. He married Miss
Maggie Powell (daughter of E. N. Powell, of Secor, Woodford Co., 111.), Dec. 21, 1873; they
have one child — (ylarence E.. born Jan. 8, 1875.
AxMOS HIRE, farmer; P. O. Saybrook: was born in Fayette Co.. Ohio, .Ian. 23, 1813; his
father died in the year 1859, and his mother in 1832; he lived with them until he was 21 years
of age, and then started into the world to carve his own fortune, and worked upon a farm for a
year or two, and then learned the trade of a joiner and carpenter, and two years afterwards,
Aug. 16, 1837, married Miss Mary Jeffers (daughter of Isaac and Nancy JefFers, of Fayette Co.,
Ohio); her parents moved to Missouri, where her father died ; her mother then returned to Ohio,
and soon afterward came to live with Mr Hire. Mr. Hire, after his marriage, moved to Fay-
ette Co., Ohio, farming and working at his trade of joiner and carpenter up to March, 1875,
when he purchased his present farm on Sees. 19 and 30, of this township, where he now resides,
containing sixty acres; his wife was born April 22, 1817; they had twelve children — nine liv-
ing—Lewis B., born Sept. 6, 1838; Martha (now Mrs. Eli Wood, of Ohio), May 23, 1841 ; Sallie
M. (now Mrs. William .Mills, of Fayette Co., Ohio), May 29, 1843 ; Hiilda, June 24, 1848 ; Isaac
G., Sept. 2, 1850; Zida E., Oct. 22, 1852: Rameth T., Ausi;. 16, 1859; Samuel A., March 8,
1863; three died— .4mzi, born Feb. 10, 1840, and died July 29,1863; Harlan B., born Sept.
12, 1854, and died P'eb. 26, 1860, and an infant. His son Amzi enlisted in Co. G, 90th Ohio
V. I., in our late civil war, and died from disease contracted in the army.
THOMAS IH)LWAY, proprietor of Union House, Saybrook ; was born in Toronto, Upper
Canada, Sept. 24, 1825; at the age of 8, his parents moved to Jordan, Onondaga Co., N. Y.,
CHENEY'S GROVE TOWNSHIP. 901
where his father died Sept. 6. 1847, from injuries received hy being thrown from a wagon ; his
mother is still living in Onondaga Co., N. Y., at the good old age of 88. Mr. Holway married,
Oct. 8, 1848, Miss Emily Hunter, daughter of .John Hunter, of Onondaga Co., N. Y., and the
next year moved to this county and settled on Sec. 11, of this township, remaining five years,
when he moved to Saybrook and built the "Union House" — the first brick building in the vil-
lage ; the brick was made in the village, near where now is the depot of the L. B. & M. R. R. —
Mr. Holway working in making them ; he has ever since kept the hotel — -except one year — and
a good one it is in every respect; he has also been engaged in the brick business for the last
twelve years ; his wife was born in Albany, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1825, and died in Saybrook Jan. 28,
18(37; they had six children — three living — Martha M., Mary and Kittie ; three died — Katie,
Johnnie and Alabama
JOSEPH HORSMAN, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in Highland Co., Ohio, Aug. 1,
1836 ; in 18-38, he went to Fayette Co. and remained there up to the fall of 18(31, when he
enlisted in Co. G., 73d Regt. Ohio V. I., and served for thirteen months, and being discharged,
returned to b'ayette Co. and again enlisted in the 100 days' service in Co. D, 168th Regt. Ohio
V. I. ; he participated in the battles of Cedarville, Port Republic and Bull Lick Valley, Va. ;
after his return from the army, he lived upon his farm until the spring of 1865, when he came
to McLean Co. and settled on Sec. 30, where he has since resided. He married Miss Almirinda
Rowe (daughter of Willis Rowe, of Fayette Co., Ohio) March 26, 1857; she was born May 14,
1839; tliey had four children — three living — Clara F. (now Mrs. John Lewis), born April 30,
1859; Joseph H., June 23, 1862; Uriah 0., May 14, 1867. and one died in infancy. Mr.
Huseman's mother died June 19, 1875, and his father Nov. 29, 1875.
JAMES HUNTER, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in County Down, Ireland, March
17,1836; his parents died in Ireland ; the subject of this sketch came to the United States
when he was 22 years of age, and first settled in Livingston Co., Western New York, for six
years; from there he moved to Marion Co., 111., remaining there for two years, and in March,
4861, came to McLean Co., and first lived in Danvers Township, for fifteen years, and in April,
1874, came to this township, on Section 9 where he at present resides; he owns eighty acres.
He married Miss Jane Cowen March 19, 1867, daughter of William and Eliza Cowen, of County
Down, Ireland, who moved to McLean Co. in 1864, and settled in Danvers Township ; her
father died in 1805; her mother is still living ; Mrs. Hunter was born Feb. 22, 1842; they had
seven children, six living — Martha, born Aug. 6, 1869; William, born July 1, 1871; Emma,
born Jan. 19, 1873 ; Robert L., born Sept. 19, 1874 ; Eliza, born July 18, 1876, and John E.,
born July 3, 1878 ; and one died — Jesse M., born May 6, 1868, died Sept. 16, 1868.
UAVID HURLEY, lumber merchant, Saybrook; was born in De Witt Co., 111., Dec. 2,
1833 ; until he was 21 years of age, he assisted his parents upon the farm, and then, having
purchased a farm, worked it for seven years. In 1862, he enlisted in Company I, 107th Regt.
111. V. I., and served until the close of the war, after which, he returned to his farm, and, after
remaining seven years, in Dec, 1872, removed to Saybrook, and first followed teaming for two
years, then formed a copartnership with Leonard Reddick, in the lumber business — Reddick &
Hurley — and, three years after, bought out the interest of Mr. Reddick, and has continued the
business under his own name ; he also established a branch of his business at Belleflower, caa-
necting his son-in-law, Henry Plummer, with him, under the firm name of Plummer & Hurley.
He married Miss Lucinda Tackwell, of De Kalb Co., Tenn., March 20,1859; they had four
children, two living — Lavina A. and Harriet E. (now Mrs. Henry Plummer) ; two deceased —
Mary Ann and one infant.
CREED McDANIEL, druggist, Saybrook. The subject of this sketeh was born in Arrow-
smith Township, of this county, March 25, 1853 ; he lived with his parents, upon a farm, up to
the age of 21 ; in 1871, his father moved to Kansas, and settled at Emporia, and, in the fall,
returned to McLean Co. Mr. .McDaniel first learned the trade of carpenter, and followed it, off
and on, for three years, at the same time learning the drug business, and, in the year 1877, pur-
chased the drug store of R. S. Lackey, in Saybrook, which he continues to carry on. He mar-
ried Miss Maggie Jane Barnes (a daughter of A. G. Barnes, of Arrowsmith Township), Dec. 14,
1876.
J. A. MAGEE, meat market, Saybrook; was born in Union Co., Penu., Oct. 24, 1851 ; his
father, John T., was born in Union Co., Penn., April 15, 1827, and married Miss Mary A.
Sheckler, Oct. 24, 1850 ; she also was born in same county, Feb. 14, 1828 ; they moved to Mer-
cer Co., where his father died Oct. 6, 1863, and his mother Dec. G, 1863 ; after their death, the
subject of this sketch went to Union Co. and farmed for three years: he then went to Fulton
Co., 111., and lived with his grandfather; in 1873, he worked in a butcher-shop in Avon, of
same county. In 1874. he went to Kansas, remaining one year, and, returning again to EUis-
ville, Fulton Co., carried on a saw-mill for one year, and, in Dec, 1875, came to Saybrook and
opened a meat market in connection with his brother, W. A. McGee. He married Miss Lizzie
Anderson Sept. 20, 1876 ; her father, Thomas H., when quite an infant, moved with his parents, to
Peoria, 111., and at 16 years of age, went to Fulton Co., Ill, and was engaged as engineer of the
saw-mill of Thomas Maples for eight years, and, in 1869, came to McLean Co., and first settled
in Cropsey Township, farming, and, in 1871, came to Saybrook and worked as engineer in the
•
902 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
saw-mill of J. 'SI. Stansbury. He died March 20, 1871. His wife was !Miss Mary Conelly, of
Canton, Fulton Co., 111. Mr. McGee's family consists of onedaugliter — Clara M., born Sept. 2.j,
1878.
W. T. MASON, barber, Saybrook : was born in Greene Co., 111., March 25, 1858; his
parents moved to Mercer Co., 111., when he was 3 years of age, and still live there; when he
was 16 years of age, he learned the trade of a barber, in Oxford, Ind., and went to New Boston, 111.,
for two years, and from there to Morning Sun, Iowa, and, in tlie year 1877, came to Saybrook
and opened a, shop, which he now carries on. He married Miss Rhoda Green, daughter of Thomas
and Laura Green, of New Boston, Mercer Co., 111., Dec. 5, 1877. Mrs. Mason's parents are still
living.
J. R. MEANS, Justice of the Peace, Saybrook: was born in Lewis Co., Ky., March 22,
1825; his parents, in the year 1829. moved to Little Vermilion, Vermilion Co., Ill , and the
same winter hi^ father came to Cheney's Grove, and having built a cabin upon the north side of
it, returned the next spring to Vermilion Co. and brought his family out, arriving here in
March. 1830, being among the early settlers of this county. His father died upon the home-
stead Aug. 6, 1836, and his mother, March 1, 1875. The subject of this sketch lived with hia
mother up to the date of his marriage with Miss Nancy Stan-bury, May 7, 184-1, when he rented
a farm, remaining upon it three years, when having entered and purchased Congress lands in
Sec. 25, of this township, moved upon them and remained until the year 1863, when he came to
the village of Saybrook and purcha'<ed a mill, carrying it on for nine months ; having sold the
farm he originally entered, he purchased a farm on Sees. 21 and 16 and lived there until 1867 ;
in 1869, he returned to Saybrook, where he still resides ; he held the oflSce of Supervisor for the
years 1877-78, and has been .Justice of the Peace for fourteen years. His wife was born May 11,
1827, in Tennessee. They had six children, four living — Mary A., (now Mrs. John Pitts, of
Kentucky), Sarah M. (now Mrs. J. S. Barwick. of Logan Co.), Ulrich L., and John H.; two
deceased — Amos and James E.
G. ROBERT MEANS, dealer in groceries, boots, shoes, etc, Saybrook ; is the son of David
D. Means, one of the early settlers ot this county, and was born in this township Aug. 5, 1858 ;
he lived with his parents up to the age of 22, when he became employed in the store of T. S.
Collins, of Saybrook, as a clerk, remaining with him for one year, when he formed a copartner-
ship with J. W. Riggs in the general merchandise business, under the name of Riggs & Means,
and continued the same for two years, when, it being dissolved, he formed a copartnership with
T. S. Collins as Means & Collins, in the general mei'cbandise business, in which they are now
engaged. He married Miss Ilattie Ball, daughter of Hillary Ball (one of the old settlers of this
township), Oct. 3, 1878.
J. A. MYERS, dealer in grain and coal, Saybrook ; was born in Fayette Co., Penn., April
19, 1881 ; when he was quite young, his pai-ents moved to West Virginia, near the State line,
and at the age of 3 yeai-s moved to near Decatur, 111., where they resided for one year, and then
went to Marshall Co.; in the year 1855, they moved to Fairbauk, Buchanan Co., Iowa, where
they are now residing; bis father was born in the year 1800. and was married to Miss Sarah
Jane Beatty, of Belfiist, Ireland, who came to this country when she was 10 years of age, with
her parents, who settled in Fayette Co., Penn. Mr. Myers remained at home until he was 23
years of age, when he married his first wife, Margaret Bennington, daughter of Thomas Ben-
nington, of Marshall Co., Iowa, Jan. 5, 1854: her parents were early settlers of this State, her
father having participated in the Black Hawk war. and died in the ftill of 1856 ; her mother
still lives in Marshall Co. Mrs. Myers died Oct. 11, 1865; she had four children, three of
whom are living — Melissa M. (now Mrs. Robert S. McCune, of Saybrook), born March 11, 1855;
Mary E. (now Mrs. L. A. Clark, of Arrowsmith Township), December 18, 1856, and Harvey <\,
one deceased, Sarah J., born March 12. 1863, died March 24, 1865. Married his second wife,
Elizabeth A. McCullough, daughter of William :McCullough. of Eureka, Woodford Co., 111., an old
settler of that county, March 13, 1866: she was born in Jetterson Co., Va., and when 10 years
of age went with her jjarents to Woodford Co., 111.
JONATHAN NELSON, wagon and carriage maker, Saybrook ; was born in Ulster Co., N.
v., Aug. 23, 1844; his parents moved to Bloomington. when he was 4 years of age, being among
the early settlers of this county; the subject of this sketch lived with them up to the age of 19,
when our late civil war having broken out, he enlisted in Co. A, 94th regiment 1. V. 1., and
served three years. In connection with his enlistment, quite a mistake has been made, which
we wish to correct in this biography, and that is that he was entered and carried upon the
rolls of his company as John Nelson, instead of Jonathan Nelson, his right name, and therefore
the credit he deserves as having acted in defense and in perpetuation of the Union, is not given
him upon the National records. After his discharge from the army he returned to Bloomington,
and was engaged for three or four years manufacturinsc and selling pumps, and, in 1870, came
to Saybrook, working at his trade for three years, when he went to Pike's Peak, and remaining
one summer, returned to Bloomington, and after staying there two years, came to Saybrook, in
1875, and engaged in the business of wagon-making, and in ^'ovemher, 1878, formed a copart-
nership with Levi Heller, under the name of Heller & Nelson, in the wagon-making business.
He married Miss Sarah E. Nelson, of Bloomington, Oct. 16, 1867 ; they had five children, four
CHENEY'S GROVE TOWNSHIP. 903
living — John M., born April 3, 1871; Richard 0., May 6, 1872; Lillian C, June 7, 1875; Emma
J., Oct. 8, 1877; and one deceased, Charles H., Aug. 4, 1868, and died Feb. 7, 1870.
C. T. ORNER, M. D., Saybrook ; is a native of Reading, Pean., and was born on the 17th
day of September, 1846; he received his early education in the schools of that city, and while
attending the High School, our late civil war having broken out, he enlisted, being then but 18
years of age, in Co. M, 198th Regiment P. V. I., and at the end of two months was transferred
to the Medical Department as Hospital Steward, of tlie 1st Brigade, 1st Division of the 5th Army
Corps, and served from Sept. 17, 1864, until the surrender of Gen. Lee to their brigade, and
was breveted Assistant Surgeon, for services reudereil at Hatcher's Run; upon his return from
the army, he commenced the study of medicine with Prof. S. D. Gross, of Philadelphia, for two
years, and graduated at Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, March 9, 1867, and at once
commenced the practice of medicine, at Reading, Pa., and continued such until his marriage
with Miss Mattie E. Crothers (daughter of William L. Crothers, of Springfield, Ohio), which
occurred Aug. 3, 1868, when he went to Springfield and practiced his profession for one year,
when he returned to Reading, Penn., and remained until May, 1871, and then came to Saybrook,
where he has been practicing ever since. He has been President of the Central Illinois Medical
Society, and is now a member of the State Medical Society, of the McLean County Medic;il
Society, and corresponding member of the Clark t'ounty, Ohio, Medical Society, the Berks County,
Penn., Medical Society, Academy of Natural Sciences, of Reading, Penn., and Trustee of the
Bloomiugton Medical Society.
J. W. PUGSLEY, hardware merchant, Saybrook ; was born in Athens Co., Ohio, Feb. 8,
1828, when he was but 2 years of age, his parents moved to near the city of Columbus, and one
year after located near Mechanicsburg, Champaign Co., where his parents died. The subject of
this sketch, at the age of 23, started in life to carve his own fortunes with no resources but his
energy and determination, and first rented a farm and worked it until the fall of 1854 ; in
February, 1855, he came to McLean Co., and first settled in Empire Township, where he remained
until the spring of 1864, when he commenced farming for himself one mile west of Cheney's
Grove, continuing there until the fall of 1867, when he moved to the village of Saybrook, and
was first engaged in the stock business until April, 1876, when he opened his present hardware
store, the largest in that village. He was one of the first Commissioners of Highways after the
organization of the township. He married Miss Rachel Brittin (daughter of Nathan Brittin, of
Champaign Co , Ohio), Oct. 29, 1851 ; she was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, May 4, 1829 ; they
had four children, one living — Sarah E. (now Mrs. Charles C. Cheney) ; three died — Marseilles,
Owen D. and Alice B.
RANSOM PALMER, livery-stable, Saybrook; was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., April 15,
1840. He lived witli his mother until he was 20 yeai's of age, and after her death, went to Wis-
consin, and, in the year 1859, crossed the plains to California ; mining and prospecting for one
year, when he returned and stopped atGlenwood, Mills Co., Iowa, where he married Miss Fannie
Brtgg (daughter of Jonas Bragg, of same place), July 16, 18(51. In the spring of 1862, he
moved to Saybrook, and was first engaged in the mercantile business for three years, under the
firm of Palmer & Gallagher, when, having sold out, engaged in the milling business for himself,
for two years ; he then opened the present livery-stable, with his brother Charles ; has held the
office of Assessor, two years, and is at the present time Deputy Sheriff of the county ; he is also
engaged in the real estate business, renting and selling lands. His family consists of two boys —
Luther, born Jan. 24, 1865, and Earl, Dec. 16, 1877.
CHARLES PALMER, livery-stable keeper, Saybrook; was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y.,
Dec. 25, 1840. When he was 5 years of age, his parents moved to Dodge Co., Wis., living there
two and one-half years, where his father and two brothers died. Mr. Palmer remained at home
until he was 15 years of age, and then worked upon a farm until the year 1857, when he went
to Wisconsin, and in February, 1862, enlisted in Co. H, 2d Regt. Wisconsin Volunteers, and
served three years. After his discharge, he came to Saybrook and engaged in farming up to
1877, when he opened the present livery stable with his brother Ransom. He married Mary E.
Ball, daughter of Snowden Ball, of Cheney Grove Township, Dec. 25, 1866. They have two
children — Cora A., born Jan. 5, 1869 ; and Richard A., March 28, 1876.
JOSEPH RANNEBARGER, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in Franklin Co., Ohio,
Feb. 27, 1844. His parents were born in Frederick Co., Md., and moved to Ohio in 1829. His
father, Stephen T., was born Aug. 7, 1802, and married Miss Susanna Michael in November,
1823; she was born July 20, 1801. When Mr. R. was 7 years of age, his parents moved to
Illinois, and settled in Cumberland Co., living there until 1858, when they went to Sangamon
Co., where his mother died in the year 1865. After her death, his father moved to De Witt Co.,
111., and from there went to live with a son in Macon Co., where he died Oct. 11, 1877. In the
same year, Mr. Rannebarger moved from De Witt Co. to McLean Co. and purchased the farm
on Sec. 14, where he now resides. He enlisted in Co. B, 10th Regt. 111. Cav., and served two
years and four months in our late civil war. He married Oct 30, 1870, Miss Sarah Ann Conn,
daughter of David Conn, of De Witt Co., 111. Her father lives in Nebraska. Her mother died
when she was three years of age. Mrs. Rannebarger was born Aug. 19, 1851. They have three
children — Perry, born Aug. 27, 1872; Rosetta, Aug. 17, 1874; and Nora L., Aug. 11, 1876.
904 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
H. R. RAYBl'RN, retired farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in Mason Co., W. Va., Jan. 26,
ISIT). In tlie fall of 1883, he left home and went to Ross Co.. Ohio, and lived with his uncle,
David Corbitt, until the fall of 1835, and then went to Madison Co., and, in the fall of 1836,
returned to Virginia and was engaged in the blacksniithing business, having a shop on his
father's firm during that winter, and, the following spring, went to Point Pleasant and worked
in the blacksmith-shop of William Dashner, and on Aug. 13, 1837, having married Miss Mary
White, daughter of James White, of Pennsylvania, moved to Madison ('o., Ohio, and farmed
until the fall of 1852. when he came to McLean Co , and settled six miles southeast of Blooming-
ton, on the farm of William Bishop, remaining there five years, and, having purchased a farm
in Arrowsmith Township, of this county, moved there in the spring of 1858, and, on Dec. 10,
1873, came from there to Saybrook. He has been School Director and Trustee in Arrow-niith
Township, and also was a member of the Town Council of Saybrook for one year. His wife was
born Sept. 15, 1815, in Allegheny Co., Penn. They had ten children, eight living, four boys and
four girls— Granville W., born May 8, 1838; Cooper M. C, Feb. 7, 1845; Calvin H., Oct. 8,
1846; John R , Oct. 14, 1850; four girls— Mary J. (now Mrs. Moses Durand, of Pike Co., 111.),
born Aug. 22, 1840; Martha A. (now Mrs. Cyrus Hartpence, of Caldwell Co., Mo.), Nov. 12,
1841 ; Isabella (now Mrs. James H. Wright, of Pike Co., 111.), Aug. 23, 1848; and Margaret E.
(now iNIrs. Eldon T. Brigham, of Iroquois Co.), Aug. 10, 1854.
LEONARD REDDICK, grain dealer, Saybrook; was born in Muskingum Co., Ohio, June
19, 1822. His father died upon the homestead where he had resided over forty-five years. The
subject of this sketch remained at home until he was 21 years of age, farming, when he served
an apprenticeship of two years at the trade of carpentering, in Uniontown, and worked in that
neighborhood until he was 29 years old, and then moved to Hamilton Co., Ind., and continued
his trade there until 1865, when he came to within six miles southeast of Bloomington, remain-
ing there until the next winter, when he came to Saybrook and worked at his trade ot carpen-
ter up to the spring of 1874, when he formed a copartnership with David Hurley, as the firm of
Reddick & Hurley, in the lumber business, and in the spring of 1877, having soLl out his
interest, has been engaged ever since in buying and selling grain. Married his tirst wife, Miss
Sarah Moore, of Muskingum Co., Ohio, Jan. 13, 1840; she died April 12, 1852; they had two
childien, one living — Harriet J. (now Mrs. Zachariah'Sparks, of Missouri), and one deceased —
Mary C. Married his second wife, Miss Rebecca Galaway, of Hamilton Co., Ind., Dec. 31, 1853 ;
they had seven children, four living — Sanford B., Alvira, Fremont and Joseph G. ; three died in
infancy.
G. W. RIGGS, farmer ; P. 0. Saybrook ; is the son of William M. Riggs, one of the pioneers
of this county, who settled in this township, north of Cheney's Grove, in the year 1830, and
was born in Fleming Co., Ky., Dec. 11, 1827 ; so he was only three years of age when his
parents moved to this township. The subject of this sketch lived with his parents until he was
22 years of age, assisting upon the farm; in 1849, he entered and improved the farm on Sec. 7,
upon which he at present resides. He at present holds the office of School Trustee, and has for
some years. He married Oct. 11, 1849, Jliss Minerva W. Lewis, daughter of William D. and
Nancy Lewis, of Fleming Co., Ky., who moved into this township in the year 1856 ; her mother
died Dec. 21, 1866, her father, October, 1871. Mrs. Riggs was born in Fleming Co., Ky., Dec.
27, 1827 ; they had a family of eleven children, idne of whom are still living — Olive J. (now
Mrs. James McKinney, of Indiana, now living in Cheney's Grove Township), born Sept. 11. 1350;
Nancy H. (now Mrs. William H. Vasel, of Kansas), Dec. 11, 1851; John W., Jan. 26, 1855;
Melrie L., Dec. 17, 1856; Charles B., July 29, 1859; Martin L., Nov. 13, 1861 ; Mary L , Nov.
6, 1863; Eva M., May 24, 1868. and Rosa B., July 24, 1870, and two deceased— William A,,
born Sept. 21, 1853, died June 27, 1855; Ella K., born Jan. 18, 1866, died Nov. 27, 1866.
H. A. ROWE, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in Fayette Co., Ohio, Dec. 22, 1830. He
lived at home until the age of 24, when he married Miss Mary J. Ferguson, Aug. 31, 1854 ; she
was the daughter of William Ferguson, of Maine, a traveling minister of the United Brethren
Church, who moved, first to Maryland, and from there to Pennsylvania, and married Miss Cathe-
rine Campbell, of Cumberland Co., Penn., and afterward moved to Ohio, and in 1865, came to
Saybrook. in this township, where they still reside, both being in their 76th year. Mr. Rowe,
after his marriage, remained in Fayette Co. for ten years, farming. In 1864, he enlisted in Co.
K, 168th Regt. Ohio V. I., under ('apt. E. E. Rltter, and served five months ; five days after his
return to Fayette Co., he moved his family to McLean Co. His wife was born Aug. 2, 1833, in
Cumberland ("o , Penn. ; they had five children, four living — Etta B (now Mrs. H. C. Myers, of
Cheney Grove Township), born Aug. 22, 18')7 ; William II., Feb. 25, 18(50; Jennie M., Aug. 25,
1867 ; Nellie, Feb. 22, 1875, and one died— Orrin H., born Aug. 12, 1855, and died Oct. 25, 1865.
They are hoth members of the Methodist t-hurch.
(JLlVEll C. SABIN, attorney at law, Saybrook; was born in Knox Co, (Jhio, May 19,
1840 ; his father, Daniel Sabin, was born in Virginia in the year 1809, and married Miss Rhoda
Williams (daughter of Ahram and Sarah Williams, of Washington Co,, Penn.); in 1851, they
moved to McLean Co. and first settled in White Oak (Jrove, since known as Oak Grove Township,
and, in 1865, came to Anchor Township, where tliey now reside. The subject of this sketch, at
the age of 16, started in life for himself unaided, having to earn the means by which he received
CHENEY'S GROVE TOWNSHIP, 905
his education; he first attended Eureka College, Woodford Co., HI., and, afterward, the State
Normal University at Blooniington, remaining there over two years. While attending college,
our late civil war having broken out, he went into tlie army in the capacity of Secretary to
Col. L. F. Ross, and, upon his promotion to Brigadier General, acted as his Aid-de-Camp, and
also as Southern Agent of the Chicago Trlhune, and, afterward, correspondent of the St. Louis
Democrat, and subsequently became one of the editors and proprietors of the Memphis Appeal. \-a,
1863, he returned to McLean Co. and studied law in the office of Robert E. Williams, in Bloom^
ington, and was admitted to practice in Vlarch. 1864. On .Jan. 4, 1864, having married Miss
Mary C. Bent (daughter of William E. Bent, of Elgin, 111.), he practiced law in that city in con-"
nection with Judge Sylvanus Wilcox. Having moved to Sedalia, Mo., he was elected Prosecuting
Attorney of Pettis Co., but, owing to the ill-health of his family, returned to Elgin, 111., and, in
the year 1871, came to Saybrook, where he has since been practising his profession. His family
consists of three children — Rhoda, born Sept. 5, 1870; William B.. Aug. 20, 1872, and Oliver
C, July 31, 1874. He owns 500 acres of land in this county, valued at $15,000.
W. H. SCHUREMAN, banker, Saybrook; was born in Green Valley, Tazewell Co., 111.,
Sept. 11, 1853 ; when he was 17 years of age, he became engaged in the mercantile business with his
father, Samuel Schureman, under the firm of Schureman & Son, in Green Valley, Tazewell Co.,
111., and continued the same for seven years, and, in the year 1877, commenced the banking
business in the same place, known as the " Farmers' Bank," in connection with his father, Samuel
Schureman, and his uncle, Jonathan Schureman, and continued it up to his removal to Say-
brook, where he has since been engaged in the banking business as successor to W. H. Riggs dfc
Bro., under the name of W. H. Schureman & Co., composed of his father, Samuel Schureman,
Jonathan Schurfman and himself, representing a capital of $75,000, all in real estate.
OLIVER SPRINGSTEAD, Superintendent of Public Schools, Saybrook; was born \i\
Albany Co., N. Y., Nov. 14, 1823 ; he remained with his parents up to the age of 21, attending
school, and, in the year 1848, entered Union (College, Schenectady, and graduated in 1852,
and from there entered the Theological School at Concord, graduating from that institution in
the year 1854; six months before his graduation, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics
in Warnersville Seminary, New York, and, after holding that position one year, came, in 1855,
to Illinois, and, the first summer, held the position of financial agent for the Northwestern Uni-
versity, at Evanston, and also assisted in selling scholarships to complete the building of the
Rock River Seminary ; in the spring of 1856, was appointed Superintendent of Public Schools
in Peru, 111., serving four years, when he became the Principal of Lee Center Academy ;
having returned to La Salle, he was appointed Principal of Public Schools for three years; in the
spring of 1867, came to McLean Co. and engaged in the manufacture of cheese for three years;
after which, he came to Saybrook in charge of the public schools for two years, and then engage(i
in lumber business and farming until 1878, since which time, he has been again Principal of the
Public Schools. Married Miss Eliza Bennett, of Penn Yan, N. Y., July 28, 1857; she died Jan,
12, 1863 ; he then married Miss Mary Carter Dec. 25, 1867; they have two children — Jeremiah,
born Feb. 4, 1876, and Eva L., in July, 1878.
W. K. STANSBERRY, Postmaster, Saybrook; was born in Washington Co., E. Tenn., Aug,
29, 1820 ; his parents came to this township in the year 1833, and were among the early settlers
of this county ; his mother died here in the year 1856, and his father in 1864. Mr. Stansberry
lived with his parents until he was 24 years of age. On Jan. 8, 1846, he married Miss Sarah
Jane Yazel, daughter of David Y'azel, of Ohio, and soon afterward, having purchased a farm one
and one-half miles north of Le Roy, in this county, lived upon it four years ; having sold it, he
moved to the village of Le Roy and was engaged in the house-carpentering business for ten
years ; selling his property in 1858, he moved to Saybrook and worked at carpentering up to
1864, when he purchased a saw-mill, and carried it on until 1869, since which time he has held
the office of Postmaster ; he has also been As-iessor five years, and a member of the Town Coun-
cil ever since the organization of the township, except one year, and has been President of the
Board for two years ; also School Director for sixteen years. His wife was born Dec. 31, 1826 ;
they have five children, three girls and two boys— Harriet E. (now Mrs. Jonathan Hyer, of Lex-
ington. 111.), Olive J. (now Mrs. D. H. Simmons, of Ohio), David E., Cora B. (now Mrs. C. 0,
Smith, of Champaign Co., 111.) and Milton.
W. A. STEWART, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook; was born in Knox Co., Ohio, .June 12, 1832;
in the year 1852, his parents moved to Fulton Co., 111.; his father died there Oct. 3, 1872; his
mother still lives in McDonough Co., 111. Mr. Stewart came with his parents to Illinois, and
remained with them for four years, when he married Miss INIatilda Hiett Dec. 25, 1855 ; she was
a daugh er of Jesse and Sarah Hielt, who settled in this township in 1830, being among the
pioneers of this county ; her father died Sept. 2, 1839, and her mother Sept. 20, 1852. After
their marriage, Mr. Stewart lived in Fulton Co., Ohio, for four years, then one year in McDon-
ough Co., aLd, in the year 1861, came t© McLean Co. and settled in Dale Township, eight miles
west of Blooniington, and, in 1870, moved to Cheney Grove Township and settled on Sec. 12,
where he at present resides. He holds the office of Supervisor. His wife was born Dec. 30,
1835, in what is now known as Danvers Township, in this cuunty ; they had six children, four
living — Clara, born Dec. 29, 1858; Orrie, Feb. 9, 1866; Frank, Nov. 17. 1867, and Helen, July
906 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
15, 1871 ; and two deceased — Florence, born Sept. 29, 1857, died Nov. 28, 1857, and William H.,
born Aug. 8, 186-2, died May 29, 1870.
JAMES THOMPSON, farmer; P. 0. Saybrook ; was born in Summit Co., Ohio, Jan. 2,
184U : in the spring of 1857, he and his brothers came to Tazewell Co., 111., and remained until
the winter, when they returned to Summit Co., and the next spring came to McLean Co., their
parents following in the fall, and settled together on Sec. 27, on what is known as the Robert
Cunningham farm, where they have since resided. His parents died there, his father Oct. 13,
1865, and his mother May 2, 1876. The subject of this sketch enlisted in Co. L, -Ith I. Y. C,
and served for three years, having participated in the siege of Ft. Henry and battles of Ft. Don-
elson and t'hiloh ; in the advance on Vicksburg, he was by the side of Col. McCuUough when he
was killed : in battle near Cotfeeville, and was taken prisoner, but remained so only for a few
minutes, having escaped during the excitement : after his discharge, he returned to the farm.
Has held the office of Collector for three years. He married Miss Charlotte Oliver Jan. 2, 1861,
in Tazewell Co., a daughter of Richard Cliver, of Tremont, Tazewell Co., 111., one of the" early
settlers of that county, having settled there in 1837 ; she was born Feb. 23. 1843 ; they have six
children, all living — James R., born Jan. 18, 1862; Albert B., Sept. 5, 1865; Lucy C, March
23, 1867; Elizabeth C, Dec. 7, 1868; John R. W., Sept. 19, 1870, and Harry G., April 27,
1872. Mrs. Thompson's mother died Jan. 16, 1855 ; her father is still living.
ADAM VENCILL, grain dealer, Saybrook; was born in Tazewell Co., Va., Dec. 20, 1826 ;
when he was 4 years of age, his parents moved to Decatur Co., Ind., remaining there two
years, and afterward to Clinton Co , where his father died in 1833. His mother married again,
and, in 1841, went to Tippecanoe Co., Ind., whei-e she now resides. The subject of this sketch,
at the age of 20, started in life for himself, working upon a farm until the age of 25; then rented
a farm for four years, and, having purchased a farm of 160 acres, farmed it for twelve years;
having leased his farm in the year 1863, he went to La Fayette and engaged in the gi-ocery busi-
ness for four years, and having sold out engaged in the grain business in La Fayette for two years ;
and then went to White Co., Ind., and purchased a warehouse, and built a fiouring-mill in con-
nection with it, which he carried on for six years ; having sold it, he went to Indianapolis,
engaged in grocery business, then returned to La Fayette; for one year engaged ingrain business,
and, in spring of 1876, came to Saybrook, and has been engaged in grain business up to the
present. He married Miss Mahala Potter, of Tippecanoe Co., Ind., Jan. 22, 1856; she died in
spring of 1857. He married his second wife. Miss Eliza T. Frazier, April 3, 1859. He had one
child by first wife — Laura I., who died in August, 1870 ; and six children by present wife,
four living — Edgar A., Hattie E., Henry A. and Clara E. ; two died — Charles M. and John W. T.
H. A. WINTER, M. D., Saybrook ; was born in Niles, Cayuga Co., N. Y., Nov. 9, 1843 ; his
father dying when he was an infant, he resided until he was 9 years of age with his grandfather,
and afterward with his uncle at Kelloggsville, N. Y., where he attended school for five years, and
afterward Cortland County Academy, in Homer, N. Y., and also the High School, in Berlin
City, Wis. At the breaking out of our late civil war, he enlisted at the age of 18, as a private
In Company " B," 11th Wisconsin Volunteers; and, after serving one year, was discharged on
account of disability following typhoid fever ; he, however, again enlisted in Co. B, 72nd Regi-
ment Indiana Volunteers, of Wilder's Brigade of Mounted Infantry, and served until close of
the war, and helped bring into camp JeS'erson Davis, President of ex-Confederate States, and
was in active service during Gen. Sherman's campaign. After his discharge, Mr. Winter studied
medicine in the office of Dr. F. M. Hiett, of Williamsport, Ind., and came with him to Saybrook,
and continued his studies there up to 1866; and, in the years 1867-68, attended a course of
lectures at Rush Medical College ; he then returnetl to Saybrook and continued the study of
medicine with Dr. Hiett, and also taught school during the winter for five years ; in 1871, he
commenced the regular practice of his profession, and carried on a drug store under the firm of
Roberts & Winter; having sold out in the fall of 1872, he returned to Rush Medical College,
graduating Feb. 19, 1873, and has since that time been in active practice in Saybrook. He mar-
ried Miss Delia Atkinson (daugiiter of Rev. William Atkinson, of New Brunswick), Sept. 25,
1867 ; they have one child— William A., born July 9, 1868.
GRIDLEY TOWNSHIP.
W. M. ALSPAUGH, farmer ; P. 0. Lexington ; was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, in the year
1850, and when about 4 years idd, his father, Reuben Alspaugh, removed to a place near Cedar
Rapids, Linn Co., Iowa ; in 1868, Mr. Alspaugh, Sr., removed from Iowa to Normal, 111., and
bought a farm ; for one year he assisted his father on the farm, and then taught school, in the
neighborhood of Normal, for three years. In the year 1876, the subject of this sketch married
and settled down to farming on the homestead of his father-in law, Mr. John Gregory, of Grid-
ley Township, one of the largest land-hjlders of that township; in 1878, Mr. Alspaugh removed
to and settled upon 200 acres of land on Section 34, Gridley Township, where he now lives and
G RIDLEY TOWNSHIP. 909
has one of the finest residences in the township; his land is all under cultivation and is valued
at about $35 per acre ; he is young, wide awake and intelligent, and is well posted upon all sub-
jects concerning his county and township, and works his farm upon scientific principles, com-
bined with industry and forethought. He was married in 187(i to AHss Sabra Gregory, daughter
of John Gregory, formerly of Gridley, now of Normal, who was boi-n in Gridley Township in
i8-57 : Effie is their only child.
W.- H. BOIES, of the firm of Boies & Breese, dealers in grain and stock, Gridley ; was
born in Livingston Co., N. Y., Jan. 22, 1833 ; at the age of 18, he became a clerk in a store in
Moscow, where he remained until 18-56 ; he then came West and located in El Paso, 111., when
that place contained but five houses ; in the spring of 1857, he engaged in the lumber business,
and, shortly afterward, in the grain and grocery trade; he was then in moderate circumstances,
yet,' during his residence of five years in El Paso, he took a leading part in all the enterprises
of the town ; he was a member of the Town Council, and helped to form the first charter. In
January, 1862, he went to Watseka as agent of the T., P. & W. R. R., but, the same year, removed
to Gridley and began dealing in givain, Mr. Breese becoming a member of the firm in 1869 ; they
dealt, also, in agricultural implements until 1877; since Mr. Breese joined him they have been
dealing largely in stock ; they have UOO acres of land in this vicinity, and are engaged exten-
sively in farming and stock-raising, having from 150 to 200 -head of cattle, and usually about
200 hogs. Mr. Boies was station agent here for thirteen years. In 1867, he built the elevator
known as the Boies & Breese Elevator, having a capacity of 25,000 bushels of grain ; he is an
energetic business man and public-spirited citizen, at the same time genial in manner and pos-
sessing social qualities of the highest order. He was married Nov. 18, 1867, to Miss Mary A.
Taylor, of Perry, N. Y., and has four children — George V., Nettie W., Charles C. and Willie H.
Mr. Boies has been a member of the Village Council a number of years.
RICHARD BREESE, dealer in grain and stock (firm of Boies & Breese,) Gridley; is a
native of Cambridgeshire, England, and was born Aug. 24, 1822. He was raised to agricultural
pursuits, and followed farming in England to 1852, when, on the 11th of October, he started for
the United States. He settled near Oxford, Butler Co., Ohio, where he lived until 1857 ; he
then came to Illinois and purchased a farm in Livingston Co. He continued farming with good
success until 1869, when he removed to Gridley and engaged wi:,h W. H. Boies in the grain,
stock and agricultural implement business. While in Livingston Co. he served as. Trustee three
years, and three years as Commissioner of Highways. He was one of the Trustees of Gridley
from 1876 to 1879, and also School Director three years. Mr. Breese is one of the most substan-
tial citizens of Gridley ; has been successful in business, and owns, with Mr. Boies, 900 acres of
land lying in Livingston and McLean Counties. He was married at the age of 22 to Mis-; Mary
A. Miller, of Cambridgeshire, England ; she, however, lived but about three years, and, at her
death, lelt two children, one of whom is living — Eliza, now Mrs. C. H. Neuhauser, of Gridley.
Mr. Breese was married again, in January, 18 jl, to Mrs. Sarah Richardson, of Huntingdonshire,
England.
F. D. CALLSEN, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public and general collection agent, Gridley ;
was born in Haltsee, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, June 28, 1838. He was intended for the
military service, and educated accordingly. When the revolution in Schleswig-Holstein collapsed
and that country failed to secure its independence from Denmark, Mr. Callsen, not wishing to
serve in the Danish army, left the service, and was employed in a store in Altona until 1855,
when he came to this country. The first six months he clerked in a drug store in New York
City, after which he went to Canada and obtained a situation in a general store. In 1858, he
came to Illinois, and, with H. E. Sieberns, carried on business in Farnisville, until the war broke
out. He then enlisted in the 17th I. V. I., and was made Second Lieutenant of Co. 6. He took
part in the battles of Ft. Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, luka, Bolivar, the campaign in Northern Miss-
issippi, battles of Port Gibson, Bayou Pierre, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, Big Black and
the siege of Vicksburg. After the battle of Pittsburg Landing he was promoted to First Lieu-
tenant and transferred to the U. S. Signal Corps, and after the fall of Vicksburg was made an
officer on the staff of Gen. Leonard F. Ross, and later of Gen. John D. Stevenson, of Missouri.
Returning from the war, he engaged in mercantile business in Gridley, the firm being Sieberns
& Callsen. In 1865, he opened up a new farm i\\ the vicinity, and farmed until 1872. when he
and Mr. Sieberns started in the grain and coal business and continued that until 1878, since which
time he has been in his present business. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1877, has
served three years in succession as Supervisor, and two years as Treasurer of the township,
besides holding various other town offices. He was married in December, 1863, to Miss Julia
Niergarth, of Woodford Co., and has one child — Caroline E. Mr. Callsen came to this country
with nothing, has been successful, and now owns a good farm of 160 acres, besides a good dwell-
ing and other property in Gi'idley.
GEORGE A. FRANK, dealer in general merchandise, Gridley; the above-named gentleman
was born in Juniata Co., Penn., of German parentage, Feb. 12, 1840: in 1845, his parents
removed to Illinois, settling in Peoria Co., where they still reside; he left home in 1859, going
to Warren Co., where he engaged in farming ; in the spring of 1864, he returned to Peoria Co.,
and there resided until the fall of 1866 ; he then removed to Livingston Co., just across the line
00
910 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
from Gridley, and followed farming there until 1874, when he came to Gridley and engaged in
his present business. He is at present a member of the Board of Trustees, this being his second
term ; he has also served for the past two years as Township School Trustee. Mr. Frank was
married Aug. 28, 1859, to Miss Laura Halcomb, of Peoria Co., 111.; they have six children —
Laura R., wife of Fredei-ick Blumenshine, of Gridley; Alfred A., Meta G., Cora M., Maud and
Pearl.
JAMES A. GILBERT, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 3 ; P. 0. El Paso, Woodford Co.; was born in
Manchester, Dearborn Co., Ind., April 1, 1839; a few years later, his parents removed West to
Oquawka, Iowa, but shortly afterward returned and settled at Rochester, Peoria Co., 111.; there
they lived about five years and then removed to Brimfield, where his father still resides. In
March, 1865, Mr. Gilbert entered the Union army as a Corporal in Company K, 47th I. V. I.,
and served till after the close of the war. In 1868. he removed to Greene Township, Woodford
Co., and, in 1870, to McLean Co., and settled on his present farm, where he owns IGO acres of
land. He was married Dec. 20, 1867, to Miss Mary Baker, of Elmwood, 111.; she was born in
Marshall Co., Va., Sept. 17, 1843; they have five children — Charles J., Minnie A., Burtis S.,
Eunice Blanche and Lucy E.
JACOB HOOBLER, farmer; P. 0. Gridley; was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, in the year
1818, where he lived with his father Michael Hoobler, until the age of 20 years, when he went
to New Jefferson, Ohio, and engaged in the mercantile business for himself until the year 1868,
when he removed to McLean Co., 111., and bought and settled upon a farm of i60 acres (his
present home), in Gridley Township, and in 1872, bought 160 acres more, and, in 1875, eighty
acres, making in all 400 acres, eighty acres being on Section 10, and 320 on Section 3, Gridley
Township ; part of this land being under cultivation and part pasture, valued at about $45 an acre.
He was married in the year 1853, to Miss Catherine Grier Galbraith, who was born in 1832,
near Cannonsburg, Washington Co., Penn.; they have eight children living — Katie Bell, Charles,
Robert M., Samuel G., Annie L., Rachel F., Jacob Henry and Albertie. Mr. Hoobler's resi-
dence is located upon Section 10, Gridley Township.
D. L. HOOVER, dealer in drugs, medicines, books, stationery, etc., Gridley; is a native of
this State; he was born in Putnam Co. Nov. 11, 1845; when he was about 4 years old, his
parents removed to Bureau Co., and there resided until 1856, when they removed to the western
part of Livingston Co.; in 1869, he engaged in farming, to which business he had been raised,
and continued it until 1871, when he came to Gridley and started in the drug business. He has
one of the neatest and most tastily arranged stores in the county, and keeps a full supply of all
goods in his line, and of a reliable quality, consisting of drugs, medicines, books, stationery,
toilet articles, fancy groceries, paints, oils, varnishes, brushes, lamps and lamp goods, cigars and
tobacco, etc. Mr. Hoover was married Jan. 14, 1869, to Miss C. G. Williams, of Washington,
Tazewell Co., 111., and has two children — Lovena A. and Myrta. He has served as Town Clerk
two years, and as City Treasurer and Collector four years, and still holds these offices.
J. J. KERR, Gridley; was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Dec, 27, 1850; he is a son of
Thomas Kerr, now of Waldo Township, Livingston Co.; when he was 15 years old, he accom-
panied his parents to the United States, having been, for the two years before that, engaged as a
clerk in a wholesale grocery house in Aberdeen ; after coming to Illinois, he remained on the
farm five years, then entered the office of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Co. in
Chicago ; after remaining there four months, he returned to Gridley and entered the employ of
Boies & Breese; he continued with them fifteen months, after which he entered into partnership
with D. L. Hoover, in the drug business; in this he continued until December, 1877; the sum-
mer of 1878 he spent in Europe, traveling quite extensively in England, Scotland, Ireland,
France and Germany, and returning in December, 1878, since which time he has not been in
active business. He was married May 3, 1877, to Miss H. M. Hartley — a daughter of William
Hartley— late of El Paso, III.
L. C. McCONNELL, M. D., physician and surgeon, Gridley ; was born in Ripley, Brown
Co.. Ohio, April 13, 1836; when he was about 4 years of age, his parents removed to Indiana,
and settled in Fayette Co.; he was educated, principally, at Fairview Academy, in Rush Co.,
Ind., where he spent three years, and prepared for tlie junior class in college; entering Bethany
College, Va., he remained about a year, when a difficulty occurred in the college, arising out of
the slavery question, and he left at the close of his junior year, together with several other
Northern students. He began the stmly of medicine in 1855, and spent the winter of 1856-57
at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinn;iti ; he then went to Greenfield, Ind., and remained
until the fall of 1858, engaged in study and practice; returning to the Medical College, he
took his second course, graduating in February, 1859; he then located at Fairview, Ind., and
practiced medicine two years, when he removed to Riciimond, Ind , and there remained until
his removal to McLean Co. in 1866 ; he spout the first two years in Bloomington, and in August,
1868, settled in Gridley, where he has since been eng.aged in the practice of his profession ; he
has served on the Board of Village Trustees, and as School Director, but witii these exceptions,
has declined to hold any public offices, his extended practice receiving his constant and undivided
attention. He was married Oct. 7, 1857, to Miss Columbia A. Nutting, of Connersville, Ind.^
and has one child living — Minnie I.
GRIDLEY TOWNSHIP. 911
D. L. MEYERS, dealer in hardware, tinware, stoves, etc., GriJley ; was born in Wurteni-
burg, Germany, May -5, ]83'2, .^n(;l, until the age of 20 years, followed the business of wine-
growing, his fiither being the owner of a vineyard. In 1852 he came to Anierii^n, and worked
on a farm in AVayne Co., Ohio, for four years. He then removed to Plainfield, AVill Co., 111., and
engaged in farming for himself. In 1859 he went to Washington, Tazewell Co., and, after farm-
ing a few years, about the close of the war removed to El Paso, and, with his brothers-in-law,
George and Samuel Zinser, opened a hardware store, and soon afterwards another store, in
Washington. After about eighteen months, he disposed of his interest in the Washington store
to his 1 artners, but continued his business in El Paso until hi;3 removal to Gridley in the fall
of 1875. Mr. Meyers does the only exclusive hardware and stove business in the place, and
carries a full line of goods of the b' st quality. He was married, Jan. lo, 18(30, to JMiss Katie
Zinser, of Washington, 111., who lived but about a year. Mr. Meyers was married again in Feb-
ruary, 1862, to Miss Mary M. Zinser, of Washington, 111. : they have one child — Edward L.
C. H. ^EUHAUSER, blacksmith, carriage manufacturer, and dealer in agricultural imple-
ments, Gridley ; was born in Saarburg, Alsace, France, Oct. 6, 1840. When he was G years old,
his parents came to this country and located at Syracuse, N. Y., where his father died a year
later, and, about two months afterwards, his mother removed with her family to Butler Co.,
Ohio ; resided there two years, and removed thence to Campbell Co., Ky. There he lived nine
years ; then returned to Ohio, and lived with an uncle about four years, going thence to Cincin-
nati, where he remained six months. In 1863 he came to Illinois, and worked in Bloomington,
Hudson and El Paso. In August, 1864, he removed to Waldo Township, Livingston Co,, and
engaged in contracting and building. He afterwards came to Gridley and followed buichering
one ^eason, and then resumed building. Returning to Waldo Township, he continued farming
till March, 1874. He then purchased the wagon and blacksmith shop of George Jewett, and has
continued in this business to the present time. He also engaged in the implement trade with
his brother, John Neuhauser, for one year; then sold out to his brother, Oct. 19, 1877. They
were burned out, after which he erected his present building, and bought his brother's business.
He maVes a specialty of John Deere & Co.'s Moline plows and cultivators, Deere & MausurCo.'s
and the Quincy planters, D. M. Osborn & Co.'s harvesting machinery, Adams' corn-sheller, and
minor implements of various descriptions and the best quality. Mr. Neuhauser was married,
Dec. 9, 1864, to Miss Eliza Breese, a daughter of Richard Breese, of Gridley. Of ten children,
six are living — Sarah E., Catherine, Lucy L., Minerva, W. Etta and Mary A. Mr. Neuhauser
has served two years in the Village Council.
JOHN NORTH, deceased, formerly of Gridley Township; was born in Lincoln.shire,
England, Nov. 4, 1812, and there resided until his removal to this country. He was one of a
number of brothers who settled in the western part of Gridley Township and the eastern part
of Woodford Co., several years ago. He was married in England, in June, 18.38, to Miss Rachel
KatclitFe, who was also born in Lincolnshire, March 4, 1818; about the year 1850, he emigrated
to the United States, and settled in Washington, Tazewell Co.. 111., and in 1854 removed to Wood-
ford Co., just across the line from McLean, and, after several years, to the place where he lived
till his death. He was a successful man, and accumulated a comfortable property, leaving at hi.s
death an estate of 280 acres. He was a man of exemplary life and steady, temperate, industri-
ous habits, a member of the Baptist Church, and enjoyed the respect of all who knew him. He
died Jan. 3, 1865, leaving a family of seven children, all of whom are now living — Sarah (wife
of Edmund Tippler), James R., Henry, Joseph R., Elizabeth (wife of Wi Ham Bailey), Spencer
H. and Ellen (wife of Harvey Leonard), all of whom are settled in the neighborhood, except
Henry, who lives in Oregon. Mrs. North resides on the homestead, surrounded by her children
and their families, and in the enjoyment of an ample estate, and honored by the entire com-
munity.
FRIEDRICH SCHAFER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. El Paso, Woodford Co.; wa.9
born in Waldmohr, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, May 11, 1820. At the usual age in
that country, 14 jears, he was apprenticed to the trade of a shoemaker. He came to the United
States in 1852, and located at Washington, Tnzewell Co., 111., where he worked at his trade six
years, and then engaged in farming. In 1864, he removed to McLean Co., and settled on his
present farm. He owns 160 acres on Sees. 22 and 23, finely improved and cultivated, besides
20 acres of timber on the Mackinaw ; nor is his success in life to be estimated by the amount of
real estate owned by him ; he in, financially, one of the solid men of the community, possessing
those characteristics of his countrymen which enable them to succeed so often where others
fail. He was married March 1, 1846, to Miss Louisa Vogelgesang, who was born in Breidefelder-
Hof, Bavaria, Aug. 28, 1828 ; they have seven children living — Frederick J., now Pastor of the
Evangelical Association of the Warrensburg and Clinton Mission, Kansas), Lewis (a farmer, of
Sumner Co., Kan.), Christian ^a farmer, of Yates Township), John (of Sumner Co., Kan.), Katie
L. (a music teacher, of Brown Co., Kan.), Louisa E. and Matilda.
N. B. SEIDEL, of the firm of Blumenshine & Seidel, Gridley, dealers in general merchan-
dise;- came to the place in 1875; he was born in Berks Co., Peiin., Dec. 22, 1839; he is of
German descent, his ancestors being among the first settlers of that part of the State ; the neigh-
borhood in which he was raised was composed entirely of German people, and at one time there
912 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
were but three men in his township who could speak English, and Mr. Seidel himself was 20
years of age before he could speak or understand the English language, although his ancestors,
for several generations, were natives of this counti\v. In 1857, he came West, to Stephenson
Co., 111., and began work at the carpenter's trade. Three years later, he returned to his native
State, and again came to Illinois in 18(35; he spent about three years in Bloomington, removing
to El Paso in 1868 ; he followed his trade there until his removal to Gridley, in 1875. He was
married Aug. 10, 18G2, to Miss Emma E. Grim, of Hamburg, Penn., and has three children —
Edward B., William H. and Hattie A.
HENRY E. SIEBERNS, general merchant. Gridley ; was born in the Duchy of Oldenburg,
Germany, March 28, 1825. At the age of 14, he was apprenticed to the carpenter trade, after
completing which, he learned the cabinet-maker's trade. He came to this country in 1853, land-
ing in New Orleans, and proceeding up the river to Louisville, Ky., where he went to work at
his trade. In 1855, in consequence of the Know Nothing disturbances in that city, he left Louis-
ville and went to Canada West. Two years later he came to Illinois, and engaged in mercantile
business with F. D. Callsen, in Farnisville, Woodford Co. In 1864, he removed to Gridley,
where he and Mr. Callsen had just previously started a store; since that time he has continued
in business here, and also has been in the grain business nine years, from 1868 to 1877. He
carries one of the largest and best selected stock of goods in the place. During his residence of
six years, in Farnisville, he served constantly as I'ostmaster and Town Clerk, and was also
elected Justice of the Peace just before leaving for Gridley He has held various offices in this
place. He was married in May, 1857, to Miss Caroline Niergarth, a native of Bavaria, Germany.
They have nine children living — .lulietta, .Juliana, Mary R., Walter H., Minnie, John R., Otto,
Charles and Henrietta E Mr. Sieberns, for the past five years has made Peoria his residence.
He is one of the most successful men of the county, owning 1,440 acres of land in Livingston and
McLean Counties.
JAMES B. SNEED, farmer; P. 0. El Paso, Woodford Co. ; was born in Garrett Co., Ky.,
March, 1836, being a son of John H. and Elizabeth Sneed, the former a native of Virginia,
and the latter of Indiana. In 1852, he came with his father's family to McLean Co., and resided
six years in Bloomington. The family then removed to the eastern part of Woodford Co., and,
after four years, located on Section 2, Gridley Township, where his father resided until his death,
June 4, 1876. His mother is still living. ,Mr. Sneed was first married March 19, 1861, to Miss
fama Hawkins, of Woodford Co. ; she died Feb. 18, 1862. He was married again May 4, 1864,
to Mrs. Julia A. Taylor, a daughter of Robert C. McCollum, of Christian Co., 111., whose wife's
former name was Margaret M. Mills, both formerly from Kentiicky ; she was born in ('hristian
Co., Feb. 3, 1888. They have two children — Mai^y Arminta, born Feb. 19, 1865, and Frank
McCollum. born Jan. 1, 18<j8. Mrs. Sneed's former husband was J. S. Taylor, \*'ho was born .Jan.
13, 1834, and was drowned Feb. 22, 1860, in Bureau Creek, in Peoria Co. ; by him she had two
■children — John William Taylor, now of El Paso, who was born Jan. 10, 1859, and was the first
child born in the city of El Paso, 111.; and Julia Frances Taylor, born May 20, 1857, and died
Dec. 10, 1859. Mr. J. S. Taylor was a hardware merchant of El Paso, and one of its first set-
tlers. Mr. Sneed now resides on the homestead, his real estate being situated in Morris Co..
Kan., where he owns 160 acres of land.
PETER SOMMEPv., farmer and stock-raiser;- P. 0. Gridley; has been a resident of Illinois
since 1834; he was born near Strasburg, Alsace, France, April 24, 1811. He came with his
parents to the United States, in 1828; they settled in Butler Co., Ohio; there he lived till his
removal to Illinois, in 1834 ; he was one of the pioneers of Woodford Co., the Indians not having
yet left their hunting grounds on the Mackinaw, when Mr. Sommer took up his claim from the
Government, built his log cabin, and began to carve himself a home in the wilderness. After
living there thirty-two years, he settled on his present farm in 1866. He owns a fine farm of
160 acres, well-improved, his set of buildings being among the best in the township. His success
in life is due entirely to his own exertions. He is emphatically a self-made man. Has held no
political offices, giving all his attention to his legitimate business of farming. He is a leading
member of the Apostolic Christian Church, and was prominent in the building of the cliurch iii
Gridley., He was first married in August, T834 to Miss Catharine Schertz, of Woodford Co. ;
she came with her parents from Alsace, in 1832; she was born in August, 1816, and died in
August, 1874. They liad ten children, four of whom are living: Catharine, wife of Jolin Ehres-
man, of Livingston Co. : Barbara, wife of Peter Ehresman, of Gridley Township ; .Mary, and
Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Rich, of Gridley Township.
M. T. VINEYARD, farmer. Sec. 27 ; P. 0. Lexington ; was born in Roanoke ('o., Va., in the
year 1826, wiiere he worked on his father's farm until the age of 22 years. In the year 1848,
Mr. Vineyanl left Virginia and removed to Iron Co., near Iron Mountain. Mo., where he remained
seventeen years engaged in farming. From Iron Mountain, he removed to Illinois, settling nortli
of the town of Metamora, Woodford Co., and remained there over three years. In the year 1869
he left Metamora ami removeil to and settled upon 120 acres of land on Section 27, Gridley Town-
ship, where he also owns 160 acres, formerly J. 15. Pirtle's place, making in all 280 acres, all
miller cultivation, and valued at about $85 per acre. Mr. Vineyard was elected to the office of
Supervisor of Gridley in the year 1876, and has held the office until the present, being re-elected
GRIDLEY TOWNSHIP. 013
again Inst April. He was married in 1848 to Miss N. C. Leigh, who was born in tlie year 1832,
in Gloucester Co., Va.. and who died in the year 1868. In 1870, he was married to Miss Mary
O'Neil, who was born in Iron Co., Mo., in 1847 ; they have two children, viz.: Maggie Leigh and
Hobert F. Their residence is a very fine one, and, with the improvements he contemplates mak-
ing, will be a beautiful home.
DAVID WELCH, farmer. Sec. 7 ; P. 0. Gridley ; was born within four miles of the town
of Tipperary, Ireland, in the year 1836. Patrick Welch, David's father, a farmer and quite a
prominent man in his day, died in the year 1847, and his wife, Margaret, soon followed him to
the tomb, leaving David an orphan, under the guardianship of his uncle, Michael Stokes, with
whom, in the year 1849, he left Ireland and emigrated to America. Mr. Stokes, with his ward,
settled in New Haven, Conn., where David learned carriage-painting, and. after serving his
time, worked at his trade as carriage-painter, in Litchfield and New Haven Counties, until the
year 18G1, when he left Connecticut, and went to Peoria, 111.; here he remained until April, 1862,
when he went to El Paso Township, Woodford Co., and, in partnership with his cousin, William
Stokes, bought eighty acres of land ; they remained there until the spring of 1865, when they
s 11 their land and removed to Gridley Township, March 11, 1865, and bought in partner.ship 160.
acres of land, and, in the summer of 1872, they divided their 160 acres ; and David having, in 1868^
purchased forty acres of land, the division left him the owner of 120 acres, to which he added
eighty more, purchased in 1876, making 200 acres in all, located on Sec. 7, Gridley Township,
n-d all under cultivation, and valued at about $40 an acre. Mr. Welch is a wide-awake, intelli-
gent man, quite prominent in local politics, and has held the office of Assessor of Gridley Town-
ship for one term, being elected in the year 1872. In 1875, he was elected to the office of Road'
Commissioner, and re-elected in 1878, and now holds the office. On the 25th of December, 1859,
he was united in marriage at Naugatuck, Conn., to Miss Ellen Cany, who was born in County Lim-
erick, Ireland, in the year 1834, but who emigrated to America when very young ; they have
had four children, one — Maggie — dead, and three — John, Margaret and Patrick — living.
JOHN WHITEMAN, farmer, Section 28 ; P. 0. Gridley ; came to Illinois in the year 1857,
all of his earthly possessions being a team of horses and wagon, value'd at about |)300, and fl.50'
in money ; he now owns his farm of 160 acres, in Gridley Township, and 80 acres in Owen Co.,
Ind. — all gained by hard work and good judgment : he was born in Sandusky Co., Ohio, in the-
year 1834, and when quite small his father removed to Owen Co., Ind.. and John helped on the farm-
until his father's death, which occurred in 1845 ; after this event, John remained at home with his-
mother until he reached the age of 23. In 1857, he left Indiana, and, taking his mother with him,
went to Illinois and settled her at Scattering Point, Livingston Co , where Mrs. Whiteman had a
brother, and on whose place she lived until 1860, when John removed her to McLean Co., where
he had preceded her, in 1857 : he removed to his present place ia 1864, and rented of his father-
in-law, and, in 1873, he bought the farm, consisting of 160 acres, located on Section 28, Gridley
Township ; it is all under cultivation and is valued at $35 an acre. In the year 1862, he
married Miss Jesse Stretch, who was bnrn in Money Creek Township. McLean Co., 111., and died
in 1871, leaving five children — AVillie E., Frank E., Ella May, Ena Gay and Nancy Inze, all liv-
ing. Mr. Whiteman was again married, in the year 1873, to Miss Emeline Farmer, who was born
in Licking Co., Ohio, in 1853 ; they have had three children — one dead, and Eva and Daisy
living.
DAVID WILSON, school-teacher, Gridley: David Wilson was born in the year 1850, in
Lincoln Co., Ky., where he lived with his father, William D. Wilson, until the age of 5 years.
In the fall of 1855, Mr. Wilson removed his family from Kentucky to Illinois, stopping at Bloom-
inston until the spring of 1856 ; they then removed to and settled upon a farm in Chenoa Town-
ship, McLean Co.; here they remained until the year 1863, when they removed to Gridley Town-
(^hip, within a half mile of the town of Gridley. Mr. Wilson's father bought and settled upon
eighty acres of land, which he farmed until his death, which took place in 1866. David, after
his father's death, remained on the farm until 1869, when he went to Woodford Co. and engaged
in the sewing-machine business until 1871 ; during the years 1871 and 1872, David attended
school at Normal ; after leaving Normal, he spent the summer of 1873 traveling through Kan-
sas, in which State (Marion Co.) he owns 320 acres of land ; he also owns 80 acres in Sullivan
Co., Mo. For two years Mr. Wilson taught school in District No. 7, Grand View, and
has taught for two years past, and now teaches School District No. 4, Gridley Township. In
the year 1872, he married Miss Catherine Wilson; she was born in McLean Co., 111., in the year
1857 ; Estella May, a bright little girl, is their only child. His residence is on Section 16, Grid-
ley Township.
914 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
PADUA TOWNSHIP.
Henry R. ARROWSMITH, farmer, Sec. 2o ; V. O. Ellsworth; owns 198 acres, worth $15
^er acre; was born in Ross Co., Ohio, June 10, 1815 ; reniiined on the farm with his father until
'22 yeai's old ; came from Ohio to Indiana in 1839, where he remained six months, then came
on to this county. Was married while in Ohio to Anna Cowgill Feb. 8, 1838 ; she was born in
Ross Co., Ohio, Oct. 8. 1809; they have had six children — Daniel, David E., Elizabeth A. (now
wife of G. W. Baine, of Padua); Ezekiel, died May U, 1841; Sarah .1., died Aug. 18, 1849;
Henry P., died Sept. 2-t, 1849. Has held the office of School Director three years; Township
Treasurer, fifteen years ; Justice of the Peace, two years ; held the ofhce of Supervisor of the
Township one term. He was one of the first settlers of this township ; coming here with but
very little property ; by industry, economy and hard labor has accumulated some $10,000 or
$12,000 worth of property. He is Democratic and Methodist. A man of great influence in the
neighborhood where he resides.
D VVID E. ARROWSMITH, farmer; P. 0. Ellsworth; was born in McLean Co., HI., April
22, 1842 ; he remained with his father on the farm, assisting him. Was married to Catharine
Baine Sept. 8, 1864; she was born ia Hampshire Co., Va., Nov. 11, 1833, and died April 19,
1872; the fruit of this marriage was four children — ^lary, George H., David and Anna C. ; he
married Oct. 17. 1877, Sarah C. Hoover; she was born in Hampshire Co., Va., Oct. 6, 1857;
•they have one child — Olive, born Nov. 27, 1878. He continues to live with his parents on the
farm.
DANIEL ARROWSMITH, farmer; P. 0. Ellsworth; was born in Ross Co., Ohio, Aug. 28,
1838 ; remained with his father on the farm, Was married to Mary A. Baine Nov. 17, 1859 ; she
was born in Hampshire Co., Va., Nov. 4, 1831 ; they have had seven children — Mertilla J., born
Jan. 16, 18G1 ; Myra, July 12, 1866 ; Harry B., July 23, 1868; Robert L., Jan. 29, 1871 ; Gary,
March 16, 1876; Lucy A., born Sept. 10, 1862, died Sept. 18, 1864; Jonas E., born Aug. 30,
1864, died April 22, 1865. He is living on a piece of land given him by his father.
WILLIAM P. ANDERSO \ farmer and surveyor. Sec. 19; P.O. Holder; owns seventy-
eight acres; was born in Muskingum Co., Ohio, Nov. 18, 1833; lived with his parents on farm
until 21 years of age, helping his father carry on farming up to this time ; shortly after this, he
came to this State, where he was married to Ruth A. Whitcomb, Feb. 27, 1861 ; she was born in
Vermilion Co., Ill, June 18, 1841; they are the parents of two children — Alvin W., born July 8,
1862: Camilla E., Jan. 31, 1866. Mr. A. has held the office of Supervisor one term ; was County
■Surveyor six years, and Deputy Surveyor three years. Is now engaged in farming.
MARKS RANKS, former," Sec. 25; P. 0. Ellsworth; was born in Floyd Co., Va., Jan. 12,
1823; lived with his parents until 14 years' of age, assisting his father in farming ; his m&tlier
^died when he was but 14 years old ; he then worked at the blacksmith trade, two years ; then at
the carpenter trade, in which he has been engaged ever since. Was married to Rebecca Van-
scoy, April 15, 1847; she was born in Indiana, Feb. 7, 1824; they are the parents of four chil-
dren— Mary H., now wife of William Vangundy, of Ellsworth; Millard C; Rachel E., born in
1855, and an infant deceased. He owns 600 acres of tine farm land, worth $45 per acre. Has held
office of School Director three years ; Postmaster one year; Supervisor of Township one term ;
he had, when married, not over ifilOO worth of property, but has by industry, economy and hard
labor, with good management, accumulated, probably, about $25,000 worth, and is a man of con-
siderable iiitlueiice in liis neighborhood.
ALBER'L' E. BINtJHAM, farmer; P. 0. Ellsworth ; owns sixty acres of land ; was born in
Lake Co., 111., March 28, 1841 ; remained with his father on farm until 17 years of age; Mr.
B. enlisted in the late war in 1862, in Co. D, 94th I. V. I., and was in the battle of Springfield,
Mo., and several skirmishes ; served three years, and was mustered out by general order, at
Springfield, 111.; he then returned to farming. He married Mary J. Hays, Oct. 15, 1868; she
was born in Dearborn Co., Ind., June 29, 1846; they are the parents of two children — Harry
W., born Feb. 12, 1873, and Eva, Oct. 5, 1876; his parents were natives of Connecticut; her
parents, of I'ennsylvania.
JOHN CAMPBELL, merchant, Ellsworth; was born in Dory Co., Ireland, April 7, 1820;
emigrated with his parents to Pittsburgh, stayed there eighteen months, then moved to Jessamine
Co., Ky., where he lived about eight years ; thence to Illinois in 1834, settling in McLean Co.,
where he has since resided ; remained with his father and assisted him in farming until 21 years
of age. Was then marriei to Rebecca Weaver, Sept. 15, 1841 ; she was born in Viigini;i about
the year 1823, and died about 1845 ; by this marriage he had three children — Lottie 13., now
wife of K. Craig, of McLean Co., and two infants deceased. Was married Feb. 23, 1847, to S.
L. Jackson ; slie was born in Virginia; tliey are the i)arents of ten children, nine living — James
S. ; Kliza1)(^th .]., now wife of William Harden, of Saybrooli ; Mary A. ; Rachel M., now wife of
Frank Tuler, of Belleflower; John A. ; Matilda M., now wife of Charles Mills, of Lexington,
PADUA TOAVNSHIP. 915
111. ; Thomas W. ; Ella E., deceased ; George W. and Dora L. He has held the office of School
Director four years ; he v/orked at blacksmithing and wagon-making for two years, and, in
1873, engaged in mercantile business in Ellsworth, starting with about $5,000 worth of goods,
and has been doing a lively business ever since. He has 198 acres of land in this township, and
owns three lots and a house and store in Ellsworth, besides a house and two lots in Bloomington
within two blocks of the public square.
JOHN DALLING, farmer; P. 0 Ellsworth; was born in England, June 24, 1844; came
with his parents to this country when 12 years of age ; was married to Theresa Dean, Nov. 12,
1869 ; she was born in England in the year 1844 ; died April 28, 1877 ; they were the parents of
two children — Elias and Gertrude ; the latter died Sept. 12, 1871. He enlisted iu the army in
1862, in Co. C, 151st I. V. I ; served two years and ten months; was in the battles of Gettys-
burgh. Cold Harbor, Petersburgh, Winchester, and several other battles ; was wounded by a mus-
ket ball passing through his right lung and out near the spine, for which he receives a pension;
was mustered out by general order at Philadelphia.
BENEVVELL FETHEROFF, farmer. Sec. 22; P. 0. Ellsworth; owns 139 acres of well-
improved land ; was born in Hocking Co., Ohio, March 18, 1827 ; remained on the farm with his
parents until 26 years of age ; then emigrated to Ross Co., Ohio, where he was married to
Rebecca A. Sykes, Nov. 5, 1853 ; she was born in Ross Co., Ohio, Oct. 24, 1833 ; they are the
parents of five children— Elmer E., born Sept. 17, 1862; Frank A., May 27, 1867; Lewis N.
died September, 1851 ; Harriet F. died Sept. 6, 1862, and an infant. He has held the office of School
Director eighteen years, and still holds the office of Commissioner of Highways one term. He
was in the war of 1812. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania; his wife's mother was of
Ohio ; her father, of England.
ALFRED FRANKEBERGER, farmer. Sec. 27 : P. 0. Ellsworth ; owns 162 acres of excellent
farm-land ; was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Sept. 16, 1828 ; came with his parents from Ohio
to McLean Co., 111., when he was but eight months old ; lived with them on the farm until 23
years of age ; engaged with his father in farming, until married to Elizabeth Dunning, Dec. 24,
1850; she was born in Monroe Co., Ind., Dec. 5, 1825 ; they have had four children — John M.
and Eliza J., now wife of Henry Inglish, of Padua, and two infants deceased. His father was
one of the early pioneer.s of McLean Co., as there were but about three or four families in the
county when he arrived ; hence he is one who helped the county from a wilderness to its present
prosperous condition. He still resides on the farm which his father entered and lived on until
his death ; has held the office of School Director one year, Commissioner of Highways one term,
and is a very industrious, economical and energetic man, and respected in the neighborhood
where he resides.
REUBEN FENSTERMAKER, farmer and mechanic, Sec. 36; P. 0. Ellsworth; was born in
Ross Co., Ohio, Feb. 26, 1832 ; came with his parents to this State in 1853. and still continued
to work on the farm until Aug. 7, 1862, when he enlisted in the United States service; he
enlisted in Co. D, 94th I. V. I., as 1st Corporal; was in the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., the
siege of Vicksburg, capture of Yazoo City, battle of Brownsville, Tex., capture of Fort Morgan,
Ala., siege and capture of Spanish Fort, Ala., and in a number of other skirmishes ; held the
position of Orderly Sergeant four months ; was mustered out in 1865, at Galveston, Tex. ; he
returned to this county, where he has been engaged in farming and raising fine horses up to
the present time ; he owns an interest in a form of 230 acres of excellent land in the south-
west corner of Arrowsmith Township. He has never been married.
WILLSON D. GROW, Sec. 19, farmer ; P. 0. Holder ; owns 40 acres ; was born in Shelby Co.,
Ky., June 12, 1841 ; lived with his parents on the fiu-m until 21 years old ; he was never married,
and, with an older brother lives a bachelor's life, carrying on farming together; he is in good
circumstances; came to this State iu the year 1859, first settling in Mackinaw ; remained there
one year, then came to this county, where he has resided since.
WILLIAM HARRISON, farmer. Sec. 23; P. 0. Ellsworth; owns 120 acres of excellent
farm land; was born in Berks Co., Penn., May 30, 1820. His father died when he was but 1
year old, leaving him in care of his grandmother, who raised him until 12 years of age ; he then
moved to this county, where he has resided ever since. Was married to Nancy J. Davvson in
1840; she was born in McLean Co., 111. ; they have had nine children — Mary E., now wife of
Charles Hobart, of Kansas ; Adelaide, now wife of William Young, of Padua ; Estella, Hattie,
Minnie, Lucinda and Albert J.; deceased — Charley and Cary. He was then married to Barbara
Young in February, 1869. Has held the office of School Director fifteen years, and Road Com-
missioner one term. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania.
JOSIAH HORR, fai-mer. Sec. -7 ; P. 0. Ellsworth ; owns 595 acres of excellent farm land,
worth |45 per acre. Was born in Lewis Co. N. Y., Oct. 9, 1807; remained with parents until
21 years of age, assisting his father in farming ; moved from New York to Ohio in the year
1828 ; remained there nearly seven years. Was married in Ohio to Temperance Cheney Oct. 28,
1830; she was born in Harrison Co., Va.; they have had eight children, six living — William F.,
Elizabeth, now wife of David M. Bunn, of Kansas; Martin, Abner, Sarah, now wife of W.
Anderson, of Padua; Martha, now wife of James E. Wood; deceased— Rachel, died Oct. 1, 1840;
Quincy, Aug. 30, 1835. Mr. H. has held the offices of School Director and Township Trustee
916 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
five years, Justice of the Peace fifteen years ; was Supervisor of Township on the first Board
in the county : has been Supervisor about twelve years ; was Postmaster about fourteen year-).
He was one of the first settlers in this township. He has given satisfaction in every ofiice he
has filled ; is a man pleasant in manners, agreeable, and respected by all who know him.
THOMAS KENNEDY, farmer, Sec. 17: P.O.Padua; owns 290 acres of land, worth $40
per acre. The subject of this sketch was born in Dumfries Co., Scotland, Nov. 22, 1810;
remained with his father on the farm, assisting him until 33 years old, when he emigrated to this
county in 1851, having been previously married in Scotland to Ellen Johnston. Nov. 18. 1850,'
she was born in Dumfries Co., Scotland, in June, 1850; they have five children — William, Walter,
Robert, Mary J. and Ellen A. Mr. Kennedy has held the office of School Director two years ; not-
withstanding all the losses he has sustained in this country, including $4,000 by loaning money,
and SI, 200 from destruction of his barn by fire, he has property to the amount of, perhaps,
$25,000, though having but $500 when he arrived in this county ; he has accumulated this property
by farming and raising stock, and is a very industrious man.
WILLIAM ORANGE, farmer. Sec. 21 ; P. 0. Ellsworth ; owns 220 acres of land ; was born
in Fleming Co., Ky., April 18, 1805; moved to Pennsylvania with his parents when but 3 years
old; remained there about fifteen years, helping his father on the farm. During this time, he
moved hack to Kentucky and worked at blacksmithing, then moved to Ohio, where he was mar-
ried to Elizabeth Alcorn, June 17, 1823 ; she was born in Allegheny Co., Penn., Feb. 25, 1805 ;
died Oct. 8, 1845 ; four children by this marriage — William, James, Jane and Elizabeth, now
wife of James Lesly. He was then married to Eliza Wolf June 6, 1846; she was born in Madi-
son Co., Ohio, July 4, 1816; they have one child — Elizabeth A. He is one of the early pioneers
of McLean Co., coming here in an early day. when the country was a wilderness, with plenty of
Indians and wild animals, and has borne his part of the hardships of a pioneer life. He was pos-
sessed of a good constitution, and is now 74 years old and yet quite active, and is a very excel-
lent citizen.
MATTHEW RICHARDSON, farmer and stock-dealer, Sec. 11; P. 0. Ellsworth; owns 350
acres worth S50 per acre : was born in Dumfries Co., Scotland, in the year 1823 ; resided with
his parents on the farm until 23 years of age. Was then married to Christina Nichol, in the
year 1847 ; she was born in the same county in Scotland ; they have had twelve children — ^Mar-
garet, born Dec. 6, 1848, now wife of Richard Williams, of Arrowsmith ; Jane, April 5, 1850,
now wife of Madison Williams, of Arrowsmith; Mary A., March 16, 1854, now wife of John
Frankeberger, of Padua ; John, Jan. 2, 1856 ; Genette, May 22, 1858. now wife of Ira Landers,
of Padua ; William, Feb. 2, 1860 ; Matthew, Dec. 27, 1861 ; Archibald, Oct. 16, 1864 ; Thomas,
April 11, 1867, and George A., March 21, 1869. Deceased — Agnes, died Aug. 16, 1863, and an
infant, Nov. 6, 1863. He has held the office of School Director four years. He came to this
county with only 25 cents, and has, by industry, economy and perseverance, accumulated pro-
perty to the amount of $20,000, consisting principally of land. He feeds and ships many fat
cattle every year, and some hogs. Mr. R. came to this county from Scotland in the year 1851.
JAMES REID, farmer, Sec. 12; P. 0., Ellsworth; owns $250 acres, worth $50 per acre;
was born in Kercud Bright, Scotland, Dec 27, 1830 ; he remained with his father until his death,
which occurred when he was only 15 years of age; then lived with his uncle until 19 years of
age ; came to this country in the year 1851, stopping in the city of New York one year, then to
Kentucky, where he remained one year. Was then married in Kentucky to Sarah A. Price,
March 28, 1853 ; she was born in Fleming Co., Ky., Aug. 11, 1827 ; they have had six children,
four living — Margaret M., now wife of Ashly Dilts, of Empire Township; William P.; Lizzie ;
Richard P.; James H., died Nov. 21, 1875. and an infant. Mr. Reid has held the office of School
Director nine years. Mrs. Reid is a niece of Gov. Bishop, formerly Governor of Ohio. Mr. R.
was in the grocery business and grain trade in Ellsworth four years, and was among the first to
commence business in Ellsworth, being engaged quite extensively.
LRWIS H. SKAGGS, M. D., physician. Sec. 23 ; P. O. Ellsworth; owns 275 acres, worth
$50 per acre; was born in Monroe Co., Va., in October, 1837; remained with his father on the
farm until 15 years of age; his chances for an early education were somewhat limited, having
attended school only about nine months during the first fifteen years of his life ; between the
ages of 15 and 22, he attended the college at Sweet Sulphur Springs ; he taught school between
six and seven years; in the spring of 1849, he emigrated from Virginia to McLean Co , settling
in Le Roy ; remained there four years, during which time he practiced dentistry and studied
medicine; went to Chicago and attended a medical college, where he received a diploma. He
enlisted in the army in 1863, in the 94th I. V. I. ; served as Assistant Surgeon ; was Surgeon at the
battle of Vicksburg, battle of Lake Spring, Mo. ; also had charge of a hospital ; thence to
Brownsville, Tex., at the siege of Fort Morgan ; was in Marion hospital when the magazine
exploded, wounding seven or eight hundred. The Doctor is a graduate of Rush Medical (College ;
after he was mustered out, came home and engaged in partnership with Dr. Hinton, of Padua, in
1865, which continued for two years. Was married to Ella Hinton, Aug. 16. 1866; she was
born Dec. 30. 1847.
JOHN STEVENS, carriage-maker, Ellsworth ; was born in Hampshire Co., W. Va., in 1852-
his parents died when he was very young, and generally he had to shift for himself; he traveled
PADUA TOWNSHIP. 917
over several States^ working at different occupations, chiefly farming and carriage-trimming.
In 1876, lie was married to .Jennie Turner, who was born in ^lissouri in the year I860; he is an
industrious and energetic young man, and resides in Ellsworth, where lie contemplates starting a
carriage shop soon.
JAMES F. THOMPSON, farmer, Sec. 25 ; P. 0. Ellsworth ; owns 103 acres, worth 540per
acre ; was born in Boone Co., Ky., Sept. 13, 1822; came with his father to this county, from
Kentucky, when 7 years of age, and has resided in the county ever since. Was married to
Mary A. Arrowsmith, April 17, 1845; she was born in Ross Co., Ohio, March 28, 1828, died
Aug. 8, 1860; six children — Elizabeth J., now wife of Lewis Pearce, of Arrowsmith, John H,
and Martha E. ; Elijah died in 1874 ; Ezekiel died in 1861 ; Mary E. died in 1860. He w>is
afterward married to Margaret Boine ; she was born in Virginia; they had seven children; the
names of the living are — Desdemona A., Gertrude, Isaac A., Corrilla J., Benjamin, Fanny L. ;
William R., died Feb. 4, 1878. He was one of the pioneers of McLean Co.. experiencing the
hardships of a pioneer life.
HARRISON G. VAN DERVORT, farmerandministerof the Gospel, Sec 15; P. O.Ellsworth;
owns forty acres; was born in Tippecanoe Co., Ind., Sept. 25, 1846; his mother dying when he
was 5 years of age, he remained with his father and sister on a farm ; his father died in Octo-
ber 1861, previous to which his father had moved from Indiana to this county, in the year
1849 ; the son had a common-school education and the beneiit of five years of home study, pre-
paratory to the ministry. Was then married to Isabel McVay. May 21, 1873, who was born in
Greene Co., Penn., June 14, 1850; they are the parents of two children — Ola Bell, born Feb,
11, 1875 ; Lula Myrtle, born Aug. 30, 1876. Entered upon the ministry in 1867 ; was ordained
the same year, and is a minister of the Christian Church ; has charge of the Church at Saybrook;
also that at Oak Grove, and has preached considerably in the southern part of this State, and
also in Kansas ; he traveled three years for the Missionary Society of this county ; has held the
office of President of the Missionary Society, also President of Sunday School Society, and is a
speaker of no small degree of eloquence ; has been very successful in gaining members to his
his Church. He enlisted in the late war in 1865, Co. 13, l-50th I. V. I.; served three months;
went as musician ; was mustered out by general order. His father was a native of Virginia ;
his mother, of Ohio. His wife's parents were natives of Pennsylvania.
JAMES WHITE, farmer and mechanic. Sec. 17; P. 0. Padua; owns 240 acres of land,
worth $40 per acre. The subject of this sketch was born on Brooklyn Heights, N. Y., Sept. 4,
1819; lived with his father on a farm, assisting in cultivation, until 16 years of age ; then
moved to the city of Brooklyn ; remained there some three years, working at the carpenter's
trade. He was married to Louisa Smith April 4, 1841 ; she was born in North Carolina Aug,
19, 1815. Mr. White emigrated to this county in 1849 ; they have had seven children — M-iry
(now wife of .James Keeny, of Wisconsin), James R. and Asa; deceased — Sarah, George and
two infants. Has held the office of School Director ten years, of Pathmaster tliree years. Has
donated a considerable amount of money for church purposes and charitable institutions ; has
been and still is a very influential and useful man in the community where he resides ; he
donated $400 for the Bloomington College, McLean Co., 111.
GEORGE WATKINS, farmer. Sec. 36; P. 0. Ellsworth. The subject of this sketch was
born in Henry Co., Ind., Jan. 4, 1842; his parents died when he was but 8 months old;
remained with elder brother until 11 years of age. and then emigrated to Iowa, where he stayed
three years, then came to this county, where he resided, woi'kiug on a farm until Aug. 14, 1862,
when he enlisted in the army, enlisting in Co. D, 94th I. V. I.; was in battle of Prairie Grove,
Ark., siege of Vicksburg, capture of Yazoo City, battle of Atchafalaya, Brownsville, Tex., Ft,
Morgan, Ala., and the siege of the Spanish Fort ; was mustered out July 17, 1865. Returned to
this county; continued to work on farm until married to Sarah C. Barnes, Nov. 26, 1868; she
was born Feb. 19, 1846; they are the parents of four children — Mary E., born Nov. 20, 1872,
died Jan 28, 1873 ; Henry A., born Jan. 1, 1875 (deceased) ; Manford 0. and Sanford E., born
July 4, 1877, both living. His parents are natives of Virginia; his wife's, natives of Ohio, and
among the pioneers in Illinois.
WILLIAM WIRT, farmer. Sec. 26: P. 0. Ellswortli; owns 245 acres of excellent land,
worth $4-> per aci-e ; was born in Adams Co., Oliio, Sept. 6, 1831 ; the residence of his parents
at the time was in Virginia ; he remained with parents until 7 years of age, then moved with them
to Ohio; stayed until 14 year- of age, then came from Ohio to McLean Co., 111., in the
spring of 1850; still continued to work on farm. Was married to Ellen Reid Feb. 8, 1866 ; she
was born in Defiance Co., Ohio, April 1, 1844; are the parents of seven children, four living;
the names of the living are Cliarles, Laura A., Thomas and Royal; deceased — Albert and two
infants. Mr. Wirt farms quite extensively, and raises some fine horses ; principal crop is corn j
feeds his own grain at home, and is a very neat farmer.
918 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
WEST TOWNSHIP.
WILLIAM H. ADAMS, farmer, Sec. 25; P. 0. Belleflower; born in Attica, Fountain Co.,
Ind., May 20, 1836; his father, Daniel Adams, died when the subject of this sketch was 4 years
of age. and he lived witli his mother two years, after which he made his home with .Jesse
Meharry, until 25 years of age, when, upon .Jan. 1, 1861, he was united in marriage with Maria
G. Meharry ; she was born in Montgomery Co., Ind., March 5, 1837. They had five children by
this union— Margaret J. I., born March 15, 1863; Ella May, Oct 6, 1865; Annetta, Oct. 24,
1867; Jessie E., April 19, 1870, and Emily L., Nov. 6, 1873. Mrs. Adams is a daughter of Hugh
Meharry, who was born in Pennsylvania; located in Indiana, in 1829, and is now living in Ford
Co., 111. In the spring of 1861, Mr. Adams came to Illinois, and until 1868, followed farming
in Livingston Co., when he entered the general merchandising trade, at Forrest, for two years,
and again engaged in farming in Livingston < o., until 1877, when he removed to Sec. 25, West
Township, McLean Co.. where he has since followed farming. In politics, Mr. Adams is a strong
Republican ; his first vote for President was cast for Abraham Lincoln, and he has always acted
with the Republican party. He has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion and education,
having held the otfice of School Director and Trustee in the various districts in which he lias
lived, and with his wife and two oldest children, are members of the M. E. Church ; the parents
having been members for a period of thirty years ; Mr. Adams has never made use of either liquor
or tobacco, nor played at cards, and does not know one card from another.
LEANDER BAKER, farmer; P 0. Farmer City. Mr. Baker is a native of this county; he
was born in Blooming Grove, March 19, 1842; he is a son of Seth Baker, one of the early settlers
of the county, emigrating at a very early day ; his parents both died when he was a small boy,
and he was raised by his grandfather, William Orendorft", at Blooming Grove ; he obtained a
common-school education, and at the age of 21, he was united in marriage with Mary M. Canouse,
on the 26th of November. 1863 ; she was born in Ohio, March 10, 1842 ; they have two children
by this union — Effie A., born .Jan. 23, 1865; Eddie A., April 18, 1867. On the 8th of Decem-
ber, 1865, he located upon his present place, where he owns 130 acres, upon which he has good
farm buildings, and which he intends to make his future home.
ASBURY BARNETT, farmer. Sec. 3 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; born in McLean Co., 111., Sept.
28, 1854; he is the youngest son of Harrison Barnett, who was one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co.; he died in 1862, as also did his wife ; they both lie buried in the beautiful cemetery,
one mile east of Le Roy ; after the decease of his parents Mr. B. made his home with his grand-
mother Wall, until 18 years of age, during which time he attended the Normal School and Wes-
leyan University for five terms; he located upon his present place in 1863, where he has 160
acres of land, upon which he has farm buildings second to none in the township. His marriage
with Mary .Johnson, was celebrated Sept. 25, 187S, ; she was born Dec. 15, 1853; they have
three children — Mattie May, born June 13 1874; Fannie Bell, Feb. 2, 1876, and Mercy Jane,
Dec. 16, 1878. Mrs. Barnett is a daughter of James Johnson; he was born in Kentucky, and
emigrated to Downs Township, 111., at an early day, where he lived until his decease, which
occurred Aug. 5, 1866. Mrs. Johnson's maiden name was Mary Satterfield ; she was born in
Tennessee, in 1813, and now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Barnett. The mother of Mr.
Barnett was Mercy J. Karr ; she was born Dec. 1, 1835, and died March 23, 1863.
DANIEL B.A.RNflART, retired farmer; P. 0. Delano: born in Union Co., Penn., Sept. 24,
1805; he emigrated with his parents to Ross Co., Ohio, in 1810, where he lived until 1854, when
he came to Illinois, and located in Arrowsmith Township, McLean Co., and, in the fall of 1855,
he came to West Township, where he purchased 170 acres, upon which he lived until 1872, since
which time he lias been living with his son, upon Section 2. He married Catharine Sent!', Jan.
81, 1833 ; she was born Aug. 26, 1807, in Ohio ; she died Dec. 28, 1870. They had five chil-
dren, of which two are now living — David and Lavinia J. David is the only son now living; he
was born in Ross Co., Ohio, Dec. 27, 1833; he emigrated with his parents to McLean Co., 111.,
and. since 1855, has lived upon the same farm, with the exception of fifteen months engaged in
the saw-mill business. He now has 240 acres of land under fence and in a good state of cultiva-
tion, upon which he has good farm buildings. His marriage with Elizabeth Creachbaum was
celebrated in Ohio Feb. 9, 1854 ; she was born in Ohio, Oct. 11 1837. They h.ave nine children,
viz. : George N., born Nov. 15, 1854 ; Franklin S., Nov. 24. 1856 ; William D., March 19. 1859;
John R., Jan. 11, 1862; Charlie L , Oct. 20, 1866; James D., Nov. 1, 1870; Benjamin L., June
14,1873; Maggie A. M., June 27, 1875; Aubry E., Sept. 4, 1877. Mrs. Barnhart was a
daughter of .John Creachbaum, who was born in Ross Co., Ohio, where he died October, 1867.
He married Catharine Rough ; she was born in Ross Co., where she died Nov. 23, 1878. Of
township and school ofiices Mr. Barnhart has had his full share, having filled the following
offices: School Director, twenty years; School Trustee, three years; Assessor, one year; Town
Collector, one year ; and other petty offices.
WEST TOWNSHIP. 919
N \THANIEL H. BECKHAM, farmer, Sec. 22 ; P. 0. Sabina ; born in Warren Co., Ky., May
11, 1836; hisfather, Nathaniel Beckham, was also born in Warren Co., Ky., March 21, 1802. He
married Elizabeth Low, who was born in the same county Oct. 25, 1803. They were the parents of
eightchilJren, of which seven arenow living. Mr. Beckham died in the same county, Aug. 21 1844 ;
his widow, who survives him, still lives in the fame county. Nathaniel, Jr., received a limited educa-
tion in an old Kentuckj' log schoolhouse, and lived in Kentucky, where he followed farming and
working out by the month, until 1861, when after visiting various Southern and Western States,
among which was Texas and the Indian Nation, lie came to McLean Co. in the spring of 1861, and
for several years was engaged in farming, and employed as farm laborer until December, 1877, when
he located upon his present place, Section 22, West Township, where he has 320 acres of good prai-
rie land, and 100 acres of timber in Padua and Empire Townships; also several lots in the city
of Le Roy. He is quite extensively engaged in farming, his corn crop for the year 1878 exceed-
ing 5,000 bushels, for which he finds a market at the railroad station of Sabina, located upon his
own land. His marriage with Rachel Bishop was celebrated Jan. 5, 1868 ; she was born in
Empire Township, May 23, 1846. They have six children — Charles H., born Oct. 3, 1868; Mar-
garet E., born Feb. 26, 1870; Susan A., Feb. 12, 1872; Anna M., Sept. 14, 1873; Eliza, Sept.
5, 1875, and James B., June 25, 1878. Mrs. Beckham is a daughter of James Bisliop, one of the
early pioneers of McLean Co., and whose biography appears among the sketches of Empire Town-
ship in another part of this work.
CALEB D. BELLVILLE, merchant, Postmaster and Notary Public, Kumler ; born in Bel-
mont Co., Ohio, Aug. 12, 1823 ; he was the oldest son of Samuel Bellville, who was born in the
State of Delaware, Nov. 22, 1778 : he located in Belmont Co., Oliio, in 1806, where he lived until
1831, when he located in Rush Co.. Ind., and died in Vigo Co., Ind., March, 1867, at the age of
89 years. His marriage with Phoebe Dille was celebrated April 9, 1820; she was born in .\ew
York, May 23, 1800, and died in Vigo Co., Ind., in 1845 ; the Bible from which this record was
taken was presented to her by her father upon her marriage, in 1820, and is now held by Mr.
Bellville very valuable as an heirloom. Caleb D. Bellville remained with his father, attended
school, and followed farming and merchandising until 18 years of age, when he went to Galena,
111., and. after working there one year, with the proceeds of his wages attended the select school
six months. ' He then went to work at carpentering, devoting all his spare time to the study of
surveying, which he continued four years, during which time he had some practical experience
in surveying In 1853, lie went to Richland Co., Wis., where he lived three years, during which
time he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, and Deputy County Surveyor ; he then went to
Crawford Co., where he was appointed Deputy County Surveyor, and assisted to lay out the town
of Belle Center, and used every effort to secure the county seat. In 1859, he returned to Richland
Co., and, in 1862, was elected County Surveyor for two years, and, in March, 1854, enlisted in
the 38th Regt., Wis. V. I. ; he was detailed upon the detective service, and, after serving one
year was. on account of disability, from rheumatism, contracted while in the army, dischirged.
He then went to Vigo Co., Ind., and followed farming three years, and in the fall of 1868, he
came to McLean Co., and located in Oldtown Township, where he lived two years, when, upon
the compleiion of the I. B. & W. R. R., he built the first building erected upon the town plat of
Downs, and opened the first stock of goods at that place ; here he remained in trade, during
which time he was Postmaster until 1876, when he again moved upon his farm, and, in 1877, he
erected the first building at Kumler Station ; was appointed the first Postmaster and put in the
only stock of goods at the station. His marriage with Mary J. McClurg was celebrated Sept. 24,
1843; she was bnrn in Hancock Co., Ind., July 10, 1825; she died in Vigo Co., Ind., Oct. 14,
1867, leaving four children, viz. : Elizabeth J., born May 14, 1847, now Mrs. Perry OrendorflF;
Andrew, born June 24, 1852; Olive L , born Aug. 17, 1854, and Martha A., born Aug. 19, 1860.
He was united in marriage with Rebecca E. Laughlin, June 20, 1869; she was born in West-
moreland Co., Penn., April 26, 1831. They have one child by this union, viz.: Flora M.,j3orn
May 9, 1870.
WILLIAM BIGGS, farmer. Sec. 2 ; P. 0, Saybrook ; was born in Fayette Co , Ohio, June
6, 1824, remaining with his father until the year 1839, when his father died. He then lived
with his mother until 1856, on the fixrm, engaging in farming. He was married to Caroline
Pumpelly Nov. 16, 1861. She was born in Clermont Co., Ohio, July 13, 1839. They are the
parents of one child — Nancy E., who was born Aug. 26, 1862. He has held the office of School
Director ten years. School Trustee ten years. County Commissioner one year, and Supervisor of
Township one term. His father is a native of Delaware, and his mother of Maryland. Mrs.
Biggs' father is a native of Maine, and her mother of New Hampshire. He owns 190 acres of
good farm land.
LEWIS BIGGS, farmer, Sec. 14; P. 0. Belleflower ; born at Smith's Grove, McLean Co.,
111., Aug. 1, 1845. His father, Andrew Biggs, was born in Delaware. He emigrated to Ohio,
from there to Illinois, and located at Funk's Grove in 1835. He followed farming until his
decease, which occurred April 2, 1876. The subject of this sketch followed farming until 19
years of age, when he enlisted in the 146th Regt. I. V. I., in August, 186.i, and remained in ser-
vice until the' close of the war, receiving his discharge July 8, 1865. After farming one year
with his father, he came to West Township, and for five years farmed upon the land of William
920 ■ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Biggs, when he located upon his present phice, where he has since lived. He owns eighty acres
of 'and, which he has placed under good cultivation, and upon which he has good buildings. His
marriage with Bettie Cawly was celebrated Oct. 5, 1878. She was born in Kentucky .July 29,
1832. They have one child by this union — Clarence Dean, born July 24, 1874. Mrs. Biggs is
the daughter of Closes H. Cawly, wliose sketch appears in this work.
.SAMUEL BRILEV, farmer, Sec. 3; P. 0. Farmer City; born in Sumner Co., Tenn., Apr!
10. 1833. His father, .James Briley, was born in South Carolina; he was one of the patriots of
the war of 1812 ; was in many battles, among which was the battle of New Orleans, under Gea.
Jackson. He located in Tennessee, among the Indians and wild beasts, about 1816, and, about
this date, was married to Jane Bundy. She was born in Wilson Co., Tenn. They were the
parents of nine children, five are now living. Mrs. Briley died in Sumner Co , Tenn., in
186((. Mr. Briley still lives upon ihe old place, where he has lived for a period of sixty-tour
years. The subject of this sketch was brought up to farm labor until 21 years of age, when he
started out to seek his fortune, coming to Illinois in 1854. He located in Marion Co., and, upon
his arrival, his capital consisted of his few clotlies tied up in a pocket-liandkerchief. Here he
was employed as farm laborer for five years. He then followed farming for himself for six year^
in Marion Co.. during which time he hid paid for eighty acres of land, which he then sold for
$1,100, and, in 1865, he came to McLean Co. and purchased one hundred acres of land, where
he now lives, and upon which he has good buildings. Mr. Briley has sufi'ered much loss from
diff^erent causes, among which we mention the loss of his dwelling, with furniture, and all of the
clothing of the family, in 1865. In 1869, he lost all his horses, thereby meeting^with a loss of
upward of $500; and, in 1875, he lost seventy-five hogs, being the whole amount of his stock at
that time. For five years, on account of sickness, he was unable to perform any libor upon his
farm, being attended by five different phy.sicians. Upon the 10th day of March, 1859, he was
united in marriage with Ann E. Burford. She was born in Harrison Co., Ind., Dec. 4, 1836.
They have tliree children now living by this union — Burford L., born June 29, 1860 ; Elmer
Ellsworth, Jan. 14, 1862; and Carrie May, June 8, 1868. Mrs. Briley is a daughter of Cary
L. Burford of whom especial mention is made in the sketch of his son, James C Burford, in
another column of this work.
JOHN BRITTIN, farmer, Sec. 1, P. 0. Saybrook; born in Empire Township, McLean Co.,
111., May 3, 1848. He was ihe second son of Nathan T. Brittin, who emigrated from Ohio and
located upon Sec. 1, Empire Township, in 1829. Here he entered land, erected a log house with
stick-and-mud chimney, puncheon floor and clapboard door, hung with wooden hinges. His
first bedstead was called, in early days, a raccoon bedstead, built by boring holes in the end and
side logs of the house, in which poles were inserted and fastened to a single post, where they
met. Their first cupboard and table was an old dry-goods box. In this they kept their dishes
and provisions, and also used it as a table. He married Sarah Barnett ; she was born in Ken-
tucky, Feb. 15, 1816; she died in Illinois Aug. 7, 1878. Mr. Brittin was born in Ohio Oct. 18,
1809 ; he died in McLean Co., 111., Oct. 10, 1869. He was held in great esteem by the poor, to
whom he was very kind. He commenced life without means, and at the time of his decease had
accumulated upward of one thousand acres of land and some $50,000 in securities. They raised
a family of nine children, all of whom lived to grow up. His sketch appears among the biog-
raphies of Empire Township. .John Brittin lived with his parents until 20 years of age, when
his father deeded him 126 acres in Empire Township, upon which he farmed until his father's
death, when he lived upon the old homestead one year, when he removed upon his own farm,
which he afterward exchanged for his present place. He now owns 205 acres upon Sec. 1 , West
Township, all under a good state of cultivation. His marriage with Isadora Straight was cele-
brated June 2, 1867. She was born in Brown O., Ohio, July 5, 1849. She was the daughter of
Amos Straight, who came from Ohio and located in Empire Township in 1858, where he now
lives.
JAMES C. BURFORD, farmer. Sec. 3, Township 21 ; P. 0. Farmer City ; born in Harrison
Co., Ind., June 23, 1843. His father, Cary L. Burford, was born in Kentucky, and emigrated
to Indiana. He afterward lived a short time in Missouri, when he returned to Harrison Co.,
Ind., where he followed farming, and was also engaged in the merchandise trade, during which
time his store was destroyed by fire, by which he suffered a loss of some $4,000. After living in
Indiana several years, he came down the river upon a flatboat, taking with him upon tiie boat
his cattle, horses, machinery, household furniture, etc. He then purchased 700 acres of land in
Marion Co., and for eleven years engaged in farming and stock-raising, when he sold out, and,
in 1865, came to McLean Co., where he purchased 640 acres of land upon Sec. 3, Townsiiip 21,
West Township, upon which lie then located, and followed farming and stock-raising until 1870.
with the exception of one year's residence in Le Roy. In the fall of the above year, he removed
to Farmer City, where he built a double brick store, and, until 1877, was engaged in the general
merchandise trade, wlien he was succeeded by four of his sons, viz.: C. S., J. M., W. T. and J. H.
His business is now confined to the duties required of him at the First National Bank of Farmer
City, of which he is Vice Presiilent and a large stockholder (to the amount of $10,000), the
care of his farm and large amount of real estate which he owns in Farmer City. He was united
in marriage with Annie Shields, Jan. 29, 1829. She was a native of Virginia. Their golden
WEST TOWNSHIP. 921
wedding anniversary was celebrated at their residence in Farmer City upon Jan. 2".), 1879 It
was largely attended. Eight of tlieir nine children were present, and fourteen of the twenty-
four grandchildren. They came representatives of all ages — from infixncy to old age. They
came to the number of upward of one hundred. They came from adjoining villages, counties
and State, bearing costly presents of silver and gold, to pay their respects to this aged
couple who together had traveled the path of life for half a century. Among the presents
were a solid gold-headed cane to Mr. Burford from the Directors of the First National Bank of
Farmer City ; a complete solid tea service and two pairs of gold spectacles to the parents from
their loving children ; and many other presents of silver, as well as valuable books, pictures,
etc. The parents are now 74 years of age, Mrs. Burford being but si.\ weeks the senior of her
husband. Ten of their twelve children lived to grow up, and all except the youngest were mar-
ried in rotation, according to their ages. James C. Burford lived with his father until 20 years
of age, when he engaged in farming upon Sec. S, West Township, McLean Co., where he has
since lived, and where he owns seventy-eight acres of land, upon which he has good farm build-
ings. His marriage with Lucinda Hattell was celebrated Sept. 27, 1870. She was born in Har-
rison Co., Ind., Jan. 18, 1850. Her father, Conrad F. Hattell, was born in Indiana, where he
was married to Mary Sensey, who died in Harrison Co , Ind., in 1859. Mr. Hattell now lives in
Indiana, where he has lived for a period of fifty-six years.
D. J. CAMPBELL, farmer. Sec 15 ; P. 0. Delano. The subject of this sketch was born in
Franklin Co , Penn., Aug. 26, 1846 ; his father, Mark W. Campbell, was born in the same county ;
he emigrated to Clinton Co , Ind., in 1849, where he died in the year 1860; his widow, who
survives him, is now the wife of Absalom Stubblefield, of Funk's Grove. The subject of this
sketch lived with his father until the decease of the latter, during which time he learned the
carpenter trade, and continued ftirming upon the old place until 1866, when he, with his
mother, emigrated to Illinois, and located in Dale Township, McLean Co. Upon the I3th of
December, 1870, he was united in marriage with Maria Gibble ; she was born in Franklin Co.,
Penn., March 27, 1851 ; they have two children now living, viz.: Exavenia, born Sept. 10, 1871
and Robert R., born April 29, 1876. In the spring of 1873, Mr. Campbell purchased his pres-
ent place of eighty acres, upon which he then located, and where he has since lived.
MOSES H. CAWBY, farmerand stock-raiser. Sec. 4 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith. The subject of this
sketch was born in Jessamine Co., Ky., Jan. 11, 1823 when 2 years of age his father died, and
he lived with his mother and followed farming until 18 years of age, when he learned the
cabinet-maker trade, which he finished in 1844 ; he then worked at his trade until 1846, when
he engaged in the furniture trade at Georgetown, Scott Co., Ky., which he continued until 1853;
when became to Illinois, and located upon his present place, where he has since lived, and where
he has 515 acres of land, mostly under cultivation. His marriage with Catherine E. West, was cele-
brated in Georgetown, Ky., Oct. 5, 1848 ; she was bora in Bourbon Co., Jan. 28, 1829 ; her fiither,
Henry West, was one of the early settlers and prominent men of this township, and in honor of
whom this township received its name; he located here in 1851. He was the first Supervisor of
the township, which office he held until 1869, when he removed to Bloominglon, where he now
lives. The mother of Mrs. Cawby was Mary (Lighter) West ; she was born in Bourbon Co., Ky. ;
she died in Scott Co., Ky., July, 1848; the children of .Moses and Catherine Cawby were eight
in number — Henry M., born Jan. 17, 1850; Bettie C, July 29, 1852, now Mrs. Lewis Biggs,
West Township ; Frank, Nov. 5, 1855; Mattie, Sept. 5, 1858; John P., March 13, 1861; Ella,
April 9. 1864 ; Ida M., May 20, 1867; Otie, Aug. 20, 1870. The father of xMr. Cawby was
Martin Cawby, born in Maryland and emigrated to Kentucky, and died in Jessamine Co., in 1825.
He married Susan Tresler ; she was born in Maryland, and died in Indiana, in 1855 ; they were
the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the youngest. Mr. Cawby
has held various offices of West Township, among which are Justice of the Peace, Assessor,
School Director, and other petty offices.
STEPHEN E. CLARNO, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 11 ; P. 0. Weedman ; one of the early
settlers of Illinois; born in Clark Co., Ohio, March 8, 1816; his father, Andrew Clarno, emi-
grated from Ohio, and located in St. Clair Co., 111., in the year 1818, and the year following he
removed to Sangamon Co., ten miles north of Springfield. Mrs. Clarno was the second white
woman that crossed the Sangamon River; Mrs. Clarno died in Menard Co., 111., in 1844; Mr.
Clarno died in Galena, III., July 15, 1851. The subject of this sketch lived with a family by the
name of Straisbridge from 6 to 15 years of age, when he, with his father and brother, went afoot
to the south part of Wisconsin, where they took an active part in the Black Hawk war ; he
remained in Wisconsin until 1839, when he came to Menard Co., 111., where he rented land, upon
which he farmed three years, when he entered forty acres and purchased forty more, upon which
he lived until 1854; when he sold out and removed to Logan Co., where he purchased 640 acres
of land, upon which he lived until 1875 ; when he sold out and came to West Township, where
he purchased 680 acres of land, where he now lives ; he keeps some 80 head of cattle of a high
grade, 150 hogs, some hoi'ses and sheep. His marriage with Nancy Barnett was celebrated April
16, 1840; she was born in Tennessee in 1816, and died in Menard Co., in 1850; of their six
children, only one survives, nov/ Mrs. John Ewing, of Logan Co. He was united in marriage to
Eliza Kincaid, October, 1851; she died in March, 1853, leaving one child — Mrs. M. Dillard, of
922 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
West Township. The maiden name of his present wife was Dorothy Wigginton, to whom lie was
married Jan. S, 18-54 ; she was born in Kentucky in 1824: they have four children now living —
Francis Marion, Siephen E., Jr., James T. and Lucretia.
H. CROSKEV, farmer; P.O. Farmer City; born in Harrison Co., Ohio, April lo, 1827,
where he attended school in his youth and followed farming until he was 28 years of age, when,
upon the 8th of March, 1855, he was united in marriage with Rachel Hamilton ; she was born
in Harrison Co., Ohio, May 21, 1835. Upon his marriage, he purchased a farm in Ohio, which
he di.sposed of the following year and emigrated to Illinois, and purchased 160 acres of land
upon Section 5, Town 21, West Township, upon which he lived three years, when he sold out,
and after living one year in Le Roy, purchased his present place of HiO acres, upon which he
located in the spring of 1860, where he has since lived ; he located in West Township before its-
organization ; was one of tlie active orgmizers of the township ; cast the iirst vote ever polled
in this township, and was the second Assessor. The children of Henry and Rachel Croskey
were five in number — Clara B., born June 12, 1857; Joshua Hamilton, born Feb. 21, 186ii ;
Mary Jane, born Feb. 27, 1865 ; Annie A., born IMarch 16, 1868; Rettie Craig, born Nov. 7,
1871.
JAMES T. CRUMBAUGH, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 18; P. 0. Le Roy. The birth of
this gentleman may be considered as one of the earliest in McLean Co.; he was born in Empire
Township, McLean Co., Jan. 24, 1832; he was a twin brother of Daniel T. Crumbaugh and a
son of Daniel and .Martha (Robinson) Crumbaugh, who were among the earliest settlers of
McLean Co., locating in Empire Township in the fall of 1830. and of whom a more extended
mention is made in another part of this work. James T. remained with his father and followed
forming and stock-raising until 21 years of age, when he farmed for himself for two years, upon
a part of his father's farm, and, the following year, he, with his brother. D. T. , purchased 160
acres of land, upon Section 13, and put in a crop of 60 acres of wheat, which yielded 30 bush-
els to the acre, the whole crop being sold in the field, at $1 per bushel ; in 1856. he purchased
80 acres of land upon Section 18, AVest Township, and, the following year, added, by purchase,.
120 acres more, which he improved, and, in 1864, he realized §i3,500 from th-^ product of his
200 acres, with which he purchased 280 acres adjoining his home farm ; in 1867, he purchased
80 acres, and, in 1869. he purchased 160 acres, at S35 per acre, to which, in 1874, he added 74
acres, for which he paid .52,000, cash, making 794 acres in West, and 60 acres in Empire Town-
ships, upon which there is no incumbrance. Mr. Crumbaugh first commenceil farming upon
rented land, which he followed two years; his capital consisted of one horse ; his harness and
plows he borrowed of his neighbors ; he then, with his brother, D. T., purchased 160 acres of
land, upon time, as well as their farming implements, their seeds being purchased from the pro-
ceeds of their previous farming. He now owns 854 acres of land, feeds 150 head of cattle and
ships his own stock, all of which he has accumulated by his own hard labor and good business
management, in which he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife, to whom he was united
in marriage upon the 18th of Sept., 1863 ; her maiden name was Elizabeth .1. Wiley ; she was
born in Empire Township, McLean Co., Nov. 17, 1841 ; she was the daughter of James Wiley,,
one of the early settlers of McLean Co., and of whom a more extended notice is given
in the sketch of James S. Wiley, among the biographies of Empire Township. Mr. C'-umhaugh
expresses much gratitude to his esteemed brother-in-law, Charles Cope, and attributes much of
his success in life to the kindness and judgment and advice of that gentleman, and by whom he
was generously supplied with money at various times ; not to the subject of this sketch alone
was his kindness shown, but it extended to the balance of the family, as well as to many others.
The biography of Mr. Cope is to be found among the sketches of Empire Township. James
T. and Elizabeth Crumbaugh were the parents of one child, which died in infoncv.
LEONARD A. CRUMBAUGH, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Le Roy: one of the early
settlers of .McLean Co ; born in Sangamon Co., 111., Nov. 13, 1829; he was the son of Daniel
and Martha Crumbaugh, who emigrated from Kentucky to Sangamon Co. in 1828, and located
upon Sec. 14, in what is now Empire Township, in the fall of 1830; here they lived until their
death; Mrs. Crumbaugh died Jan. 4, 1857, and Mr. Crumbaugh died May 19, 1874: they lie
buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery, and over their grave stands a large marble monument.
erected sacred to their memory by their loving children. The subject of this sketch remained
with his father until 21 years of age, and in August, 1852, he entered 20() acres of land upon
Sec. 19, West Township, upon which he then bicated, and where he has since lived during a
period of twenty-seven years; he is, aside from farming, quite extensively engaged in stock-
raising, feeding and shipping from 60 to SO cattle, 100 to 150 hogs, 300 sheep and from 15 to
20 horses; he has since added to his farm by purchase, until it now contains 640 acres of prai-
rie, 45 acres of timber, and 160 acres in Piatt Co. Mr. Crumbaugh has some vivid recollections
of the hardships and privations of frontier life; he has, in times of low water, driven forty
miles to mill, ami mjule two trips to Chicago with wlieit, which he sold at 50 cents per bushel,
lolling back witli salt, leatlier and groceries, the trip consuming ten or twelve da^'s, and tiiey
camping out and doing their cooking. Of township and school oflSces, Mr. Crumbaugh has had
his full share; he was the first School Trustee of West Township, which office he held for six
years; has held the office of School Director for a period of one-fourth of a century, and other
WEST TOWNSHIP. 923
petty oflSces. The marriage nuptials of Leonard A. Crumbaugli and Sarah M. Wiley were cel-
ebrated Sept. 2-5, 1856; she was born in Le Roy Dec. 18, 1888; their children were tive in num-
ber—Pamelia, born Aug. 27, 1858, and died Sept. 7, 1860; William F., Aug. 27, 1861 ; Charles,
Sept. 10, 1864; Gertrude, Aug. 27, 1868, and one which died in infancy, born Sept. 10, 1862.
It will be noticed, by referring to the above dates, that three of their children were born upon
the 27th of August, while the births of the other two occurred upon the 10th of September,
Mrs Crumbaugh was the daughter of James Wiley — an early settler and a prominent citizen of
Empire Township — and who is more prominently mentioned in the biography of .J. S. Wiley, to
be found among the sketches of Empire Township, in another part of this work.
D. MONROE DICKINSON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Sabina; born in Pike Co., 111.,
Oct. 29, 1842 (he is the son of Eliada and Lois Dickinson, whose biography appears among the
sketches of Empire Township, in another part of this work) ; after attending the common schools
until 15 years of age, he entered the German and English College at Quincy, which he attended •
two terms, Jind upon the 8th of August, 1862, he enlisted in the 99th Regt. of I. V. I., and went
forward to battle for the Union ; he served in the campaign of Missouri until the spring of
1863 ; he was then forwarded to the attack upon Vicksburg, joining the army at Milliken's Bend,
and was then continually engaged in fighting, until the surrender of Vicksburg upon the 4th of
July following ; among the battles in which he was engaged upon that campaign, were Grand
Gulf, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, Black River, and was in the memorable charge on
the 22d of May, upon the rebel breastworks at Vicksburg, where the gallant 99th engaged with
300 strong, and of which 150 were killed and many more wounded ; he remained with the army
at Vicksburg until its surrender, after which he was engaged in Mississippi, including the
second battle of Jackson, where, after a two weeks siege, the Union army was victorious ;
returning to Vicksburg, he was transferred to the Gulf department, and after assisting in the
capture of Fort Esperanza, was sent to NLibile Bay, and assisted in the capture of Fort Gaines,
Fort Morgan, Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, when the 99th had the honor of being the first regi-
ment to march into Mobile; he was then sent to Shreveport, La., and Baton Rouge, where he was
mustered out of service in August, 1865. Mr. Dickinson served in the Union army upwards of
three years ; he was wounded at the battle of Magnolia, but refused to go to the hospital ; at the
battle of Black River, a ball passed through his coat and vest; at the second battle of Jackson,
a piece of shell passed through his hat; after receiving his discharge in August, 1865, he
returned to West Township, McLean Co., and the fall of 1866 purchased 280 acres in West
Township, which he afterward exchanged for his present place of 240 acres, where he now lives.
His marriage with Maria I. Williams was celebrated Feb. 28, 1867 ; she was born in Boone
Co., Ind., Jan. 21, 1850; they have three children by this union — Clara Lois, born Jan. 10,
1868; Melvina, Sept. 19, 1870. and Eliada, Aug. 9, 1873.
HENRY B. FRIDLEY, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O.Delano; born in Crawford Co., Penn.,
Feb. 25, 1835 ; his father, John Fridley, was born in Pennsylvania and located in Fulton Co., 111.,
in 1836, where he died Sept 5, 1847. His mother' s maiden name was Esther Buck, born in
Pennsylvania in 1803, and now lives in Fulton Co., 111. The subject of this sketch attended
school and engaged in farming until 20 years of age, when he was united in marriage with Sarah
A. Buck, upon the 11th of Oct., 1855; she was born in Fulton Co., 111., Sept. 28, 1837; her
parents came from Pennsylvania to Fulton Co., 111., in 1836. Three children were the fruit of
this union— Esther M , born April 8, 1858 ; Charles D., Oct. 7, 1859, and Henry F. P., March
23, 1863. Mr. Fridley engaged in farming in Fulton Co. until the summer of 1867, when he
came to McLean Co. and purchased 320 acres of land upon Sec. 25, West Township, upon which
he located, and where he has since lived, and which, by iiis own hard labor, he has brought from
its wild prairie condition to its present high state of cultivation. He also owns upwards of 300
acres of land in Texas, valued at §6,000, all of which he, with the united efforts of his wife, has
accumulated since their marriage, at which date his capital consisted of $2 in cash and five spiung
calves. His first crop in McLean Co. was a fiilure, and he was obliged to run in debt for the
feed for his seventy-six head of cattle, twelve horses and some hogs, which he hauled six miles
through very deep mud. He cultivates many different kinds of fruit, among which are different
kinds of apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, blackber-
ries, quinces, plums, etc.
HENRY GRIZZELL, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 33 ; P. 0. Sabina ; born in Gloucester-
shire, England, July 28, 1815. He was the only child of Josiah Grizzell, who was born in 1769,
and raised in Gloucestershire, England. He followed farming until his decease, which occurred
in the fall of 1834. His mother was born in the same place ; her maiden name was Anna Roach ;
her birth occurred in 1769 ; she died in England in 1843 ; they both lie buried in the churchyard
in Harrisville Parish. The subject of this sketch attended the private subscription schools in his
youth, after which he followed farming until he emigrated to America, where he landed in New
York in April, 1851, after a tedious voyage of thirteen weeks. He then lived in Auburn, N. Y.,
two years, when he emigrated West, and located at Cleaverville, Cook Co., 111., in 1853. Here
he followed fiirming and carpentering for two years, and in 1855, he came to ^IcLeau Co., living
near Bloomington two years, and, in 1857, he came to West Township, and entered 160 acres of
land, upon which he located the following year, and where he has since lived. He was
92-4 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
one of the first settlers of West Township, and is one of, if not the oldest resident of the
township. He now owns 2'JO acres of well-improved land in Sections o2 and 3'), which
be has accumulated by his own hard labor, energy and economy, in ^whicli he has been
nobly assisted by his wife, to whom he was united in marriage in Monmouthshire, England, July
15, 1844 ; her maiden name was Jane Martin ; she was born in the parish of Hardwich, Glou-
cestershire, England, Dee. 12, 1815 ; her fither, Thomas Martin, was born in the same shire,
and died in Monmouthshire in the fall of 1847 ; lier mother's maiden name was Hannah Vick ;
she was born in Gloucestershire, and died in Worcestershire, July, 1841. The children of Henry
and Jane Grizzell were eight in number, of which four are now living, viz : Ann Maria, born
May 15, 1845, now Mrs. H. R. Benson, wife of a prominent lawyer of Bloomington ; Edward H.,
Dec. 15, 1846, ftirming in Barton Co., Kan. ; Robert, Aug. 27, 1848, now in Kansas ; and John
Martin, now attending the Wesleyan University at Bloomington. Mr. and Mrs. Grizzell have
been members of the Episcopal Church since their childhood.
ELIJAH HAM AND, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Perry Co., Ohio, Nov.
9, 1846, where he followed farming until 19 years of age, when he enlisted in the 114th Ohio
V. L ; upon the 22d of August, 1862, he was sent to Memphis, and was engaged in the campaign
through Tennessee, the battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, fight of Vicksburg, Arkansas Post, from there
to Young's Point, where, for three months, he was engaged in digging the canal, being a large
part of the time exposed to the fire of the rebel army ; in the spring of 1863, he joined the
main army of Grant at Milliken's Bend and participated in nearly all of the battles through the
campaign, among which were Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Black River, Champion Hills, and, upon
the 22d of May, when the gallant charge was made upon the rebel breastworks at Vicksburg, in
which his regiment suffered great loss in killed and wounded ; he was then transferred to the
Gulf department, going to Texas ; was engaged in the Red River expedition, after which, he was
Bent to Florida, and from there marched overland and assisted in the capture of Ft. Blakely,
which was virtually the last battle of the war ; in August, 1865, he was mustered out and
deceived his discharge at Columbus, Ohio, having served in the Union army upward of three
years. After receiving his discharge, he located in West Township, McLean Co., and farmed
with his father until 1869, when he purchased his present place of eighty acres, upon which he
has since lived and upon which he has good farm buildings. His marriage with Emma Coleman
w.is celebrated Sept. 6, 1867; she was born in Hamilton Co., Ohio, July 16, 1848; they have
five children by this union, viz., Maggie R., Lydia S., Thomas S., Nannie B. and Emma L. Mrs.
Hamand is the daughter of Henry R. Coleman, of the early pioneeis of McLean Co. Mr.
Hamand is a Republican ; he cast his first vote for A. Lincoln and has always worked for the
success of his party ; he is a Steward of the M. E. Church, of which he with his wife have been
members since 1873.
JOHN HAMILTON, farmer .and stock-raiser; P. 0. Farmer City; born in Harrison Co.,
Ohio, Nov. 22, 1820, where he attended school and followed farming until 23 years of age, when,
after clerking one year in the merchandise trade, he purchased a farm in Knox Co., which he
improved until 1850, when he sold out, and, emigrating to Ulinois, purchased a farm in Empire
Township, McLean Co., upon which he located and followed farming for four years, when, in
1855, he again sold out and purchased his present farm of 320 acres, upon section 6, Town
21, West Township, upon which he then located, and where he followed farming until 1862,
wlien he rented his farm and removed to Bloomington, where he engaged in buying and ship-
ping stock to Chicago and the Eastern markets until 1872, when he returned to his farm,
where he has since lived. He was married to Rebecca R. Pritchard, in Cadiz, Ohio, Aug. 21,
1845: she was born at the above place March 7, 1825; she is a daughter of John and Sarah
Pritchard ; her father was born in Frederick Co., Md., and located in Ohio at an early day ; her
motlier's maiden name was Sarah Brownfield ; she was born in Fayette Co., Penn. The children
of John and Rebecca Hamilton were seven in number — Sarah J. (now wife of B. F. Funk, of
Bloomington), born June 11, 1846; Mary, born March 81, 1849 (she was married to Judge A.
S. Wilson, of Washington Co., Kan., where she died Oct. 12, 1878, leaving two children); Alice,
born July 15, 1851 (now Mrs. J. J. Dally, of .Missouri); Ella, born Jan. 14, 1854 (now wife of
W. E. P. Anderson, a lawyer); Bella, born Jan. 26, 1858; Lizzie, Aug. 14, 1860, and Ernest
P., Sept. 12, 1806 ; the last three now living at home.
WILLIAM W. HAMMOND, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Sabina. The subject of this
sketch was born in Lancashire, England, April 2, 1839 ; his father, Wm. Hammond, was born at
the above place, where he followed blacksmithing until 1841, when he emigrated to America; he
died in Illinois in 1869 ; his widow died in New Jersey in 1877. Wm. W. lived with his parents
until 14 years of age, when he came to Illinois, and located in Empire Township, .McLean Co.,
in 1854 ; his capital at that time was $5 ; he immediately secured employment as farm laborer,
at $8 per month ; and the proceeds of his first season's labor wa.s loaned out and has remained
in than condition for the past twenty-five years. He continued to work out until 22 years of
age, when he was united in marriage, on the 9th of Dec, 1861, with Catharine Bishop; she was
born in McLean Co., April 4, 1842 ; five children were the fruit of this union, of whom four are
now living, viz.: Ida .May, born Sept. 23, 1862; James W., Sept. 3, 1864; Charles B., Oct. 14,
1866, and Elizabeth C , March 11, 1870. Mrs. Hammond is the daughter of the Hon. Malon
AVEST TOWNSHIP. 927
Bishop, whose biography appears among the sketches of Empire Township. In 1861, Mr. Ham-
mond engaged in farming for himself in Empire Township, and, in 1867, he located upon his
present place, where he has since lived and where he has 120 acres of land upon which he has
good farm buildings. He has held the office of Town Clerk, one year ; School Director, nine
years in succession, and some other petty offices. He and his wife are members of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, having joined in 1871.
GEO. VV. HEDRICK, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 5 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; born in what is
now Empire Township, McLean Co., 111., Oct. 6, 1836. His father, Elijah Hedrick, was born in
Fleming Co., Ky., Oct. 19, 1801 ; he eaugrated to Sangamon Co., in 182-t, and to Randolph's
Grove, .McLean Co., about the year 1828 or 1830; he lived in McLean Co., until 1871, when he
removed to Kansas, where he now lives. He married Susanna Lake ; she was born in Virginia,
and is now living in Kansas. The subject of this sketch commenced farming for himself at 21
yeai's of age, and, after two years' labor, he passed one winter in Texas, after which he returned
to McLean Co., where he followed school-teaching on account of ill-he.alth, and the balance of
the time has been engaged in farming and dealing in stock. In 1865, he located upon his pres-
ent place, where he has 320 acres of well-improved land, and 200 acres in other parts of the
township ; he is largely engaged in farming, stock-raising, feeding and shipping to the Chicago
market. He keeps 100 head of cattle, 160 sheep and some horses; he has fed hogs largely, and
within two years has lost upwards of two hundred by the cholera, and his bad luck with hogs
has led him to turn his attention more to the feeding of cattle and sheep. Upon the 20th of
September, 1865, he was united in marriage with Martha West; she was born in Bourbon Co.,
Ky., .Tuly 1, 1834 ; they have four children now living by this union, having lost two by death ;
the living are — Nellie, Frank, Emma and May. Mrs. Hedrick is a daughter of Henry
West, who is prominently mentioned in the sketch of Moses H. Cawby, in another part of this
work .
GEO. W. HILL, farmer, Sec. 15; P. 0. Sabina. Mr. Hill was born in (Jlermont Co., Ohio,
on the 31st day of .January, 1838; he emigrated with his parents, when two years of age, and
located in Pike Co.. 111. His father, Wm. L., was born in Madison Co., Ky., in the year 1810,
and emigrated to Ohio in 1830, where, the following year, he was married to Sarah Salter, who
was born in Clermont Co., Ohio; they were the parents of nine children, of whom five are now
living. Mr. Hill's decease occurred in Pike Co., 111., in the spring of 1865 ; his wife having
died two years previous. The subject of this sketch remained with his father and followed fixrm-
ing until 23 years of age, when, on the 13th of March, 1861, he was united in marriage with
Almira .T. Cohenour ; she was born in Pike Co., 111., Feb. 15, 1839 ; her parents emigrated from
Pennsylvania to Pike Co., in 1836. Upon the marriage of Mr. Hill, he rented land and followed
farming in Pike Co. until 1863, when he came to McLean Co , and, after farming one year in
Dry Grove Township, he purchased 140 acres in Bloomington Township, which he improved
until 1868, when he sold out and purchased 80 acres of his present place, which now contains
120 acres, and upon which he then located, and where he has since lived. The children of
George and Almira Hill were seven in number, of which one is deceased ; the living are — Wallace
H., born Jan. 22, 1862 ; Effie D., Aug. 30, 1865; Almira J., March 81, 1868; Winnie M., Aug.
26, 1870 ; Nellie, Nov. 16, 1873, and Annie, Feb. 23, 1877 ; the deceased died in infancy.
THOMAS HUDDLESTONE, deceased, farmer. This gentleman was born in Yorkshire, Eng.,
Dec. 30, 1806 ; he was the son of Thomas Huddlestone, who died in Yorkshire about the year
1860. The subject of this sketch lived with his father until 28 years of age, when, on March
8, 1834, he was united in marriage with Mary Frank, in Yorkshire, Eng., where he followed
farming until 1840, when he emigrated to Canada and followed farming until about the year
1852; he then emigrated with his family to Illinois, and followed farming in Cook Co., until the
fall of 1857, when he came to West Township, McLean Co., and entered 160 acres of land upon
Section 33 ; here he lived until his decease, which occurred Sept. 26, 1865. Tlie father of Mrs.
Hviddlestone was Francis Frank ; he emigrated from England and died in Canada ; her mother
was Mary Ann Dobson, born in England, and also died in Canada. Mrs. Huddlestone was born in
Yorkshire, Eng., in Oct. ,1817 ; she still lives upon the old place, and, although 62 years of age,
in possession of all her faculties, and daily performs her household duties. Mr. Huddlestone
lies buried in the beautiful cemetery, one mile east of Le Roy. Their children were three in
number — Elizabeth, born in November, 1835 ; Frank, born in January, 1843 ; Mary Jane, born
in 1846. Frank Huddlestone now lives upon the old place. His marriage with Mary Warren
was celebrated Jan. 28, 1873 ; she was born in Jetferson Co., N. Y., Feb. 20, 1844 ; they have
four children by this union — Charles L., born Jan. 10, 1874; William T., Jan. 2, 1875 ;
Edmond W., Aug. 1, 1876; M. F., .Jan. 23, 1879. The father of Mrs. Frank Huddlestone,
Martin L. Warren, was born in Jefferson Co., N. Y"., where he died in April, 1872 ; her mother's
maiden name was Hannah J. Overton ; she was born in New York State, and died in Jefferson
Co., May, 1872.
JA.MES JACKSON, farmer and plasterer; P. 0. Farmer City, De Witt Co. ; born in Man-
chester, Eng., Feb. 3, 1846; his father, Joseph Jackson, emigrated from England and landed in
New York in the spring 1850; after living upwards of five years in Rochester, N. Y., he came
West in 1856, and located in Le Roy, McLean Co., where he lived until 1863, when he removed to
PP
928 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Farmer City, De Witt Co., and followed milling and the dairy business until his decease, which
occurred in Farmer City in April, 1875 ; his widow, who survives him, still resides in Farmer
City, ; her maiden name was Hannah Higginbottom ; she was born in Derbyshire, England. The
subject of this sketch remained with his father, and followed plastering and farmino- until
June 9, 1862, when he enlisted in the fi8th Regt. I. V. I., and was sent to the Eastern army,
where, after five months service, he received his discharge ; and upon the 12th of February, 1863,
he re-enlisted in Co. I, o9th Regt. I. V. 1, and was forwarded to the army of the James, and was
in twenty-seven different engagements, among which were Ft. Darling. Darbytown Roads, and
for one month under fire in front of Petersburgh, and remained in active service until the cap-
ture of Richmond and surrender of Lee's army, in April, 1865; he then remained in Richmond
until August ; was mustered out of service at Norfolk, Va., and received his discharge at Sprino--
field. 111., Dec. 16, 1865 ; he then returned home and followed farming and plastering until 1876,
when he purchased his present place of 110 acres, where he has since lived. His marriage with
Martha J. Weedman was celebrated Dec. 24, 1868; she was born in Kankakee, 111., May 20,
1849; four childi-en were the fruit of this union, viz.: Nellie, born April 26, 1872; John .\.,
born May 19, 1876 ; Bertha, born June 18, 1879, and one who died in childhood.
W. J. KniLER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 35 ; P. 0. Weedman ; born in Bloomington
Township, McLean Co., Nov. 10, 1838. His father, Caleb Kimler, was one of the early settlers
of McLean Co, locating in Blooming Grove, about the year 1828 or 1830; here he lived until his
death, which occurred Jan. 9, 1848. The subject of this sketch engaged in fjirming until 22
years of age, during which time he taught school one season, and on Aug. 29, 1862, he enlisted
in the 4th I. V. C. and went forward to battle for the Union : he was sent to the front at once,
and was in active service in Mississippi and Tennessee until December, 1863, when he was sent
to Natchez, Miss., where he remained one year ; they were then engaged in scouting through
Mississippi and Louisiana, and were afterward engaged in scouting through Tennessee, during
which time they destroyed the Memphis & Charleston R. R ; and was engaged in Tennessee and
Louisiana in scouting, destroying railroads, etc., until the close of the war, when he returned to
Springfield, and received his discharge the latter part of June, 1865, having served in the Union
army nearly three years, during which time he was neither wounded, taken prisoner, nor sent
to the hospital nor guard-house. He then returned to Blooming Grove and followed farming and
stock business one year; and in the spring of 1867, he puixhased 120 acres in West Township,
upon which he lived until 1873, when he located upon his present place, where he has since
lived ; he has 200 acres of land on Sec. 35, upon which he has good farm buildings. His mar-
riage with Ellen Hoover was celebrated April 2,1867; she was born in Clermont Co., Ohio.
Feb. 13. 1839. They have five children now living, having lost one by death ; the living are:
Cora May, born Jan. 4, 1868 : Olie E., Aug. 26, 1869 ; Mary F., Aug 24, 1871 ; William B., Oct.
13, 1875 ; Jessie P., June 7, 1877. Mr. K. has had his share of town and school offices, having
been Town Clerk four years, which office he now holds, as well as Trustee of Schools since 1871,
School Director, School Treasurer, and other petty offices.
JAMES KINCAID, farmer. Sec. 34; P. O. Farmer City. The subject of this sketch was
born in Menard Co., 111., Jan. 3, 1841, where he attended school and assisted his father in
farming until 1862, when he was united in marriage, May 2, 1862, with Ann E. Lukins ; she
was born in Menard Co. July 3, 1841. He then engaged in farming for himself in Menard Co.,
until the winter of 1871, when he came to ^IcLean Co,, and located upon Sec. 34, West Town-
ship, where he has since lived, and where he owns 160 acres of land, upon which he has good
buildings. His father, Andrew Kincaid, now lives in Menard Co.; he was born in Bath"Co.,
Ky., in 1810; his wife was born in the same county in 1820; both parents are now living; they
emigrated from Kentucky to Menai-d Co. in 1836, and were among the oldest living settlers of that
county ; his first patent for 160 acres of land is signed by Van Buren, as President. Mrs. Kin-
caid is the daughter of Jesse Lukins, who emigrated from Kentucky and located in Menard Co.
in 1831, where he died in 1855 ; his widow survives him, and lives in the same county. The
children of .James and Ann Kincaid were six in number, of which five are now living, viz :
William T., born Jan. 4., 1864; Andrew D., Feb. 3, 1865: John G., June 7. 1866; Laura A.,
Oct. 22, 1867, and Martha E., April 25, 1870. In politics Mr Kincaid i.s a Republican, and ca.st
his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for President; he has held several offices, among which is
School Director, .six years in succession, and as Town Collector he successfully handled the funds
of West Township for four years.
JOHN T. LUKINS, farmer; P. 0. Farmer City ; born in Fleming Co., Ky., Feb. 14, 1836;
he was the oldest son of Jesse Lukins, who emigrated from Kentucky and located in Menard
Co., 111., in 1837, where he followed farming until his decease, which occurred in March, ^855;
his widow survives him, and now lives in Menard Co. The subject of this sketch remained with
his father until 15 years of age, after which he and a younger brotlier carried on the farm until
22 years of age. when he purchased eighty acres of land, which he farmed until 1871, when he
sold out and came to West Townsliip, McLean Co., where he purchase<l ItiO acres, upon wiiich
he has since lived. His marriage with Mary C. Hughes was celebrated Dec. 8, 1859 ; she was
born in Menard (^o.. 111., March 14, 1841 ; they have eight children by this union — Thomas,
born Sept. 30, 1860; William E., Feb. 15, 1862; Eva, April 26, 1866; Ida, Feb. 15, 1868;
WEST TOWNSHIP. 929
Susie, Nov. 4, 1869 ; Jennie, Dec. 22, 1871 ; Minnie F., April 18, 1875 ; Jolin E.. Feb. 7, 1877.
Mrs. Lukiiis is the daughter of Hugh D. Hughes, who eniiirrated from Kentucky and located in
Menard Co., 111., at a very early day, where he died in 18U2; his widow survives him, and lives
in Menard Co.
S. R. MITCHELL, farmer and capitalist; P. 0. Farmer City; born in Franklin Co., 0.,
Aug. 29, 1832; he was brought up to milling until 18 years of age, when he eng»ged in farming
for his father until 21 years of age; he then emigrated to Illinois and located in Lexington
Township, McLean Co., in the fall of 1853, where he followed forming and milling until the loss
of the mill by fire in 1857, when he devoted his time to farming until 1805, when, selling out,
he purchased eighty acres upon Sec. 17, Fnipire Township, upon which he lived until 1875,
when he again sold out and purchased his present place of 100 acres, where he has since lived ;
he also rents other land, upon which he raises large amounts of grain, etc.; he also makes
a specialty of loaning money. He was married to Elizabeth Horner, March 12, 1857; she was
born in Pennsylvania Feb. 8, 1838 ; they have ten children now living, having lost one by death ;
the living are — .Joseph, William, Samuel, Homer, Harry, Ollie, Milton, Mattie, Benjamin, and
Henry. Mr. Mitchell has held many offices, among which we mention : Supervisor, two terms ;
Road Commissioner, nine years while living in Empire Township, and School Director, many
years, of District 4.
.1. M. MOON, farmer, Sec. 10; P.O.Delano; was born in Sheffield, Lorain Co., Ohio,
June 22, 1835; he remained with his parents until he was 19 years of age, receiving a liberal
education, first attending Berea Institute, in Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, for one year, then the Folsom
Commercial College, Cleveland, and afterward for one year in Bryant & Stratton's Commercial
College, perfecting himself iu penmanship ; after leaving that institution, he taught penmanship in
Ohio and Kentucky. In the year 1855, he became engaged in buying and shipping hor.-es from
Ohio, and in 1857 engaged in the grain and mercantile business, in the village of Malta, De Kalb
Co., 111., and continued in such until the year 1861 ; his health becoming impaired, he disposed
of his business and became the traveling agent of William B. Young & Co., of Chicago, manu-
facturers of agricultural implements, and remained with them for five years ; during this time
having, with his brother George W. Moon, purchased a tract of 1,040 acres of land in West
Township, of this county, in the year 1867 settled upon it and improved it; being mostly
swamp lands, he made over thirty miles of ditch, rendering them to-tlay the best corn lands in
this county. Mr. Moon has held the office of Supervisor for two terms. He married Miss Mary
Jewett, daughter of Charles Jewett, of De Kalb Co., 111., Feb. 16, 1857 ; they had six children,
four living — Charles 0., Jennie E., Beatrice Y. and Lucina, and two that died in infancy. Mr.
Moon has always taken an active part in politics, as a Republican, and has been a member of
the McLean County Republican Central Committee.
WILLIAM MORRIS, farmer and insui-ance agent ; P. 0. Sabina; born in Sussex Co., Del.,.
June 10, 1814; at 12 years of age, he emigrated with his parents to Preble Co.. Ohio, where
he followed farming until 1839, when he emigrated to Illinois and located in M' rgan Co., where?
he rented land and followed farming for eight years. In 1847, he purchased a farm of 200 acres
in Macoupin Co., upon which he farmed until 1865, when he sold out and purchased DiO acres
of land in West Township, McLean Co., upon which he then located, and where he has since-
lived during a period of fourteen years. During the past seven years, he has been local agent,
for the Rockford & Forest City Insurance, confining his business to territory within fifteen
miles of his residence. His marriage with Sarah Ayton was celebrated Aug. 2, 1837 ; she was-
born in Preble Co., Ohio, Sept. 10, 1812; they were the parents of ten children, five of whomi
are now living — -James B., Isaac N., Mai-y C, Lydia M. and Eliza W. Mr. Morris has taken a-
deep interest in the cause of religion, having been a member of the M. E. Church for the past
forty years ; has been local agent for the American Bible Society for twenty years, and Treasurer
of the same for twelve years. Mrs. Morris' maiden name was Sarah Johnson ; she has two
children by her previous husband, Henry Ayton — Benjamin F., living in Le Roy, and Jane E.,.
living in Greene Co., 111.
EDWIN M. MURPHY, farmer, Sec. 6; P. 0. Le Roy ; born on Sec. 2, Empire Township,.
McLean Co.. May 23, 1836, where he lived with his parents, attended school and followed farm-
ing until when he, with his father and brother, emigrated to Oregon, but not being pleased
with the country, he returned to McLean Co., and purchased 152 acres of land upon Sec. 6^
West Township, upon which he located and where he has since lived. He was the youngest son:
of Isaac Murphy who emigrated from Ohio and located in Bloomington about the year 1826 or
1827 ; he was married to Mary Whitney, in Bloomington; she was born in Meigs Co., OLiio, and
came to Illinois at a very early day ; she died in McLean Co., in 1869; Mr. Murphy entered the-
land where Mr. Dooly now lives, when the Land Office was at Vandalia ; his first tean* was a
yoke of steers ; he afterward raised a team of colts, and in this way obtained his first team of
horses; he worked at carpentering in Bloomington, and put up some of the first buiJding-t of
that town, among which was the fiist jail, using the fruits of his labor to pay for his land ; he-
then followed farming and stock-raising until he had accuiruilated 980 acres of land, which he-
sold out and went to Oregon, where he died April 14, 1872 ; his oldest son. Charles, was the
first white boy born in Bloomington, in December, 1830. Edwin M. Murphy was married to
930 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Jane Howell, in September, 1862 ; she was born in Kentucky, and died in McLean Co., in
November, 1870, leaving two children — John, born Nov. 12, 1863, and l*aac L., born June 20,
1866. His marriage witli Margaret Oliver was celebrated Oct. 26, 1871 ; she was born in Oounty
Derry, Ireland, Feb. 19, 1838, and emigrated to America with her parents when 15 months
old: her father, William Oliver, located in De Witt Co. in 1853, and died May 12, 1875, at the
age of 96 years. The children of E. M. Murphy by his second wife are Mary Jane, born Dec.
5, 1872 ; Laura Bell, Dec. 11, 1876.
PERRY ORENDORFF, ftirmer; P. 0. Kumler; born in Bloomington Township, McLean
Co., July 7, 1842; he is the second son of James K. Oreudorlf, who was born Dec. 28, 1812, in
Kentucky, and came to Illinois with his parents about the year 1817 ; he located at Blooming
Grove in 1823, and was one of the early settlers of this county ; he endured all the hardships
and privations of frontier life ; he served in the Black Hawk war ; was a member of Merritt
Covel's company. He was united in marriage with Lavina Sales May 4, 1837 ; she now lives
upon the old homestead ; Mr. Orendortf died Jan. 31, 1875, in Bloomington Township, where he
had lived for upwai-d of half a century. The subject of this sketch a*.tended tlie common schools
until the fall of 1863, when he entered the Wesleyan University, which he attended until the
following spring, when he engaged in farming witli his father until the spring of 1869, when he
located upon his present place, wliere he has 240 acres of well-improved land, upon which he
has good farm buildings. His marriage with Elizabeth J. Bellville was celebrated April 4, 1869 ;
she was born in Galena, 111., May 14, 1847 ; they have tliree children by tliis union — James D.,
born April 5, 1872; Carrie L., born Dec. 9, 1876, and Lillie, born Sept. 11, 1878. Mrs. Oren-
dorfif is the daughter of C. D. Bellville, who has an extended sketch among the biographies
of this township.
ROBERT POLK, farmer, Sec. 9 ; P. 0. Farmer City. This gentleman was born in County
Derry, Ireland, upon the 24th of June, 1828: at 16 years of age, he, with an older sister, emi-
grated to America, and lauded at Philadelphia in July, 1845; after following teaming here a
short time, he went to Delaware, where he followed farming six years, and, in the spring of 1858,
he emigrated to Illinois, and lived in Chicago three months, when he came to Empire Township,
McLean Co., where, after obtaining employment for a time, he rented land and followed farming
ten years, daring which time he purchased thirteen acres, upon which he erected a residence,
which he disposed of in 1871, and leased 160 acres of land in West Township, upon which he
lived five years ; in the spring of 1876, he removed upon his present place, which he had pre-
viously purchased, and which contains eighty acres of land, all under fence, and in a good state
of cultivation, and upon which he has good farm buildings. Mr. Polk landed in Le Roy in 1858
with a capital of but 40 cents, and, for lack of means, his family were left in Chicago ; he has,
since the above date, with the asssistaiice of liis wife, by their united efforts, strict economy and
hard labor, accumulated a good property. His marriage with Martha Green was celebrated Feb.
1, 1855; slie was born in County Donegal, Ireland, Dec. 11, 1830, and emigrated to America
v?hen quite young; they have six children by this union, viz., Robert J., Mary J., Sarah E. (now
Mrs. John Conn, of Belleilower Township), Martiia B., William S. and Margaret E. Mr. and
Mrs. Polk are both believers in the Protestant religion, and educate their children in that
belief.
W^ILLIAM E. REID, farmer; P. 0. Weedman ; born in Champaigu Co., Ohio, Oct. 31,
1850 : he is the youngest son of R. S. Reid, who was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Nov. 8, 1811 ;
he emigrated to Illinois and located at Randolph Grove, McLean Co., in the fall of 1875, where
he now lives. Tlie subject of this sketch attended the common schools until 18 years of age,
after whicli he attended tlie High School and Normal School, a'. Urbana, for three seasons, and
one season at tlie Teachers' Institute, at Bloomington ; at 21 years of age, he engaged in school-
teaching, which he has followed for the past eight years, in connection with farming, in which,
for the last six years, he has been an equal partner with his father; upon the 14th of March,
1879, he removeil upon his present place in West Towusliip, which he intends to make his per-
manent home. His marriage with Eliza M. Welch was celebrated March 19, 1878 ; she was born
in Danvers Towuship, McLean Co., Oct. 8, 1852; she is a daughter of Henry and Minerva
Welch, who are among the early pioneers of McLean Co., and whose biographies appear in
of Downs Township.
JOHN B. SAVAGE, merchant, Postmaster and Justice of the Peace, Sabina ; residence,
Sabina Station ; was born in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, .Jan. 10, 1844 ; his father, Whalen Savage,
died when the subject of this sketch was but lo years of age, and he, with his mother, emi-
grated to Illinois and located in Downs Township in the spring of 1854; he there worked at
farming during the summer, and attended school during the winter until 20 years of age, when,
in the spring of 1864, he enlisted in the 68rli Reg., 1. V. I., and served with the Army of the
Potomac until he received his discharge; he then returned to Downs Township and was employed
by John McConnell seven years in succession. He was then engi^ed in farming a short time
upon rented land in Downs Township, and, in 1872, he removed upon his present place in West
Township, where he has since lived, with the exception of two years' residence in Le Roy, one
year of which he wag engaged at milling, and one of which he was engaged in the merchandis-
ing trade for himself. During Mr. Savage's residence in Downs Township, he held the office of
WEST TOWNSHIP. 931
Highway Commissioner, Constable, and, as Collector, he successfully handled the funds of the
Township for the year 1871. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1876, and, at the completion
of the railroad through Sabina, he was appointed Postmaster, both of which above otfices he
now holds. He is also engaged in the merchandise trade, handling lumber, coal, salt, lime, etc.,
and buying grain for Barnum & Keenan, of Le Roy. His marriage with Sarah L. Crumbaugh
was celebrated Oct. 1, 1868; she was born in Empire Township Dec. 17, 18-48 ; they have two
children by this union — Herbert, born Sept. 14, 1872, and Annie, April 11, 1875. Mrs.
Savage is daughter of Montgomery Crumbaugh, who emigrated from Kentucky and located
in McLean Co. in the year 1841. Her mother was the daughter of Henry West, in whose honor
this township received its name. He was the first Supervisor, which office he held for many
years.
THOMAS A. SAXTON, farmer. Sec. 5, Town 21 ; P. 0. Farmer City ; born in Harrison
Co., Ohio, Dec. 12, 1826 ; at 11 years of age his father died and Thomas, being the oldest son,
devoted all his energies toward the support of the family ; at 21 years of age. he commenced as
l.irm laborer, being employed by one party seven years in succession. He then rented land
and followed farming and threshing until 1864, when he sold his threshing-machine, some farm
machinery and stock and located upon the farm of J. Keenan, West Township, McLean Co., 111.,
and followed farming and stock-raising until 1872, when he purchased his present place of 160
ncres on Sec. 5, and, in 1875, settled upon the same, where he has since lived ; he has brought
the same to a good state of cultivation, divided in forty-acre lots, and upon which he has good
farm buildings. His marriage with Mary Jane Healea was celebrated Nov. 11, 1852 ; she was
born in Harrison Co., Ohio, April 19, 1827 ; they were tiie parents of five children, of whom one
is deceased; the living are — Mrs. Sarah M. Grizzell, born Jan. 22, 1854, living in Barton Co.,
Kan.; Mary M., Feb. 3, 1858, married and lives in Ohio ; Joseph F., Jan. 11, 1860, and Will-
iam F., Jan. 27, 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Saxton, with their two oldest children, are members of
the M. E. Church, the parents having been members for the past eighteen years, and Mr. S. hav-
ing filled the office of Steward of the church both in Ohio and Illinois as well as several town
and school offices.
J. D. SCOTT, farmer; P. 0. Kumler ; born in Butler Co., Ohio, Feb. 14, 1842, where he
attended school and assisted his father in farming until he attained his majority, when he enlisted
in May. 1864, in the 167th Reg., Ohio V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union. He was
in the campaign of West Virginia during his term of service, and was mustered out and received
his discharge in the fall of 1864 ; he then returned to Ohio, and, upon the 11th day of January,
1865, was united in marriage with Susan A. Kumler ; she was born in Butler Co., Ohio, Sept.
20, 1844 ; they have four children by this union— Otto G., Ord E., OUie M. ana Nellie. Upon
his marriage, he continued farming for himself in Butler Co., Ohio, until 1868, when he removed
to Union Co., Ind , where he engaged in the dry goods trade until 1872, and, in the summer of
1873, he came to Illinois and located upon Sec. 1, Town 21, West Township, McLean Co., where
he has since followed farming.
GEORGE ^\. SNOOK, farmer and grain-dealer; P. 0. Delano. This gentleman was born in
Maryland, on the 25th of January, 1823 ; he was the son of John Snook, who was born in the
State of Maryland, and died in Ohio, in the spring of 1839, At 15 years of age, the subject of
this sketch started out with an older brother, to seek his fortune, his capital consisting of ^2.45 ;
his first labor was working upon the turnpike in Clark Co., Ohio, upon which he labored three
months, without receiving his wages, when the contractor failed and fled, and Mr. Snook lost his
three months labor ; during the following winter, he performed various duties upon a farm,
receiving from 30 to 50 cents per day, and in the spring his capital invoiced one ax, a new suit
of clothes and $15 in money. He was then confined to the house two months with a broken leg.
After which he was employed as a farm laborer, until 1842, when he was united in marriage with
Mary M. Fuller, Sept. 15, 1842; she was born in Clark Co., Ohio, April 6, 1822. He then
rented land for two years, and in the winter of 1844, he labored at |8 per month, and in this
manner he supported his fimily, which at that time consisted of himself, wife and one child.
He then farmed on shares two years, when he hired out in a distillery, where he worked for
eight years, his wages varying from fl5 to $30 per month; during this period of labor he made
his first land purchase by investing $500 in Indiana land, which he held three years, when he
realized a profit of $1,000. He continued dealing in land while working by the month, until he
had realized a profit of .$3,500. In 1854, he purchased a farm, for which he paid $4,000, upon
which he located and engaged in farming and dealing in land, until 1861, when he so'd out, and
coming West, located in Logan County, 111., in the fall of 1861. Here he followed farming and
dealing in real estate, until he came to McLean Co., and located upon Sec. 23, West Township,
in 1868, where he has since lived. He now owns 1,100 acres of land, upon which he has ten
sets of good farm buildings, all of which he has accumulated by his own hard labor, economy
and careful business management, in which he h.as been nobly assisted by his amiable wife, and
to her efforts he generously attributes the greatest share of his success. In politics, he is a
Republican. His religious belief is Universalist. Has been a strong temperance advocate for the
past thirty years. He is a public-spirited man, and considers well the .interest of his township;
to his efl'orts the township of West may feel truly grateful for what has been accomplished for
932 iJlOGllAi'lllL'AL SKETCHES:
its benefit. The completion of tlie narrow-gauge railroad through the township, at this time,
is one of the public enterprises in which ^le has been actively engaged. He lias witnessed the
completion of this road, secured a station upon his own land, and engaged largely in buying
^rain. and although this is his tirst season, his shipments will reach 100,000 bushels, for which
he pays tlie highest possible ))rice. He has also secured a post office at the station, put in a stock
■of merchandise, put up a blacksmith-shop, and deals in coal, to which he will soon add a stock of
lumber. The children of George and Nlary Snook were ten in number, of which eight are now
living — Nancy M., .Joseph L., John T., Charles C, Walter H., Sarah L., Henry Q., and Will-
iam W.
JAMES STEELE, farmer and grain-buyer; P. 0. Weedman ; residence Weedman Station.
The subject of this sketch was born in th? city of Glasgow, Scotland, June 30, 1835. He emi-
grated with his parents, when 7 years of age, and landed in New Orleans, in the winter of 1842..
Coming up the .Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, he landed at Louisville, Ky., where he resided with
his parents until the summer of 1853, a part of which time was employed in farming in Indiana.
At the latter date, he came to Sangamon Co., HI., where he arrived in poor health, and with a
capital of 15 cents. He then worked at farming during the summer, and through the winter he
worked for his board, and, by strict economy and close application to his studies for two years,
he had advanced sufficiently in his studies, and had saved of his earnings means to enter Illinois
State University at Springfield, which he attended until 1859, when, having exhausted his means,
he engaged in teaching until 18b2, when he raised a company for the Illinois volunteer infantry,
which was mustered into service, and sent to Kentucky. After serving one year he received his
discharge on account of disability. He then resumed teaching, which extended over a period of
eighteen years, thirteen of which was employed in the villages of Athens and Sweetwater. In
the fall of 1876, he located upon his present place, where he has 160 acres of land, with good
farm buildings. Aside from farming, he is largely engaged in buying corn for the Southern and
Eastern markets. His marriage with Sarah E. Ham was celebrated in Sangamon Co., 111., April
11, 1861; she was born in Sangamon Co., Feb. 16, 1843; they have five children no\v^ living,
having lost three by death. The living are — John H., Albert H., Laura B., Minnie, and Ann
Eliza.
JACOB G. SWEGLE, farmer; P. 0. Kuraler; born in Fulton Co., 111., May 18. 1845; here
he was engaged in fixrming until 27 years of age, when he was united in marriage with Mrs.
Frances E. Swegle, March 10, 1874; her maiden name was Frances E. Householder; she was
born in Pennsylvania, and emigrated to Knox Co., with her parents, when quite young. Upon
the marriage of Mr. Swegle, he followed farming a short time, in Fulton Co., and, in 1874, he
located upon Section 12, West Township, where he has 160 acres of land under cultivation, upon
which he has good farm buildings. The children of Jacob and Frances Swegle are — Charlie and
William. Mrs. Swegle has two children by her previous husband — Elizabeth and Ruth.
WILLIAM L. SWINEY, farmer; P. 0. Farmer City; born in Menard Co., 111., Sept. 5,
1851 ; his father, William C. Swiney, was born in Kentucky, and emigrated to Illinois and
located in Menard Co , in the year 1836; here he entered 320 acres of land, upon which he
lived until 187(f, when he sold out and purchased 640 acres in De Witt Co., where he has since
lived. He was united in marriage with Elizabeth Ehlredge, in Menard Co.; she was born in
England and emigrated, with her parents, to America when quite young, landing in Baltimore ;
from there to Illinois. The subject of this sketch attended school and assisted his father in
farming until 23 years of age, when his marriage with Sarah C. Weedman was celebrated, upon
the 21st of June, 1875; she was the daughter of George Weedman, who was born in Perry Co.,
Ohio, in 1824, and located in McLean Co., 111., in 1830, with his parents; they came to
Bloomington when there was but one log cabin there. He now lives in De Witt Co., near Farmer
(Jity, and is engaged in farming; Mrs. Weedman was born in Indiana; her maiden name was
Kate Danner ; both parents now live in De Witt Co.
THOMAS WAR TON, farmer; P. 0. Farmer City ; born in Pike Co., III., April 22, 1845,
where he lived upon the farm until 21 years of age ; he had obtained a common-school educa-
tion, and at the above age entered the Whipple Academy, at Jacksonville, in lSt)7, where he
attended two seasons, and, in 1861), came to West Township, where he boarded, for two years,
with Henry (irizzell, and improved his farm, which he has since brought from its wild, jirairie
condition to its present state of cultivation. He erected his present residence in 1S74, where he
lias since lived. His marriage with Anna (!. Bright was celebrated Dec. 25, 1874; she was born
May 10, 1H51 ; they have one child now living by this union — Mary A., born Dec. 11, 1876.
Mis. Warton was a daugiiter of Peter L. Bright, who emigrated from Penn.sylvania to Illinois,
and is now making his iiome with Mr. and iVIrs. Warton.
JOHN WEEDMAN, fanner, stock-dealer and banker; P. 0. Farmer City ; residence Weed-
man Station ; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.; born in Perry Co., (3liio, Feb. 3, 1828 ;
his fatlier, John Weedman, was born in Pennsylvania in the year 17'.'7 ; lie emigrated to Ohio,
and, in tlie fall of 1830, removeil to McLean ('o.. 111., and was in Bloomington when there was
but one log house in tlie place; after living in McLean (^o. seven years, he removed to De Wilt
Co., near Farmer City, and entered land upon which he lived many years, then emigrated to
Iowa, where he lived until his decease, which occurred at liis home in Webster City, Marcli 2,
WEST TOWNSHIP. 933
1867 ; Mrs. Weedman was born in Maryland, and died in De Witt Co., 111., in 1853 ; her maiden
name was Rachel Wilson ; their children were seven sons and three daughters, of which all save
one lived to grow up. The subject of this sketch made his home with his father until 1830,
when lie, with four of his brothers, went overland to California, going by the old Oregon route,
crossing the Rocky Mountains at South Pass and arriving at Placerville, upon the 26lh of July,
having been four months upon the trip ; he then for nine months engaged in mining and trad-
ing, and, upon April 1, 1851, left San Francisco upon a sailing vessel via Panama, which
they crossed upon mules, foot and by boat ; from there by steamer to New Fork, having been
six weeks upon the trip ; he then returned to Illinois, and for two years engaged in farming iu
De Witt Co., wliere lie located upon liis present place, where he has since lived during a period
of twenty-nine years ; he has upon his home ftirm GfjO acres, upon which he has fine buildings,
and '234: acres in De Witt Co., with good buildings, also fifiy-two acres within the corporation
limits of Farmer City, a large portion of said city being laid out by Mr. Weedman, his brother
and Mr. McCord ; he is largely eng.aged in buying, feeding and shipping stock to Chicago and East-
ern markets ; in 1870, he associated in the banking business at Farmer City, under the firm
name of Thomas & Weedman, and, in 1876, he purchased his partner's interest, since which
time he has continued the banking business under his own name ; his business card appears in
anoilier part of this work. Mr. Weedman related to the writer many incidents characteristic of
frontier life that this brief space will not admit; in 1847, he went with Isaac Funk with a drove
of cattle to Chicago, and finding a dull market, he for many days assisted in herding them on
land upon which a part of the city of (^Iliicago now stands ; he also assisted in driving hogs to
Pekin, and to Eugene, upon the Wabash, at one time driving 1,200 head ; about the year 1843,
he with his father, took a load of apples and peaches to Cliicago ; the dealers at that time would
not purchase so large a load, and he was obliged to peddle them out from house to house, in lots
of from one peck to a full bushel ; he also made many trips to Chicago with grain, selling the
same at 50 cents per bushel, freighting goods to Springfield from Chicago at $1 per hundred.
His marriage with Mary A. McDonald was celebrated March 31, 1853; she was born in Madison
Co , Ohio, Sept. 22, 1834; six children were the fruit of this union, of which four are now liv-
ing— Harriet .J., born Dec. 21, 1857; Cassius M., Aug. 12, 1860; Rachel, March 4, 1862, and
John S., Dec. 15, 1865; the oldest daughter, after attending the Wesleyan University, entered
the Female College at Jacksonville, where she is now attending, and from which she expects to
graduate the coming season; of the other children, the oldest son is attending the High School
at Farmer City, the young children living at home. Mrs. Weedman is the daughter of Thomas
McDonald ; he was born in Tennessee in the year 1802 ; he emigrated with his parents to Ohio,
at an early day, and located at Farmer City in 1851, where he now lives with his wife, to
whom he was married in Ohio, where she was born and raised ; her maiden name was Rebecca
J. Erwin.
SIMEON H. WEST, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Arrowsmith ; Mr. West was born in
Bourbon Co., Ky., where he attended the common schools during the winter until 16 years of
age, after which he engaged in farming until he emigrated to Illinois, and located in West
Township in tlie spring of 1851. West Township received its name in honor of his father, who
was the first Supervisor of the township, which office he held until 1869, when he removed to
Bloomington, where he has since lived. In 1852, the subject of this sketch went to California,
going down the river to New Orleans, then to Vera Cruz by sailing-vessel, then horseback via
the City of Mexico to Acapulco ; from there by steamer 2,000 miles to San Francisco, where he
arrived in April of the same year ; he remained in California and engaged in mining until 1854,
when he returned via the Nicaragua route, being swamped in Virgin Bay, where he had a nar-
row escape from drowning, forty of the ninety passengers being lost; he then returned to his
farm which he improved until 1859, when he again went to C-ilifornia by the overland route,
going by the mail stage from Tipton, Mo., to San Francisco, Cal., — a distance of 3,000 miles,
being maile by constant travel day and night, 1,100 miles of which were among hostile Indians ;
he followed mining in California with fair success until 1861, when he returned to his farm,
where he has since lived. His marriage with Martha 0. Neal was celebrated June 21, 1863 ;
she is a native of Ohio; they have six children by this union — -Rosa L., Henry C, Laurence J.,
Marietta, Carrie M. and IMarcus D. In 1873, Mr. West was elected Supervisor of West Town-
ship, which office he has since held with the exception of one year, the last year being elected
without opposition. He is largely engaged in feeding cattle, which he buys and ships from
Chicago in car-load lots, and, after feeding tintil ready, re-ships to the Chicago market.
934 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
MOUNT HOPE TOWNSHIP.
L. J. ADKINS, farmer; P. 0. McLean; was born in Pike Co., Ky., April 7, 1824; went
with his parents to Louisville. Ky., in 1831. His father, Elijah, was one of the first settlers of
Pike Co. ; the county seat was built on his land. In 1842 he went to Clarksville, Tenn.. where
he engaged with his brothei'-in-law, clerking in the wholesale grocery and confectionery business
until 1850. He tlien engaged in the confectionery business on his own account, and was burm d
out the same year, losing nearly everything. Sept. 19, of the same year, he married Hester E.
Poor ; she was born in Logan Co., Ky., May l.H, 1832, and was a daughter of Col. D. W. Poor;
he represented Logan Co. in the State Legislature three terms. In the fall of 1854, they moved
to Mount Hope Township, where he bought 160 acres, and has followed farming ever since.
They have had nine children ; three sons and four daughters are now living.
CARLON C. ALDRICH, grain and lumber dealer, McLean; was born in Swanzey, Cheshire
Co., N. H., Oct. 2, 1829 ; married to Miss L. A. Willson, Nov. 6, 1854, and moved to Dubuque,
Iowa, in 1855. He located in the village of McLean, Aug. 8, 1860, where he engaged in the
grain and lumber trade. In 1868 he formed a copartnership with A. B. Stoner and H. \V.
Bachman, under the firm name of Stoner, Aldrich & Co.. and erected the Mount Hope Mills.
An elevator, in connection with the mill, aifords the best facilities for the handling and storing
of grain. Mr. Aldrich owns 200 acres of farm-land in the vicinity of McLean, worth about $40
per acre. He has served the people of Mount Hope as Supervisor for two years. He has three
children — two daughters and a son.
CORDELIA G. ALLIN: P. 0. McLean; widow of John W. Allin, who was born in Vandalia,
111.. .July 9, 1826; moved to Bloomington with his parents previous to 1830. Nov. 8, 1849, he
married Cordelia G. Parsons, who was born in Monongalia Co., West Va., Sept. 30, 1823 ;
moved to Connersville, Ind., with her parents, in 1833, and to Bloomington, 111., in 1842. Mr.
Allin followed farming until his decease, Dec. 3, 1865. They moved to Mount Hope Township
in March, 1859. They had four children — Lucy E., Harriet A., William P. and George, who
died May 8, 1861, aged 8 years and 27 days. Mrs. Allin, with her three children, now resides
on the farm (160 acres) which they purchased in the spring of 1859.
LAFAYETTE ARCHER, Collector, McLean ; the present Collector of Mt. Hope Township;
is a native of New York, his birthplace being near the city of Rochester; he came West with his
people when he was two years old, they locating in Bureau Co. He remained tliere until the
age of 23 years ; while a resident of this county he learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner.
From there he came to McLean Co., and for two years was engaged in farming. In 1862, he
entered the army in the war of the late rebellion — three years service. He had served nearly his
term of enlistment, when he received a wound wliich disabled him for further service. He was
in many of the heavy battles, among which may be mentioned the battle of Nashville, in 1864;
that of Pleasant Hill, battle of Tupello, Miss., and also the battle of Fort DeRuso. After leaving
the army, he returned to McLean, and, until 1877, was engaged at the carpenter trade. From
this he began farming again, and, in 1878, was elected to his present office. He is an old soldier
who enjoys the respect and confidence of the people, and any confidence yet placed in him has
not been betrayed.
G. A. ATCHLEY, farmer; P. 0. McLean ; one of the finest farms of 160 acres, in Mt. Hope
Township, is that of Mr. Atcliley, located in Sections 1 and 12. He is a native of Mercer Co.,
N. J., his father and mother both being natives of tlie same State; he was born in 1831, and,
during his early life, received a fair education. He came West in December, 1868, and bought
120 acres of his present farm, his family coming in the spring of 1869. Since then he has added
forty acres to his farm. Under his careful cultivation he has made it one of tlie most valuable
pieces of property in his vicinity. He was married Dec. 18, 1852, to Miss Mary Applegate.
They have a family of four children — one son and three daughters. Mr. Atchley is well knuwn
as one of the thoroughly reliable men of Mt. Hope Township.
H. W BACHMAN, engineer, McLean ; is a native of Montgomery Co., Ohio ; he was born
May 5, 1836; when he was 3 years old, his people moved to Jasper Co., 111. ; upon the death of
his father, in 1844, the family moved to Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1852; then
moved to Tazewell Co., 111. ; wliile he was a resident of Pennsylvania, he had learned the
trade of an engineer; he spent a few years in travel over the Western States, and, Aug. 13,
1861, he enlisted in Co. B, 3d I. V. C, three-years' service, being mustered out of service in
Springfield, 111., in 1864 ; during his service he was in thirty-eight battles, among which were
the battles of Pea Ridge, first battle of Vicksburg, tliat of Arkansas Post and of Gun Town,
Miss. After being mustered out of service, he returned South, and, for a time, was in Govern-
ment employ ; after which, he went to Texas, where he remained till 1866 ; in 1867, he came to
McLean and engaged in the milling business, though he did not form his present partnership until
1868, the firm now being Stoner, Aldrich & Co., Mr. Bachman being the engineer of the firm ;
MOUNT HOPE TOWNSHIP. 935
he is a straightforwavd, unassuming kind of a man, though in point of integrity and honor he
may always be depended upon
WILLIAM L. BARNES, farmer; P. 0. McLean; was born in Scituate, R. I., June 11,
1814. He married Sarah Andrews Nov. 23, 1840 ; they had one daughter, born April 29, 1845;
she married .James H. Irvin, of Mt. Hope Township, Sept. 5, 1860, and died Oct. 5, 1865, leav-
ing no issue. Mrs. Barnes was born in Killingly, Conn., April 9, 1820. They moved from
Rhode Island to Mt. Hope Township in February, 1856, where they still reside, owning a good
home and eighty acres of beautiful land.
A. W. BASCOM, druggist, McLean. In writing of the business industries of McLean, the
drug establishment of A. W. Bascom requires mentioning. This is, by far, the leading house of
the town, and one of the brightest, cheeriest business houses of the place. He is a native of
Washington Co., Ky.; was born in March, 1855, and was 8 years old when his people left Ken-;
tucky; remaining with his father through his travels, uutil he located at McLean in 1865 ; he
received a good education, and at a proper age engaged as a clerk in the drug line ; he has now
been in business for himself for three years, though he has had seven years experience in the
drug business, which has enabled him to become a thoroughly-educated druggist; among liis
stock and assortment of goods, may be mentioned, iirst a full and complete line of pure drugs ;
aside from this he has a large stock of lamps and lamp fixtures, cigars and tobacco, garden
seeds, a fine line of show-case goods, etc. These are all conducive to his success ; but no more so,
than a fine family prescription department, over which he presides personally. He is certainly
one of the live, active business men of iSIcLean ; and as a financier, has proven himself equal to
any emergency that has yet arisen.
.JAMES C. BASCOM, v[. D., McLean. Dr. .J. C. Bascom, one of the long-established phy,
sicians of McLean, is a native of Brown Co., Ohio; when he was yet but a boy, his parents
moved to Kentucky, locating at Augusta ; during his early life he had but little opportunity of
getting an education ; he prosecuted his studies, both literary and scientific, under great diffi-
culties ; but, being of a determined nature, he surmounted all obstacles. He began the study
of his profession in Washington Co., Ky., and also began his practice there, which he continued
for eighteen years; then moved to Louisville, and from there to Greencastle, Ind., finally locat,
iug permanently in McLean, in 1865. He is an active member of the Literary Society, and at
present is holding the office of President of the Public Library Association, to which he has made
very liberal contributions; he is a gentleman who, in his dealing with the public professionally,
has maintained a straightforward course, thereby winning the respect and esteem of the better
class of the community. In May, 1845, he married Miss Fanny M. Jones, a native of Washing-
ton Co., Ky.; they have five children, four daughters and one son, the latter being one among
the leading business men of the place. The Doctor, by his energy and industry, has acquired
a nice home and established a good business, and now, at his time of life, instead of wandering
over the world, he is one of the honored and respected citizens of McLean.
THOMAS CARR, McLean, 111.: was born in Westborough, Worcester Co., Mass., May 2',
1860. His father, Thomas Carr, Sr., emigrated to that State from Ireland, in 1855. Iv.
May, 1853, Miss Rosa O'Hagan emigrated in company with a younger sister from County
Down, Ireland, to Westborough, where she was united in marriage with Thomas Carr, Sr., Dec,
31, 1857. In February, 1867, the little family moved from Massachusetts to Minnesota, where they
remained until the following August, when they removed lo McLean, 111., where they now reside.
Young Thomas, the subject of this sketch, has, by remarkable diligence and perseverance, passed
through the various departments of the ^IcLean School, with great credit to himself and hia
teachers. On the 22d of May, 1879, he, together with his classmate Clarence L. Stonaker, con-
stituted the first graduating class of the .VlcLean School. Mr. Carr delivered the valedictory
address. Since he was nine years of age, Thomas has, during vacation and on Saturdays, been
engaged in the grocery store of F. A. Wheelock, where he enjoys the confidence of his employer,
and the good will of the community. On the ISth of February, 1879, the candidates for appoint-
ment to the Military Academy at West Point, were examined at Bloomington. Thomas entered
for examination in a class of thirty-eight, and, although failing to secure the appointment, stood
third in the class. We have in this case a striking instance of what untiring industry and ster-
ling integrity can accomplish, together with an illustration of the almost universal law, that the
mother's influence is one of the most potent forces for good known to the world.
SAMUEL J. CHAPIN, farmer and breeder of short-horns ; P. 0. Atlanta, Logan Co. ; was born
Aug. 27, 1812, in Uxbridge, Mass. ; he followed farming and school-teaching until 1839, when he
came to Mt. Hone Township, McLean Co., HI., via Pittsburgh (over the Alleghany Mountains),
down the Ohio, and up the Mississippi River to St. Louis ; thence to Pekin, 111., by water, and
from there overland to Mt. Hope Township, arriving in the spring of 1839. He married Comfort
Ann Tucker, Dec. 1, 1837 ; slie was born in Massachusetts, and died Aug. 31, 1840; they had
one son — Frederic W., who is now in California. He was married March 29, 1841, to Harriet
N. Morse; she was born in Sutton, Worcester Co., Mass., March 29, 1817, and came here in the
fall of 1837, with her father, John .Morse, who built the second frame house in .Mt. Hope Town-
ship ; by this marriage there were six children, only one now living — John Morse, the youngest;
the oldest, Caleb F., lost his life in the late war, at the age of 20 years and 7 months, after three
936 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
years of volunteer service in the Union army. Mr. and Mrs. Cliapin and son, John Morse, now
live on the old homestead, owning 376 acres, prairie and timber.
■JOHN MORSE CHAPIN, farmer; P. 0. Atlanta, Logan Co.; was born in Mt. Hope Town-
ship, .Tune 1. ls5y, and married Oplielia A. Willis, April 10, 1878 ; she was born in Wapello Co.,
Iowa, May 28, 184'.i.
L. P. CROSWELL, dealer in hardware and tinware, McLean ; is a native of Clermont Co.,
Ohio ; in 1865, he came West and located at McLean, here he also learned his trade, that of a
tinner ; in October, 1878, he began business for himself; he is just the right kind of man to
Inake a success in business ; thougli still a j-oung man. and not vei'y long engaged in business,
he has already the leading hardware house in McLean ; his stock comprises everything almost
imaginable in the hardware line — heavy and shelf-hardware, stoves, table and pocket cutlery,
revolvers and ammunition, and, in fact, everything in the hardware line; tinning of all descrip-
tions is done to order ; should he succeed in the future as he has done in the past, there is little
doubt of his success.
.JOHN M. DARNALL, fai-mer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Stanford; was born in McLean
Co., 111., Sept. 30, 1833 ; came here with his parents in December. 1834. His father, Nicholas Dar-
ball, was born in Boone Co., Ky., March 15, 1807, and moved to McLean Co., 111., before the
deep snow of 1829-30, being one of the earliest settlers of the county; he died April 16, 1848.
John M. Darnall married Hannah Zollars Jan. 3, 1865 ; she was born in Waynesville, Ue Witt
Co., 111., June 24, 1841 ; they have had five children — Lee and Charlie, living; Sarah died June
8, 1870, aged 1 year and 12 days ; George died April 6, 1872, aged 7 months and 26 days ; the
eldest, a daughter, died in early infancy. Mr. Darnall owns 222 acres of pi-airie and timber
land ; a portion of it is part of the farm his father bought in 1834.
WILLIAM W. EWING, farmer. Sec. 20; P. 0. McLean; was born May 6, 1843, in
Butler Co., Ky.; he moved with his father's family to McLean Co., 111., in May, 1853 ; he
enlisted in Co. B, 2d I. V. C, on Nov. 16, 1863, and, after two years of active service, was
mustered out with his regiment at San Antonio, Tex., Nov. 22, 1865. He was married,
March 7, 1867, to Miss Sirilia M. Crain, who was born in Logan Co., Ky., April 15, 1849 ; her
father was a Lieutenant in Co. K, 8th Ky. C, who died in the United States service March 7,
1863. They have two sons — William W., born Jan. 20, 1869, and John L., Dec. 3, 1874. Mr.
Ewing owns a farm of 160 acres, situated in Sec. 20, where he now resides; his land is worth
about $40 per acre.
E. FARNSWORTH, farmer; P. 0. McLean. E. Farnsworth is a native of St. Charles Co.,
Mo., his parents being natives of Vermont, the name of Farnsworth being of English origin.
When he was 7 years old, he went to live with an uncle in Detroit, Mich., until the age of 21.
He is naturally fond of travel, and has traveled over many of the States and Territories. In
1852 he was married to Miss Sarah A. Longworth, she being a native of Ohio, though her
parents were among the early settlers of McLean Co. In the spring of 1867 he located on his
present farm of 156 acres, which is located one-half mile west of McLean, and is a splendid
piece of property, under a good state of cultivation, and improved with good buildings. This is
wholly the result of Mr. Farnsworth's energy and industry. During the war of the late rebel-
lion, he was anxious to enlist, but. on account of a crippled hand, was not accepted. He has
held the office of School Trustee for sixteen years, being elected in 1853. They have a family of
four children — two boys and two girls.
LEWIS FAY, M. D., McLean. Another of the pioneers of McLean is Dr. Fay, who is
a native of Worcester Co., Mass.; he was born in 1832, and, at the age of 18 years, began the study
of medicine, finishing his course at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, where he graduated
in the spring of 1855; spent one year in Fayette Co. and then came to McLean, where, for a
few years, he was kept riding almost day and night ; the country being new and the streams not
bridged, he was frequently obliged to ford them when the water was so cold as to be almost
dangerous ; the consequence of this overwork was, in 1860, his health failed and he was obliged
to give up his practice; to regain his health, he made a trip to the West, spending one year at
Pike's Peak and other localities; upon his return, his health being yet delicate, he tried farm-
ing until 1864 ; at thi-* date, he went to Atlanta, Logan Co., and engaged iu the drug business,
which lie continued until the spring of 1871 ; he then returned to McLean and began the practice
t)f his profession ; the Doctor is a man who has seen and helped to make many of the improve-
ments in the development of McLean Co. ; lie is a man of good standing and ability, and may
justly be called one of the pioneers of McLean Co.
GEORGE W. FUNK, stock-dealer; P. 0. McLean. George W. Funk, who is well known in
McLean Co., is a native of Funk's Grove Township. He was born May 14, 1827, being the oldest
of the sons of Isaac Funk. His father dying Jan. 29, 1865, the business of settling up the estate
devolved upon him, there being about 27,000 acres of lan<I and a large amount of stock and
other property, which he took charge of by the unanimous consent of his brothers. He has
been married twice, first, Jan. 29, 1867, to .Miss Susan Pumpelly, siie being a native of Ohio, but
most of "^er life was spent in Kentucky. At the time of marriage, she was a resident of McLean
Co. At herdeatJi, which occurred Dec. 15, 1867. she left a boy but 6 days old; they have named
him Isaac. He was married again May 30, 1876, to Miss Rose Fitzwilliams, she being a native
MOUNT HOPE TOWNSHIP. 937
of Ross Co., Ohio; they have, by this marriage, one child, a little girl, born March 4, 1878. He
is one of tlie large land-owners of the county, owning 8,200 acres, most of which is located in
Funk's Grove Township. He now makes a business of feeding and shipping stock. In 1870, he
was elected on the Republican ticket to the long term of the Legishiture of 1871-72, there
being an extra session called to determine some means of relief to the people of Chicago, who
sutfered from the effects of the great tire of 1871. There is no family in McLean so extensively
and favorably known as the Funks. George W., the subject of this sketch, is probably as well
known as any member of the family, though they are all prominent citizens of McLean Co.
JACOB FUNK, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 24; P. 0. McLean; was born in Funk's
Grove, McLean Co., 111., April 7, 1830, and was married to Miss Mary A. Waltham Nov. 18,
18-38, who was a native of Bedford Co., Penn.; Mr. Funk has three children — Charles A., Clara
M. and Dean. He owns a farm of 2,500 acres, valued at about §45 per acre; his residence is
situated on the north bank of Sugar Creek, in Sec. 24. He has served the people of Mount
Hope Township as School Trustee for eight years in succession, which office he now holds ; he
has also served as Highway Commissioner for nine successive years.
R. E. GIFFORD, grocer, McLean ; one of the active business men of McLean ; is a native
of Watertown, N. Y. ; born in April, 1850, and at the age of 2 years came West with his people,
they locating in Pike Co., where he remained until March, 1864. then located at McLean, McLean
Co. At the age of lU years, he engaged with Mr. Aldrich, with whom he remained for three
years. In 1864, he began traveling for C. Wakefield & Co., of Bloomington, his route being
principally through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska ; he was with Mr. Wakefield until the
spring of 1878, when he decided to engage in business on his own account. In a short time
after leaving the road, he located at McLean, and embarked in the grocery trade, which he has
since continued with good success ; his stock consists of a general assortment of goods — a full
line of groceries and provisions, queensware, china and glassware, fresh and canned fruits,
sirups, oils, smoked, pickled and dried meats, brushes: nails, salt, and garden seeds, and, in
fact, everything pertaining to a well-stocked grocery and general assortment store ; he is pleas-
ant and courteous in his treatment of customers, his four years' experience on the road having
taught him many valuable ideas of commerce.
MRS. E. J. HARLEY, McLean. Mr. Harley, who died .Jan. 6, 1873, was well known to
the people of McLean and Logan Counties, and will long be remembered by a large circle of
friends. He was a native of Pennsylvania his birthplace being near Philadelphia. When he
was but a boy, his people came West as far as Ohio, locating at Dayton ; they moved from there
to McLean Co., being among the first settlers of the county, locating at what is known as Bar-
ley's Grove, the name originating on account of the Harleys being the first settlers there. In
after years, his father,' brother and himself ran a saw-mill for about six years; he then removed
to Logan Co., and was engaged in a distillery for five years, and, later, engaged in farming, which
business he was engaged in at the time of his death, which occurred as above stated. He was
married, March 27, 1852, to Miss E. J. Houghey; her people being early and prominent pioneers
of McLean Co.; Mr. Harley, being a resident of Logan Co. at the time of their marriage. After
his death, Mrs. Harley in 1877 removed to McLean, where she now resides one of the promin-
ent and highly respected ladies of the town.
M. G. HAUGHEY, grain dealer, McLean. Another of the principal business men of
McLean, is M. G. Houghey ; he is a native of Greene Co., Ohio, where he was born, in April,
1840; in 1848, his people moved West, locating in Logan Co., 111., for two years, then removed
to McLean Co.; his father owned one section of land, a short way from the town of McLean,
the old farm being known generally throughout the county as the old Houghey farm ; there Mr.
Houghey grew to manhood; being one of a family of nine children, he had to depend upon
his own exertions, in a measure, in procuring his education. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. A,
17th I. V. I., for three years' service ; after serving about one year, he was discharged on
account of disability. After returning from the army he engaged in the stock trade, gradually
drifting from this to the grain trade ; in 1871, he rented the elevator where he now does busi-
ne-s, buying the same in 1874 ; he has a storing capacity of about thirty thousand bushels of
grain ; during the season, he buys about one hundred thousand bushels of corn. In connection
with the elevator he handles lumber and building materials and a good assortment of drain tiles.
He is doing an extensive business, which is the result of his own energy, industry and good
financiering.
MRS. MARY .J. HITCHCOCK, hotel, McLean. The people of McLean will long remem-
ber Mr. .John M. Hitchcock, who, for some time previous to his death, was proprietor of the
McLean Hotel. He was a sharp, shrewd business man, and at his death left his family in easy
circumstances. He was a native of Vork Co., Penn. During his life he had been quite a trav-
eler. In 1850 he made a trip overland to California. He enlisted twice in the Union army in
the war of the late rebellion, first in the 161st Ohio National Guards — three mor)ths' service.
Serving his term of enlistment, he returned home, and again enlisted in Co. A, 62d Ohio V. I.,
but this time was discharged on ccount of disability for service. Mrs. Hitchcock is ^ native of
Baltimore Co., Md., her people moving to Ohio when she was 13 years old. She was married
May 12, 1850, her maiden name being Rind. His death occurred Aug. 20, 1876. He left a family
938 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
of two girls — Miss Addie M.. born Feb. 8, 1858, and Miss Mazila A., March 22, 1874. Mrs.
Hitchcock is still conducting the McLean House. By her courteous treatment of strangers and
those who have had occasion to visit her house, she lias many friends among the traveling public.
FRANCIS M. HOBLIT, fiirmer and stock-raiser ; P. O. Atlanta, Logan Co. ; was born in Logan
Co., 111., April 1, 1837. He married Marfjaret M .Tuttle, Dec. 24, 1863 ; she was born in the same
county; they had one son- — Francis Eugene. His second marriage was to Amanda .J. Pervis, and
was celebrated May 23, 186('. ; she was born in Wilson Co., Tenn., March 24, 1843; she came to
Sangamon Co., 111., with her parents in 1840, and has been a resident of Illinois ever since, and
an active and consistent member of the Baptist Church since the age of 17. Mr. Hoblit owns
160 acres of fine prairie land. By his last marriage, he has six cliildren — Dora A., William A.,
Aurilla M., .lohn E.. Kate E. and James.
.JOHN KELLOGG, Notary Public, McLean. In writing the biographical history of the old
settlers of McLean, Mr. John Kellogg is mentioned us, if not the fii'st settler, one who is surely
as well known as any man of Mt. Hope Township : he is a native of Pittsfield, Berkshire Co.,
Mass., born April 19, 1803; his people are of Welsh descent; in 1834, he made a trip West,
locating at Pekin, where he remained two years, buyi^tg grain, which lie shipped to St. Louis ; he
organized the first Sabbath school that was ever originated in that place, filling the office of
Superintendent, which he has done for many yeai's in different schools, as he has been a member
of the M. E. Church for fifty-two years. A two horse wagon which he brought from the East
was a great curiosity to the class of settlers which he found at Pekin ; he tells many funny
incidents which occurred be ween himself and the people ; they could hardly be reconciled to
the belief that a live Yankee was a safe kind of an animal to be at large ; however, before leav-
ing there, they were most any of them ready to fight for him if occasion required ; after residing
there two years, he returned to the East, where he remained until 1854, when he again came
West, locating at Tremont, Tazewell Co.; there he was engaged in the mercantile trade for three
years, when he moved to McLean and followed the same business until 1802. Since his residence
in McLean, he has been almost continually in public office : for many yeai's, he has been Justice
of the Peace and Notary Public : he held the office of Postmaster lor twelve consecutive years,
except during A. Johnson's administration ; he was at that time asked to remit $5 to help sup.
port the Constitution, which he refused to do, the consequence being he stepped down and out
for a couple of years ; he has also held the office of Township Supervisor for two years ; during
the township organization question, he took an active part, being President of the meetings. He
is a man so well known to the people of Mt. Hope Township that compliments of press
are unnecessary. He was married Oct. 15, 1828, to Miss Sarah Hubbard, of his native county ;
thev have had two children, but one of whom is living — Mr. N. S.,who was born July 17, 1829.
" SAMUEL B. KINSEY, farmer; P. 0. McLean; was born in Highland Co. Ohio, Sept. 19,
1826, of Quaker parents ; he moved, in 1S43, to Logan Co , 111., where his time was occupied
with teaching in winter and farming in summer. In 1850, he was elected as Assessor and Treas-
urer of Logan Co., which responsible position he held for two years. Soon after the expiration
of his term of official service in Logan Co., he entered with a land- warrant a quarter-section of
prairie land in Mt. Hope Township, to which he has added another quarter-section since, toget er
with twenty-five acres of timber land. Mr. Kinsey was united in marriage with Miss Mary
Stephens in December, 1848; they had one son — G. H., who died upon faii-ly arriving at the age
of manhood, and a daughter who died in infancy ; his wife died after but a few years of married
life; in August, 1854, he was married to Miss Melicent Stephens, a sister of his first wife, and
who still lives; this union resulted in five children — John A., Jervis H., Nathan L., Effie and
Maud. In the first organization of Mt. Hope Town-hip, Mr. K. was e'ected Assessor, and, two
years after. Supervisor, and continued on the Board until 1862, when he resigned, having
received from Gov. Yates authority to organize a company of infantry for the United States
service, which he succeeded in doing; he raised ninety men in six days and was at once elected
Captain ; his company entered the service as Co. A, 117th I. V. I ; he resigned his commission
on account of failing health on the 10th of May, 1864, and returned home. In 1869. he was
elected Commissioner of Highways and School Trustee, and, in 1870, was elected Supervisor, all
of wliic'n offices he now holds.
EZRA T. KENYON, retired farmer; P. 0. Atlanta. Logan Co.; was born in Sterling, Windham
Co., Conn., Fc. 16, 1813. At the age of 10 years, he went into a cotton mill, and worked in
various departments until April 13, 1840, when he started for the West with his little family
and $1 ,000 in money. They came via Erie <'anal and the lakes to Chicago, thence to Crown
Point, wliere they stayed only a shoi-t time. Procuring a team of oxen and wagon, they loaded up
their baggage, himself sick with ague, and wended their weary way across prairies, swamps and
rivers, reaching Mount Hope Township on the 9th day and the farm where he now resides, 160
acres of which he had purchased two years before. They arrived on the 18ih day of July, 1840.
Mr. K. married Susan S. Rahbone, of Sciluate, R I. Oct. 7, 1832. She was born in Exeter,
R. I., Oct. 4, 1809. Her forefathers wei-e of English origin, and fanners. They have been
blessed with two sons — Dennis and Hzra W., who own fine homes and large farms adjoining the
homestead. Prosperity now smiles whereat first they experienced hardsliip for ten or fifteen
years, when they had lo go forty miles to mill or market with an ox team, and sell their corn or
MOUNT HOPE TOWNSHIP. 939
oats for 5 cents a bushel, and wheat for twenty-five cents ; while for clothing they spun, wove,
colored, cut and made up wool from their own sheep ; and now, for the last nine years, rich in
home and friends and ripe in years, they are reaping their earthly reward, with a homestead
increased to 400 acres, and farm buildings desirable for size, number and convenience.
DENNIS KENYON, farmer and stock-raiser, P. 0. McLean ; was born in Coventry,
Kent Co., R. I., Oct. "_'4, 1838. While yet a lad of 7 years, his parents moved to Illi-
nois, where they still reside. Mr. Kenyon was united in marriage with Miss Adaline G.
Peck, Aug. 15, 1854. She was born in Dighton, Bristol Co., Mass., Jan. 30, 1827. He
served as Second Lieutenant in Co. A, 117th I. V. I.. He was mustered into the service
Sept. 19, 1862, and resigned his commission Dec. 28, 1863. He has served the people of
Mount Hope as Supervisor for two years in succession. He owns a valuable farm of 1,600
acres, situated on the east branch of Sugar Creek. His residence is on Sec. 32.
EZRA W. KENVON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Atlanta, Logan Co.; is the
youngest son of Ezra T. Kenyon, and was born in Windham Co.. Conn., .Jan. 21, 1835. He
came to Illinois and to Mount Hope Township with his parents in 1840. March 25, 1858,
he married Margaret A. Leonard. She was born at Silver Lake, Susquehanna Co., Penn.,
May 19, 1837. They have three children — Sarah E., Emma L. and Arthur T. Mr. Kenyon
owns 520 acres of fine rolling praii'ie and woodland, adjoining and contiguous to his father's
and brother's laud.
S. I. LEACH, book-keeper; P. 0. McLean. The residents of Mount Hope Township are
principally from the New England States. Of these we mention Mr. Leach, who is a native of
Cheshire Co., N. H. He remained a resident of his native place until the age of 21; he then
enlisted in Co. A, 14th N. H. V. I., for three years service ; serving his term of enlistment, he
was discharged, .July 21, 1865, and returned to New Hampshire, where he remained but a short
time, when he came West, accepting a situation with Mr. Aldrich, Sept. 1, 1S65. This position
he has since held. Since his residence in McLean, he has held several public offices, being at
present Clerk of Mount Hope Township, having held this offiice since 1868. He is also a member
of the Board of Trustees, and has held the office of School Treasurer of Mount Hope Township
since 1874, all of whicli offices he has filled with credit to himself, and to the entire satisfaction
of the people. He was married Oct. 12, 1862, to Miss Nancy M. Blake, of his native county ;
they have a family of three of the brightest little boys in the village. Mr. Leach is a true type
of the Eastern gentleman, in education, deportment and courtesy; he has the esteem and friend-
ship of the people, and is generally known among them as a man whose word is as good as his
bond.
.JOHN LONGWORTH. retired farmer; P. 0. McLean. Many of the younger people of
McLean Co. have little idea of the hardships endured by the early pioneers, and when told of
them by parties who were the first settlers, the facts seem almost too romantic to be true. Of
those who were among the early settlers of Mt. Hope Township, we mention Mr. and Mrs. John
Longworth. He is a native of VVashington Co., Ohio, while she is a native of Maine. In 1836, they
came West and locited in Mt. Hope Township, their possessions being principally stout hearts and
willing hands. They hive both been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years ;
he since 1830 and she since • 829 — church being held at the different neighbors' houses, their's being
the meeting-house for about four years. Mrs. Longworth says it was no small affair, as tlie cus-
tom usually was for the whole congregation to take dinner before going home. In those days,
she used to do her own spinning and weaving. A complete history of their lives would require
a book half as large as this. Though we will add that by energy and industry they accumulated
a good property, and for many years have been known as among the more prominent and better
class of citizens of the township. Mr. L. still owns 193 acres of land in Sec. 31, a part of which
is the same new land that he located on in 1836. He has also held several public offices. They
were married in 1831; her name, previous to marriage, being Miss Prudence P. Edwards; they
have a family of six children, three sons and three daughters
MARION McCORMICK, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. McLean ; was born March 3, 1834,
in Brown Co., Ohio; lived there until 1850. and then moved to Tazewell Co., 111., and in 1856
bought a farm of eighty acres in Boyington Township ; he sold tliis farm in 1863, and moved to
Mount Hope Township, McLean Co., buying 160 acres, and now owns 240 acres of beautiful
land. He was married Jan. 29, 1861, to Belinda C. Longworth, who was born in Morgan Co.,
Ohio, Dec. 26, 1834; they have two children — Louie M., born Nov. 27, 1862, and Isaac C,
March 8, 1871, and died March 16, 1871 ; Frank Moore, a little boy of seven years, has been
their household pet since three months old, and, as near as may be, is considered one of tlieir
own family. Mr. McCormick enlisted under Capt. Colt in the volunteer infantry, at Delavan,
111., in August, 1862; was mustered into the service the same month, and served seven months
in Kentucky and Tennessee, and was discharged on account of physical disability. Mr. and
Mrs. McCormick, and daughter Louie, are members of the M. E. Church, in McLean.
C. M. NOBLE, M. D., McLean. It is very seldom that a young physician meets with such
success in the first few years of his practice as has Dr. C. M. Noble, of McLean. He is a native
of Randolph Township, McLean Co.; born Dec. 16, 1850; after receiving a thorough literary
education at tlie Normal College, in the fall of 1873 he began the study of medicine, graduating
940 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES;
at the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, Penn., March 11, 187<J; after graduating,,
he returned to his liouie, his people being residents of his native township : they were among
the prominent pioneers of that part of the county, the family being of English origin. The
Doctor had remained at home but a short time until he concluded to locate at McLean ; when
he came there, he was wholly unacquainted, though in a short time he had established himself
both in society and in a professional sense. He is a member of the McLean County .Medical
Society, ami of the Central Illinois Medical Society, of which he held the ottice of Vice President
during the year 1878. By his close attention to business, his thorough knowledge of the science
of medicine, he has established a practice that is probably not equaled by one-half of the old
physicians of the county.
JOHN J. PITTS, teacher, McLean; was born Oct. 20, 1853, in Mt. Hope Township, McLean
Co., 111.; he attended the Wesleyan University at Bloomington, during the year 18b9-70; he
entered Shurtletf College at Alton, 111., September, 1870, and graduated in June, 1877. He has
conducted the large school at Mt. Hope for two years in succession. He owns 160 acres of fine
farming-land, situited on Sugar Creek, which is worth about §45 per acre, where he now resides.
He was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Roberts, of Alton, 111., Aug. 14, 1878.
JOSEPH A. PITTS, farmer, McLean; was born in Bristol Co., Mass.; Nov. 14, 1823;
he moved to McLean Co., 111., Oct. 14. 18">2. He was married to Miss Betsy V. Peck, March 24,
1852 ; they have had four children, viz. : John J., born Oct. 20, 1853 ; Elizibeth S., born April
25, 1857 ; Lemira M., born Sept. 7, 1861 ; and Augustus D., born Oct. 9, 1862. Mrs. Pitts died
Nov. 24, 1867. Mr. Pitts married Miss Augusta A. Starbuck, May 16, 1876, for his second wife,
by whom he has one child — Herbert A., who was born Oct. 29, 1877. He owns a farm of 840
acres, situated in Sections 27,28, 33 and 34, where he now lives; his laud is worth about §45 per
acre.
JASON T. PLACE, farmer ; P. 0. Atlanta, Logan Co. ; was born in Foster, Providence Co.,
R. I., Sept. 10, 1820; at the age of 22, he commenced teaching a district school in Rhode
Island ; in the fall of 1846, he first came to Illinois to see the country, and taught school during
the winter in a log cabin : returning to Rhode Island the next spring, he taught school and farmed
until 1856; then made another visit to llliniois, and remained teaching and farming until the fall
of 1861 ; he then returned to Rhode Island, and, on April 15, 1862. married Martha E. Peck,
the youngest daughter of Gen. William Peck, who was one of the original owners, and Surveyor,
of Mt. Hope colony; she was born in Dighton, Bristol Co., Mass., May 23, 1834 ; in the fall of
1869, they sold their farm in Rhode Island, and moved to this county, and, in the fall of 1870,
bought the farm they now own (160 acres), and moved on in the spring of 1871 ; they have two
sons — Riiymond M., born in Foster, R. I., March 4, 1866; and Thaddeus R., Aug. 11, 1868.
N. POSTON, railroad agent, McLean. It is generally conceded by the citizens of McLean,
that Mr. N. Poston has been the most accommodating and courteous of any man that has been in
the employ of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, stationed at McLean, for many years; he is a
native of McLean (_'o.; his people settling in the county as early as 1851 ; he is of English
de-;cent, on his mother's side, though his great-grandfather was one of the staff of Gen. Wash-
ington ; he began learning telegraphing with his brother, though not until he had received a
liberal education at the Wesleyan College of Bloomington, and at the University of Kentucky,
at Lexington ; his brother being located at Braiilwood, with whom he studied, on the Jackson-
ville Division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad : he is now both freight and ticket agent and
operator at McLean, and is also agent for the U. S. Express Co.. The different branches of his
work keep him quite busy, though he is thoroughly capable of attending to them in a proper
manner.
JOHN S. RATHBONE, former and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Atlanta, Logan Co.; was born in Johns-
ton, Providence <"o., R. I., Nov. 22, 1830. and moved to McLean Co., 111., in September, 1853; his
father, John H. Rathbone. was one of the oM colony men, and built the first frame house (now
8tan<ling and occupied by them) on the prairie in Mt. Hope Township, on the farm which he
bought, and now owned by the son — the title never having passed out of the family. This house
was built in 1837. .Mr. Rathbone married Mahala McCrary March 11, 1859, who was born in
Gibson Co.. Ind , March 8. 1839; they have had seven children — Ann E., Benjamin G.. Charles
A., .Mary ()., William II. and Abbie ; decestsed — one— John H., who died at the age of 1.] years.
Mr. Rathbone owns this fine old homestead of 320 acres, except seven acres, which were cut off
by the C A. & St. L. R. R., and sold by him.
A. M. SCOTT, teacher; P. 0. Atlanta, Logan Co. Mr. A. M. Scott, principal of the graded
school of Mcf-ean, is a native of Onondaga Co., N. Y. ; he was born in 1852 ; his people coming
West in 1S56, and locating at Atlanta, Logan t'o. ; this he has since called his home, though
since he has been 18 years ohl, the most of his time has been spent in other localities ; by his
own exertions, he has succeeded in procuring a good education, having attended the Normal
College of Bloomington. He has been engaged principally in teaching, though for a short time
he whs in the employ of a Beloit firm, of Wisconsin, as book-keeper and traveling salesman ; he
tatifrht his first term of scliool at the age of IK years. Previous to coming to McLean, he had
taught the schools of Wapello and Heyworth. He iiccepted the jxjsition of principal of the
McLean school in the fall of 187^; under his supervision it has been re-organized to a graded
MOUNT HOPE TOWNSHIP. 941
school, as was also the Heyworth school. He expects to graduate his first class at McLean in
May, of 1879. If the asserlion of the public, and the statements of his many friends may be
relied upon, he is a gentleman and scholar, as well as a first-class teacher. Should he succeed
in the future as admirably as he has in the past, there is but little doubt that his ambitions may
be realized.
BENJAMIN V. SHARP, farmer; P.O. McLean; was born in Schenectady Co., N. Y.,
April 29, 1839; he moved to Pike Co., 111., in 1856, and to McLean Co. in September, 1859,
entering the Wesleyan University, remaining there two years. He then enlisted in the "id I. V.
C, for three years service, but was discharged at the end of a year on account of poor health ; he
returned to the University, where he remained two more years — until September, 1864 — ^wheq
he moved to Mount Hope Township. He married Miss Lizzie A. Heazle, of Bloomington, Sept,
IS, 1864; she was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Nov. 6, 1845, and came to Bloomington with
her parents November, 1851; her school days were spent in the Bloomington Female College,
and she was a graduate of the Class of 1864; they have had three children — James A., born
June 2l', 1865, and Freddie B., March 17, 1867 ; Maud E. died March 3, 1876, aged 2 years, 10
months and 13 days. Mr. Sharp owns 245 acres of fine prairie and timber near McLean.
A. R. STONER, miller, McLean. The firm of Stoner, Aldrich & Co., proprietors of the
Mount Hope Mills, is without a doubt the most prominent milling firm in McLean Co.; Mr.
Aldrich does the general outside business of the firm, Mr. Stoner being the practical miller, and
Mr. Bachman, foreman, the elevator in connection with the mill being the individual property of
Mr. Aldrich. Mr. Stoner, the subject of this sketch, is a native of Harrisburg, Penn.; he
learned the trade of a miller in Lebanon Co. of that State; served a two years apprenticeship,
and before leaving had entire charge of a seven-run mill ; this alone, is pretty good evidence of hi&
practical ability ; he has done considerable traveling to have succeeded so well, if we remember
the old maxim, "A rolling stone gathers no moss;" in 1853, he came West and began milling-
in Peoria; he was there but a short time ; from there he went to Mackinaw, then back to Peoriaj
and. in 1860, went West, where he spent four years; one and a half years of the time he spent
in the Walla Walla Valley ; made his home trip in 1864, to the East ; same year he came West,,
and. in 1867, located at McLean. In 1868, they began building the mill of which he is still one
of the pi-oprietors ; they have three run of stone, with a flouring capacity of about one hundred
barrels daily ; their trade is about equally divided between custom and merchant milling ; thei]>
manufacture of flour is so well-known that no commendations are required; they are, as a firm,
men who have won the entire confidence of the community by honorable and square dealing.
MRS. F. E. TAYLOR, dry goods, McLean. One of the most brilliant and thoroughly-edu^
cated young physicians that has ever lived in McLean was Dr. Taylor, who is well remembered
by the citizens. He was a native of Louisville, Ky. He began the study of medicine with Dr,
Johnson, of McLean, and, in 1867, graduated with high honors at the Chicago Medical College,
He began practice in McLean, though, in a short time, his health failed. Thinking a trip to
Minnesota might be of benefit to him, he, with Mrs. Taylor, made the journey. They were in,
Minnesota about three months, then returned to McLean, where he died of consumption in 1869,
in his 28th year. For the past two years, Mrs. Taylor has been engaged in the dry goods and
millinery trade. She is possessed of good financiering abilities, and has established a business
that forms an important item in the business industries of McLean. By skillful management,
her business has grown to such magnitude that she contemplates taking a partner. She is a
shrewd business manager in conducting her affairs so successfully, and has proved herself a
better financier tlian many of the business men of the place.
M. M. THOMAS, blacksmith ; P. 0. McLean; is a native of Lancaster Co., Pa.; lie was
born in 1811; though quite old, he is still a driving business man; during liis early life
he had but little chance of procuring an education ; he first learned the trade of the manufacture
of edged tools, and from his knowledge of this very easily picked up the blacksmith trade ; he
has made several changes in his life — first moving to Ohio, where he remained for twenty-one
years ; then came to Illinois and located in Henderson Co ; from there to Fulton, and to McLean
in 1866. Since his residence in McLean he has been engaged in farming and blacksmithing; in
1875 he sold his farm, and has since given his attention to his trade ; he is now manufacturing
and selling large numbers of what is known as the Thomas Drag, of which he is the inventor,
Mrs. Thomas is a native of Harrison Co., Ohio ; they had a family — two sons and thi-ee daughters ;
had two boys in the war of the late rebellion, Albert and James B.; the former was in the 11th
I. V. Cav.; the latter, J. B., in the 103d I. V. I., three years' service ; at the siege of Atlanta he was
wounded, from the effects of which he died at Marietta, Ga. Mr. Thomas is one of the vvell-to-do,
respected citizens of McLean. By his energy and industry he has established a good business,
GEORGE VERRY, farmer; P. 0. Atlanta; was born in Armington, Tazewell Co., 111.,
April 13, 1851 ; he moved to Mt. Hope Township, McLean Co., in the spring of 1872, and mar-^
ried Emma A. Crane, Oct. 8, 1874 ; she was born in Keatucky, Sept. 7, 1854 ; they have had
two children — Nora E. and Edna ; the former died Aug. 28, 1876. Mr. Verry farms 320 acres
of land.
C. W. WHEELOCK, farmer; P. 0. McLean; was born in Worcester Co., Mass., April 12,
1836; when he was 18 years of age, his parents moved to Illinois, and first settled in MacoupiA
942 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Co., purchased and improved a farm, aud, after a residence of one year, sold out, and, in the fall
of 1855, came to the village of McLean, at that time containing but one house ; his father haviro
been appointed agent of the C. & A. R. R., they lived in the small depot, and at the same time
made the building do for a hotel, eight or nine years. In 1856, he built the hotel now known
as the " McLean Hotel," in which he resided up to his death, March 25, 1870. Mrs. Wheelock
now resides with her son, the subject of this sketch. He started in life for himself in 1859, as
a fixrmer, and, at the breaking out of the late civil war, enlisted in Co. C, 5th 111. Cav., and
served four years and four months. After his discharge, in company with his brother and father,
be purchased a tiouring-mill at Waynesville, and moved it to McLean in 1805, it being the first
flour mill put up in that village. In 1867, they sold out to Conrad McCormick. Mr. Wheelock
has since turned his attention to farming. He has been Constable, Assessor and Village Trustee,
and at present Deputy Sheriff. He married Dec. 25, 1865, Mary F. Gibbs, daughter of .James
and Mary Gibbs, of McLean, who came from Menard Co. in 1859 ; they have had five children,
thi-ee living — Nellie S., Charles G. and Carrie N.: and two dead — Edward aud Fred.
HUDSON TOWNSHIP.
JACOB C. ADAMS, M. D., physician and surgeon, Hudson: born in Mechanicstown, Car-
l*oll Co., Ohio, May 20, 1848, but removed in early childhood with his ftither's family to Van
Wert, Ohio, thence to Deer Creek Township, Tazewell Co., 111., in 1855 ; after a residence here
of some ten years, he removed to El Paso, aud, in 1868, commenced the study of medicine with
his father, .John Quincy Adams ; also, followed teaching for some years ; in 1871, he entered the
Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated at that institution March 1, 1873, and
commenced the practice of his profession the same year at Gridley, this county; removed to his
present home in July, 1873. Married in September, 1874, to Miss Rose L. Chadbourne, who was
born in Oxford Co., Me.; thej' have one child — Edwin M. The Doctor is a member of the fol-
lowing Masonic bodies: Woodford Lodge, No. 654, and Macky Chapter, No. 80.
DeWITT C. BENJAMIN, deceased, Hudson. Mr. Benjamin was born in Red Rock,
Columbia Co., N. Y., May 28, 1820; he received his early eilucation at the Academy at Kinderhook,
N. Y., and, being a great student, became proficient in Latin and Greek at quite an early age;
When 16 years old, he was converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, three years
later, was licensed to exhort ; in 1841, he received his first license as local preacher. In October,
1849, he was married to Miss Sarah Swartz, who was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., March 6,
1821. Four years after their marriage, they came to Illinois, locating in Hudson Township, this
ounty, where his widow and the surviving members of the family, with the exception of one
daughter (Mrs. Price), now reside ; they had a family of six children, three of whom are living
• — Mary and Martha, graduates of Wesleyan University, now at home, and Annie, wife of Scott
Price ; they have lost three — Roger, died July 6, 1861 ; Emma, Nov. 10, 1864, and their son,
DeWitt C, who was a graduate of the Wesleyan University, died Feb. 8, 1875 Mr. B., for
hiany years, was an earnest worker in the cause of Christ, traveling through the West and North-
West, contributing also liberally to societies in need and to institutions of learning, always lend-
ing a helping hand ; for some years he served as one of the Trustees of the Wesleyan University
at Bloomington, and to this institution he contributed liberally and gave much of his time to its
Work and needs. His widow still occupies the farm in Hudson Township, which contains 730
acres of land ; the heirs also own 960 acres of land in Kansas.
ALBERT BISTORIOUS, general stock, Hudson; born near Culmer, France (now a part
of the German Empire), April 20, 1840, but removed to this country in early childhood, with liis
father's family; tliey located at New Orleans, La., in 1850; thence to Galveston, Tex., and about
a year later to Limestone Township, Peoria Co., where they resided until 1S72, when they
Removed to the city of Peoria. The subject of this sketch resided at Peoria until 1865. In 1871,
he was married to Miss Mary Hurl, who was born in Pennsylvania; four children by this union
■ — Catherine, Maggie, Dora and Ada. Mr. B. located at El Paso. 111., in January, 1872, and
opened a restaurant aud bakery, and three years later sold his business at El Paso and removed
to Hudson, his present home. In .June, 1878, he sold his building and stock on the west side of
the railroad track to Carlock Bros., and, in December of that year, commenced business at
his present location. Mr. B. is a member of the following Masonic bodies : Woodford Lodge,
No. 654, and Macky Chapter, No. 30, at El Paso. He owns 160 acres of land in Woodford
Co., HI.
NEWTON C. BUMP, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 22 ; P. 0. Hudson ; born in Windham
Co., N. Y., June 22, 1813; until about 18 years of age lie worked on his father's farm, aud
then, with an older brotlier, engaged in the butclier business ; he subsequently bought and
drove cattle to the New York City nuirket. "Shipping cattle" in that early day was a phrase-
ology not in use ; the only way to get stock to market was by the slow process of driving, and not
unfrequenlly Mr. Bump <lrove cattle over three hundred miles. In 1H51, he came West and
!%
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k/a^-p-yl 7^,
HUDSON
HUDSON TOWNSHIP. 946
located in Old Town Township, this county, where he engaged in farming, and the following year
removed to Padua Township, and was the first settler on the prairies in that section. The first
school taught in his district was in a building furnished by Mr. B. In 1856, he moved to Bloom-
ington, and the following year made a trip to Missouri and bought cattle. In 1858, he moved
on to a farm seven miles west of Bloomington, and two years later returned to Padua, and, in
1864, sold his farm and moved to Bloomington, where he kept a boarding-house till 1868, then
located on a farm west of Bloomington ; came to his present home in 1870. Married, in 1845,
to Miss Eliza Hubbard, who was born in Broome, Schoharie Co., N. Y.; they have three children
— Adelaide V., wife of Francis Evans ; Rose; their daughter Lillie, who was born -Jan. 10, 1854;
died April 11, 1856. Mr. B. owns eighty acres of land in Hudson Township.
CARLOCK BROS., general stock, Hudson. In June, 1878, George W. aud Alvin W. Car-
lock commenced business at Hudson under the above firm name, and, in the following December,
George W., on account of ftiiliug health, sold his interest to his brother, Philip M., member of
the present firm. Philip M. Carlock was born in Kansas Township, Woodford Co., 111., April 4,
1850; he worked on his father's farm until 21 years of age, then commenced farming in this
county on his own account, which he continued until December, 1878, when he engaged in his
present business; owns eighty acres of land in Woodford Co. Married Feb. 27, 1873, to Miss
Sarah .7. Denman, who was born in Licking Co., Ohio ; three children by this union — Horace B.,
Willard L. and Etfa P. Alvin W. Carlock was born in Kansas Township, Woodford Co , Nov. 10,
1856; he followed farming in Woodford and McLean Cos. until May, 1878, when he entered the
store of A. Bistorious, as clerk, and, the following nionth, together with his brother George W..
purchased the stock of Mr. B., and continued the business under the above firm name, George
W. disposing of his interest to his brother as above stated. Their father, Winton Carlock, was
born in Overton Co., Tenn., April 21, 1819, but removed with his father's family to Illinois in
the fall of 1827. locating at Dry Grove, Tazewell Co., and, in 1833, removed to his present home,
Kansas Township, Woodford Co., where farming aud stock-raising have been his occupation since
the above date. His wife's maiden name was Lydia Gaddis ; they were married in 1842 ; she
died in 1869. He was married to his present wife Nov. 29, 1871.
GEORGE ( RAIG, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 9; P. 0. Hudson; born at Temple, near
Edinburgh, Scotland, April 4, 1827 ; at the age of 22, he came to the United States, and
located at Rochester, N. Y., where he resided nine years ; in December, 1857, he removed to Illi-
nois, locating at Bloomington, and, in the fall of 1868, located on the farm where he now resides.
He has served as School Director two terms, and Commissioner of Highways one term. Owns
365 acres of land in Hudson Township. Married in 1852 to Miss Janet Ferguson, who was born
in Chapel Knowe, Dumfrieshire, Scotland ; she died in 1858; 'one child by this union — Maggie
B. Was again married in 1863 to Miss Dora Ropp, who was born in Hamilton Co., Ohio ; four
children by this union — John, George, Mary and Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Craig are members of
the Oneida Christian Church.
JA.MES H. COX (Cox & Aldrich), general stock, Hudson; born in Oxford Co., Me., April
21, 1822; when about 19 years of age, he went to Massachusetts, where he remained about eight
mouths, then returned to his place of nativity; in the fall of 1851, he removed to Illinois,
locating at Hudson, bis present home, and the following year embarked in the mercantile trade,
which he has since followed. At the time of township organization, Mr. Cox was elected Super-
visor, and served two years ; he has also served as Postmaster about twenty-five years. In 1846,
he was married to Miss Mary A. Chadbourne, who was born in Maine ; five children by this
union — Charles E., member of the firm of Cox & Aldrich ; Flora S., wife of John W. Aldrich ;
Nettie V., graduate of the State Normal School, now teaching at Hudson; and the twins, Han-y
M. and Hubert M.
THOMAS H. EWINS, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 30; P. 0. Hudson; born in Danvers
Township, this county, Oct. 2, 1837 ; his father, .Tames P. Ewins, was one of the early settlers
in McLean Co. ; he died when the subject of this sketch was quite young. In 1861, iNIr. E.
enlisted in Co. C, 20th I. V. I., and served about eighteen months; was at the battle of Fred-
ericktown, Mo., in the fall of 1861 ; in February, 1862, was wounded at the battle of Fort Don-
elson, and discharged on account of wound in left wrist, the following July. After his return
from the army, he was elected Collector in Danvers Township, and served two years. Married,
in 1866, to Miss Emeline B. Wallace, who was born in Mercer Co., Penn. ; three children by this
union, two living — Edward S and Katie A. ; their eldest daughter, Eva B., died in 1867. Since
1866, Mr. E. has resided in Hudson Township; owns eighty acres of land in this township, and
has served two terms as Collector in Hudson Township.
JOHN W. FORNEY, farmer, stock-raiser, Sec. 14; P. O. Hudson; born in Somerset Co , Penn.,
March 21, 1843, where he resided until 21 years of age; then removed to Indiana, and while a
resident of that State, learned the carpenter's trade. In 1866, he came to Illinois, locating in
Hudson TowLship, this county, where he worked at his trade for some years. In 1871, he was
married to Miss Rachel A., daughter of Thomas and Mary Lyon, of Hudson. Mrs. Forney was
born in West Virginia; they have three children — Maud H., Lottie L., and Eby S. Mr. F. owns
eighty acres of land in Hudson Township. They are members of the Bethel German Baptist
Church.
QQ
946 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
REV'. OLIVER J. FISKE, was born in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 24, 1809. His father, Isaac
Fiske, was born,near Boston, Mass., in 1792. In 180-3, he removed to Nashville, Tenn., and was
in the employ of the Government as a surveyor. He married Miss Betsey .Johnson, a native of
New Hampshire. The subject of this sketch removed with his father's family, at an early age,
to their former home. When about 20 years of age he commenced a course of stud' , and, in
1837, graduated at Brown University, Providence, R. I. He was ordained as Pastor of the Bap-
tist Church, in Lime Rock village, near Providence, the October following. In 1839, he married
Miss Maria L. Brown, of Cumberland, R. I., and removed to Nashville, Tenn. For many years
he was engaged in preaching, seldom receiving any compensation, supporting liis family by teach-
ing, in which his wife proved a valuable assistant. In 1849, he was appointed President of Enon
College, near Gallatin, Tenn. After successfully conducting the affairs of the College, in 1854,
he resigned, and in 1855, removed to Bloomington, McLean Co., 111. Mr. Fiske has since served
as Pastor of churches in Old Town, Le Roy, Randolph's Grove and Rock Creek (now Danvers),
in McLean Co., also in Versailles, Woodford Co., and Dwight, Livingston Co. In 1873. he
removed to his present home, since which time, on account of failing health, he has seldom
preached. The parents have had three children, two of whom are living — Edwin Brown, attor-
ney at law, Rochester, N. Y.; Charles H., official law reporter, Imlianapolis, Ind.; Oliver Edgar
died in 1859, near Bloomington.
DAVID H. FRENCH, railroad agent and telegraph operator, Hudson ; born in Andover,
Windsor Co., Vt., Aug. 2, 1841, but removed in early childhood with his father's family to
Saratoga Co., N. Y.; thence to .lefferson Co., Wis., in 1848, where he resided until 18fi0 ; then
removed to Solon, McHenry Co., 111., and in February of that year to Stephenson Co., 111., where
he engaged in farming. In July, 1861, he enlisted in Co. A, 11th I. V. I.; was at the battles of
Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, where, from arduous duty and exposure, he contracted chronic
diarrhea, and was discharged, on account of disibility. in May, 1862 : he again enlisted in Co.
A, 71st I. V. I. (100-days men), July 14, 1862, and was mustered out in November of that year;
bis third enlistment was Jan. 28, 1864, in Co. A, 46th I. V. I., and was mustered out at Baton
Rouge, La., Jan. 26, 1866, and received final pay and discharge at Springfield, 111., Feb. 1 ;
during his term of service, he participated in the following battles : Fort Henry and Fort Donel-
son ; Benton, Miss. June, 1864; Jackson, Miss., July 6, where he received a slight wound in
leg; Clinton, La. ; siege and capture of Mobile, Ala., abont April 1, 1865. Married, at Freeport,
111, Oct. 14, 1863, Miss Kezia A. Roach, of Forreston, 111., who was born in Shefford, Canada;
there are five children by this union — Albert A., born at Forreston, 111., July 23, 1864; Nellie
M., at same place, Nov. 6, 1866; Truman H., June 21, 1870; Gertrude E., March 8, 1873;
Charles R., Dec. 6, 1877 ; the last three were born at Hudson, 111.
JAMES I. GADDIS, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 19 ; P. 0. Hudson ; born in Palestine
Township, Woodford Co., 111., March 5, 1845. His father, Silas Gaddis, was one of the early
settlers of that county ; in 1848, they removed to what is now White Oak Township, this county.
In February, 1864, Mr. Gaddis enlisted in Co. K, 39th I. V. I., and during his term of service
participated in the following battles: Drury's Bluff, Va., May 16, 1864; Wier Bottom Church,
May 20 ; Hatcher's, Va., June 2,16, 17 and 18 ; Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 14, 1864, and Deep Run,
Aug. 16, 1864, where he was wounded in the left fore arm, and sent to the hospital at Ports-
mouth, Va., where he rema-ned until the following March ; was with the regiment in pursuit
and surrender of Gen. Lee's army; discharged, on account of wounds, in August, 1865. Mar-
ried, in 1870, Miss Elizabeth Campbell, who was born in Adams Co., Ohio; they have had two
children, both deceased — Loran K., died July 7, 1872; Elva E., died April 10, 1879.
CHARLES T. GILDERSLEEVE, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Hudson: born in Hemp-
stead, Queens Co., N. Y., Aug. 13, 1830, but removed, when 6 years of age, with his father's
family, to Illinois. His father, James T. Gildersleeve, became a member of what has since been
termed the Hudson Colony, but, it seems, the original organization was under a different title,
and this only a local application. We quote from '• The Good Old Times of McLean Co.," set-
ting forth the origin: " In the winter of 1835-6, in the town of Jacksonville, Morgan Co., 111.,
certain parties drew up articles of agreement, associating themselves together to form a colony.
The association was formed Feb. 6, 1836, and it was known as ' The Illinois Land Association.' The
business of the association was couducted by an Executive Committee of three ; these were George
F. Purkitt, Horatio N. Pettit and John Gregory. James T. and Joseph D. Gildersleeve subscribed
for four colony interests, which gave them the right to nearly 700 acres of land, consisting of
praifie and timber land, and town lots in Hudson." In September, 1836, Mr. James T. Gilder-
sleeve left New York City for his prospective home in Illinois. They came by way of Philadel-
phia and Pittsburgh; thence by boat to St. Louis ; thence up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to
Pekin, and from thence across the country to Bloomington. They soon located at Havens' Grove,
Hudson Township, this county. The family lived in a small house with Mr. David Trimmer,
until they could build a dwelling, which was completed and occupied in December of that year.
This house is now the residence of Charles T. Gildersleeve, two rooms and a hall of which were
plastered by John Magoun in the spring of 1837. The ceilings of these rooms are now in a good
state of preservation, notwithstanding the work was done over forty-two years ago. The subject
of this sketch worked on his father's farm until the summer of 1855, when he was employed as
HUDSON TOWNSHIP. 947
station and express agent, remaining in their employ nearly fourteen years, during which period
he was also engaged in the lumber and grain trade. In 18t39 he resumed th-e occupation of
farmer, which has since been his business. He owns 320 acres of land in Hudson Township.
In 1854, he was married to Miss Mary A McCaughey, who was born in iSledina Co., Ohio, Aug.
28, 1838 ; six children by this union, three of whom are living — Mary A., wife of T. W. Steven-
son, of Bloomingion ; .James T., and Henrietta R. The deceased are — Charles T., died May 'j8,
1807, Edgar C. ; April 9, 1870, and Bessie B., March 21, 1869. Mr. G. has many relics, which
date far back into the pist, among which are a cane presen ed to his great-grandfather on
his voyage from Wales to the United States ; a watch, of English manufacture, carried by his
gra' dtather from the age of Kj lill his death; a will, dated at Hempstead, (,!ueens Co.,
N. Y.. Sept. 17, 1838; a copy of the Bloomington Observe)-, bearing date June 15, 1839, pub-
lished by J. W. Fell ; also many other relics.
D. GONDER farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 25 ; P. 0. Hudson ; was born in Licking Co.,
Ohio, Jan. 5, 1826. which was his home until his removal to the West; in Aug., 1847, he
enlisted in Co. B, 5th Ohio Inf., and served one year in the Mexican war, under Gen. Scott ; the
commander of the division was Gen. Patterson, and of the brigade, Gen. Gushing; after he was
mustered out of the service, in ]84t<, he returned to the place of his nativity, and, in the fall of
1856, removed to Illinois, locating in Money Creek Township, this county; came to his present
home in 1863. He has served as Commissioner of Highways one term; owns eighty acres of
land in Hudson Township, and was married in 1850, to Miss Mary A. Leeding, who was born
in Cambridgeshire, England : she came to this country in 1849 ; they have five children living — -
William, Harriet E. (wife of William Little), James H., Mary A. and George VV. ; they have lost
four children — Francis M., died in 1866; Robert L., died in 1869, and two others died in
infancy.
JAMTIS GREER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 14 ; P. 0. Hudson ; born in the North of
Ireland, April 4, 1813 ; in 1840, he emigrated to the United States; he first located in Long
Island, N. Y., where he remained until 1847, when he concluded to try his fortune in the then
far-ofi" West ; he left New York in April of that year, arriving in Chicago tlie 2d of May, and
located in Hudson Township, this county, the same month. Mr. G. has lived on the farm where
he now resides thirty -two years; for several years after his settling here, there were no fences
to interfere with travel between his place and Bloomington. Owns 203 acres of farm lands in
Hudson Township, and 36 acres of timber in Money Creek Township.
AVILLIAM HASENWINKLE, proprietor of Hudson Mill and Elevator, Hudson ; born in
Prussia Nov. 15, 1834; came to this county in November, 1857, and during the same year located
at Bloomington, 111.; in 1868, he engaged in the milling business at Hudson, his present liome;
his mill was Duilt in 1868, and the elevator in 1871. In 1861, he married Miss Louisa StoU, who
was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, May 10, 1838. Mr. H. served nine months in the regular
army, at Berlio, Germany : he is a member of Masonic Lodge, No. 628, A., F. & A. M., at
Hudson, 111. His business card will be found in the business directory of this work.
JtjHN HAYXES, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 23; P.O. Hudson; born in Shropshire,
Eng., March 9, 1831 ; came to the United States in 1859, and after working at his trade at
Independence, Mo.; during that spring and summer, he came to Bloomington, 111., and worked
on the State Normal School building; he came to Hudson Township in the spring of 1860, and
engaged in farming: in 1862, he enlisted in Co. E, 94th 1. V. 1., and served till the close of the
war ; was at the battle of Springfield, Mo., siege of Vicksburg, and other battles and skirmishes ;
he has served two terms as School Director; owns 160 acres of land in Hudson Township.
Married in September, 1865, to Miss Mary Dunseth, who was born in Money Creek Township;
she died in 1869; two children by this union — one living — Nettie A., born Sept. 5, 1866. He
was again married in 1869, to Mrs. Eliza (Rowe) Myers, who was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio;
three children by this union — two living — Emma S. and John F.; Cora H., died April 14, 1872.
HIRAM HAVENS, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 21 ; P. 0. Hudson ; born in Licking Co.,
Ohio, March 29, 1817 ; when about 12 years of age, his father, Jesse Havens, moved to Illinois ;
they first stopped at Big Grove, near the present site of Urbana. Champaign Co. In January.
1880, the family located at Havens' Grove, Hudson Township ; the condition of the county at that
time, and the hardships consequent to the settling of a new country, will be fully set forth in the
history of this and other townships. The subject of this sketch worked on his father's farm
till about twenty-one years of age, when he became a tiller of the soil on his own account, com-
bining his farm work with luinting, not only for amusement, but quite frequentlj' as a matter of
necessity, to furnish food from the fiesh of the deer, and kill wolves for the protection of their
poultry and flocks. Prior to the settlement of the Havens family, two parties, Harbard and
Grose, had made claims within the present confines of Hudson Township, but their stay was
temporary, their claims being purchased by Mr. Havens' father for $100 in silver; Mr. H.
being therefore the first permanent settler of this township. Mr. Hiram Havens was mar-
ried to Miss Sarah A., daughter of John Trimmer, April 5, 1838 ; she was born in New Jersey,
Feb. 4, IS'^l. Mrs. Havens' father came to Smith's Grove, now in Towanda Township, in the
summer of 1826, and of this family further mention will be made in histories of Towanda and
Money Creek Townships. Mr. Havens has served as Justice of the Peace twenty years; Supervisor
948 BIOGRAPHICA.L SKETCHES:
one term ; he has given to his children a part of his land, but still owns and operates a farm
of 170 acres. They have three children now living — Martha H., wife of John S. Johnston;
Alice, wife of Allen Hibbert, and Etta B. ; they have lost two — Adaline died Nov 1, 1860 ; John
B., Aug. 18, 1839.
JACOB D. HOCHSTEDLER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. .SI ; P. 0. Hudson ; born in
Somerset Co., Feun ,- Jan. 2(5, 1822, but removed in early childhood with his father's family to
Holmes Co., Ohio, where he resided till 31 years of age ; then removed to Illinois, locating in
White Oak Township, this county, and engaged in farming; in the spring of 1858 he removed to
his present home. He has served as Commissioner of Highways six years; owns 200 acres of
land in Hudson Township. Married, in 1849, Eliza Hospelhorn, who was born in Harrison
Co.. (_)liio ; ten children by this union, seven of whom are living — George, John, Mary, (wife of
William Young), Emanuel, Jane, James, and Francis ; lost three ; Samuel died in 18-54 ; others
died iu infancy.
WILLIAM I. HOLDER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 20; P. 0. Hudson; born in Tazewell
Co., 111., May 30, 1849; his father, Charles W. Holder, settled in that county in an early day;
in 1854 the family removed to Bloomington, this county. The subject of this sketch was in the
milling business six years, in connection with the Novelty Mills, and in 1867 Mr. H. and James C.
Renison established the National Nursery, which they operated two years. Married, in 1869, to
Miss Ida Bo wen, who was born near Harper's Ferry, Va.; four children by this union — Daniel
W., Vernon, Jessie, and Ella M.
WILLIAM HURSAY, wagon and carriage manufacturer and blacksmith; Hudson; born
in Licking Co., Ohio, Oct. 28, 1826, where he resided, with the exception of about three years,
till his removal to the West. At about tlie age of 18 he was apprenticed to the blacksmith trade ;
in the fall of 1851 he came West, locating at Bloomington, this county, and the following April
removed to Hudson Township ; he first worked in the shop of D. Trimmer, and thcfollowing
year located in the village of Hudson, and opened a shop of his own ; his custom at that time
came from a large scope of counti-y, frequently having work for parties twenty miles distant.
In 1851 he married Miss Sidney Wolfe, who was born in Maryland, but removed to Ohio at the
age of 12 ; twelve children by this union, five of whom are now living — Mary K., (wife of L. P.
Huston), James H., George W., Charles I'., and Eurie B; others died in infancy.
SAMUEL H. LEWIS, retired, Hudson : Mr. Lewis was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
England, April 14, 1828, and is a son of Samuel and Sarah (Sealey) Lewis. The subject of this
sketch, when about 8 years of age, came with his father's family to this country : they landed in
New York City, in November, 1835, and soon after, his father became interested in what was
known as the Hudson Colony, and through agents of the cjlony he purchased one section of
land, also a timber-lot in Money Creek Timber : they left New York City in May, 1836, travel-
ing via boat to New Orleans; thence up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to Hennepin; in the
early fall of that year, they re'moved to Havens' Grove, adopting the only means of conveyance
at that time — ox-teams; Samuel H. worked on his father's farm for many years, joining with it
the customary sport of that time — hunting, for which he soon acquired, or possessed, a natural-
fondness ; schools at that period were few and far between ; Mr. L. says he received his col-
legiate education at a log college in B about the year 1848, under the tutorship of the
late Dr. Ilobbs. Mr Lewis began early to buy cattle, which he drove to the Chicago market,
and, since the days of railroads, has been extensively engaged in shipping to that market. When
21 years of age, he served as Constable under William McCullough, then Sheriff of the county ;
since then, he has served as Assessor nine years. Collector one year. Supervisor one term, and
School Trustee for many years. About twenty-five years since, he made a trip to Texas where
he purchased from two hundred and fifty to three hundred head of cattle, which he drove through
to Chicago, being aljout three numlhs on the way; they passed through the country of several of
the Indian tribes, but had no trouble except a trick on one occasion. For the purpose of extorting
money, the Indians drove some of the cattle which crossed the Canadian River first upon a
mountain, and then ofi"ered to get them down at $1 a head, but a negro was employed at half
the cost. Mr. L. made a secoml trip to that State since the war, but found a great change in
the people as a result of the war; on the first occasion, being very hospitable, and on the latter,
regarding any one from the North with suspicion, anil treating tliem accordingly. On the 1st of
January, 1868, he married Miss Irene, eldest daughter of John and Anna Smith. Mrs. Lewis
was born in Hudson Township ; her father settled in the township as early as 1829; they have
two children — Jay S. and May. Aside from other property, Mr. L. owns 740 acres of land, all
in Hudson township, this county.
THOMAS D. LYON, Pastor of Bethel German Baptist Church. Hudson; born in Hardy,
now Grant, Co., W. Va., March 3, 1821. When about 20 years of age, Mr. L. com-
menced teaching, which occupation he followed for many years, and, mainly through his own
efforts, obtained an education,. including a partial knowledge of German and Greek. In 1847, he
entered the ministry, which has l)een his vocation since that date. He was married Oct. 26,
1843, to Miss .Mary (Mark, who was horn in Hampshire Co., W. Va., Aug. 29, 1820. In 1864,
Mr. Lyon removed his family to Illinois, and located in Towanda Township, this county,
and, four years later, removed to Hudson, his present home. They have eight children
HUDSON TOWNSHIP. 949
living — Rebecca, wife of F. M. Snavely ; Rachel A., wife of John W. Forney: Hannah,
wife of John L. Snavely; Emily J., wife of John Sager ; ^lary M., wife of William Snavely;
S. C; Otis B. and Franklm H Their son David died Jan. 19, 1855.
ISAAC ME-*SER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Hudson; born in Lexington Township,
this county. His father, Isaac Messer, formerlj' of Pickaway Co., Ohio, settled in what is now
Lexington Township, this county, iij March, 1829, and was one of tlie first settlers in that part of
the county. For further particulars, see history of Lexington Township in this work. In the
spring of 1834, they removed to Hudson Township, which has since been the home of the subject
of this sketch. He was married to -Miss Nancy E. Lock in 1854. She was born in Anderson
Co., Ky. Eight children by this union, six of whom are living — William H., Elizabeth (wife of
David Ogden), Margaret I., Mary I., Fannie H. and Leonora E.; two deceased — both died in
infancy. Mr. M. has served as Constable one term, and School Director several years ; owns
sixty acres of land in Hudson Township. His father, Isaac Messer, was born in Lancaster Co.,
Penn, May 2, 1781 ; died Jan. 21, 18G1. In 1805, he married Miss Sidney Forbus, who was
born in the same county and State. Her death occurred in 1843.
WILLIAM MORROW, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 19; P.O. Hudson; born in Brooke now
Hancock Co., Va., Nov. 15, 1834 ; he worked on his father's farm till 28 years of age ; also teach-
ing during the winter season, and a part of the year operated the coal mines on his father's farm.
In 18Go, he removed to Illinois, locating in this county, on the 7th of April of that year:
the following spring, he removed to the farm where he now resides, and, after an experi-
ence of some two months as proprietor of a " bachelor's hall," he concluded to resign that
position, and, therefore, married Miss I. Josephine, eldest daughter of Rev. David Robinson, of
Beaver Co., Penn. Mrs. Morrow was born in Beaver Co., Penn.; two children by this union —
Mattie V. and Stella. Mr. M. has served as Supervisor, four years ; Collector, one year, and
School Director, for several terms ; owns one-half in 320 acres of land in Hudson Township.
Mr. Morrow, in politics, is a decided Democrat.
JESSE PL ATT, farmer and stock-raiser, See. 1 ; P. 0. Hudson ; born in what is now Cham-
paign Co., 111., Jan. 13, 1830; his father located there in the fiiU of 1829, and, about one year later,
came to Havens' Grove, Hudson Township, and, therefore, was among the first to settle in the
township. The condition of the country, hardships and privations of the first settlers is best
known by those who have had this experience, and, under the head of Township History, much
will be found on this subject. Mr. Piatt worked on his father's farm until 23 years of age, then
set forth as a tiller of the soil on his own account ; he located on the farm where he now resides
twenty-two years ago. He has served as Constable, one term; School Director, three terms, and
is now serving in that capacity ; also, (.'ommissioner of Highways. He was married in 1868 to
Miss Jane Hinthorn, who was born in Licking Co., Ohio ; five children by this union — Elizabeth
E., James I., William E. and Margaret F.; one deceased, GeoBge, who died 18(55. Mr. Piatt
owns 260 acres of land in Hudson i ownship.
ELIJAH PRIEST, retired farmer. Sec. 12 : P.O. Hudson; born in Muskingum Co., Ohio,
Sept. 10, 1812, but removed to Licking Co., that State, where he resided until his removal to the
West. He is a son of James and Hannah (Anderson) Priest. The subject of this sketch, prior
to his locating in the West, was engaged in making charcoal, and also during the winter season
worked in a smelting-furnace, the latter occupation requiring great care, and, also, exposure to
intense heat. Mr. Priest reached his twenty-first birthday on the 10th of September, 1833. and
the following dav was married to Miss Rebecca Hinthorn, who was born in Licking Co., Ohio,
Nov. 16, 1812. In June, 1834. he removed to Illinois, and, on the 8th day of the following
month, arrived at his present home in Hudson Township, this county. Mr. Priest, like many of
the pioneers, brought little else with him to the country than a strong constiiution and indus-
trious habits, which, combined with economy, have gained him a competence for life ; he now
owns 800 acres of land in Hudson and ^loney Creek Townships. Mr. Priest relates many inci-
dents of early times ; and, although many of these incidents will be related in the histories of
townships, we copy one from the "Good Old Times in McLean Co. :" "He ran out of provisions
near Big Grove then called Pin Hook, now Urbana ; he made many inquiries, and heard that a
certain man had recently two sacks of meal ground at a mill ; Mr. Priest wished to buy some,
and sent a boy named Henry ISIoats to get it. Henry came back empty-handed, but reported
that the man had a big corn-pone on the fire. Mr. Priest then went with the boy, and the latter
was instructed to open the door when Priest stood by the fire. Mr. Priest offered to buy some
meal, but was refused ; then he stood by the fire where the pone was cooking, and Henry imme-
diately opened the door. Priest was then about to walk off with the pone, but the man
of the house saw that he must give way, and he allowed Priest a peck of meal." Mr.
Priest had by his first wife seven children, four of whom died -in infancy : only two are now
living — .lames S. and George W. ; their daughter Sarah died July 17, 1876; Mrs. Priest's death
occurred April 30, 1867. He was again married, Sept. 11, 1870, to Airs. Minerva McCurdy ;
her maiden name was Johnston ; she was born in Ohio ; her death occurred Jan. 24, 1875.
JOHN SAGER, farmer. Sec. 16; P. 0. Hudson ; born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., March 1.
1818, but removed to Tioga Co.. that State, when about 12 years of age, where he resided until
his removal to the West, in 1846, locating in Stephenson Co., 111., in the summer of that year;
950 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
this was his home for eighteen years. In 1864, lie removed to the farm where he now resides ;
owns 150 acres of land in Hudson Township. Married, March 24, 1842, Miss Phoebe Meelcer,
who was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Oct. 4, 1817 ; her death occurred Feb. 14, 1875 ; they
had four children, only one of whom is now living — Edgar, born Feb. 15, 1846 (now resides in
Hudson Township); Charles W., born Feb. IS, 1848, died in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Nov. 11,
1844; John,C., born March 15, 1856, died in Stephenson Co., 111., March 24, 1858; Douglass,
born Aug. 9, 185'J, died in this township, March 5, 1870. Mr. S. was married to his present
wife.Iulj' 9, 1876; she was born in Grant Co., West Va., March 6, 1853, and is a daughter of
Thomas D. and Mary Lyon, of Hudson; their son, Willis L., was born May 16, 1877, died Jan.
20, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Sager are members of Bethel German Baptist Church.
LEWIS SAILOR, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 13; P. 0. Hudson; born in Logan Co.,
Ohio, March 13, 1828, where he resided until 20 years of age, when he removed to Illinois, in
the fall of 1848, stopping at Rock Island until the following spring, then removing to what is
now Towanda Township, this county: here he engaged in farming, manufacturing brick, and
masonry; he biuU a house for .Jesse Trimmer, which was the second brick dwelling built in
Money Creek Township. In 1858, he removed to his present home; he owns eighty acres of
land in Hudson Township; has served as .lustice of the Peace two years. Married in 1850, to
Miss Martha Dodson, who was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, six children by this union, five of
whom are living — Mary (wife of T. C. Moats), John, Daniel D , Knowlton and Joseph II; lost
one— Ida J., died Oct. 30, 1864.
JOSEPH A. S( OTT, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 24; P. 0. Hudson; born in Beaver Co.,
Penn., July 20, 1846; when between 1 and 2 years of age, his father and mother died, and
when about 8 years old he went to Pittsburgh, Penn., where he resided until the second year
of the war (1862), then enlisted in Company I, 168th Ohio V. I.; while the regiment was at
Chattanooga, soon after he entered the service, he was detailed as clerk and served in that capac
ity about fifteen months; he went from Chattanooga to Cleveland, Tenn., and was mustered out
of the service in the fall of 1864. In the spring of 1868, he came West and located in Hudson,
this county; owns eighty acres of land in Hudson and 240 acres in Money Creek Township.
Married, in 1871, Miss Sai-ah E., daughter of Jesse and Amanda Trimmer; Mrs. Scott was
born in Money Creek Township, this county; they have one child — Oracle A. Mr. Jesse Trim-
mer, whose portrait appears in this work, was, with his mother, brothers and sisters, the first to
locate in what is now Money Creek Township. Mr. Scott is W. M. of Mosaic Lodge, No. 628,
A., F. & A. M.
JOHN SMITH, retired farmer; P. 0. Hudson; was born in Randolph Co., N. C; as early
as 1824 he moved a family to Peoria, III., then containing two or three houses; in the spring
of 1830, he removed to Illinois, stopping first at Big Grove, now in (Jhampaign Co., at the pres-
ent site of Urbana, then an Indian trading post; the Smith family removed to what is now
Towamla Township, this county, locating at the grove which afterward took the family name,
and is still called Smith's Grove; many were the hardships and privations of these pioneers,
more of which will be given under the head of township histories in this work. In March,
1S31, he was married to Miss Anna Havens, and, in the spring of 1832, settled at Havens'
Grove, Hudson Township, near his present home; Mrs. Smith's father was the first to perma-
nently locate in the grove which now bears his name (Havens' Grove), and also the first perma-
nent settler within the present confines of Hudson Township ; for further mention of Mr. Smith
and other early settlers, see general history of McLean Co. and histories of Towanda and
Hudson townships.
DAVID SMITH, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 21 ; P. 0. Hudson. Mr. Smith was born in
Hudson Township, Dec. 31, 1836, and is a son John Smith, whose sketch is given elsewhere in
this work. The subject of this sketch still resides on the old home farm, and their present resi-
dence, which is still the home of his parents, is near his birth-place. In some of the rooms of
this dwelling can be seen plastering which was put on the ceiling of the same more than forty
years ago, iuid it is still in a good state of preservation. Mr. Smith's farm consists of 410 acres
of land, all in Hudson Township, this county.
JACOB Y. SNAVELY, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 28: P. 0. Hudson; was born in Leba-
non Co., Penn., June 22, 1826, where he resided until 22 years of age; then removed to Illinois,
in .June, 1848. In the spring of the following year, he settled on the farm where he now resides,
which has been his home since that date. He was married June 25, 1849, to Miss Ilosanna
Beissel, who was born in Nortluiml)crland Co., Penn., Dec. 4, 1822; her father, Jacob Bcissel,
settled in Marshall Co., 111., in May, 1S39. Mr. Suavely has served as Highway Commissioner
one term and School Director about fourteen years. They have five children — Mary B., born'
June 4, 18.0(1; Daniel B., June 25, 1851; Mo.ses B., Oct. 16, 1852; Kate B., Dec. 22,1856;
Emma B., June 22, 1862. Mr. S. owns 424 acres of land in Hudson Township.
KPIlllAI.M STOTLEP>, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 11; P. O. Hudson; born in Somer-
set Co., I'enn., July 22, 1805, where he resided until his removal to Illinois, in 1855, locating
first in Stefihcnson Co., in September of that year. In the fall of 1863, he removed to Ins present
home in liuilson Township, this county. Owns 1()0 acres of farm land in Hudson Township, and
forty acres of timber in Money Creek Township. Married in 1832, Miss Sarah Wagner, who
ARROWSMITH TOWNSHIP. 951
was born in Somerset C)., Penn Twelve children by this union, eight of whom are living —
Maria, wife of M. Zimmerman; Sarah, wife of Joseph Long; Mary, wife of E. Newcomer, all
now residents of Western Iowa; Rebecca, wife of W. Wilkinson, resides at Peoria, 111.; .lohn,
who resides in Woodford Co., 111.; Ephraim H., and Walter, at home, and William, now in Cali-
fornia. They have lost four — Samuel, died April 18, 1849; Elizabeth, April -5, 1845; the others
died in infancy. Mrs. Stotler's death occurred Jan. 1, 1866, aged .54 years, 2 months and 9
days.
CHARLES TAYLOR, retired fiirmer ; P. 0. Hudson; born in Lincolnshire, England, Nov.
8, 1831; came to this country in 1852, locating in New York city, and about one year later,
removed to Scott Co , 111. In the spring of 1853, he removed to Hudson Township, this county,
where he engaged in farming. Married in 1853, Miss Sarah A. Gillham, who was born in Scott
Co , 111.; her father, William Gillham, was one of the early settlers of that county; one daughter
— Eva B. Mr. Taylor owns eighty-three acres of land in Hudson Township.
JOHN TRIMMEH, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 24; P.O. Hudson; born in New Jersey,
May 16, 1823, but removed in early childhood, with his father's family, to Illinois; the family
stopped at Smith's Grove, in Towanda Township, this county, in the summer of 1826 ; his father,
Jolm Trimmer, died soon after their arrival there, and the family then moved to what is now
Money Creek Township, and wei-e the first to settle in that township. The subject of this sketch
was married in July, 1846, to Miss Rebecca Hinthorn, who was born in Indiana, Dec. 28, 1828,
but came to Illinois when a child, her father, Stephen Hinthorn, being among the early settlers.
The spring following their marriage, they settled on the farm where they now reside, and erected
a log dwelling 13x18, having ground floor, except enough space covered with rough boards or
split logs, for table and one bed. They have had eight children — Scott, born June 13, 1847 ;
James, March 17, 1849 ; George, March 28, 1851; Samuel, June 1, 1853; Stephen, Aug. 1,
1855; Amanda E., March 10, 1860; Daniel, Nov. 23, 1865. and Etta J., Sept. 8, 1867; all are
living, except George and Amanda E. ; the former died April 20, 1863, and the latter eight days
later. Mr. Trimmer owns 240 acres of firm land in Hudson, and forty-five acres of timber in
Money Creek Township. In the early history of Towanda and Money Creek Townships, further
mention will be made of Mr. Trimmer's family, in connection with the early settlement.
ALFRED S. WEI^KS, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 10; P. 0. Hudson ; born in Queens Co.,
N. Y., Feb. 9, 1807, where he resided until about 19 years of age, then removed to Brooklyn,
JSf. Y., where he engaged as book-keeper for Stillwell, Burtis & Co., merchant tailors. In 1836,
he c ime West, and spent some three years in different parts of the State ; he then returned to
New York, but came West again in 1850, locating where he now resides; owns 160 acres of farm
lands, and thirty-five acres of timber, in Hudson Township. Served as Justice of the Peace four
years ; Supervisor, some eight years, and is the present incumbent ; has served as school officer
for many years. Mr. Weeks was instrumental in bringing about a re-survey of Hudson Town-
ship, the Government survey having been very imperfectly done, few, if any corners being reg-
ularly located. Married, in 1846, Miss Phoebe E. Burtis, who was born in N-ew York City — one
■child, Eliza A. Mrs. Weeks' fathei-'s family settled in Jacksonville, 111., in the ftiU of 1835;
afterward moved to Hudson Township, this county.
ARROWSMITH TOWNSHIP.
ENOS AKBOGAST, farmer. Sec. 23 ; P. 0. Saybrook ; owns 165 acres of land, worth $35
per acre ; was bovn in Clark Co., Ohio, Oct. 13, 1825; lived with his parents on the farm,
«ngaged with his father in farming ; came to this county when 15 years of age, and worked on
a farm. He was married to Mary Morgan Sept. 6, 1849; she was born in Tennessee, Sept. 3,
1831, and died March 25, 1868; they are the parents of eight children, five of whom are living
— Eliza . I., Eva L., Lewis A., Myra A , Millie A.; deceased — Charles W., Bell and an infant.
Mr. Arbogast was then married to Sophia Dunning July 14, 1869 ; she was born in Monroe Co.,
Ind., Dec. 15, 1837 ; the fruit of this marriage is four children — William, Alfred, Jonas A. and
Mary A. Mr. Arbogast has held the office of School Director ten years, which office he still
holds, and has been Pathmaster one term. Mr. Arbogast's fiither was in the war of 1812; his
parents are natives of Virginia, and Mrs. Arbogast's parents are natives of the same State.
JOHN L. ARBOGAST, farmer. Sec. 24; P. 0. ^'aybrook ; owns 180 acres of land, worth
$35 per acre; was born in McLean Co., 111., Sept. 9, 1844 ; lived on the farm, assisting his father
in farming. His father died when he was but 16 years of age, his mother having died three
years previous. Mr. Arbogast was in the late war, and went forward to battle for his country;
he enlisted, in 1861, in Co. G, 37th I. V. I ; was in the battle of Pea Ridge, battle of Prairie
Grove, Ark.; battle of Sugar Creek, Ark.; battle of Van Buren, Ark.; battle of Chalk
Bluff, Mo.; battle at Vicksburg. Miss.; was at the taking of Yazoo City; went to New
Orleans, thence to Brownsville, Texas, which was taken ; thence to Royal, which was also
taken ; returned to Brownsville, and went from there to Chicago, where he was mustered
962 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
out, by general order, Oct. 4, 1864. Mr. Arbogast held the office of School Director six
years, Collector one term, and is at present School Trustee; he also held, for four years.
the office of Constable in this township. He was married to Katie 0. Henderson Dec. 27,
186G; she was born in Lewis Co., Ky., Dec. 11, 1847 ; the fruit of this marriage is five chil-
dren, four of whom are living, and one dead — Mary E., William H., Anna B., Sarah E., and
Birdie, died May lo, 1875. M's. Arbogast's mother's father was in the war of 1812
EZEKIEL ARROWSMITH, farmer. Sec. 30; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; owns 240 acres of fine
farming land, worth 840 per acre. The subject of this sketch was born in Ross Co., Ohio, Oct.
31, 1811 ; lived with his father on the farm, engaged in farming, until 29 years of age; went to
Indiana, staved one summer, and returned to Ohio. He was married to Hannah M. Harrison
Feb. 18, 183*5. who was born in Bucks Co., Penn., Dec. 18, 1818, and died Feb. 14, 1840; the
result of this marriage wa'' four children — Mai'y C. (now wife of Samuel T. Bane), Elizabeth E.,
Samuel D and Matilda ; the former is the only one now living. Mr. Arrowsmith was then
married to Mary A. Simpson Sept. 26, 1841 ; she was born in Ross Co., Ohio, Dec. 23, 1814;
the fruit of this marriage was seven children —Sarepfa, .Tames A., Eliza J. ; deceased — Martha,
Melissa, Asa and Armelia. Mr. Arrowsmith has held the office of County Commissioner three
years, .Justice of the Peace four years. Supervisor of township four years, and School
Director twenty years. He was nmong the first settlers in the township. The township, post
office and town of Arrowsmith were .all named after him, his being th'» first vote ever cast in the
township. Mr. Arrowsmith is ©ne of the most benevolent men in this county ; he is regarded as
a public benefactor in this township, where he still resides.
AUGUSTUS BRANAMAN, farmer, Sec. 22; P. 0. Arrowsmith; owns forty acres, worth
$60 per acre. Was born in Augusta Co., Va., June 1, 1834 ; remained with his parents
until he became of age. His father died in the year 1846; he then took care of his mother
until her death. He was married to Caroline Trowbridge Sept. 3, 1867 ; she was born in
Fayette Co., Ind., April 5, 1841 ; they are the parents of seven children — Mary, John, David,
Clinton, Hattie, Billy, and Emma, who died Aug. 28, 1873. Mr. Branaman has held the office
of School Trustee two terms, and Assessor five years. Mr. Branaman was in the late war, and
enlisted in 1862, in Co. D., 94th I. V. I., of McLean Co ; was in the battle of Vicksburg and
at the surrender of Port Hudson. Mr. Branaman served as Hospital Steward two years.
Returned to New Orleans, then to Brownsville, Tex.: thence to jNIobile, Ala. ; was in several
skirmishes up the Mississippi, several other battles and a great many s.kirmishes ; was sent home
on account of sore eyes, and remained until mustered out by general orders.
FREDERICK BUILT A, farmer, Sec. 21; P. 0. Arrowsmith; was born in Prussia Nov. 28,
1824 ; lived in Prussia nine years ; came to Pennsylvania in 1834, and thence to Peoria, in this
State, where he remained until 1863 : he then came to McLean Co., where he has since resided.
Was married to .Jane Maurice Dec. 15, 1850; she was born in Cumberland Co., Penn., Dec.
5, 1829: they are the parents of nine children — John H., George A., Thomas W., who died
Sept. 17, 1853; Rosella J., David M., Mary E., Abraham L., Sarah A. and Frederick. Mr.
Builta has 160 acres of land, worth $40 per acre. He has held the office of School Director,
fifteen years. Mrs. Builta's grandfather was in the Revolutionary war; her father in the war of
1812.
DOUGLASS DEMENT, farmer. Sec. 23 : P. 0. Arrowsmith. The subject of this sketch. was
born in Logan Co., 111., May 11, 1849 ; his father died when he was but seven years old, leaving
him and two older brothers to take care of their mother, which they did by farming; came to
McLean Co. in 1873. Was married to Elizabeth A. Gull Feb. 22, 1875 : she was born in Somer-
set Co., Penn.. May 23, 1853 ; the fruits of this marriage are two children — Mary M., born Nov.
16, 1875; Jessie C, March 15, 1878. Mr. Dement owns ninety-five acres of good farming
land, worth $40 per acre. He and his brother raised last year, with two teams, 7,000 bushels
of corn. His fatlier was in the Black Hawk war. Mr. Dement's father is a native of Virginia,
and his mother of New York. Mrs. Dement's parents are natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Dement
is a very good farmer ; he is also intelligent and enterprising.
SOLOMON F. DOWNS, farmer. Sec. 25; P. O. Saybrook ; owns 120 acres of excellent
farming land, under good cultivation, wortli $40 per acre. The subject of this sketch was born
in McLean Co., 111., June 2H, 1850. His father died when he was hut 10 years old ; his mother
having died four years previous. The brothers continued to keep house together and carried on
farming until Mr. Downs became of age. He was married to Anna E. Reid, March 27, 1877 ;
hhe was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, April 5, 1853 ; the fruit of this marriage is one child—
Lawson W., who was born .Ian. 25, 1878. Mr. Downs' father was in the Black Hawk war. He
is a. very neat farmer, having every tiling in its proper place, and is an industrious, energetic
man. Mrs. Downs is an industrious and intelligent lady.
FRANK J. FLEISCHER, farmer ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; was born in Germany, Dec. 13, 1844;
lived in Germany until 19 years of age; was a weaver by trade; came to this country and
county in the year 1H(;4; worked on the farm until married to R. Eky Steur, Nov. 8, 1869 ; she
was borii in Germany, April 7, 1844 ; they are the parents of six children, five of whom are
living, viz.: Louise E., Emma L., Agnes, Otto A. and Clara ; deceased, one infant. Mr. Fleischer
still continues to farm; is well respected in his neighborhood.
ARROWSMITH TOWNSHIP, 953
FREDERICK C. FRIDAY, farmer, Sec. 5 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; owns 108 acres, worth S35
per acre. The subject of this sketch was born in Germany, Nov. 3, 1839; lived on the farm
with his parents, assisting his fatlier in farming;, until 23 years of age; worlced for his uncle two
years; came to this country .June 4, 186:;; went to Tazewell Co., 111., stayed two years and
returned to this county. He was married to Melvina Wilson, May 23, 1867 ; she was born in
Posey Co., Ind., May 23, 1841, and has had five children, only one of whom is living, viz.;
Carl F. ; the deceased are — .Julia M., Joseph C, Nettie B. and Mary C. Mr. Friday has held
the office of School Director, one term, which office lie still holds, and has been Overseer of
Roads three years. Mrs. Friday's grandfather, on her father's side, was in the Mexican war,
Mr. Friday's cash, when he came to this township, did not exceed $15, and. in a few years, he
acquired over $4,000 worth of property. He is well respected in his neigliborhood.
JACOB HAY, farmer ; P. 0. Arrowsmiih. The subject of this sketch was born in Pensyl-
vania, Dec. 16, 1811 ; resided with his parents on the farm until 21 years of age. Was married
to Sarah Phipps ; who was born in Richland Co., Ohio, Jan. 2, 1818 ; they are the parents of
twelve children, eight of whom are living, viz.: Samuel, Isaac, Mary A., Isabelle, John, Nancy,
Ellen and Nelly; deceased — Elizabeth, Margaret M., Jacob and Sarah J. Mr. Hay, though 68,
years of age, is an industrious, hard working man. and still continues to farm.
S. P. HAY, farmer. Sec. 35 ; P. O. Arrowsmith. The subject of this sketch was born in,
Richland Co., Ohio, March 24, 1839 ; remained at home with his parents until he was married
to Pracilta Mordin, Dec. 7, 1865 ; she was born in Schuylkill Co., Penn., March 12, 1847 ; they
are the parents of five children, viz.: John M., Laura B., Mary M. (the next two are twins)
Emma and Delia. Mr. Hay is quite an industrious farmer, whose principal crop is corn ; alsa
raises oats to some extent.
AUGUSTUS C. HAZLE .farmer and stock-dealer, Sec. 34 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith. The subject
of this sketch was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, May 25, 1818 ; lived on a farm until 23 years,
of age ; engaged with his fiither in farming, until he was married in Ohio, to Mary A. Pember-
fon, Dec. 15, 1842 ; she was born in Clark Co., Ohio. May 31, 1825 ; they are the parents of sis
children, viz.: Elizabeth, died April 19, 1862; Philip N., born Sept. 1, 1846 ; Isaac N., July 1,
1850; John 0., March 9, 1852 ; William A., Aug. 28, 1855 ; James A., Aug. 28, 1855 ; the last
named being twins. Mr. Hazle has held the office of School Director, fifteen years, and Overseer
of Roads, twelve years. Mr. Hazle owns 160 acres of excellent farming land, worth .§50 per
acre. Mr. Hazle, when married, had only about $50 worth of property, but by his industry,
economy and perseverance has accumulated about $9,000 worth of property, besides $3,60(1 he-
has given to his boys. His father was in the war of 1812, and Mrs. Hazle's father was also in
the same war.
HENRY FRY, farmer; P. 0. Arrowsmith. The subject of this sketch was born in Wayne
Co., Ohio, April 21, 1830 ; his fiither died when he was quite young, leaving his mother and sis-
ter in his care, being the oldest son ; he continued to support his mother and sisters, by working
at home part of the time, and worked out by the month until he married Susannah Darnell,
Dec. 20, 1849 ; she was born in Holmes Co., Ohio, Aug. 16, 1833 ; they are the parents of four,
teen children, ten of whom are living — Serilla J., Rebecca, Mary I., John H., Stephen A. D.,
Barbara A., James W. L., Lucy E., Susannah and Matilda; the names of the deceased are — .
Catherine E., died May 1,1865; Eliza E., died March 8,1865; Frances M., died March 8,
1867 ; Samantha, died Jan. 19, 1867. Mr. Fry was married in Ohio, and came to this State in
the fall of 1853, and still continues to farm, his principal crop being corn ; he is very Industrie
ous and energetic.
ANDREW C. JONES, farmer, Sec. 24 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; owns 200 acres ; was born in
Union Co., Penn., March 15, 1816; removed with his fiither ; assisted his father in farming and
tanning until married to Eleanor Arrowsmith. May 19, 1836; she was born in Ross Co., Ohio,
April 16, 1818; they are the parents of seven children, two of whom are living — Mary E. (now
wife of S. E. Clive), Margaret E. (now wife of J. R. Lorimer) ; deceased — Henry L., Benjamin
N., Norman A., John W., Samuel A. Mr. Jones came to this county in 1839, hence was one of
the pioneers of this county, assisting to turn it from a wilderness to its present prosperous con-
dition. Mr. Jones has been very industrious, but his losses have been considerable, losing
twenty-seven head of horses since he has been in this county ; notwithstanding, he has accumu-
lated considerable property, owning 200 acres of fine farm land, besides town property in Arrow-,
smith.
PHILIP KELLER, farmer; P. 0. Arrowsmith. The subject of this sketch was born in
Ohio, July 31, 1840; lived with his parents until 21 years of age, assisting his father on the
ftirm until he came to this county, in 1864. Was married to Mary E. Arrowsmith, May 28,
1868; she was born in McLeaji Co., 111.; they are the parents of five children — Rosa A., born
Feb. 16, 1869; Nancy C, born Nov. 10, 1871 ; John W., born Dec. 13, 1872; Nettie M.. born
Oct. 5, 1875; Oliver P., born March 17, 1878. Mr. Keller still continues to fjirm, his principal
crop being corn. He had a brother instantly killed by a foiling stick of timber, while raising a barn.
JAMES M. KEPNER. farmer. Sec. 36: P. 0. Saybrook. The subject of this sketch was
born in Juniata Co., Penn., April 17, 1842 ; remained with his father, engaging in farming and
the lumber business; came to this county in 1866. Was married in I'ennsylvania, to Margaret
954 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
H. Campbell, April 28, 18G3; she was born in Franklin Co., Penu., Aug. 14, 1842; they are the
parents of four chiUlren — .John M., Elizabeth R., Frances M. and William C. Mr. Kepner has
ei-^hty acres of fine fanning laud, and about one-fourth of an acre in raspberries, of which he
had about ten bushels last year. He has about $7,000 coming to him from his father's estate —
his father having died lately. He is very industrious and economical, and Mrs. Kepner is very
industrious and intelligent.
FRANKLIN KIMLER, farmer. Sec. 22 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; owns 320 acres of land, wortli
$40 per acre ; was born in Montgomery Co., Ind., Nov. 16, 1881; remained with his father on
the farm until 21 years of age, assisting him in farming and blacksmithing ; moved to this
county at the age of 7 years ; settled southwest of Le Roy; lived one year there; moved to
where the town of Le Roy now stands, still farming and working at his trade, and was married
to .Jane Pemberton May 18, 1856 ; she was born in Fountain Co., Ind.; they are the parents of
four children— .James E., born April 5, 1857; Elizabeth A., Jan. 18, 1860; Mary B., Oct. 2,
1861; Frank A., April 24, 1867. Elizabeth E., now wife of Austin H. Vanscoyoc, of Kansas.
Mr. Kimler has held the office of School Director eight years ; he was in the late war, enlisting
Sept. 4, 1861, in Co. I, 39th I. V. I., and served three years ; was in the battle of Drury's Bluff,
Va., also in the battle of Fort Wagner. S. C , and several other battles and skirmishes ; was
mustered out by general order. Mr. Kimler had no property to speak of, when married; but
has, at present, about f 13,000 worth of property, which he has accumulated by industry, econ-
omy and perseverance, made mostly by farming and raising cattle hogs and horses ; his prin-
cipal crop has been corn.
JOHN A. LARIMER, merchant and Postmaster, Arrowsmith ; was born in Fayette Co.,
Ohio, April 23, 1830; lived with his parents until 1848, when he came to this county; moved
to Bloomington, and lived with his father until he enlisted (August, 1861) in Co. C, 33d I. V. I.;
was in the battle of Pilot Knob and battle at Fredericktown, Mo.; fought Jeff. Thompson ;
thence to Arcade and wintered there; went to Vicksburg May 1, 1863; crossed the Mississippi
River; was the first Union soldier landed on that side of the river ; went to Magnolia Hills, and
was there fired on by the rebels ; the fire was returned, and the fight lasted all day — Mr. Lar-
imer being in the hottest part of the battle; they were then engaged in one continual skirmish,
until they got to Jackson, Miss.; after taking this place, the army moved toward Vicksburg;
Mr. Larimer was then engaged in the great battle at Champion Hills; the rebel line was broken
at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. During the march back to Black River bridge, Mr. Larimer
helped to eat the supper prepared for Pemberton ; he was then ordered to Black River bridge,
where a charge was made on the works, taking several thousand prisoners and a number of guns ;
the rebels retreated after burning the bridge ; Mr. Larimer was wounded by a shell from the
enemy's guns in this battle; he was then in the siege of Vicksburg ; was slightly wounded by a
shell from the enemy's guns : was at the taking of Esperanza by siege, when he went to Texas
and scouted around until January; he then re-enlisted for three years, and was in several other
battles: was mustered out by general order Dec. 8, 1865. Mr. Larimer came home from the
army, and engaged with his father in farming until he married Elizabeth J. Cowan Feb. 13,
1868; she was born in Clark Co., Ohio, May 24, 1845; the fruit of this marriage is four chil-
dren— Eddy C, Robert P., William 0. and Anna B., who died Aug. 28, 1878. Mr. Larimer
commenced the mercantile business in the town of Arrowsmith in 1871, keeping, as he always
has, a splendid stock of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, hats, caps, etc., on hand. His
experience in purchasing goods has enabled him to keep a better class of gopds on hand, and to
sell lower than any other store in Arrowsmith. Mr. Larimer has held the office of Supervisor
of township two years, and was appointed Postmaster at Arrowsmith in 1872, which office he
still holds. He is universally esteemed by all who know him. He is decidedly a business man
• — very intelligent and pleasant. Mrs. Lirimer is also highly respected, and is a very intelligent
lady. .Mr. Larimer owns a house, lot and storehouse in iVrrowsmith.
JOHN D. LANDFRS, farmer; P. 0. Ellsworth; was born in Christian Co., Ky., Jan, 17,
1824; lived with his parents on the farm until 11 years of age ; moved with^his parents to this
county Oct. 17, 1835; drove ox-team in summer, and went to school in winter ; drove two droves
of cattle to Wisconsin in the year 1844; caine home, went to Kentucky, stayed one year,
returned and ran his father's farm and mill one year. Enlisted in the Mexican war June, 1846,
in ('o. B, 4th Regiment I. V. I., and served twelve months; was in the siege ami capture of
Vera Cruz, the battle of Cerro Gordo, where he was wounded in the left hand, and several skir-
niishes; was mustered out by general order. Returned home, and engaged in breaking prairie
and farming for about three years. He was married to Melinda A. Lash March 7, 1850 ; she
Whs born in Ohio; died April 5, 1874; there were nine children by this marriage, viz.,
Adaline, Ira, Samuel, Perry, Myra, Sallie, Olif, Ella and Zaulda. Mr. Landers was then mar-
ried to Charlotte Driskill, April 12, 1.S77 ; she was born in Defiance Co., Ohio, Dec. 23, 184'.l ;
the fruit of this marriage is one cliihl — John David, Jr., born May 25, 1878 Mr. Landers owns
2(»8 acres of farm land, under good cultivation, and has considerable influence in liis neighbor-
hood. Mr. Landers has held office of School Director twenty years; School Treasurer, three
years; A.ssessor, three years, and Supervisor, one term. His grandfather lived to be 114 years
of age ; his father is 81 years old, and still attends to business.
ARROWSMITH TOWNSHIP. 955
JOHS MARSH, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; was born in Seneca Co., N.
T., March 14, 18"28; lived on the farm with his father in that State until 12 years of age, then
niijved with his parents to the Western Reserve, in Ohio ; stayed there twelve years, engaging
with his father in farming and dairying; came to this county when 24 years of age. Was mar-
ried in Ohio to Eliza Hobart, March 8, 1852; she was born in Ohio March 14, 1828; they are
the parents of eight children, viz., John F., Rena B., George A., Mary A., Elma C, Harry H.,
Eunice A. and Ruth A. Mr. Marsh has held the office of Commissioner of Highways seventeen
years, and School Director twelve years. Mr Marsh had very little property when he came
10 this county, but now owns 668 acres of the finest farming lands in the county ; he has planted
about twelve acres of the willow on the northwest of his dwelling-house, which makes a very
fine wind-break; Mr. Marsh's farm is one of the best improved in the township ; he is a man of
great influence in the neighborhood, where he has lived for a number of yearc Mrs. M.arsh is
an educated and accomplished lady ; in fact, the family are in very high standing. Mr. Marsh
has made considerable money raising sheep, having made sheep and mules a specialty.
ANSON MARSH, farmer. Sec. 4 ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; owns eighty acres, worth $35 per
acre ; was born in Seneca Co., N. Y. July 25, 1832 ; lived with his parents on a farm until
engaging with his father in farming, the lumber business, working a stone-quarry, etc., until 22
years of age ; he came to this county about the year 1854; worked by the month on a farm
until he married Sarah M. Wampler, Nov. 29, 1861 ; she was born in Highland Co., Ohio, Dec.
5, 1835; they are the pai'ents of nine children, seven of whom are living, viz.; Henry M. W.,
Theodocia, Mary J., William W., Luis E., George I. and Laura A.; deceased — Florence M. and
Alice. INlr. Marsh has held the office of School Director eight years, and Overseer of Roads
several terms His parents are natives of New York ; Mrs. Marsh's father is a native of Vir-
ginia, and her mother of Ohio.
FRANK MARSH, farmer, Sec. 10 ; P. O. Arrowsmith ; was born in McLean Co., 111., April
10, 1853 ; lived with his parents on the farm, engaging with his father in farming until 19 years
of age ; then farmed three years for himself on his father's farm, and was then married to
Amanda J. Wampler, Dec. 24, 1874; she was born in McLean Co., 111., Aug. 2, 1854; the fruit
of this marriage is one child — Goldie, who was born July 14, 1876. Mr. Marsh owns sixty
acres of very tine farm land, probable value, $35 per acre, under good cultivation. .Mr. Marsh's
parents are natives of Ohio, and Mrs. Marsh's of Virginia.
.JOHN MURPHY, farmer. Sec. 5; P. 0. Arrowsmith; owns 120 acres of excellent farming
land under good cultivation ; was born in Ireland, Dec. 26, 1823; lived with his parents on a
farm until 24 years of age ; came to this couutiy, first to New York, next to Cincinnati, and then
to Kentucky, where he was married to Margaret Jones, April 22, 1852; she was born in Flem-
ing Co., Ky.. Jan. 12, 1835. They are the parents of nine children — William A , John J., Mary
E., Thomas, Eddy B., Susan B. and Kate M.; deceased — Mary E. died in 1856; George A. died
Sept. 23, 1875.
THOMAS O'BRIEN, farmer, Sec. 14; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; the subject of this sketch was
born in Ireland, April 28, 1831 ; lived with his parents, in Ireland, until 17 years of age, when
he hired to J. Cull, a stockman, to drive fat cattle to market and fairs, looking after them while
there; came to this country at the age of 21 yeai's; came first to New York, stayed one year,
then came to .McLean Co. — farmed three years. AVas then married to .Mary Smith, April 28,
1856 ; she was born in Ireland, March 25, 1839. The fruit of this marriage is eleven children,
of whom six are living, five dead — Lawrence, Thomas, John, Peter, James E. and Hugh ;
deceased — John died in 1853 ; Anna died in 1853, and one infant ; Rosanna died in 1868, and
Thomas in 1868. ^Ir. O'Brien owns seventy-seven acres of excellent farming land under good
cultivation. He has held the office of School Director three ye.irs, which office he still holds.
He had a brother killed in the late war. Airs. O'Brien had a brother wounded in the battle of
Prairie Grove, in Arkansas.
ENOCH OROHOOD, mechanic, Arrowsmith. The subject of this sketch was born in Virginia
June 1, 1828; remained with his parents until 19 years of age ; emigrated to Union Co., Ohio;
came from Ohio, in 1849, to Sangamon Co.. this State, and remained until 1850; then to
• hristian Co., where he remained until 1852; moved to Bloomington on the 13th day of
November, 1852. Was previously married in Ohio, to Anna Brown, Aug. 15, 1849 ; she was born
in Cumberland Co., Penn., Dec. 1, 1829. They are the parents often children — Edwin L., Enoch
W., Anna B., Eva, Nellie F. and Colun R. ; deceased — Mary H., who died Feb. 2, 1856; James L.,
who died Feb. 21, 1864; Charles, who died in 1868; Joseph M , who died July 4, 1872. Mr.
Orohood held the office of City Alderman, in the city of Clinton. His father was in the war of
1812. .Mr. Orohood carried on the business of manufacturing bugg es, wagons and plows, very
«xtensively in Clinton, 111., for twelve years, being a natural mechanic, and gave good satistaction
during that time. He is well read on general subjects.
0. PAULDING, physician, Arrowsmith. The subject of this SKCtcli was born in Asia,
while his parents were there on a missionary tour. Mr. PauMing's parents having died when he
was young, he knows but little of his early history. He has had the benefit of a goo 1 education;
lie graduated at Amberly College, where he received a diploma for the practice of medicine,
which profession he still follows. His residence is in the town of Arrowsmith, where he is now
956 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
practicing. He has built up a fine practice in the town and vicinity, in the past year, and is.
looked upon by all as an able physician, highly talented and very energetic.
JAMES F. PAYNE, farmer, Sec 22; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; owns sixty acres of very fine farm
land, worth $65 per acre The subject of this sketch was born in Monroe Co., Ind., Jan. :->l,
1831 and lived with his father on the form until 21 years of age. He was married to Martha A.
Gray, April 8, 1851 ; she was born in Monroe Co., Ind., April 7, 1832. The fruit of this mar-
riage has been seven children, six of whom are living— George W., now engaged in buying grain
in Ai-rowsmith : Andrew J., also engaged in buying grain in Arrowsmith; John M., Jacob I.,
Tabitha E. and William H. ; deceased— Martha E. Mr. Payne has held the. office of School
Director seven years, and has been Township Collector from the year 1861 to 1864. Mr. Payne
is well respected in his neighborhood.
JOHN SMITH, farmer. Sec. 20; P. 0. Arrowsmith; owns forty-five acres, worth $45 per
acre; was born in Ross Co., Ohio, March 22, 1821. Lived and farmed with his father, and occ-a-
sionally worked out by the month. Remained in Ohio until 21 years of age ; came to this State
and thence to California, in the year 1850, and, while his party were crossing the plains, a large
water-spout passed within thirty yards of them. He was married to Maria Rider Aug. 13,
1868. She was born in Ohio Sept. 24, 1843. They are the parents of eight children, viz. :
William H., Ella C, who died April 12, 1868; Idalia, Nona H., George M.. Anna, Francis L.,
Milo A. Mr. Smith's grandfather was in the Black Hawk war, and Mrs. Smith's grandfather
on her mother's side was in the war of 1812. She is one of the survivors of the Kansas drouth
of 1860.
JACOB SMITH, farmer, Sec. 24; P. 0. Saybrook : owns 258 acres of land, worth SlO per
acre ; was born in Switzerland Co., Ind.. April 21, 1817. Resided on a farm with his parents,
assisting his father in fiirming; worked out by the month. Came to this county in the spring of
1833, being the first settler in this township, helping to change it from a barren wilderness to a
fruitful field of plenty. He was married to Rosana Nevvcom April 20, U'42. She was born in
Clark Co., Ohio, April 9, 1820. They are the parents of seven children, three living and four
dead, viz.: Charles W., Lucinda J., Joseph P. ; deceased -Ethan A., died in the late war, of
typhoid fever, March 25, 1864; Albert R., Anna J. and Mary E. Mr. Smith has held the office
of School Director twelve years ; held the office of Commissioner of Highways two terms, which
office he still holds, and held the office of Supervisor of this township three or four years. Mr.
Smith had but very little property when he came to this county ; it did not exceed $200 ; but, by
industry, economy and perseverance, has accumulated about $15,000 worth of property, consist-
ing mostly of land. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been very liberal in donating money for benevolent
purposes. Mrs. Smith donated $50 to assist in building a church.
WILLIAM SPENCER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Arrowsmith. The subject of this
sketch was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Oct. 11, 1842 ; resided with his father on the farm until 19
vears of age, his mother having died when he was but 6 years old ; engaged with his father in
farming until he came to McLean Co., in 1855 ; settled in Le Roy, and remained there three years,
attending school a portion of the time. Mr. Spencer was in the late war, enlisting in 1861 in
Co. 1, 39th I. V. I.; was in battle of Winchester and the skirmish at Black Water, Va.; was in
the siege and capture of Fort Sumter; in battle at Morris' Island and Fort Wagner; re-enlisted
Jan. 1, 1864, and was in battle of Drury's Bluif; siege of Petersburg; assisted in the taking of
Petersburg]! ; went to Southeast Virginia ; mustered out by general order, and returned home.
He was married to Mary E. Cline Jan. 3, 1869 ; she was born in I'utnam Co., Ohio, June 21, 1857 ;
they are the parents of two children— Emma M., born March 19, 1870; Eva D., Oct. 9, 1873.
Mr. Spencer owns 240 aci-es of excellent forming land, under good cultivation, his crop being
mostly corn, which he has fed to hogs and cattle until the last four years.
IRA A STOUT, farmer. Sec. 6 ; P. 0. Ellsworth. Owns 160 acres of land, worth $35 per
acre; was born in Guernsey Co., Ohio ; went to school part of the time. Was married to Alice Pan-
cake Feb. 25, 1875; .she was born in Noble Co., Ind.; they are the parents of two children —
David and Harry. Tlie subject of this sketch has held the office of School Director, two terms;
Town Clerk, two terms, and School Trustee, which office he still holds.
MADISON WILLAN, farmer; P. 0. Ellsworth; was born in Henry Co., Ky., Sept. 5,
1847 ; lived with his parents on the farm until 14 years of age ; engaged with his lather in farm-
ing; went to Indiana ; stayed until 1865; came to this county, and married Jane Richardson,
Jan. 18, 1872 ; she was born in Scotland April 5, 1850; the fruit of this marriage is one chiM —
La Fayette, who was born May 7, 1875. Mr. Willan's father is a native of England, and his
mother of Kentucky. .Mrs. Willan's parents are natives of Scotland.
THOMAS B. WATTS, farmer and school teacher; P. 0. Arrowsmith. The subject of this
sketch w.as born in the Stale of Delaware, June 23,1843; remained with his parents until 18
years of age, engaging with his father in farming in summer and going to school in winter. Mr.
Watts attended the State Normal School at Bloomington, McLean Co., two and a half years;
commenced leaching .school at the age of 21, and continued for about twelve years. Mr. Watts was
so successful in teaching that lie retained his posiiion in one school, in the city of Peoria, 111., for
a period of six years. Mr. Watts has been teaching in this county for about two years. Was
married to Louise L. Odelin May 27, 1867; slie was born in the State of Vermont March 27,
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 957
1848; tliey are the parents of three children — Littie M., born Jan. 13, 1873 ; Cora B., May 11,
1875; B. A., June 3, 1877. I\Ir. Watts lives on his father's farm, and is a man of more than
ordinary intelligence. Mrs. Watts is an Eastern lady, of refinement and taste.
DOWNS TOWNSHIP.
WIYETT ADAMS, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 17 ; P. 0. Downs ; one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co. ; was born Feb. 1, 1828, in Warren Co., Ky. His father, Jesse Adams, emigrated
to Illinois in October, 1830, and entered land in Old 'iown Town.ship, where he lived until his
decease, which occurred in 1843. He was married in Virginia to Elizabeth Goodman ; she was
born in Tennessee, and died in Iowa in 1865. They were the parents of twelve children, of
whom ten are now living. The subject of this sketch remained upon the home farm until 19
years of age, when, upon the 25th of March, 1847, he was married to Charity Bishop; she was
born in Perry Co., Ohio, Oct 18, 1826. They have ten children now living, viz. : Mary E., born
Jan. 3, 1851, now Mrs. John Holforty ; Joseph, a music teacher, born Feb. 9, 1852 ; Hannah E.,
May 9, 1853, now Mrs. Wamsley, of Heyworth ; Martin L., Oct. 14, 1854; May Dora, Dec. 15,
1855; Harriet L., Jan. 12, 1859, now Mrs. Frank Cowden ; Liddie Celia, April 22, 1860; Icha-
bod M., Jan. 11, 1862; Sarah J., Aug. 30, 1865, and Nettie, Feb. 17, 1870. Upon the marriage
of Mr. A., he rented land, upon which he farmed for three years, when he entered ninety acres
of his present place, at f 1.25 per acre, to which he has since added by purchase, until he now
owns 247 acres, which he has secured by his own exertions. He settled upon his present place
in 1849, when he had only two neighbors on the prairie, and east it was perfectly wild for five
miles, not a house being located within that distance. His milling was done at Mackinaw, a
distance of fifty miles, making the trip from four to seven days with oxen ; afterwards at Bloom-
ington, a distance of twelve miles. He assisted in organizing the township in 1857. Mr. Adams
has held many township and school offices among which we mention Highway Commissioner and
School Director. Mrs. Adams is a daughter of Jacob Bishop, who emigrated from Perry Co.,
Ohio, and located in Randolph Grove in the fall of 1829, where he now lives at the advanced
age of 82 years. Mr. and ^Irs. Adams were in Bloomington when there was but one dry-goods
store in the place, neither mill nor churches.
CHARLES ALLEN, farmer. Sec. 32; P.O. Heyworth ; born in Marion Co., Ohio, May 19, 1845.
His father, David S. Allen, was born in Pennsylvania, and emigrated to Ohio, then to Illinois,^
and located in Padua Township, McLean Co., in 1845. Here he entered eighty acres of prairie
and twenty of timber, upon which he lived until 1860, when, after living in Christian Co. three
years, he returned to McLean Co. and settled in Downs Township, where he died, March 17,
1864. He married, in Ohio, Betsey Love; she died in McLean Co. in 1848, and lies buried in
the Dawson graveyard, in Padua Township. The subject of this sketch lived with his parents
until the winter of 1864, when he enlisted in the 150th I. V. I., and went forward to battle for
the Union. He was forwarded to the front, and, during the year 1864, was engaged upon duty
in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and, in the spring of 1865, he was discharged, and returned to
Downs Township, and followed farming upon rented land until 1871, when he purchased his
present place of 100 acres, upon which he then settled and has since lived. His marriage with
Charity E. Cusey was celebrated Deri. 30, 1868. They have two children — John Cusey, born
Oct. 22. 1871 ; Charles A., June 11, 1876. Mrs. Allen was born in McLean Co., Nov. 21, 1844.
She is a daughter ot Senator John Cusey, one of the early settlers of McLean Co., whose biog-
raphy appears in this work.
C. E. BARCLAY, farmer. Sec. 19; P. 0. Downs ; born in Mason Co., Ky., Sept. 10, 1824.
His father, Stephen Barclay, was born in Brown Co., Ohio, Aug. 11, 1800. He was married in
Kentucky to Nancy Downing. She was born March 22, 1800, in Kentucky. They were the
parents of six children, as follows — Susan, now Mrs. Sylvester Peasley. born June 7, 1822 ;
Charles E,, Sept. 10, 1824; Harriet P., March 2 1827; James, May 14, 1829; Sarah, April 25,
1832 ; William, Feb. 16, 1835 — the last four are deceased. The subject of this sketch was brought
up to farm labor, with his father, until 28 years of age, when, in the fall of 1853, he emigrated
to Illinois, and the year of 1854, farmed upon the place of Campbell Wakefield, in Randolph
Township, and in the fall of 1854, purchased his present place of 160 acres, which was in a wild
state, and which he has brought from its wild prairie condition to its present high state of culti-
vation, by his own hard labor. He was one of the first settlers upon the prairie; but a very few
houses were in view at the time of his locating here. He has followed farming constantly during
his residence here, and for the past fifteen years has been engaged in feeding and shipping stock.
His marriage with Angeline Biggers, was celebrated May 19, 1850. She was born in Mason Co.,
Ky., Jan. 23, 1832. She died in McLean Co., June 4, 1867, leaving seven children — James S.,
born .July 29, 1851; Mary A., Aug. 19, 1853; Nancy S., April 17, 1855, (the above three are
married and live in Kansas); Charles D., Sept. 9, 1857; John H., May 21, 1860; Susan P., Feb.
20, 1862; George E., July 23, 1865 — the last four are now living at home. His marriage with
9')ii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Elizabeth Willhoit was celebrated Jan. '28, 18fi8. She was born in Owen Co.. Ky., .May 8, 1842,
she was a diughter of Willis C. and Maria (Hancock) Willhoit, who emigrated from Kentucky
and located in McLean Co., 111., in the spring of 18-32. Mr. Willhoit died in McLean Co., April
9, 187o. Mrs. Willhoit is still living;: is now in the 74th year of her age. Tliey were the parents
of ten children, eight of whom lived to grow up; seven are now living; six of them are living
in McLean Co. The children of Charles E., and Elizabeth (Willhoit) Barclay were five in num-
ber—Lillie M., born March 7, 1869; Willis J., Nov. 1, 1870; Harry T., May 8, 1872; Hattie E..
Aug. 20, 1875; William E., June 23, 1877. Of township and school offices he has had his full
share, among which we mention Assessor for three terms, Commissioner of Highways three terms.
School Director ten years. Town f'lerk one year, and one of the Board of School Trustees for
fourteen years, and other pettv offices.
WILLIAM R. BARTON,' farmer, Sec. 29; P. 0. Hey worth. One of the oldest settlers of
McLean Co.; born in Union Co., Ind.. Oct. 13, 1823; his father, Samuel Barton, was born in
Loudoun Co.. Va., in 1794. He emigrated from Virginia to Pennsylvania, thence to Union Co.,
Ind. He was married in Pennsylvania to Hannah Pitznoggle. She was born in Pennsylvania,
of German descent. She died about the year 1846, ii Boone Co., Ind. Mr. Barton now lives in
Boone Co., Ind., where he has lived for nearly half a century. He is now 83 years of age. They
were the parents of nine children, of whom six are now living. The subject of this sketch lived
upon the farm of his father, until 1855, when he emigrated West, and located in Downs Town-
ship, and in the spring of 1856, purchased forty acres of his present place, upon which he then
settled, and where he has since lived. He has since added, by purchase, until he now owls
eighty acres of well-improved land, which he has secured by his own hard labor, energy and
industry. His marriage with Louisa A Sweet, was celebrated Oct. 17, 1844. She was born in
Henry Co., Ind., Jan. 17, 1828. She died March 5, 1868. They were the parents of twelve
children, of wliom nine are now living — Eli, Catharine, Albert, John, Charles, Milton, William,
Mary and Ellen; of the above children, John was born Jan. 17, 1854; he was united in marriage
with Lizzie J. Cruff, Feb. 10, 1875; she was born in Indiana, Jan. 29, 1852. She was a daughter
of William Cruff, who located in Bloomington, in 1856, anl now lives in McLean Co.
DAVID F. BAYLOR, farmer, Sec. 8; P. 0. Downs; one of the early settlers of McLean
Co., 111. ; born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Sept. 27, 1832 ; he is a son of Jacob Baylor, who was
born iu Pennsylvania. May 16. 1805, and emigrated to Ohio, and located in Champaign Co., Ohio.
He was married, March 25, 1830, to Nancy Beatly ; she was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Aug.
30. 1810, ; she now lives upon the old place, where they located thirty-nine years ago. He fol-
lowed farming and teaming in Ohio until 1837, when he emigrated to Illinois with his family
and located at Blooming Grove, and, in 1839, located on Sec. 8, Downs Township, where he
secured eighty acres of land, upon wh'ch he settled, and where he lived until his decease, which
occurred Jan. 6, 1848. He frequently made trips by team to Chicago, taking up grain, and
bringing back salt, groceries, etc., the trip consuming upward of two weeks; he also made
trips to St. Louis, taking grain to market and freighting back goods for Bloomington merchants;
he continued farming and teaming until he had accumulated 2f)0 acres of land at the time of his
death; they were the parents of eight children, of whom five are living. The subject of this
sketch emigrated to Illinois with his parents in 1837, and lived upon the home farm until 1866,
when he located upon his present place, where he has since lived ; he has eighty acres in his
home farm, and also an interest in the old homestead. His marriage with Annette R. Mannen, was
celebrated April 12, 1839; she was born in McLean Co., 111., Feb. 15, 1840; she died April 17,
1864, leaving two children — Cary 0., born April 6, 1860 ; Maria I., born Nov. 25, 1862. He
was united in marriage with Clara B. Philips, Nov. 19,1865 ; she was born in Greene Co.,Penn.,
Jan. 7, 1842; they were the parents of five children, of whom four survive — Maggie F., born
in 1867; Francis B., born April 22, 1868; Eliott H., born Aug. 17, 1872; Vera L., born
Oct. 8, 1^75. The deceased, Alfred N , was born Aug. 18, 1870; died Aug. 5, 1872.
HENRY CLAY BISHOP, farmer. Sec. 5 ; P. 0. Diwns; one of the oldest living settlers of
Downs Township; born in Clark Co., Ohio, Dec, 3, 1824; he was the second son of William
Bishop, who was born Sept. 8, 1794, in Virginia. During the war of 1812, he wa-i a teamster,
and went to Fort Meigs and Fort Wayne. About the year 1820, he went to Virginia and mar-
ried Margaret Lake; she was born in Virginia in 1803 ; she is now living in Bloomington at the
advanced age of 76 years ; they were the parents of nine children, who lived to grow up, eight
of whom are now living. In 1833, he came to Illinios and located upon Sec. 30, Old Town
Township, McLean Co ; upon their arrival here they were obliged to sleep in a wagon for three
weeks, and lived in the abandoned hut of a hunter for the first winter, and the following year,
built the Six-Mile House, a double log cabin, which was used for many years as a stopping place
for travelers. He entered land, to which he afterward added until he had 2,000 acres; of their
children, eight are now living; three of the sons are farming in this county ; one is a physician
of Bloomington, and one a physician of Chicago. Mr. Bishop was a man universally respected,
and died Oct. 5, 18 -5, at the adv.uiced age of 61 years. The subject of this sketch remained at
home until 18.52. when he vvent to California overland, crossing the Rocky Mountains at South Pass;
there were six in the party, and they had two teams of cows hitched to the wagons ; the trip con-
sumed five months : he remained in California until 1856, the most of the time being engaged
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 959
in mining , he then returned and engaged in farming, which business he has since successfully
followed ; he located upon his present place in 1865, where he has 355 acres, upon which he has
good farm-buildings, and some town property in Normal.
GEORGE BISHOP, farmer, Sec. 10; P. 0. Downs; born in Randolph Township, McLean
Co., 111., Nov. 28, 1848; he is a son of .James Bishop, who was born in Champaign Co., Ohio,
and emigrated to Illinois and located in Randolph Township at a very early day. The subject
of this sketch attended the common school in his youth, and completed his education at the Nor^
mal University at Blooniington, after which he remained with his father until the 7th of March,
1871, when lie was united in marriage with Susan Welch ; she was born in McLean Co., 111.,
Sept. 24, 1850: she is a daughter of Henry Welch, one of the pioneers of McLean Co., whose
sketch also appears in this work. Upon the marriage of Mr. Bishop, he commenced farming for
himself, which business he has since successfully followed ; he removed upon his present place
in 187o, where he is engaged in farming 240 acres, all under a good state of cultivation ; they ,
have four children by this union — Ella, born .Jan. 28, 1872; .James H., Feb. 28, 1874 ; William
L. W., May 6, 1876 ; Alfred F , April 6, 1878.
ARTHUR A. BISHOP, farmer ; P. 0. Downs ; born in Randolph Township, McLean Co., 111.,
April 10, 1855 ; he is a son of James Bishop, one of the old settlers who emigrated from Ohio, and
located in McLean Co., at a very early day. The subject of this sketch attended the common schools
in his boyhood, and assisted his father in farming until 22 years of age, when he was united in
marriage with Susan Welch ; she was born in Downs Township, Sept. 7, 185H ; she was a daughter of
George Welch, who was born in Vigo Co., Ind., in 1829, and emigrated to Illinois with his mother
and located in Downs Township in 1835 ; he was married to Jane Miller ; she was born in Ohio
in lf!'35 ; she died in Downs Township, Oct. 1865 ; Mr. Welch died Nov. 20, 1856. The children
of Arthur A. and Susan (Welch) Bishop are two in number — George Welch, horn Nov. 10, 1877;
Charles E., born March 27, 1878. Upon the marriage of Mr. Biahop, he settled upon his present
place, where he has since followed farming ; he has eighty acres of good prairie land, and tex\
acres of timber in Randolph Township.
WESLEY BROWN, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Muskingum Co., Ohio, Nov. 1, 1837,
He is a son of John Brown, who was born in tlie same county and State, and now lives in Padua
Township, McLean Co. Wesley Brown remained with his father, in Ohio, until 1855, when he
emigrated to Illinois and located in McLean Co., and on Dec. 1, 1859, he was united in mar-
riage with Sarah E. Case ; she was born in McLean Co , Sept. 27, 1840; she is a daughter of
Lewis Case one of the earlj' pioneers of McLean Co., and whose biography appears among the
sketches of Old Town Township, in another part of this work. Upon the marriage of Mr,
Brown, he rented land, upon which he farmed until 1862, when he purchased his present place
upon time, and in 1864, lost his residence and contents by fire, which was a serious drawback ;
but he has since erected a good house, and paid for his farm of 160 acres by his own hard labor,
in which he has been nobly assisted by his wife ; their children were seven in number, of whom
six are now living, viz., Lewis E., John E., Charles W., Mary 0., Salina L. and Roy W. ;
the deceased died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs Brown have been members of the Protestant
Methodist Church since 1857 ; Mr. Brown is one of the strongest Republicans, having joined
the party upon its organization, and has never in his life voted for a Democrat for any political
position.
AARON BUCKLES, farmer ; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.; born
in White Co., 111., Dec. 9, 1827 ; he is a son of Abram Buckles, who was born in Virginia,
June 18, 1800; he, with his father, moved to Illinois in 1810, and located in the grove
bearing his name, in Empire Township, McLean Co., in 1832, and was, consequently, one of the
early settlers of this county ; he entered good land, to the extent of some 300 acres, and lived
in this county until his decease, which occurred May 17, 1878, nearly 78 years of age. He was
married to Mary Williams ; she was born in 1805, and died in McLean Co., 111., Dec. 19, 1876 ;
they were the parents of twelve children, of whom ten are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Buckles
were both members of the Baptist Church for upward of fifty years. The subject of this sketch
was brought up to farm labor until 20 years of age, when he engaged in milling, at Le Roy, foi?
a period of ten years, and again returned to farming, which business he has since followed. He
located upon his present place in March, 1863, where he has upward of 160 acres of land, under
fence and good cultivation. His marriage with Elizabeth Dean was celebrated July 20, 1851 j
she was born in Harrison Co., Ind., Aug. 22, 1833 ; they have three children by this union— ^
Robert W. H., born June 27, 1852; Isaac E., born June 21, 1854; John W., born Aug, 29,
1856. Mrs. Buckles is a daughter of John L. and Anna (Fox) Dean; her father was probably
born in Virginia, in Oct., 1807 ; Mrs. Dean was born June 13, 1813 ; they were the parents of
four children, of whom two are now living. Mr. Dean died in Louisiana, in 1839; his widow
then came to Illinois, and was married again, in Fulton Co., to William D. Brewer; they now
live in Missouri.
WILLIAM COLAW, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 1 ; P. 0. Downs ; one of the old settlers
of McLean Co. ; born in Highland Co., Va., near the Potomac River, Jan. 30, 1815, where he
attended the public schools during the winter until about 18 years of age, during which time he
worked upon a farm in summer, and followed farming in Virginia, until March 20, 1833, whei{
960 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
he was united in marriage with Sabina Gum : she was born in Virginia, Aug. 24, 1814, and died
in Illinois, Jan. 30, 1859; they had eight children, of whom five are now living — William,
Amos, Henjamin, Dyer and Jane. He married for his second wife Phrebe Wood, upon the 16th
of May, 1860; she was born in Virginia, in 1828; she died in Illinois, Sept. 28, 1868, leaving
three children, of whom two are now living — Harvey and George. His marriage with Sarah
Ann Wilson was celebrated Dec. 23, 1873; she was born in Tazewell Co., 111., July 11, 1836 ; she
is a daughter of James H. Wilson, who was born March 19, 1797; he was a patriot
in the American army during the war of 1812, and was in many battles, among which
was the battle of New Orleans, under Gen. Jackson ; he was one of the early settlei-s of Taze-
well Co., locating there in 1834 ; he now lives in Clark Co., Mo. Upon the marriage of Mr.
Colaw, he engaged in farming in Virginia, until he emigrated to Illinois and located upon Section
1, Downs Township, in Dec, 1854, where he has lived for a period of a quarter of a century.
He first purchased 240 acres of his present place, to which he has since added, by purchase,
until he now owns 700 acres, all of which he has made by his own exertions. He has taken a
deep interest in the cause of religion, having been a member of the M. E. Church for fifteen
years.
ROBERT COLLINS, farmer, Sec. 25 ; P. 0. Le Roy : one of the early pioneers of McLean
Co.; born in Hamilton Co., Ohio, Jan. 25, 1819. His father, Robert Collins, died when the sub-
ject of this sketch was 7 years of age, when he was bound out and was brought up to farming
in Ohio until 17 years of age, when he emigrated to Illinois and located in what is now Randolph
Township, October 16, 1836, where he lived until the spring of 1839, at which time he located
firty acres of land of his present place, to which he has since added, by purchase, until he now
owns 224 acres, upon which he has good farm buildings. Coming to Illinois without
capital, he has accumulated all of the above property by his own hard labor, in which
he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife, to whom he was united in marriage by
Hiram Buck, June 25, 1840. Her maiden name was Maranda Buckles. She was born in
White County, Illinois, August 25, 1825. She was the daughter of Abraham Buckles,
Who was born in Kentucky, and was among the first settlers of McLean Co. ; he died
in 1878. The children of Robert and Maranda Collins were — John A., born May 6, 1843 ;
Anderson J., Feb. 11, 1846; Mary A., Jan. 29, 1848 (she was married to James Eskew
and died April 20, 1879, leaving four children) ; Tabitha J., March 31, 1849; Americus E., May
31, 18.50; Sarah E., Nov. 25, 1851; Maranda P., Nov. 6, 1853; William R., March 26, 1855,
died March 25, 1865 ; Alfaretta E., Feb. 26, 1857; Mahalia, Feb. 10, 1859; Clarissa B., July
24, 1864; Barbara F., Sept. 14, 1866; Rosetta, Aug. 8, 1870. Mr. Collins located upon his
place when there were but few settlers ; not a house was to be .seen west of him for a distance of
six miles, where now are located one or more houses upon every quarter-section — such has been
the marvelous development of the country during the forty years' residence of Mr. Collins upon
his home. He has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion, having been a member of the
M. E. Church for a period of forty-two years, thirty years of which time he has been Steward and
Class-leader. Mrs. Collins has been a church member for nearly forty years, and, of the
children, all are members save three.
CORNELIUS COVEY, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the early settlers of McLean Co.; born
In Cayuga Co., N. Y., Feb. 26, 1814. He was a son of Edward Covey, who was born in the State
of New York in 1772. He emigrated to Orange Township, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, in 1816, and
was the third settler of that township. He emigrated to Illinois in 1835, and located in what
Was then McLean Co., near Farmer City, where he lived until his decease, which occurred Nov.
28, 1854. He was married in New York to Hannah Northrup. She was born in Connecticut in
the year 1785, and died March 19, 1861. She was a daughter of Stephen Northrup, who was
born near Hartford, Conn., and volunteered as private at the commencement of the Revolution-
ary struggle and served through the war. In September, 1780, he was detailed as the bearer of
the dispatches from West Point, upon the Hudson, to Hartford, Conn., where Gen. Washington
and his suit were in session, announcing the traitorous designs of Gen. Arnold. Mr. Northrup
drew a pension until his decease, which occurred when 78 years of age. The father and mother
of .Mr. Covey removed from New York to Ohio with oxen and .sled, in the month of February,
and iised oxen many years upon his farm. The subject of this sketch emigrated with his parents
to Illinois in 1835, and, after living near Farmer City until 1845, sold out and located upon his
present^ place, where he has lived for a period of thirty-five years. At the time of locating here,
his capital consisted of §450 in cash, one team and one cow. He first purchased 100 acres of
land, to which he has since added until he now owns 292 acres, with good farm buildings. In
1847, he took a load of wheat by team to ('hicago, loading back with salt and groceries. A few
years he did his trading at Peoria, which at tliat time was considered quite convenient. Upon
Mr. Covey locating upon his present place, there was not a single house in view, west, where
now u|K)n every (pjarter of a section stands one or more residences. His marriage with Dicy
Johnson was celebrated Sept. 5, 1836. She was born in White Co., 111., July 29, 1817. Her
father ftvis born in Kentucky. Her mother was Catharine Reed, born in Fast Tennessee in 1785.
They em><j;raled to Illinois in 1823. The children of Cornelius and Dicy Covey were eleven in
number, ofVliom six are now living, viz.: Edmond, James R., Byron, Lorenzo, Stephen H. and
4
^s^ -<«^-*«^
Cy^^ • "^ ^t^^-^^^^ (^-d^
HUDSON
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 963
Ellsworth. He has given his five oldest children $1,200 in land. He had three sons in the Union
army, two of whom served in the 89th Regt. for over tour years. He as well as all of his sons
are strong Republicans, and labor for the support of their party. He has taken a deep interest
in the cause of religion, he with his wife having been members of the Baptist Church for upward
of a quarter of a century. He has been a hard-working, industrious man, and, aside from the
above-mentioned property, paid taxes upon |8,000 worth of personal property in 1878.
JAMES R. COVEY, farmer; P. 0. J^e Roy; born in McLean Co., HI., Feb. 18, 1842; he is
a son of C. Covey, whose sketch also appears in this work ; he attended school and assisted his
father in farming until Sept. 19, 1861, when he enlisted in the 39th Regt. I. V. I.; was fii'st sent
to Chicago, then Benton Barracks, Mo., then to Maryland, and was in the battle at Alpine Sta-
tion; Va., Jan. 4, 1862; they were incorporated in the famous division of Gen. Shields, engaged
in the battle of Winchester, Va., March 23, 1862, remaining with Shields during the Valley cam-
paign; was then in the Peninsular campaign, then to Suffolk, Va.; from there to North Carolina,
then to Port Royal, where he saw the naval engagement between the iron-clads and Ft. Sum-
ter; was engaged in the siege of Morris Island, S. C, wbich resulted in the occupation of Fts.
Wagner and Gregg by the 39th, Sept. 7. 1863 ; they afterward engaged in the battles of Drury's
Blutl', Bermuda Hundred, Deep Bottom and Deep Run ; before Petersburg Aug. 24 to Sept. 24,
1864; Chapin Farm, Oct 7, 1864; Darbytown Pioad, Oct. 13 to 27, 1864, and, during the entii-e
fall, was engaged in continual fighting; in April, 1865, the 39th was engaged in the gallant
charge upon the rebel works at Petersburg, which was the direct cause of the evacuation of
Richmond the following night ; they then followed the retreating rebels, and succeeded in
obtaining a position between Lee and Johnson, and, after severe fighting one day, Lee surren-
dered at Appomatox Court House ; he was then mustered out of service, and received his dis-
charge Dec. 6, 1865, having served in the Union army upward of four years ; he enlisted as
private : was promoted to Corporal Oct. 31, 1863, and to Sergeant Aug. 27, 1864; he re-enlisted
as veteran at Hilton Head, S. C, Jan. 1, 1864; was wounded by a piece of shell at Morris
Island, S. C, Sept. 14, 1863. Upon receiving his dischai'ge, he returned home, attended the
Wesleyan University at Bloomington one term, taught school one winter, and, the spring of 1868,
commenced farming for himself, which business he has since successfully followed ; he located
upon his present place in 1875, where he has eighty acres, with good buildings. His marriage
with Lizzie Jones was celebrated Oct. 8, 1868; she was born in Kentucky March 25, 1851 ; three
children were the fruit of this union, of whom two died in infancy ; the living — Hyatt E. — was
born Sept. 1, 1875.
FRANK COWDEN, farmer; P. 0. Downs; born upon Sec. 31, Old Town Township,
McLean Co., 111., Dec. 22, 1854 ; his father, Frederick R. Cowden, emigrated from Kentucky and
located upon Sec. 31, Old Town Township, in 1832, and is consequently one of the very oldest
settlers of McLean Co.; his biography appears among the sketches of Old Town Township, in
another part of this work. The subject of this sketch attended the common school in his youth,
and assisted his father in farming until 20 years of age; in December, 1874, he engaged in the
merchandising trade, with his brother John J., at Gillum Station, which business he followed
eighteen months, when he removed his stock of goods to Downs and associated with J. A. Davis
in the merchandising trade, and continued the same until March 7, 1879, when he disposed of
his interest and engaged in farming; he has seventy-six acres of land, situated at Downs Sta-
tion, with good buildings. His marriage with Harriet L. Adams was celebrated July 3, 1877 ; she
was born in Downs Township McLean Co., Jan. 12, 1859; they have one child by this union —
Charles Elmer, born May 16, 1878. Mrs. Cowden is a daughter of Wiyett Adams, who now lives
in Downs Township, and whose biography appears among the sketches of this work.
WILLIAM A CROOKSHANK; Sec. 6 ; P. 0. Hey worth ; born in Hamilton Co., Ohio,
Oct. 17, 1823. His father, William Crookshank, was born in the city of New York, and emi-
grated to Ohio in 1818, where he followed shoemaking until he removed to Illinois, in 1853, and
settled in Randolph Township, McLean Co.; he met with his death by being run over by the
cars on the Illinois Central Railroad, about the year 1862. He married Elizabeth Hathaway, of
New York; they were the parents of eight children, of whom five are now living; she died in
Ohio in 1826. The subject of this sketch remained with his parents until 18 years of age, when
he drove stock to Illinois, and located in Randolph Township in the spring of 1842 ; he then
worked as farm laborer for seven years, his wages at that time being from $6 to $12 per month,
during which time he saved from Ins low wages $250, with which he purchased a team and
rented land, and engaged in farming for himself; he removed upon his present place in 1872,
where he has ninety-two acres under good cultivation, upon which he has good farm buildings :
he also owns twenty acres of timber in Randolph Township. His marriage with Emily C. Bird-
sell was celebrated January, 1850: she was born in Randolph Township May 16, 1833 ; she was
a daughter of William Birdsell, one of the early settlers of McLean Co. The children of William
A. and Emily Crookshank were six in number, of whom five are now living-— Lucia F., born June
27, 1851, now Mrs. Charles L. Rutledge. of Hey worth ; Scott, May 20, 1854; John B., June 26,
1857 ; Jane, March 18, 1860 ; Harrison L., May 2, 1863 ; and one which died in infancy.
JOHN CUSEY, farmer. Sec. 2; P. 0. Heyworth. One of the early pioneers and prominent
men of McLean Co ; born in Ashland Co., Ohio, April 9, 1822, where he devoted his attention to
RK
964 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
mechanical pursuits until October, 1836, when he emigrated to Illinois and located in McLean
Co.; he followed carpentering, cabinet-making, etc., until 1840, when he, with liis fiither,
eno-aged in contracting and building, continuing the same in McLean and adjoining counties for
several years ; among their iirst frame buildiogs was the barn of Lewis Case. Mr. ("usey located
upon his present place of 560 acres in 1868, where he has been extensively engaged in farming
and stock-raising ; he has been most const intly in public offices for many years, having held the
office of Town Trustee twenty years ; Assessor, nine years ; Supervisor, two years ; was elected
in 1872 to represent the 'JSth Senatorial District in the State Legislature, serving four years ;
durino- the late war of the rebellion lie was appointed Marshal, or Enrolling Officer, of the 39th
and 40th Districts, which position he held until the close of the war. About the year 1870 he
traced a map and suggested to Mr. Fi-her, the Vice-President of the Narrow Gauge Railroad,
the advantages of a railroad running west through McLean Co. Mr. Fisher acted upon these
suggestions, and called meetings at Rantoul and other places, which resulted in the building of
the Narrow Gauge Railroad from West Lebanon, Ind., to Le Roy. Mr. Cusey has been in every
respect a public-spiriied man, and has filled every office to which he has been elected or
appointed with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the public. There are many things of
interest to the public that we should like to mention of him which this brief sketch will hardly
admit and do him justice, a circumstance which the writer of this article deeply regrets. His
marriao-e with Hannah Bishop was celebrated upon the 23d of Nov., 1843 ; she was boin in Perry
Co., Ohio, Jan. 30, 1824 ; she is a daughter of .Jacob Bishop, who emigrated to Illinois in 1829,
and now lives in Randolph Township, at the advanced age of 82 years, and is in possession of
all his faculties. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Cusey were nine in number, of which two are
deceased; the living are Charity E., Thomas H.. John A., James C, Joseph M., Mary J., and
Hannah E.
ISAAC F. DAWSON, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the early settlers of McLean Co. : his
ancestors were among the early pioneers of McLean Co., and are prominently mentioned in
another part of this work ; he was born in what is now Padua Township, McLean Co., Sept. 18,
1838; he lived with his father and followed farming until 23 years of age, when, upon June 17,
1861, he enlisted in the 20th I. V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union ; he was engaged
in the campaigns through Missouri and Arkansas, the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson,
Shiloh, Corinth, Britton's Lane, Fort Gibson, Jackson, Miss., Champion Hills, and upon the 19th
of May, 1863, took a position in the rear of Vicksburg, and upon the 22d inst. took part in the
gallant charge made upon the rebel breastworks, in which the Union army were repulsed with great
loss ; here he remained until the surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, and the following winter
remained at Black River ; in the spring of 1864, he joined the army of Sherman, and was
engaged in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain after his term of enlistment had expired ; he then
returned to Nashville, where he received his discharge in July, 1864, having served in the
Union army upward of three years ; never was wounded njr taken prisoner, but had his clothing
shot through several times ; was never reprimanded nor put in the guard-house, nor was ever off
duty. Upon receiving his discharge, he returned to McLean Co., where he has since followed
farming ; he removed upon his present place in 1865. His marriage with Nancy Buck was cel-
ebrated Dec. 25, 1864; she was born in McLean Co , 111., Feb. 19, 1843; they have two children
by this union, viz.: Maud E., born .Jan. 13, 1872; and Claud E., born Feb. 23, 1876. Mrs.
Dawson is the youngest daughter of Hiram Buck, one of the early pioneers, whose biography
will be found among the biographies of Empire Township, in this work.
WILLIAM M. DAVIS, farmer ; P. 0. Le Roy. The subject of this sketch was born in
Greene Co., Tenn., July 1, 1838 ; he was brought up to fiirm labor until 18 years of age, when
he learned and worked at the carpenter trade until the fall of 1862, at which time he was con-
scripted in the rebel army, and was sent to the defense of Vicksburg, and upon tlie surrender of
the above place, he was paroled, and after returning home, made his way within the Union lines,
enlisting in the 8th Union Tenn. V. C, Oct. 1, 1863; he served in the army of the Cumberland
until 186"), when he was transferred to the command of Gen. Stoneman, and served under him
until the close of the war, receiving his discharge Sept 11, 1865. He then came to Bloomington,
where he followed his trade until 1869, when he engaged in farming, wliich business he has since
successfully followed. He removed upon his present place in February, 1879, where he has
eighty acres, for which he paid $30 per acre, all of which he has accumulated by his own exer-
tions ; liis wages for the first two years at his trade were $6 and $8 per month respectively.
His marriage with Sarah J. Bowep was celebrated March 25, 1869 ; she was born in Mifflin Co.,
Penn., March 22, 1846 ; they have six children by this union — Bertha, Edney, Albert, Sumner,
Amie and Millie.
WESLEY M. DICKERSON, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy: one of the old residents of McLean
Co. ; born in Empire Township, Feb. 6, 1834. He is the youngest son of Miciiael Dickerson,
who emigrated from Tennessee to Illinois and located in Empire Township in the year 1825 or
1826. The subject of this sketch remained upon the old farm until about 15 years of age, when
he hired out at $6 per month as a farm laborer during the summer, and during the winter worked
for his hoard and attended school ; he finished liis education by attending the University, at
Bloomington. He worke<l as farm laborer four years (the highest wages received was |7 per-
DOWNS TOAVNSHIP. 965
moiilh), when he, with his brother Caleb, engaged in farming, raising corn which they sokl at 10
cents per bushel ; he made several trips to Chicago, taking up grain and bringing back salt, gro-
ceries, etc, the trips consuming from tilteen to twenty days, during wiiich time they camped out
at night. In 1854, he purchased his present place of 140 acres ; he also owns twenty-six acres
of land in Empire Township. In the spring of 1862, Mr. Dickerson met with an accident by
being kicked in the stomach by a horse, which came near proving fatal, and for a long time his
life was despaired of, and for a period of two years he was unable to labor upon his farm : during
which time he employed several physicians, and visited the mineral springs of the South, which
proved of great beneiit to him. His marriage with Maranda Chapman was celebrated April 27,
1874; she was born in Madison ( o., Ohio, Oct. 13, 1846; two children were the fruit of this
union, of whom one is now living, viz., Viney .Jane, born Sept. 30, 1876. Mrs. Dickerson was
a daughter of William Chapman ; he died in Madison Co., Ohio, when Mrs. D. was quite young;
the maiden name of his wife was Margaret Chapman ; she was born in Ohio ; she is now a
widow a second time, her last husband losing his life while serving in the army during late
rebellion ; she, with her father, Zadoc Chapman, are now living in Le Roy.
JAMES W. DOOLEY, farmer; V. 0. Downs: born in Kentucky Sept. 17, 1851 ; his parents
removed to Bloomington when he was 6 months old, coming up the river to Pekin, and frona
there to Bloomington by team ; he then located where the town of Holder now stands, living
there a few years, wlien he move<l to Indiana and lived until the fall of 1864, when he returned
to McLean Co., and purchased a farm in Old Town and Downs Townships, upon which he lived
two years, and, in 1866, he settled in Putnam Co., Ind., where he now lives. The subject of
this sketch lived with his father and attended the common schools until 1873. finishing his edu-
cation by two terms of study at Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Ind., where he graduated
in book-keeping; he located upon his present place Feb. 14, 1879, where he has sixty-eight
acres, upon which he has a good residence. Upon the 19th of October, 1876, he was united in
marriage with Elizabeth G. Cowden ; she was born in McLean Co., 111., June 17, 1857 : they are
the parents of two (children by this union — Arthur C, born July 23, 1877; Nellie B., Oct. 31,
1878; Mrs. Dooley is a daughter of F. II. Cowden, one of 'the early settlers of McLean Co.,
whose biography appears among the biographies of Old Town Township, in another part of this;
book.
S. C. DOUGLASS, farmer; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Bloomington, McLean Co., 111.. Dec. 14V
1851 ; he is the son of D. B. Douglas, who located in Bloomington about the year 1849, where-
he lived until 1859, when he removed to Clinton Co., Ind., where he is now engaged in farming.
The subject of this sketch removed to Indiana with his parents, where he was brought up to
farm labor until 1871, when he returned to Illinois, and, afier working as farm laborer one year,
farmed upon rented land in Padua and Belleflower Townships until 1877, when he located upon
his present place, where he now lives. His marriage with Sabra E. Smithernian was celebrated
Nov. 14, 1877 ; she was born in Wood Co., Va., Aug. 5, 185-1 ; she is the daughter of William
Smitherman, who was born in Virginia July 3, 1820: he married Mary Rice in Virginia; she-
was born in Virginia in April, 1826; they were the parents of four children, of whom three
are now living; the father of S. C. Douglass is Dennison B. Douglass; he was born April 28,
18v0. Married Julian P. Goodheart Feb. 6, 1851 ; she was born in Bloomington Sept. 10, 1832,
and died August, 1877 ; she was a daughter of William Goodheart, one of the early pioneers,
and a prominent man of Bloomington.
L. DOWNS, deceased ; one of McLean County's early pioneers ; born near Nashville,
Tenn., April 30, 1808; he removed with his parents to White Co., 111., in 1817, where he-
lived until he removed to McLean Co., and located in what is now Downs Township, and which
was named in honor of Mr. Downs; his location here was in 1829, upon Sec. 7, where he after-
ward entered land, and was among the very earliest settlers of the county, lie was a volunteer
in the Black Hawk war and served under Col. Covel. He was united in marriage to Sarah
Welch in 1836; she was born in Northampton Co., Penn., July 7, 1819; she was a sister of
Henry Welch, whose biography appears in this work; they were the parents of nine children,
of whom six are now living — William, born Oct. 18, 1837; George W., Aug. 22, 1839; John D.,
Nov. 11, 1845; Solomon F., June 28, 1851; Albert P., Nov. 18, 1852, and Alfred E., Aug. 7,
1855, all of whom are now living in McLean Co. Mr. and Mrs. Downs were both members
of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, for many years previous to their decease, and
lived and died consistent Christians. The decease of Mr. Downs occurred Sept. 7, 1860; Mrs.
Downs died Aug. 7, 1866 ; they lie buried in the beautiful family cemetery located in the forest
upon the old farm, their graves being properly marked by marble tombstones placed at their
graves, sacred to their memory, by their loving children.
GEORGE W. DOWNS, farmer; P. 0, Downs; one of the old settlers, his birth occurring in
Downs Township, McLean Co., 111., Aug. 22, 1839 ; his father was L. Downs, whose biog-
raphy also appears in this work. The subject of this subject attended the common schools and
followed farming until August, 1862, when he enli-ted in the 94th Regt. I. V. I , and went
forward to battle for the Union ; he was in all the battles, excepting one, in which the 94th was
engaged — the siege and capture of Vicksburg, Yazoo City, Fort Morgan, Spanish Fort, and all
the skirmishing and scouting in which the 94tli was engaged ; after the capture of Spanish Fort,
9G6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
the city of Mobile fell to the Union forces, and in June, 1865, he was sent with his regiment to
Galveston, Texas, where he was mustered out of service, and, returning home; received his dis-
charge at Springfield, 111., in August, I860, having served in the Union army for upward of three
years ; he then returned h jme and engaged in farming, which business he has since followed,
living upon the old homestead where he was born. He has 154 acres of prairie and timber, the
prairie being under a good state of cultivation. His marriage with Theodocia A. .Myers was
celebrated March 16, 1870; she was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Jan. 20, 1851 ; they have five
children — Sarah, Henry L., Belle, Lavina, Elmer E Mrs. Downs is a daughter of Henry A. and
Laviua Myers, who located in McLean Co. in 1864, now living in Randolph Township.
ALBERT P. DOWNS, farmer, Sec. 7; P. 0. Downs; born in Downs Township, McLean
Co., 111., Nov. 18, 1852; he is a son of L. and Sarah (Welch) Downs, who were among the
early settlers of McLean Co., and whose biography appears among the biographies of this town-
ship. The subject of this sketch attended school in his youth, and worked upon the old farm
until Nov. 12, i874, when he was united in marriage with Rebecca Lemen ; she was born in
Ohio, Jan. 23, 1854 ; they are the parents of two children by this union — Josephine, born Aug.
19, 1875 ; Robert, Feb. 15, 1877 ; upon the marriage of Mr. Downs, he removed into his present
residence, which he had erected previous to his marriage, and which stands upon the land that
his parents settled upon in 1829. He owns eighty acres of prairie and timber, the prairie all
being under a good state of cultivation. Mr. and Mrs. Downs are members of the Church of the
United Brethren.
E. F. EDWARDS, farmer. Sec. 3, Town 21 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the early settlers; born
in Morgan Co., Ohio, Jan. 12, 1826 ; he attended school in Ohio until 14 years of age, when he
emigrated with his parents to Illinois, and located in Le Roy, in 1840, at which lime Le Roy con-
tained some fifteen or twenty houses and two stores ; here he lived until 2u years of age, when
he removed to Waynesville, De Witt Co., and engaged with his father in the drug business for
two years, whea he disposed of his business and returned to Le Roy, where he lived several
years. In 1862, he removed upon his pre-ent place, which he had purchased in the fall of 1856 ;
here he followed farming four yeaTS, when he rented his farm, and, in 1866, he removed to
Bloomington and followed his trade three years ; he was then elected Alderman from the Third
Ward, and was appointed by the Council Superintendent of Streets ; he successfully represented
his constituents as Alderman of the Third Ward for six years in succession, and served as Justice
of the Peace four years. In the spring of 1879, he returned to his farm, where he owns 166 acres,
also 16O acres each in Butler and Morris Cos., Kan., and a residence and one and a half acres of land
in the city of Bloomington. His marriage with Mary Pharis was celebrated Sept. 14, 1847 ; she
wa-i born in Ohio in 1831 ; she died in February, 1856, leaving two children, one of whom is
now living — Emeline E. ; the deceased, Oscar, was killed by being thrown from a horse over an
embankment, near Le Roy, when 23 years of age. Mr. Edwards married for his second wife
Celia A. Hedges Feb. 5, 1857 ; she was born Jan. 3, 1842, in Morgan Co., Ohio; seven children
were the fruit of this union, of which six are now living — Ida I., Effie L., Elmer M., Lee E..
Mertie C, and Minnie C. (twins) ; the deceased died in infancy. Mr. Edwards is a Republican,
having acted with the Republican party since its organization, and is a strong advocate of tem-
perance. He has been a member of the M. E. Church since 1843, and has filled different oflSces.
He is a son of Dr. David Edwards, who was a physician and a Methodist minister, and had a
very extended practice ; he lived in McLean Co. several years, when he located in Mortis, Grundy
Co., and practiced several years, and died in Kendall Co., in 1857 ; Mrs. Edwards died two years
previous.
WILLIAM ELLSWORTH, farmer. Sec. 19 ; P. 0. Heyworth ; one of the early settlers of
Illinois; born near Bowling Green, Ky., September, 1817; at six years of age he removed with
his parents to Illinois, and located in St. Clair Co., where lie lived until 19 years of age, at which
time he went down the river to New Orleans, where he engaged for one winter chopping cord-
wood. In the spring he returned to St. Clair Co., his father having died during the previous
winter; it fell upon the subject of this sketch to manage the farm, which lie nobly did, and sup-
ported the family until 21 years of age. His marriage with Sarah Talbot was celebrated in 1840.
She died in 1847, leaving three children — John T., George M. and Sarah J. His marriage with
Mrs. Mary E. Chesney, was celebrated Nov. 8, 1848. Her maiden name was Pitts ; she was born
in Tennessee, May 10, 1823. They are the parents of seven children, of whom one is deceased —
Kincheon Albert, born Aug. 12, 1849; William S., born Feb. 2, 1851 ; Emily, born Jan. 2, 1855:
Charles W., born May 13, 1858; Ezekiel W., born May 19, 1860; Mary B., born Nov. 13, 1862,
and one deceased. Mrs. Ellsworth was married to Robert (Uiesney April 28, 1845; he died Dec.
22, 1847, leaving one child, now Mrs. John S. Bishop, of Randolph Township. Mr. Chesney
was born in Pennsylvania, March 6, 1817. Mr. Ellsworth sold out in St. Clair Co., in I860, and
removed to .McLean (Jo., where he purcliased 190 acres of land, upon which he then located, and
where he has since lived; he has since ailded by purchase until lie has upward of 900 acres of
land, upon which he has four sets of farm buildings, all of which he has accumulated by his own
hard labor, energy and industry ; he also owns a flour and grist mill at Heyworth, which cost
upwards of $20,000. The father of Wm. Ellsworth served all through the war of the Revolu-
tion ; served three yearj during the last war of the Rebellion, in the 94th I. V. I.
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 967
jyD.SEPH L. GOCHEE, farmer. Sec. 21 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Canada, July 1, 1831 ; h©
removed with his uncle to Boston when a small hoy, and, at 11 years of age, he started for liini-
self, going to New York, where he was raised upon a farm, and at 20 years of age emigrated to
Illinois, and walked from Peoria to Le Roy, where he arrived in the fall of 1851 ; during the
following two years he cropped with H. C. Dickerson, then worked one year in the brickyard at
Le Roy, after which he worked as farm laborer, getting from $8 to $12 per month for about six
months, or during the season, and, in winter cut cord-wood at from 30 to 40 cents per cord. In
1858, he purchased eighty acres of his present place, at $12.50 per acre, to wliich he has since
added by purchase, until he now owns 160 acres of land, which he has brought from its wild
prairie condition to its present high state of cultivation, and upon which he has good farm build-
ings ; his residence being erected in 1873, and his barn in 1874. He was married Dec 31, 1863,
to Eliza A. Morgan; she was born in Rush Co., Ind., Aug. 5, 1844, and raised in Illinois. They
have five children now living — Mary C, born June 7, 1865 ; Luella, born April 12, 1867 ; Tabitha
Q., born Jan. 1, 1870; Thomas, born July 24, 1872 ; George, born July 24, 1875. Mr. Gochee
commenced in life at 11 years of age, without capital, and has accumulated all of the above prop-
or'y by his own labor, energy and industry ; although having but a limited education himself,
ho is using every effort to educate his children. Mrs. Gochee is a daughter of George and
Mary Jane Morgan, who emigrated from Indiana, and located in VIcLean Co., in 1844. Mrs.
Morgan died in iNIcLean Co., Feb. 7, 1869. Mr. Morgan now lives in Empire Township, one
and a half miles from Le Roy.
AARON V. HAGEMAN, farmer. Sec. 5, Town 21 ; P. 0. Hey worth ; born in Somerset Co.,
N. J., May 13, 1845. He emigrated with his parents, when upwards of 3 years of age, to Illi-
nois, and located in Fulton Co His father, Peter V. Hageman, was born in New Jersey, Feb.
24, 1811. He married Helen Voorhees, .Jan. 18, 1843, in Somerset Co., N. J. She was born
in the same county, .Tan. 8, 1821. She died in Fulton Co., 111., July 21, 1854. Mr. H. died
May 27, 1863. They now lie buried in the cemetery near Farmington, Fulton Co., 111. The
children of Peter V. and Helen (Voorhees) Hageman were four in number, of whom one died in
infancy. The living are — A. V., born May 13, 1845; Celena, .June 2, 1848, now Mrs. F. L.
Morris, of Batavia, 111. ; Cynthia, May 29, 1851, now Mrs. D. W. Bradley, living in Abilene,
Ran. The subject of this sketch attended school, and assisted his father in farming, until the
decease of the latter, when he attended school a portion of the time for three years, among
which was the Batavia Institute one term. He located upon his present place in 1870, where he
purchased eighty acres of land, where he has since lived. His marriage with Margaret W.
Hughes was celebrated Dec. 19, 1871. She was born in Hamilton Co., Ohio, Sept. 12, 1845 ; she
is a daughter of Richard Hughes, who was born in Hamilton Co., Ohio, in 1808, and died Aug.
25, 1850. He married Elizabeth Elder; she was born in Pennsylvania in 1808, and died in Ohio
Sept 6, 1870. There were eight children, of whom six are now living. Mr. Hageman is a
member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a ruling elder. His wife is also a member
of the same church.
JOHN HOLFORTY, Sr., fatmer. Sec. 19; P. O. Heyworth ; born in Cumberland Co.,
Penn., June 20, 1821. His grandfather, Luther Holforty, was born in the North of Ireland, and
was taken to this country by the British during the war of the Revolution. Upon arriving here
he deserted and joined the revolutionary patriots. He was pursued, and had a narrow escape
from being captured by the British, who passed over a brush-heap several times, under which he
lay concealed. He was engaged at the battles of Valley Forge, Banker Hill, and many other
engagements, and served until the independence of the nation was established, and lived some
fifteen years after this date. The father of the subject of this sketch, John Holforty. was born
in Dauphin Co., Penn., in 1785, and worked at carpentering and cabinet-making, until his death,
which occurred in 1872, at the ripe old age of 87 years. He was married to Ann Sophia Rhein-
wood ; she was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., in 1792. She was of German descent. She died in
1865, 73 years of age. Their cliildren were ten in number, of which six are now living. The
subject of this sketch lived with his parents until about 12 years of age, when he hired out as
farm laborer, expending the fruits of his labor for the support of his father's family, until 21 years
of age. At the above age, the youngest children being capable of self-support, he continued farm
labor until 25 years of age, when he emigrated to Illinois, and located in St. Clair Co., in the
spring of 1847, driving all the way from Pennsylvania by team, being thirty days upon the trip.
He then bought eighty acres of land at $3.37 and $5.37 per acre, running in debt $110, which he
paid ofl" after a period of five years, the delay being occasioned by misfortunes and sickness. He
lived in St. Clair Co. until 1860, when he, with his family, removed to McLean Co., and. in the
spring of 1861, he purchased his present place of 160 acres of prairie land, and twenty acres of
timber, upon which he then located, and where he has since lived. He has added by purchase,
until he now owns 200 acres of land, with (wo sets of farm buildings, and also 240 acres of land
in Kansas, all of which he has accumulated by his own hard labor, energy and industry. His
marriage with Barbara Lutz was celebrated March 11, 1845 ; she was born near Darmstadt,
Germany, Feb. 7, 1822: she emigrated with her parents to America in 1829 or 1830. and settled
in Pennsylvania, and, in 1840, emigrated to Illinois and located in St. Clair Co. Her father was
a soldier in the army of Napoleon, and with him crossed the Alps, and was obliged to subsist
968 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
upon the meat of dead horses, upon the reti-eat of the army from Moscow. Of 300 soldiers, only
two survived to reach home. The children of .lolin and Barbara ( Lutz) llolforty were eight in
number, as follows : Catharine A., John, George, Arthur B., Barbara, Miranda and Marion
(twins), and Charles W. Mr. H. has been a member of the Church of the United Brethren lor
the past forty-two years, Mrs. H. having joined about the same lime. He is a strong advocate
•of the cause of temperance, and has never made use of intoxicating liquors or tobacco in any
form. Of the above children, Catharine and Miranda are deceased.
JOHN HOLFOllTY, Jr., farmer, Sec. ?>0 ; P. 0. Heyworlh. The subject of this sketch was
born in St. Clair Co., Ill , May 21, 1848, where he attended the common school, and assisted his
father in farming until 1860, when he emigrated to McLean Co. and located in Downs Township,
ia the spring of 1861. He then engaged in farming with his father during the summer, and
attended school in winter until 1864, when he attended the Wesleyan University at Bloomington
one term, and, the following year attended the Normal University. He farmed during the sum-
mer of 1866, and the following winter taught school and has since devoted his attention to farm-
ing. In the spring of 1870, he rented land, and has since farmed upon rented land, and upon
land of his fatlier, John Holforty, Sr. His marriage with Mary E. Adams was celebrated July
1, 1869; she was born in McLean Co. Jan. 3, 18ol ; they are the parents of two children — Ber-
tie L.. born Aug. 28, 1872; Ella Frances, Oct. 12, 1878. Mr. Holforty is the oldest son of John
And Barbara (Lutz) Holforty, whose sketch appears in this work. Mrs. H is a daughter of
Wiyett Adams, who lived upon Sec. 16, Downs Township.
EBER HOllNOR, farmer, Sec. 20; P. 0. Downs; born in Montgomery Co., Ohio, Feb. 21,
1818. He was a son of Joseph Hornor, who was born in South Carolina in the month of Novem-
ber, 1790, and who emigrated, with his parents, to the Territory of Ohio in 1802, and lived in Ohio
until 1834, then removed to Boone Co., Ind., in which State he was united in marriage with
Miriam Hollingsworth ; she was born in South Carolina about the year 1794. They were the
parents of nine children, of whom six are now living. Mr. Hornor died in Indiana May 26,
1869. Mrs. Hornor died in the same State a few yearj later. The subject of this sketch lived
svith his parents until he attained his majority, when, upon the r2th day of December, 1839, he
was united in marriage with Anna M. Sweet; she was born in Richmond, Ind., Aug. 18, 1822
Their children were eleven in number — Francis M., born Sept. 16, 1840 ; died Oct. 3, 1863 ;
William Perry, born Oct. 28, 1841 ; died April 1858 ; Miriam C, Feb. 29, 1844 ; Esquire H., Aug
10, 1845; John J. N., March 26, 1847, died May, 1858; Joseph E., July 11, 1849; Winiield
Scott, May 26, 1851 ; Sarah J., June 12, 1854, died in infancy; Isaac Newton, Jan. 14, 1856 ;
Charles M., March 3, 1860, died in infancy; A. Lincoln, Oct. 20, 1865. Francis M. enlisted in
the 94th Reg., Co. B, I. V. I., and died in Louisiana, while serving his country, in 1863. Upon
the marriage of Mr. Hornor, he commenced farming upon his own land of 16i) acres, deeded to
him by his father, and continued farming in Indiana until 1851, when he disposed of his prop-
erty, and, on the 11th of April, 1852, located upon his present place, where he had previously
purchased 120 acres, to which he has since added until he now owns 200 acres, all under a good
state of improvement, and upon which he has good farm buildings. Of township offices Mr. H.
has had his full share, having held the office of Supervisor, Collector, Highway Commissioner
and is now appointed Township Treasurer. He is a member of the M. E. Church, and, with
his wife, has been a member since 1859.
T. J. IDEN, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 28 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Licking Co., Ohio,
March 10, 1841 ; his father, Thomas Iden, was born in Loudoun Co., Va., in 1792, and emigrated
to Ohio and located in Licking Co., in 1829 or 1830, where he followed farming until his decease,
which occurred March 5, 1876. He married Elizabeth Hill; she was born in Loudoun Co., Va.,
in 1803, and is now living at the advanced age of 76 years. The subject of this sketch attended
the common schools in Ohio, and followed the manufacturing of stoneware until 23 years of age,
when he came to Illinois and located in Downs Township in the fall of 1863, where he worked as
farm laborer until the 24th of December, 1868, when he was united in marriage with Rebecca
Cochran ; she was born in Athens Co., Ohio, Jan. 5, 1839, and raised in Muskingum Co. ; they
have three children by this union — John W., born July 23, 1870 ; Edgar H., born Aug. 4, 1873 ;
and an infant, born Feb. 15, 1879. Upon the marriage of Mr. Iden, he rented the farm of
Joseph Kershaw, ami farmed one year; aiul the year 1869, he purchased his present place, upon
which he located, and where he has since lived. He owns 160 acres upon his home farm, wliicii
he has mostly made by his own hard labor, and in which he has been nobly assisted by his wife.
JESSE JOHNSON, farmer. Sec. 27 ; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the old settlers of McLean Co. ;
born ill Butler (h., Oliio, Dec. 30, 1808; his father, Isaac Johnson, was born in vVashington Co.,
Penn., and emigratetl to the State of Ohio, when it was a Territory; he died in Butler (jo., Ohio.
lie married Nancy Tliomas ; she was born in Virginia, and died in I'reble Co., Ohio. The subject
of this sketch lived at home, and contributed all his earnings to the support of the family until
18 years of age, when he learned and w irked at the cabinet trade until 1838, at which date he
emigrated to Decatur Co., Ind., and followed fanning and working at his trade until 1849 ; he
then emigrated to Illinois, and located in Bloomington Township; the following year engaged
in farming in Old Town Township, and in the spring of 1854, settled upon his jiresent place,
where he has since lived : he has forty acres of land. His marriage with iJarbara Chambers was
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 969
celebrated in Ohio, Jan. 1, 1832 ; she was born in Ohio ; she died Nov. 8, 1832, leaving onechild
— Barbara, now Mrs. Eliza Cusey. His marriage with Wilhemina Chambers, was celebrated in
1834; she died in Indiana, leaving four children — William C, Isaac, Thomas J. and Nancy J.
His marriage with Lavina McAhren was celebrated May 26, 1840 ; she was born in Washington
Co., Penn. ; her father, William McAhren, was born in North Carolina, and died in Shelby Co.,
Ind., in 1854 ; her mother died in the same place, in 1847 ; the children by this marriage were
ten in number, of whom seven lived to grow up, viz. : Benjamin H., enlisted in Co. B, 94th
Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and died while serving his country in Brownsville, Texas,
in the summer of 1864 ; George W., was also a volunteer of the 94th, but on account of sickness was
not mustered into service ; Sarah Jane ; Mary A. ; Elizabeth M. ; Samuel M. ; Lucinda F. and
Lydia jNI. ; of the above, four served in the Union army during the late war of the rebellion.
Mr. Johnson was an old-line Whig until the organization of -the Pvepublican party, since which
time he with all his sons have been strong supporters of the same.
JAMES C. JOHNSON, farmer, Sec. 31 ; P. 0. Heyworth ; one of the old settlers ; was born
in Dearborn Co., Ind., Sept. IS, 1823 ; his father, Nicholas Johnson, served as captain during
the Black Hawk war; was born in Montgomery Co., Penn., and emigrated to Indiana, where he
followed farming until his decease, which occurred in 1864. lie was married in Indiana, to
Malinda Cloud; she was born in Dearborn (]o., Ind., where she died in 1850. The subject of
this sketch was raised upon the farm until 23 years of age, when he was united in marriage,
Sept. 13, 1846, to Elizabeth Hargitt ; she was born in Dearborn Co., Ind., March 3, 1828; they
were the parents of twelve children, of whon one is deceased; the living are — Malinda, born
June 26, 1847; Thomas W., June 17, 1849; Mary E., Dec. 28, 1850; George S.. Jan. 23, 1854 ;
Richard M., Jan. 3, 1856; William R., June 26, 1858; Sarah J., Nov. U, 1860; Charles W.,
March 18, 1866; Alfred E. and Albert W. (twins), April 10, 1869; James A., .Jan. 4, 1871 ; the
deceased died in infancy. Upon his marriage, he rented land and engaged in farming until 1852,
when he drove an ox team from St. Joe, Mo., to Sacramento, Cal., within a period of eighty-five
days, which, at that time, was the quickest trip on record, of which mention was made in the Sac-
ramento papers; he there engaged in mining several months, when he returned to Indiana and
purchased a farm, and in 1856 sold out, and coming to Illinois, purchased 160 acres in Livings-
ton Co., which he afterward exchanged for eiglity acres of his present place in 1859, where he
has since lived; he now owns 120 acres of prairie and five acres of timber. Mr. and Mrs.
Johnson, with seven of their children and two sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law, are members
of the Campbellite Church.
GEORGE W. JOHNSON, farmer, Sec. 2 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in what is now Downs Town-
ship, McLean Co., Feb. 10, 1845 ; he is a son of James R. Johnson — one of the early pioneers —
who was born in Kentucky in the year 1808, and emigrated to Illinois about the year 1830, and
located in Downs Township, where he entered eighty acres of land, upon ■ hich he lived until
his decease, which occurred in August, 1866. He was married in White Co., to Mary Satterfield ;
she was born about the year 1812; she is now living in West Township, McLean Co. The sub-
ject of this sketch lived with his father until the decease of the latter, when he continued to
manage the old place for five years, after which he lived in West Township four years, and in
January, 1878, purchased his present place of eighty acres, upon which he then located and
where he now lives. His marriage with Maranda P. Collins was celebrated Oct. 12, 1871 ; she
was born in McLean Co., Nov. 6, 1853; they have one child by this union — Nora Mabel, born
Nov. 5, 1874. Mrs. .Johnson is a daughter of Robert Collins, who was one of the early settlers,
and whose biography appears in another part of this work.
D. C. KAZAR, farmer, Sec. 3 ; P. 0. Downs. The subject of this sketch was born in
Empire Township, McLean Co., 111., Sept. 28, 1848; he is a son of Lathrope Kazar, who emi-
gratt^d from Ohio, and located in what is now the city of Le Roy in the year 1833, where he has
since lived for a period of nearly one-half a century. David C. was the oldest son ; he attended
the common school in his youth, and followed farming with his father until 21 years of age,
when he engaged in farming upon rented land aboiit two years; he then located upon his pres-
ent place in 1873, where he and his wife have 110 acresof land under a good state of cultivation,
with good farm buildings. His marriage with Mrs. Mary J. Williams was celebrated March 7,
1871 ; she was born in McLean Co., 111., April 6, 1840; they have one child now living by this
union — Ira B., born June 4, 1874. Mrs. Kazar is a daughter of Alexander P. Craig — one of the
early pioneers of McLean Co. — who located here about the year 1835. She was first married to
Capt. C. Williams, one of the patriots of the late rebellion. He was captain of the 39th 111.
Regt., and was killed, while serving his country at the battle of Deep Run.
JOHN W. KERSHNER, farmer, Sec. 27; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Pennsylvania, Dec. 15,
1833, where he attended the common school in his youth, and made his home with his father
until 29 years of age. when, on the 22d of February, 1863, he was united in marriage with Malinda
Liming; she was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Feb. 21, 1845. Upon his marriage, he rented land
and engaged in farming, in Ohio, until 1870, when he, with his family, emigrated West and
located in Empire Township, when, after farming one year, he removed to Randolph Township
and farmed upon rented land, until the fall of 1878, when he purchaseil his present place, and,
upon Jan. 23, 1879, removed upon the same ; he has eighty acres of well-improved land, upon
970 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
which he has good farm buildings. The children of John and Malinda (Liming) Kershner are
three in number, as follows: Samuel E., horn Nov. 20, 1854; Joseph M., born May 14. 18(i7 ;
Lewis 0.. born Aug. 27, 1877. Mr. K. is a son of Conrad Kershner, who was of German
descent; he was born in Berks Co.. Penn., Jan. 1, 1789; he was a member of tlie German
Reform Church from infancy, and served for many years as Elder and Deacon, in Pennsylvania;
he located in Licking Co., Ohio, in 1857, where he died, Jan. 22, 1864 ; he was married to Susan
Keller, in Pennsylvania; she was raised in Northumberland Co., Penn.; she died several years
previous to the death of her husband ; they were the parents of nine children, of whom six are
now living.
JAMES E. KILLION, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 14; P. 0. Downs; born in Clay Co.,
Ind., March 8, 1828; his grandfather, Adam Killion, was a Revolutionary patriot, and served in
the American army during the Revolutionary struggle, until he was captured by the British,
from whom he, with two others made their escape : he died in Indiana, about the year 1821.
The father of James E. Killion was Matthias J. Killion, who was born April 20, 1804; he mar-
ried, upon the 18th of March, 1824, Nancy A. Barnett ; she was born in Indiana, Jan. 21. 1805 ;
she died Nov. 13, 1843, leaving nine children, of whom six are now living; Mr. K, married a
second time, and has by his secood wife twelve children, making twenty-one in all ; he now lives
near his son .lames E., at the advmced age of 75 years, and in possession of all his facult es. The
subject of this sketch is the oldest son; he attended common school in his youth, and assisted
his father upon the farm until 18 years of age. when he commenced as farm laborer, working by
the month at farming and contracting at clearing timber and cutting rails until 23 yeai-s of age,
when he purchased lOG acres of huid in Clay Co., and for which he paid in full with the
receipts of his savings for the last five years previous. Upon the 27th day of August, 1851, he
was united in m.arriage with Elizabeth Ratliff ; she was born April 25, 1830, and died Feb. 16,
1858 ; they had four children by this union — Nancy E., born June 20, 1852, died Oct. 29, 1857 ;
Emily J., born March 31, 1854; Sarah A.., born March 23, 1856 ; John N., born Feb. 5, 1858; died
Oct. 10, 1858. His marriage with Elizabeth Brown was celebrated Jan. 9, 1859, in Indiana ; she was
born in Wayne Co., Ind.. May 1, 1836; they have five children by this union — Malinda E.,born Dec.
22, 1862 : James 0., Feb. 26, 1863 ; William J., born March 14, 1865 ; Charley B. born July 1,
1870, and Nettie L., born Oct. 15, 1873. Upon the marriage^ of Mr. Killion, he built him a log
house, with a .stick chimney, in which he lived until 1861, when he erected a brick residence, in
which he lived until 1865, when he disposed of his whole farm and came West ; he first pur-
chased 106 acres, in Indiana, for which he paid $2.50 an acre, and which was perfectly wild and
heavy timber; he cleared the timber and disposed of the same for §40 per acre. In April, 1866,
he emigrated to Illinois and purchased 160 acres of land, upon Section 14, Downs Township,
McLean Co., upon which he then located and where he now lives; he has since added, until he
now owns 240 acres, which he has made by his own hard labor, energy and industry. He and
his wife are both members of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Mr. K. having been
a member for twenty-two years, and Mrs. K. for a period of nineteen years; they also have
three children, members of the same church.
JOSEPH KINSEY, firmer. Sec. 26; P.O. Le Roy; Republican; Methodist; born in
Wayne Co., Ind., Jan. 29, 1833; he is a son of Thomas Kinsey, one of the early settlers of
McLean Co, now living in Randolph Township. The subject of this sketch remained with his
father and attended school in his boyhood and worked upon the farm, until he emigrated to
Illinois, with the family, and located in Randolph Township, where he hired out by the month,
with Robert Stewart, for two years ; he farmed on shares one year, when he rented eighty acres
of his father, in Downs Township, which he farmed for two years, when he purchased his pres-
ent place, of eighty acres, upon which he located in 1874, where he has since continued to
reside. His marriage with Mary Ann Kershaw was celebrated Dec. 10, 1857 ; she was born in
Williamson Co., 111., and died Sejpt. 10, 1877; she was a daughter of Joseph and Ilannali Ker-
shaw, whose sketch appears among the biographies of Empire Township, in another part of this
work; upon the 26th of Aug., 1877, she, with her husband, started to visit a sick relative in
Le Roy; the horses l)ecame frightened and they were both thrown from the carriage ; Mrs. Ker-
shaw received injuries causing a total paralysis below the shoulders; she retained perfect con-
sciousness until the last, and died in great peace at her home, Sept. 10, 1877 ; the grace of God
sustained her ill her affliction, and she repeatetly exclaimed "The Lord's will be done ! all is
bright." A large concourse of friends attended her funeral. His marriage with Mary C. Van
Winkle was celebrated Jan. 3, 1878; she was born in ISIcLean Co., June 1858; she is a daughter
of John Van Winkle, one of the early pioneers of McLean Co., now living in Downs Township ;
they have one child by tiiis union — Charles Henry, born Nov. 5, 1878.
WILLIAM KINSEY, farmer, Sec. 27 ; P. O. Le Roy; born in Wayne Co , Ind.. Aug. 31,
1837 ; he attende<l the common schools during his youth, and assisted in farming until 17 years
of age, when he emigrated to Illinois and settled in Downs Township, in the spring of 1854,
where his father, Tliomas Kinsey, purchased 240 acres, upon which he moved, with his family.
The subject of this sketch remained upon the farm until 23 years of age, when, upon March 5,
1862, he was united in marriage with HannaJi Waddington ; she was born in Willi.amson Co.,
Feb. 9, 1846 ; she is a daughter of George Waddington, who was born in England, June 9, 1818,
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 971
and emigrated to America in 1842 : he was married in WiTliamson Co , 111., to Elizabeth Ker-
shaw ; she was born in England, Dec. 11. 1827, and is a daughter of Joseph Kershaw, now liv-
ing in \je Roy, and whose sketch appears among the biographies of Empire Township, in another
part of this work ; Mr. Waddington emigrated from Williamson to McLean Co. in the fall of
1857, where he purchased 160 acres of land, upon which he settled and lived until 1874, when
he returned to England upon a visit; after he returned home, he died, upon the 19th day of June,
187fi ; Mrs. Waddington died March 10, 1870; they are both buried in the Gilmore graveyard,
in Empire Township ; they were the parents of eleven children, all of whom are now living,
and nine are living in McLean Co. In August, 1862, Mr. Kinsey enlisted in Company B, 94th
Regt. Vol. Inf., and served the fall and winter in Missouri and Arkansas, and was wounded ia
the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., upon the 7th of Dec, 1862. and was sent to the hospital at
Fayetteville, where he remained two months, and was then sent to Springfield, where he
received his discharge, in March. 1868 ; he returned home and engaged in farming which busi-
ness he has since successfully followed. He removed upon his present place in the spring of
1867, where he has 160 acres of land under good cultivation, and upon which he has good build.
ings. The children of William and Hannah (Waddington) Kinsey were five in number, of whom
one is deceased; the living are — George T., born May 18, 1864; Laura J., born Oct. 29, 1865 j
WiHiam Edgar, born Feb. 25, 1869; Elmer C, born Nov. 7, 1872; the deceased died in infancy.
The parents of Mr. Kinsey live in Randolph Township, McLean Co.
WILLIAM S. LAFFERTY, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 11, Town 21 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in
DeWitt Co., 111., Aug. 16, 1847; he is a son of W. H. Latferty, who was born in Ohio, May, 1807,
and emigrated to Illinois and located in DeWitt Co. in 1835, where he followed farming until
his decease, which occurred April 18, 1875. He was .Judge of the Probate Court of De Witt Co,
for a term of four years. During his residence in Ohio he was a Colonel of a regiment of mili-
tia until his removal to Illinois, when he resigned. He married Amanda Anderson ; she was
born in Philadelphia, and now lives in De Witt. W. S. Lafferty lived with his father and
attended school and followed farming until 15 years of age, and, on Feb. 24, 1864, he enlisted in
the o9th Reg., I. V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union ; he served in the Army of the
James River, under Gen. Grant, in Virginia, and was engaged in many severe battles, among
which we mention Fort Darling, Bermuda Hundred, siege of Petersburg, capture of Richmond
and surrender of Lee. H€ then remained in Richmond until the fall of 1865, when he was sent
to Norfolk, Va., where he was discharged December, 1865. having served in the army nearly two
years. He then returned to De Witt Co., and followed f^irming until he located upon his present
plac» in 1873, where he owns eighty acres of land, and farms 160 acres belonging to his wife.
He is extensively engaged in stock-raising, feeding from fifty to seventy-five head of cattle a"d
some one hundred hogs. His marriage with Laura E. Crumbaugh was celebrated Dec. 5, 1872 j
she was born in Empire Township, McLean Co., Aug. 26, 1852. They have two children by
this union— Charles A., born Nov. 7,1873; Blanche May, June 16, 1877. Mrs. Latterly is a
granddaughter of Esquire Hiram Buck, who has a very extended sketch among the biographies
"f Empire Township, in another part of this work. She is the oldest daughter of J. H. L,
Crumbaugh, whose sketch also appears among the sketches of Empire Township.
WILLIAM R. LINTON, ftirmer, Sec. 3. Town 21 ; P. O. Le Roy ; born in Ohio, May 22,
1831. He attended school in his youth and followed carpentering and railroading until he emi-
grated to Illinois ab">ut the year 1859, and located in McLean Co., and -engaged in farming,
which business he has since successfully followed. He removed upon his present place in 1871,
where he has since continued to live. His marriage with Nancy M. Brittin was celebrated Feb,
17. 1861; she was born in McLean Co., Aug. 28, 1837; nine children were the fruit of this
union, »of whom four are deceased : the living are — Dorsey D., born Oct. 11, 1861 ; Andrew E.,
May 8, 1863; Minor B., Oct. 25, 1869; Cora, March 28, 1874; May B., Dec. 20, 1876. Mrs.
Linton was the second daughter of Nathan T. Brittin, one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.,
whose sketch appears among the biographies of Empire Township, in another part of this
work
HENRY C. LOTT, farmer, Sec. 10, Town 21 ; P. 0. Le Roy : born in Jefferson Co., Ind.,
June 2, 1829. His father, Jesse Loft, was born in Clark Co., Ky., July 15, 1800. He emigrated
to Indiana with his parents at an early day, about the year 1812, where he entered land, and
now lives upon land upon which he entered upwards of half a century ago. He was married in
Indiana, to Elizabeth Heaton ; she was born in Virginia, and died in Indiana, August, 1853,
The subject of this sketch was raised on his father's farm until 28 years of age, when he emi-
grated to Illinois, and located in Dale Township, McLean Co., in October, 1861. Here he fol-
lowed farming until August, 1862, when he enlisted in Co. F, 94th I. V. I. He served in the
campaigns of Arkansas and Missouri, and was engaged in the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark. lu
the spring of 1863, he was sent down the Mississippi to Milliken's Bend ; then crossed the Mis-
sissippi River at Warrenton, and joined the army of Grant, then in the rear of Vicksburg,
taking a position upon the extreme left of the army, and continued the siege until the capture of
Vicksburg, upon July 4, 1863. Upon the 12th of July, he went up the Yazoo river, and, after
the capture of Yazoo City, went down the river to New Orleans; then to Texas; from there to
Mobile Bay, where he was engaged in the capture of Fort Morgan and Spanish Fort. In the
972 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
spring of 1805 he was sent to Galveston, Texas, where he was mustered out of service, and
received his discharge at Springfield, 111., Aug. 7, 1865. He then farmed upon rented land for
five years, and, in 1870, purchased his present place of 1*20 acres, where he has since lived. His
marriage with Susan A. Phillips was celebrated Dec. 25, 1856 ; she was born in Jefferson Co.,
Ind., May 17, 1832; they have six children by this union — Charles G., born Oct. 18, 1857;
Franklin P., Sept. 8, 1860; Florence N., July 20, 1866; Leleah U., April 20, 18G9 ; Jennie H.,
Oct. 14, 1870; Annie E., Sept. 14, 1872. Mr. Lott is a Republican in politics, and has always
supported the Republican party since its organization. He has been a strong temperance advo-
cate for the past quarter of a century. He has been a member of the M. E. Church for upwards
of eleven years, Mrs. Lott having been a member at that time. Mrs. Lott was a daughter of
Robert Phillips. He was a native of North Carolina; he removed to Kentucky when 8 years of
^age ; he married Rebecca Graham ; she was a native of Tennessee. They were the parents of
thirteen children, all of whom lived to grow up and become the heads of families, and all lived
until April, 1870, when the circle of the children was broken by the death of the oldest
brother. Mr. Phillips died in Indiana in 1857; Mrs. P. died Dec. 29, 1878. When Mr. Lott
was 21 years of age, he was employed by the month upon a flat-boat, running from Cincin-
nati to New Orleans, taking down from fifty to one hundred tons of provisions hay, etc.; the
boats cost from $100 to $200 to build, and, upon reaching New Orleans, would be sold for old
lumber ; he would then work his passage back upon steamboats, and worked in this business
for a period of seven years.
ANDREW J. LUCAS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Randolph; born in White Co., 111.,
Nov. 7, 1818. His father, William Lucas, was born in North Carolina, April 15, 1787. He
emigrated to Illinois and located in White Co. at a very early day, and located in dooming
Grove in 1824, where he died, Dec. 16, 1839. He married Gooden Hendricks; she was born
in North Carolina, Jan. 26, 1794, and died in McLean Co., March 26, 1840. They were the
parentH of ten children, three of whom are now Jiving — A. J., born Nov. 7, 1818; Dorcas, Jan.
19, 1829, now Mrs. Dr. Reeder, of Lacon, 111.; Benjamin L., Jan. 9, 1831, living in Bloom-
ington. The subject of this sketch removed with his parents to Blooming Grove in 1824, and
is among the earliest settlers of McLean Co,, and one of the oldest living settlers of the
county. He remained with his father until his death, and, within a period of two months, lost
by death his father, mother, two brothers and a sister. In the spring of 1840 he commenced farm-
ing fur liimself, whiiih he continued for two years ; then he farmed on shares for three years. His
tnarriage with Elizabeth Simmons was celebrated Dec. 28, 1844; she was born in Virginia,
Feb. 5, 1819. They were the parents of six children, of whom four are deceased. The living
are — Wilburn E., born July 9, 1847 ; Benjamin W., July 27, 1852; married and live at home.
Mr. Lucas has lived in McLean Co. a period of fifty-five years. He removed upon his present
place in January, 1879, where he has 217 acres of land under a good state of cultivation, upon
which he has good farm buildings. Mr. L. has been a member of the Christian Church for
foriy-six years, Mrs. L. and both children being members of the same Church.
JOHN L. McCOMB, farmer; P. 0. Hey worth; born in Indiana Co., Penn., April 22, 1820;
he was the second son of James McComb, who was born in the same county and State on Oct. 14,
1785, where he followed farming until his decease, which occurred April, 1865. He was
united in marriage with Jane Laughlin in 1813 or 1814; she was boi-n in Indiana Co., Penn.,
April 27, 1788; they were the pai-ents of eight children, of whom five are now liv-
ing. The subject of this sketch lived upon the home farm until 45 years of age, when,
at the decease of his father, he disposed of his interest in Pennsylvania and emigrated to Illi-
nois, locating in Knox Co. in the spring of 1866 ; here he engaged in farming one year, and, in
the spring of 1867, he came to McLean Co., and settled on Sec. 6, Town 21, when he pur-
chased 160 acres of land on Sees. 6 and 7, where he then located and where he has since con-
tinued to reside. In politics, Mr. McComb is a Republican, having identified himself with the
Republican party upon its organization, and has since labored for the success of the same. He
is a strong temperance advocate; an<l has never made use of tobacco in any form, lie has been
a member of the Presbyterian Church for a period of thirty-five years, his wife joining two years
previous. His marriage with Rachel Kelly was celebrated Nov. 7, 1843; she was born in West-
moreland Co., Penn., in December, 1819; eight children were the fruit of this union, of whom
one died in infancy ; the living now all reside within a circle of four miles of their parents, four
of whom now live at home; the living are — Addison J., born Aug. 13, 1844; William H., May
22, 1846; Camden W., March 23, 1849; Cyrus C, June 15, 1853; Millard, Sept. 18, 1855;
Harriet, April 30, 1858; Lizzie, November, 1860. Of the above, Addison J. and William II.
served in the 206lh Regt. P. V. I. during the last year of the war.
GEORGE H. McCOMB, farmer and blacksmith. Section 5, Town 21; P. 0. Heyworth;
born in Indiana Co., Penn., July 16, 1822. He was a son of James McComb, who was born
Oct. 14, 1785, in the same county and State, where he followed farming until his decease,
which occurred April, 18(J5, upward of 80 years of age. He was married to Jane Laughlin
in 1813 or 1814; she was also born in the same county, April 27, 1788; they were the
parents of eight children, of whom five now survive. The subject of tliis sketch attended
the common school until 18 years of age, when he learned and worked at the blacksmith trade
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 973
^intil 186'.t, at which time lie emigrated West and located upon his present place where he has
since lived ; he first purchased eighty acres nf land upon Sec. 5, to which he has since added
by purchase until he now owns 160 acres of good prairie land, which he has accumulated by his
own hard labor, energy and industry, in which he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife,
to whom he was united in marriage on the 10th day of March, 1847 ; she was born in Armstrong
Co , I'enn , Jan. 8, 1829; her maiden name was Caroline Irwin; they are the parents of nine
children— Cory don I., born Dec. 16, 1847 ; Mary A., Sept. 23, 1850; Emma V.. May 31, 1853 ;
James B., Oct. 31, 1855 ; Thomas R., May 27, 1858 ; Elmer E., Aug. 20, 1861, died Sept. 18,
1869 ; George W., born May 31, 18 )4, died Aug. 14, 1870 (killed by being thrown from a horse) ;
Carrie J., born Nov. 24, 1866, died March 5, 1870; Annie Bell, born Oct. 1, 1869. Mr. McComb
was an old-line Whig, and joined the Republican party upon its organization, and has since
labored for the success of the same He is a strong temperance advocate. He has been a mem-
ber of the Presbyterian Church since 1848; his wife became a member about the same time;
three of the elder children are also members of the same Church.
CORYDON 1. McCOMB, farmer and blacksmith. Sec. 32; P. 0. Heyworth ; born in Indiana
Co., Penn., Dec. 16, 1847. He is the eldest son of George H. McComb, whose sketch appears among
the biographies of Downs Township. The subject of this sketch attended the common school
until 16 years of age, when, on Aug. 5, 1864, he enlisted in the 206th Regt. P. V. I., and went
forward to battle for the Union ; he was forwarded to the Army of the James, under Grant, with
Gen. Ord as brigade commander ; he was first engaged in front of Petersburg, and was afterward
transferred to the front of Richmond, until the evacuation, when he, with the army, followed
in pursuit of Lee until his surrender in April 1865 ; he then did guard duty at Lynchburg,
after which he went to Richmond and Baltimore, and returned home, being mustered out of ser-
vice, and received his discharge in July, 1865. He then returned home and learned and worked
at the blacksmith trade until 1869, when he emigrated to Illinois, and located upon Sec. 5, Town
21, Downs Township, McLean Co., where he followed blacksmithing and farming until 1872, when
he opened a blacksmith shop at McLean, where he followed his trade three years. He located
upon his present place in 1878, and engaged in farming and blacksmithing. His marriage wiih
Emily Ellsworth, was celebrated Nov. 24, 1875 ; she was born in St. Clair Co., 111., Jan. 2, 1855.
They are the parents of two children — Minnie E., born Feb. 22, 1877, and an infant, born April
)4, 1879. Mrs. McComb is the eldest daughter of William and Mary Ellsworth, whose sketch
will be found among the biographies of Downs Township. The business card of Mr. McComb
appears in the business directory of the township, in another part of this work.
JOHN McCONNELL, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Le Roy; born in Hamilton Co.. Ohio,
April 9, 1832; his father, William McConnell, was born in Pennsylvania April 12, 1788. He
married Catharine La Fever; she died in 1834; Mr. McO. died in Hamilton Co., Ohio, Oct. 2,
1876 ; he first came to Ohio upon a flat-boat down the river, eai-ly in the present century, and
was offered for his boat a large ti-act of land upon which the city of Cincinnati now stands ; of
their children, which were twelve in number, only four now survive; the rest all died of con-
sumption. The subject of this sketch attended the common schools in his youth, and finished
his studies at the Farmers' College, located upon College Hill, near Cincinnati, Ohio, where he
attended two years ; in 1854, he came to Illinois and purchased 160 acres of land, at $4.50 per
acre, upon Sec. 35, Downs Township, McLean Co., and the following year located upon the same,
and which he has since brought from its wild prairie condition to its present high state of
improvement by continued hard labor; he now owns 327 acres in his home farm and fifty acres
of timber in Empire Township. Mr. McConnell was clerk of the meeting called to organize
Downs Township, and assisted in the organization of the same ; township and school offices have
been his in plenty, often holding two offices at the same time ; he has held the offices of Justice
of the Peace fourteen years. Assessor two years, and Highway Commissioner, School Director
and Trustee, one of the Executive Committee of the County Grange, and is now Master of the
Downs Grange, No. 1163, and the present Supervisor of Downs Township, and Director of the
County Insurance Company His marriage with Martha Buck was celebrated June 17, 1862;
she was born in McLean Co., 111., Dec. 14, 1838; they have three children by this union —
Anna Belle, born March 18, 1863; Hiram E. and William M. (twins) Oct. 25, 1866 ; .Mrs.
McConne 1 is a daughter of Hiram Buck, whose biography appears among the sketches of
Empire Township, in another part of this work. When Mr. McConnell purchased his land,
there were but few settlers upon the prairie; he comtnenced breaking prairie in 1856, with a
team of eight oxen, six of which were perfectly wild and were handled with great difficulty.
He commenced school-teaching in 1855, and taught for nine winters; he has been a hard-work-
ing, industrious farmer, and by his correct business habits has placed himself among the large
land-holders and successful farmers of McLean Co.
NELSON McDANIEL, farmer. Sec. 20; P. 0. Downs; one of the old settlers of McLean
Co., 111.: born in Monroe Co., Va., Nov. 26, 1815; his father, William McDaniel, was born in
Virginia, where he followed farming until 1832, when he emigrated to Indiana and located in
Boone t.'o. and followed farming there until his decease, which occurred in 1853. He was mar-
ried in Virginia to Nancy Gore; she was born in Shenandoah Co., Va.; she died in Indiana
about the year 1841; they were the parents of ten children, of whom six are now living. The
974 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
subject of this sketch emigrated to Imiiana when 17 years of age, and made his home with his
father until 25 years of age. when, upon Dec. 16, 1840, he was united in marriage with Lucinda
Gapen : she was born in Boone Co., Ind., Nov. 16, 1822; she died September, 18oo, leaving
seven children — Parisade, Daniel. AVilliam S., Zachariah, Sarah N., .Joseph N., Lucinda Le Roy;
his marriage with Naomi Matthews was celebrated September, 18-56; she was born in Virginit}
in 1827; they liave three children by this union — Mary F., Caroline and Charles S. Upon the
mari'iage of Mr. McDaniel, he farmed upon land given him by his father, for twelve years, when
he emigrated to Illinois and located upon Sec. 2, Downs Township in April, 1852, coming all
the way in company with Eber Hornor by team, the trip consuming eleven days; upon arriving
here, he commenced farming upon his present place, where he has since lived ; he now owns
160 acres, all of which is under good cultivation. Of town and school offices, he has had his
full share, having bf en elected the second Supervisor of Downs Township, wliich he held for two
years: he held the office of Town Collector some four years, and Sciiool Director seven years,
and other petty offices; he was the first Collector in Downs Township, and as Collector he. has
successfully handled the funds of Downs Township for four years.
G. J. McGlNNIS, farmer. Sec. 26; P. 0. Le Roy; born in Lawrence Co., Penn., April 14,
1842. He attended the common schools in his j'outh and assisted his father upon the farm until
18 years of age, when, on the 10th of September. 1861, he enlisted in Battery B, 1st l\ V. A.;
he served in the army of the Potomac under McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, McDowell, Meade,
Pope, and lastly. Grant. He was in manv hard battles, among which we mention Mechanicsvillle,
June 26 and 27, 1862: Gaines' Mill, June 27, 1862; New Market Cross Roads, June 80, 1862,-
the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 28, 29 and 30, 1862; South Mountain, Md., Sept. 14. 1862;
Antietam, Md.. Sept. 16 and 17, 1862; Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862: Fredericksburg,
April 80 and May 1. 1863, U. S. Ford, May 6, 1863; Gettysburg, July 1, 2 and 3, 1863 ; battles
of the Wilderness, and the last one near Petersburg, in August, 1864. After serving his full
time of three years, he rejeived his dischargeon the lOih of September, 1864. Mr. McGinnis ha'l a
brother in the same company, who died from sickness contracted while in the army. He personally
was sick but one week during his whole term. Receiving his discharge, he returned home, and in
the spring of 1865, emigrated to Illinois, and located in Woodford Co., where he purchased
eighty acres of land, upon which he lived one year, when he sold out and purchased eighty acres
in Marshall Co., and fnrmed eight years, and again sold and purchased his present place of 160
acres, in the winter of 1874, where he has since lived. His marriage with Nancy B. ^IcCord,
was celebrated Dec. 8, 1865; she was born in Lawrence Co., Penn., -Aug. 7, 1840; they were the
parents of six children, of whom two are deceased ; the living are — William J., born June 23,
1867; John D., May 14, 1872; Bessie M., Oct. 28, 1876; Robert S., Sept. 23, 1878. The
deceased died in childhood. Mr McGinnis is a member of the M. E. Church, having become a
member in 1859. his wife having been a member since 13 years of age
JOSEPH MARSHALL, physician. Sec. 31 ; Heyworth : born in Fayette Co., Ky.. June 24,
1832. He attended the common school until he was 17 years of age, when he went to St. Louis
and entered the St. Louis University, where he attended three years, and from which he gradu-
ated in the spring of 1853, from both Medical and Literary Departments. He then returned to
Kentucky, and engaged in the practice of medicine, in Fayette Co., until the fall of 1872, when
he located in Bloomington, McLean Co., anfl practiced medicine until March, 1874, when he
removed upon his present place, where he has since lived and followed his profession, having a
good practice, which is j-early increasing. His marriage with Martha M. Goodwin, was cele-
brated Sept. 25, 1855 ; she was -born in Fayette Co., Ky., March 9, 1838. They have six chil-
dren by this union — Ella J.. Ida E., Rachel J., Robert, Sallie R., Edmund S. Mr. Marshall was
a son of Robert Marshall, who was born in Fayette Co., Ky., Jan. 1, 1800. Has always success-
fully follov/ed farming, and is now living, in the 801 h year of his age, in full possession of all
his faculties, and able to attend to some light work. He was married to Elizabeth Evans ; she
was born in the same county, in 1804, and she is still living, and daily performs her household
duties.
SOLOMON MASON, farmer. Sec. 18; P. 0. Downs; one of the early pioneers of McLean
Co., 111.; born in Je.s.samine Co., Ky., Oct. 13, 1801 ; he removed with his parents to Ohio in
1805, and located in Montgomery Co., where he followed farming with his father until 19 years
of age, when lie was united in marriage with Elizabeth Fryer, August, 1820; she was born in
Kentucky Nov. 25, 1799 ; she died Dec. 31, 1850, leaving eleven children of whom six are now
living, viz., George, John W., Eliza, Sarah, Duniel and Mary. His inarri.age with Elizabeth
Brooks was celebrated in 1854; she was horn in Indiana August 31, 1815; they had tour chil-
dren, of whom three are living — Sanniel B., William 11., Charles A. Upon the marriage of Mr.
Mason, he farmed upon rented land for twelve years in Preble Co., Ohio, when he purchased
eighty acres, upon which he lived until 1839, when he came West and located in McLean Co.,
111.; he settled uptm his present place in 1840, where he has since continued to live during a
period of thirty eight years; .Mr. Mason commenced in life without capital : he had $100 left
him only ; he has raised a large family, and now owns 240 acres of land upon his home farm,
with good farm buildings, and 200 acres in Cropsey Township, Sec. 31, all of which he has
accumulated by his own hard labor, energy and industry ; he has suffered all the privations and
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 975
hai-dships of frontier life, and, although now iu the 78th year of his age, is in possession of all
his faculties, and daily attends to the chores about his place. He has been a member of the
United Brethren for a period of thirty years.
D W. MASON, farmer. Sec. 27 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; one of the early settlers of McLean Co.;
born in Preble Co., Ohio, April 15, 18oo ; he emigrated with his father, Solomon Mason, and
located in what is now Downs Township, McLean Co., 111., in the fall of 1839; his father now
lives upon the same place upon which he located upward of forty years ago; his biography also
appears among the sketches of this township in this work. The subject of this sketch attended
the common schools in his youth, and assisted his father in farming until 23 years of age, since
which time he has been engaged in carpentering and fai'ming for himself. His marriage with
Susan Richardson was celebrated Aug. 14, 1860; she was born in this county July 28, 1843;
they are the parents of five children, four of whom are now living, viz., Orville H., born Aug.
23. 1861; Cornelia, June 24, 1863; Mary E., June 13, 18Go, and Stanley L., Sept. 12, 1876.
Mr. Mason removed upon his present place in 1877, where he has since lived; he owns 120
acres with good farm buildings. He is a Republican in politics ; his first vote was for Judge
David Davis. Mrs. Mason is a daughter of S. P. Richardson, one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co., and is now making his home with his son-in-law, D. M. Funk, at Bloomington.
SAMUEL MILLER, farmer. Sec. 20; P. 0. Downs; born in Randolph Township, McLean
Co., Nov. 17, 1845; he is the oldest living son of M. H. Miller, usually known as Hagar Miller,
one of the early settlers, and whose sketch appears among the biographies of Randolph Township
in another part of this work. The subject of this sketch lived wiih his parents and followed
farming until February, 1864, when he enlisted in the 94th Regt. I. V. I., and went forward to
battle for the Union. He joined the regiment at New Orleans, and went to Mobile Bay, where he
was engaged in the siege and capture of Ft. Morgan, Blakely and Spanish Fort, by which Mobile
fell into the hands of the Union army ; he was then forwarded to Galveston, Tex., where he was
transferred to the 37th I. V. I., and was on detailed service until May, 1866, when he was mus-
tered out of service at Houston, and received his discharge at Springfield in May, 1866, having
served in the Union army two years and three months ; he then returned home and engaged in
farming, which business he has since followed ; he removed upon his preseut place in 1872,
where he has 160 acres of land upon which he has good farm buildings. His marriage with Emma
Passwater was celebrated March 9, 1871 ; she was born in Randolph Township, McLean Co.,
and is a daughter of Clement Passwater, one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.; they have
three children by this union — Rebecca E., Cora C. and Franklin H.
JA.MES MONTGOMERY, physician and surgeon, Downs; born in County Tyrone, Ireland,
Aug. 28, 1837, where he attended the subscription schools until 16 years of age, when he went
to Manchester, Enghmd, and, after serving an apprenticeship of three years in a fancy grocery
store, emigrated to America, landing in New York Nov. 1, 1856; after consuming the entire
winter in New York and adjoining cities vainly seeking for employment, he purchased a drover's
ticket, for $8, to Indianapolis, and upon arriving there continued his journey to Danville, 111.,
v?here he arrived with $3 and a good wardrobe ; the following day, he obtained employment with
Dr. Fithian upon a farm, at §15 per month, and after working one year invested his earnings in
young stock, calves and yearlings, which he held one year and sold at a profit of 100 per cent ;
he then engaged in farming and stock-raising, until the spring of 1860, when he came to McLean
Co. and purchased a farm near what is now Downs, and, after farming one year, commenced the
study of medicine, and in August, 1862, enlisted as a private in Co. F, 94th Regt. I. V. I., and
served as such through the campaigns of Missouri and Arkansas, siege and capture of Vicks-
burg, capture of Yazoo City, after which he went to Port Hudson, where he was appointed Assist-
ant Hospital Steward, and upon arriving at Brownsville, Texas, in 1863, was appointed General
Hospital Steward, and continued his study of medicine under Dr. E. A. Carothers until 1864,
when he went to New Orleans and passed examination before the Examining Board of the Army;
and was appointed Assistant to the Medical Purveyor of the Department of the Gulf, which
position he held until the close of the war ; while located in New Orleans, he attended the
lectures of the Medical College, and the practical experience received while here, in surgery,
has proved of more value than years of study and practice in civil life. At the close of the war,
he returned to .McLean Co. and engaged in the practice of medicine, and for two years contin-
ued his studies in medicine and dissecting under Dr. William Hill, of Bloomington ; he has con-
tinued the practice of medicine in Downs and neighboring townships since 1865, during a
period of fifteen years of constant increase in his practice. He is a member of the McLean
County Medical Society, and is appointed a member of the State Medical Society at their Con-
vention, to be held at Lincoln during the summer of 1879. His marriage with Mary J. Savidge
was celebrated May 12, 1861 ; she was born in McLean Co., 111., Aug. 31, 1842; they had six
children, of whom three are now living — James E., born Feb, 9, 1862; Margaret E., July 1,
1867; Matilda F., Nov. 14, 1871. Mrs. Montgomery is a daughter of James N. Savidge, one
of the early settlers of McLean Co., who located here in 1834, and now lives in Old Town
Township.
THOMAS B. NULL, farmer. Sec. 14; P.O. Le Roy ; one of the old settlers of McLean Co.
111. ; born in West Virginia Dec. 4, 1829. His father, Levi Null, was born in Lancaster City,
976 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Penn., April 20, 1704; he emigrated with his parents to West Virginia when six years of age^
where he was raised, upon the Pan Handle, a name given a narrow strip of land Virginia
reserved to her own territory : in IS-'i'I, he removed to Licking Co., Ohio, where he died Jan. 4,
1875. The subject of this sketch attended school and assisted his father in farming until 23
years of age, wlien lie emigrated to Ohio, and upon the 2"2d day of November, 18o4. he was
united in marriage to Anna Keith ; she was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Jan. 5, 1837 ; they were
the parents of six children, of whom five are now living — William C, born Sept. 27, 1855 ; Levi
A., Dec. 24, 1857 ; Mary 0., Nov. 8, 1860, died Nov. 24. 18G2; Charles J., born July 17. 1864;
Ella A., Dec. 6, 1866 : Gussie L., April 9, 1877. Upon the marriage of Mr. Null, he commenced
farming fur himself in Ohio, which business he followed until he emigrated to Illinois ami
located upon Sec. 7, Downs Township. McLean Co., in 1858, where he rented land of L..
Downs for six years, and, in the spring of 1865, purchased his present place, upon which he
then located and where he has since lived ; he now owns 160 acres in his home farm, with good
buildings, all of which he has made by his own hard labor. When he first came to this State^
he was entirely without capital : he did his plowing with one horse; he then purchaseii another
horse upon time, and in this way obtained a team, and for three years he battled against poverty
without making a dollar : during the fall of 1858, money was very scarce, and to obtain cash for
labor was impossible: he, with his team, worked thirty-five days for seventy bushels of frost-
bitten corn.
REV. SYLVESTER PEASLEY, farmer; P. 0. Downs ; one of the early settlers of McLean
Co.; born in Grayson Co., Va., Aug. 31, 1823. His father, Isaac Peasley, was born Aug. 30, 1708,
in North Carolina. He was married in Grayson Co., Va., to Rachel Holsey. She was born in Vir-
ginia in 1803. They were the parents of eight children, of whom four are now living. Mr. Peas-
ley died Oct. 16, 1851. His widow died in the spring of 1865. The subject of this sketch
emigrateil with his parents to Illinois and located in McLean Co. in the fall of 1834. They lived
in a log cabin with siick-and-mud chimnej' ; it had a puncheon floor and was in all respects a rude
structure. They lived in this cabin for two years, when they built one of their own. Mr. Peas-
ley lived with his parents several years, and upon the 3d of November, 1842, he was united in
marriage with Mary Stillman. Six children were the fruit of this union, of whom one is deceased ;
the living are— Granville, born Oct. 14, 1845 ; Rachel S., Oct. 29, 1848; Lsaac, Oct. 24, 1851 ;
John. July 16, 1854: Esther C, Oct. 13, 1859; and one who died in infancy. Mrs. Peasley
died Oct. 2, 1863. His marriage with Mrs. Susan Crosby was celebrated April 6, 1864. One
child was the fruit of this union, who died when upward of three years of age. Mr. Peasley
has endured all the privations of frontier life ; he has made frequent trips to Chicago ; has been
out twenty-six days in succession, exposed to the coldest of weather ; has waded the Kankakee
River when his clothes were frozen as soon as he came out, and has slept on brush which he
cut to protect him from the mud in the rainy weather. He has taken a deep interest in the
cause of religion, having devoted a large part of his life to the cause, and has attended five
churches. He has been an ardent worker in the cause of the Sabbath school, and still continues
his good work. He was elected the first Supervisor of Downs, in 1858, which office he held for
twelve years in succe-sion. He was the first Postmaster in Downs Township, which office he
held twelve years. He is now President of the McLean County Fire Insurance Company, of
which he was .a charter member. Mr. Peasley is a Republican in politics, having joined the party
upon its organizatien, and has since labored in support of the same. He has been a member of
the Baptist Church since 1840, of which he was an ordained minister, but was forceil to discon-
tinue preaching on account of weak lungs. He removed upon his present place in 1847, where
he has since lived during a period of upward of thirty years. Mrs. Peasley remarks about the
sudden change of 1836. The weather had been mild for some time ; rain had been falling,
changing the snow to slush, when suddenly a cold wind-storm came and changed the tempera-
ture nearly sixty degrees in a very short time ; the face of the country was changed from water
to ice immediately, and, as Rev. Mr. Peasley remarked, appeared like a picture of the polar
regions.
JOHN PRK^^'E, retired farmer; P. 0. Downs; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.:
born in .Mecklenberg Co., N. C., Jan. 23. 18(l2. His fatiier was of Welsh descent, born in North
Carolina Nov. 12. 1768. He removed to Kentucky at an early day, and to McLean Co., 111., in
1836, where he died Nov. 16, 1852. He was married in North Carolina to Sarah Beatty. She
was born in Ireland in 1769, and died in tiiis county in 1843. John Price emigrated with his
parents to Kentucky in 1804, being then 2 years of age, and, with the exception of three
years' residence in Tennessee, lived in Kentucky until 1830, when he came to McLean Co., 111.,
and located eighty acres upon Sec. 4, Town 22, Range 3 east. From 1830 to 1836, he resided
a part of the time upon his place here and a portion also in Kentucky, and, at the latter date, he
located permanently with his family, and is admitted by all to be the oldest continuous resident
of Downs Township. When lie first came in iiere looking for a location, he rode from the place
where J. E. Crumhaugli now lives to his present location, a ilistance often miles, at which time
there was not a single wiiite settler on the way, the country at that time being occupied by the
Kickapoo Imiians. Hloomingtoti contained but a few log houses and one store kept by James
Alliti, who kept a limited stock of goods, purchased at St. Louis. His voting-place was in
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 977
Bloomington until 1841, when he, with four others, petitioned the Court for a voting-place*
which petition was granted, and was named, in honor of Mr. John Price, as Price's Precinct.
Mr. Price entered land, as he was able, until he held patents from the Government to 1,000
acres, and a part of which he has lived upon for the past forty-four years. Of township offices
he has held his full share, having held the offices of Town Treasurer and Justice of the Peace
fourteen years, and other petty offices, and has taken a deep interest and has been looked
upon as one of the prominent men of his township. The early settlers at Price's Precinct, unlike
the pioneers of many localities, were religious people, and, like the ancient Israelites, experi-
enced no trouble in worshiping God even in the wililerness, and John Price generously donated
the use of his house for a tabernacle. In this house, services were held by the Baptists, the
Methodists and the Presbyterians, and was used as a place of worship some eight years. Upon
Sept. 13, 1821, he was united in marriage with Matilda Rives. She was born in Franklin Co.,
Va., May 16, 1707. She was a daughter of Burwell Piives, who was one of the prominent men
of Virginia, where he was born in 1772. He died in Kentucky in October, 1811. He was mar-
ried in Virginia to Mary Gillum. She was born in Virginia in 177(:), and died ten days previous
to her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Price were the parents of eight children, of whom two now sur-
vive, viz.: Peter B., whose biography appears among the sketches of this township, and Mrs.
Frederick Couden, whose sketch appears among the biographies of Old Town Township in another
part of this work. The golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Price was celebrated Sept. 13, 1871, at
which there were upward of one hundred present, among which were four who witnessed the
marriage ceremony fifty years previous. The presents were numerous and expensive, among
which we mention two solid, gold-headed ebony canes, two pairs gold-bowed spectacles, $20 ia
gold, gold-band China tea sets, and many other presents, all of which spoke volumes of respect
and esteem in which these early pioneers are held by their neighbors, relatives and friends,
PETER B. PRICE, f\irmer, grain and stock-dealer; P. 0. Downs. Mr. Price is one of the
early pioneers of McLean Co., and is the only son now living of John Price, whose extended
biography appears among the sketches of this township. Peter B. Price was born in Warren
Co., Ky., May 29, 1880; when but a few months old, he was brought to McLean Co., and the
first six years of his life, from 1830 to 1836, were passed about equally between McLean Co.,
111., and Warren Co., Ky. He obtained a limited education in his youth, and assisted his father
in farming until 21 years of age, and, on Nov. 13, 1851, was united in marriage with Mary A,.
Case; she was born in Huron Co., Ohio, March 24, 1833. She is a daughter of Lewis Case,
whose biography will be found among the sketches of Old Town Township, in another part of
this work. Upon the marriage of Mr. Price, he located upon his present place, where he has
since lived, and has lived upon the same section for nearly half a century. He followed farm--
ing and stock-raising until the completion of the I., B. & W. R. R., when he erected corn-cribs,
scales, etc., and engaged in the business of buying and shipping grain and stock, which business
■ he has since followed, in connection witli farming. He has sliipped as high as 125,000 bushels
of corn alone, in a single season; his shipments of stock have been heavy; during two months
of the season of 1874, he shipped to Indianapolis ninety cars of hogs or 5,000 head. To the
energies and business management of Mr. Price, the village of Downs owes much, as he has
perhaps done more for the place than all the other business men of the town combined, and ia
held in high respect by all for his sterling qualities. The children of Peter B. and Mary A,
Price were six in number, of whom five are now living — Burwell 0., Gipp T., Willie, Sarah
Nettie and Cush. The anniversary of the silver wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Price was celebrate(J
at their residence at Downs on the 13th of November, 1876, which was a complete surprise to
the recipients. The train from Bloomington and Le Roy brought large numbers, and when they
had all collected there were about four hundred, among whom were tlie parents of both Mr, and
Mrs. Price. They came loaded with many and costly presents, and the choicest provisions
which the market affords. The writer of this article secured a list of the presents and the donors,
but having mislaid the same, is unable to do justice to either the donors or the value of the
presents. Suffice it to say they were many and valuable, and are very highly appreciated by
both Mr. and Mrs. Price.
FREDERICK RAZOR, farmer. Sec. 25; P. 0. Le Roy; is one of the old settlers; born in
Owen Co., Ky., Jan. 30, 1827; at 19 years of age, he engaged in ftirming and working by the
month, which occupation he followed until he emigrated to Illinois, in 1856. He first purchased
lOl acres at Randolph Grove, upon which* he lived until 1867, when he sold out and purchased
160 acres of his present place, where he has since lived. He now owns 300 acres of land, with
good farm buildings. His marriage with Minerva Dyke was celebrateil Aug. 4. 1845 ; she was
born in Clark Co., Ky., Jan. 3, 1827. They have twelve children now living — Lurinda, lioru
Aug. 7, 1846; Sarah J., Aug. 10, 1848; Julia A., April 4, 1850; James William, Sept. 13, 1851 ;
Charles. April 3. 1853; Henry, Nov. 29, 1854; Alva, Dec. 4, 1856; John B., April 21, 1858;
Belle, Dec. 29, 1861; George, Oct. 2, 1863; Jacob, Oct. 3, 1865, and Katie, Jan. 26, 1872.
Upon the marriage of Mr. Razor, he had no capital save a strong arm and willing hand. He
commenced housekeeping in an old deserted I'lg cabin, with nothing but a straw bed and a few
dishes. They made use of an old box for table and cupboard ; for chairs, he made use of stools
of his own make. He rented land, and for a portion he paid $4 per acre rent. lie had neither
978 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
money ii'>r tools, ami was obliged to obtain their provisions upon credit. After two years of toil
and privations Mr. and .Mrs. R., when tliey had obtained some few things of household fu.-
niture, they lost their all by fire. Commencing in life again, with renewed energy, they have
labored together for upward of thirty-four years; they have raised a large family of children
of whom all are now living, their family circle having never been broken by death. Mr. R. is
now considered one of the large land-holders and among the most prosperous farmers of Downs
Township. His struggles against poverty and his perseverance to accomplish what he has attained
are well worthy of imitation by the young men of the present day.
HEXRV REYNOLDS (deceased), farmer ; one of the old setilers of McLean Co.; he was
born in the State of Maryland upon the 29th day of January, 1778. He was united in marriage
in Lancaster Co , Penn., witn Catherine Sheppard, upon the 4th day of February, 180S ; she was
born in Maryland Sept. 26, 1787, and died .lune 13, 1821. leaving six children, viz., Sheppard,
born Feb. 3, 1809; Jesse, Jan. 20, 1810; Ann, March 30, 1812; Lewis, March 13, 1815; Law-
son, July 10, 1817 ; William, Jan. 12, 1820. He married in Lancaster Co., Penn , for his second
wife, Amelia Wilson, Aug. 28, 1822; she was born in Pennsylvania Sept. 18, 1798; she died
Sept. 29, 1846, leaving eleven children — Benjamin, Sarah A., Nov. 5, 1824; Henry, Aug. 11,
1826; Deborah A., Nov. 14, 1828; Elisha, Dec. 4, 1830; Amelia M. and Sarah S. (twins),
Jan. 19, 1833 (Amelia died in infancy) ; Amelia Malinda, Jan. 16, 1835; J. C, Nov. 10, 1836;
Mary E., Nov. 14, 1838, and William H., May 3, 1841. His marriage with Mrs. Mary Ann
Robuck was celebrated in (Jhampaign Co., Ohio, Nov. 8, 1846 ; her maiden name was Davis ;
Bhe was born in Woodford Co., Va., May 16, 1815 ; three children were the fruit of this
union, viz., Charles S., born Oct. 6, 1847 ; Gould Johnson, Sept. 25, 1850, and Stanley D., Feb.
26, 1854; fifteen of the above of his descendants are now living. Mr. Reynolds removed from
Maryland to Pennsylvania; from there to Ohio in 1835, and located in Champaign Co., and
cleared the first farm in that neighborhood; in 1851, he emigrated to Illinois and located upon
Sec. 25, Downs Township, where he spent the remainder of his days. He was a member of the
M. E. Church for fifty-eight years; his third wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church
since 1859 ; tiiey lived and died consistent Christians. Mr. Reynolds died May 8, 1860, aged
72 years 3 months and 9 days; Mrs. Reynolds died Jan. 14, 1873, 57 yeai-s 8 months and
28 days of age. Gould J. Reynolds was born Sept. 25, 1830, in Ohio ; he emigrated with his
parents to Illinois when 1 year of age; they came by team, bringing all their liousehold goods
and stock ; he was brought up on the farm, and, from 1866 to 1875, he, with his brother Cliarles
S., farmed in partnership upon the home farm, and, at the latter date, Charles S. located upon
Sec. 7, Empire Township, since which time Gould J. has farmed upon the old farm alone. His
marriage with Adaline Dickerson was celebrated May 27, 1875 ; she was born in McLean Co.
Jan. 22, 1856; they have two children by this union, viz., Ora E., born Aug. 22, 1877, and Clin-
ton C, Dec. 18, 1878. Mrs. Reynolds is the daughter of C. P. Dickerson, one of the oldest
settlers of McLean Co., and whose biography will be found among the sketches of Empire Tovvn-
BJiip in another part of this work.
J. H. ROBERTSON, blacksmith and wagon-maker, .lustice of the Peace and Notary Public,
Downs; one of the old settlers; born in McLean Co., 111., May 29, 1842; he is a son of James
0. P. Robertson, who was born in Warren Co., Ky., and emigrated to McLean Co. at a very
early day, and located in Old Town Township, where he lived until his decease. The subject of
this sketch was raised upon a farm until 18 years of age, when, in December, 1861, he enlisted
as private in the 8th I. V. I., and served in the Army of the Cumberland, Trans-Mississippi, and
Department of the Gulf, and was in many severe battles — Ft. Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Jack-
son, Miss., Ft. Morgan, Spanish Fort and Ft. Blakely, and was mustered out of service May 4,
1866, at Baton Rouge, La., and received his discharge at Springfield upon the Ifith of May,
1866, having served upward of four and a half years in the Union army ; at Ft. Blakely, he was
Wounded in thearin by a piece of shell and had many narrow escapes. Upon receiving his dis-
charge, he returned to McLean Co. and followed blacksmithiug until 1870, when he opened the
first blacksmith-shop at Downs, where he has since lived. He is also Justice of the Peace and
Notary Public H s marriage with Elizabeth Beltzer was celebrated Oct. 11, 1866; she was born
in Ohio .May 8, 1847, and died Aug. 14, 1873, leaving two children — Eudora J., born Feb. 23,
1869, James 0., born .March 14, 1871. He was united in marriage with Isabel T. Lawdon Nov.
4, 1874 ; she was born in Zanesville, Ohio, Aug. 31, 1853 ; one child was born to them, and died
in infancy.
CH AllLES H. RUTLEDGE, farmer. Sec. 23 ; P. 0. Le Roy; one of the early settlers of McLean
Co. ; born near Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., 111. April I, 1828 ; his father, M. S. Rutledge, was
born in Georgia April 2, 1800; he emigrated to Illinois and located in White Co., in 1812, then
to .Montgomery Co., in 1826. Me was married in Henderson Co., Ky., to Nancy Bostick ; she was
born in Kentucky May 19, 1799; she died in Illinois January, 1855 ; Mr. II. died Nov. 27, 1877 ;
they were the parents often chiMren, of whom four are now living. The subject of this sketch lived
with his father until 18 years of age, when in .lune, 1846, he enlisted in the 3d I. V. I., and
served one year in the war with Me.vico, going down the River to New Orleans; thence by vessel
to Brazos Santiago; from there to Carmargo, Matamoras, Tampico ; thence to Vera Cruz;
engaged in several battles, among which were the battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. In June,
46.
K
^--^.^
fyL-t^yf
HUDSON TP
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 981
1847, his time having expired, he returned to New Orleans, where he received his discharge,
having served a little upward of one year; he then returned home and followed farming in
Montgomery Co., until Februai-y, 1848, when he settled in McLean Co. upon his present place.
At the time of locating here, there were but four houses from Buckles' to Randolph Grove, a dis-
tance of six miles, where now upon every quarter-section stands one or more houses. His cap-
ital, when settling here, was simply a land-warrant, and with this he secured his land, and pur-
chased a farmhouse 16x16, in which he lived one year. The land was in its rough state ;
neither a tree nor shrub appeared in view ; he has, by his own hard labor, brought it from its
wild prairie condition to its present high state of cultivation. He owns 250 acres that he has
accumulated by his own exertions in which he has been nobly assisted by his wife, to whom he
was united in marriage upon the 14th of April, 1853 ; her maiden name was Martha A. Ctiapin ;
she was born March 21, 1831, in De Witt Co., 111.; she was a daughter of Hiram Chapin, who
was born in North Carolina, and emigrated from Kentucky to Illinois in 1819 ; the children of
Charles and Martha Rutledge were seven in number, of whom four are now living, viz. : Still-
man v., born May 16, 1867 ; Edgar H., born Aug. 14, 1861 ; Florence, born Aug. 26, 1864;
Louisa J., born Aug. 22, 1867. Mr. Rutledge has been favored with his fulPshare of township
and school offices, having been third Supervisor of Downs Township, which office he held three
years in succession ; as Town Collector, he successfully handled the funds of Downs Township
for three years ; School Trustee, nine years, which office he now holds ; School Director nine years,
and other petty offices. He has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion and education,
having been a member of the C. P. Church for upward of thirty years, of which he has been a
Ruling Elder for twenty-eight years, his wife joining about the same time.
•JOHN SARGENT, farmer, Sec. 6; P. 0. Hey worth ; born in Pike Co., Ohio, Oct. 5, 1814;
his father, Eli Sargent, was probably born in Virginia. He was married twice ; his first wife's
maiden name was Wood; she was born in Kentucky, and died in Pike Co., Ohio; his second
wife was Christine Nesselle ; they were married in Ohio; they were the parents of two chil-
dren. Mr. Sargent died in Illinois iu 1824; his wife died in 1817 in Ohio. The sub-
ject of this sketch was left an orphan at 10 years of age, and lived out and worked upon different
farms until Dec. 14, 1841, when he was united in marriage with Deborah Thomas, of Scioto Co.,
Ohio; she died Sept. 13, 1865, leaving one child — Mary E. Sargent, now Mrs. Thomas .J. Sargent,
living in Sumner Co , Kans. His marriage with Mrs. Margaret Miller was celebrated April 17,
1866; her maiden name was Glover ; she was born in Ohio in 1827 ; three cliildren were the fruit
of this union, all deceased. In the fall of 1843, Mr. Sargent located in Jersey Co., 111., where he
followed farming nearly fourteen years, when he removed to Logan Co., where he resided twelve
years, and, upon the 3d of March, 1868, located upon his present place, where he has since
lived, and where he owns 153 acres of land, upon which he has good farm buildings, all of which
he accumulated by his own hard labor and exertions. Mr. S. was an old-time Whig, casting his
first vote in 1836 for Harrison, and. labored continuously for the Whig party until the organiza-
tion of the Republican party, since which time he has been identified with the same ; he is a
strong temperance man, and has never used tobacco in any form ; he has been a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church for nearly half a century, his first and second wife and daughters
being members of the same church. Mrs. Sargent was married April 30, 1859, to Madison L
Miller : he was born in New York, and died Dec. 20, 1862, while serving in the army for the
protection of the Union during the late war of the rebellion ; they have one child, now living, by
this union — Margai-et Y., born Mai-ch 14, 1861, now making her home with Mr. and Mrs.
Sargent.
.lAMES H. SIMKINS, farmer. Sec. 28; P. 0. Heyworth ; one of the old settlers of McLean
Co.; was born in Salem Co., N. J., Sept. 17, 1820; his father, Francis Simkins, was born in
Salem Co., N. J., Sept. 14, 1792. He married Mary Harris Oct. 6, 1815; she was born in the
same county .luly, 1798; she died April 12, 1868, in Highland Co., Ohio. Mr. Francis Sim-
kins also died in Highland Co., Ohio, Aug. 15, 1843, killed by being thrown from a bridge while
returning from church ; they now lie buried in the beautiful cemetery at Newmarket, Ohio ;
their graves are marked by tombstones of Italian marble, placed there by their loving children ;
they were the parents of eight children, of whom three are deceased ; the living are Hannah,
born March 27, 1818; James H., Sept. 17, 1820; Jeremiah T., Jan. 22, 1823; Isaac H., April
22, 1828; Richard, in 1831 ; the deceased are Elizabeth, born Oct. 16, 1816, died in infancy :
Jane, born Dec. 28, 1825, died in 1846; Mary Ann, born July 14, 1843, died March 15,
1873. The subject of this sketch remained with his parents upon the farm until 23 years of
age, during which time he learned the brick-mason's trade. He was united in marriage with
Nancy Roads March 22, 1843; she was born in Highland Co., Ohio, Jan. 13, 1823; she was a
daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Thomas) Roads, who were born in Virginia, and emigrated
to Ohio at an early day, where they lived until their decease. Upon the marriage of the subject
of this sketch, he engaged in farming for three years, after which he located in Hillsboro, (3hio,
where he followed his trade until he emigrated and located in Bloomington, McLean Co., Nov. 9,
1856 ; he then followed his trade at Bloomington six years, and, in 1862, purchased 100 acres of
land upon Sec. 31, Downs Township, upon which he lived until 1866. In the spring of 1867, he
purchased his present place of eighty acres, where he has since lived, and is engaged in farming.
ss
982 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
The children of James and Naucy (Roadsj Simkins were three in number, of whom two died
in infancy : the living — Isaac, born March 19, 1846, now living at home.
FREDERICK SMITH (deceased), farmer, Downs; born in Richland Co., Ohio, June 7,
1836, where he attended the common schools in his youth and followed farming, until 26 years
of age. when he emigrated to Illinois and located at Funk's Grove, McLean Co., in the fall of
18(')3: he then came to Downs Township and purchased 160 acres upon Section 6, Town 21,
where he lived two years, when he moved upon the north half of Section 6, where he purchased
80 acres, upon which he lived until his decease, which occurred Nov. 3, 1868 ; he lies buried in
the cemetery at Hey worth. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church for twelve years, and
lived and died a consistent Christian : he was held in high esteem, and died beloved by all who
knew him. He was married to Mary .Jane Baird. April 19, 1860; she was born in New Jersey
Feb. 22, 1840; one child was the fruit of this union — Edmund W., born April 27, 1861.
SAMUEL SNIFF, farmer and stock-raiser. Section 23 ; P. 0. Le Roy ; born in Morgan Co.,
Ohio, Dec. 24, 182(5: he is a son of John Sniff, who was born near Trenton, N. J., Feb. 22,
1795; he was a farmer and stock-raiser, also a manufacturer of stoneware ; he emigrated to
Ohio in 1812, and is now living, at the ripe old age of 84 years : he was married to Ann Wood,
in Ohio : she was born in Virginia, May 20. 1799 ; she died in Ohio March 14,1878; they
were the parents of twelve children, all of whom are now living, the oldest being 64 and the
youngest o9 years of age. The subject of this sketch was brought up to heavy farm labor upon
the farm of his father, until 23 years of age. when he was united in marriage with Mary E.
Springer; she was born in Ohio May 20, 1827; she died March 21, 1866, leaving five children,
having lost six by death ; the living are Sarah E., Isaac B., Mary S., Cora and Nora, the last
two being twins ; the deceased died in infancy : of the above, three were born at one birth, and
there were two pairs of twins. His marriage with Maria Cochrane was celebrated March 19,
1867: she was born Nov. 11, 1836, in Ohio: she died July 2. 1873, leaving three children —
William A., Samuel C. and Francis M. He married for his third wife Anna S. Jackson, upon
the 29th of April, 1874; she was born in Hancock Co., Va.. Dec. 24, 1842; one child was the
fruit of this union, Hettie J. : Mrs. Sniff was a daughter of David Jackson, who was born in
Washington Co , Penn.; he lost his life by being drowned in the Ohio River, in 1843 ; her mother
was Elizabeth Campbell ; she was born in the same county ; she died in Ohio in 1865 ; Mrs.
Sniff has a brother living in Vinton Co., Ohio, and a sister in Polk Co.. Mo., now Mrs. David
Allender. Mr. Sniff followed farming, in Ohio, until 1867, the last two years of which he was
engaged in the stoneware business ; he purchased his present place in 1868, upon which he
then located, and where he has since lived ; he has upon his home farm 240 acres, all under
fence and in a good state of improvement. Mr. Sniff is Treasurer and Agent for the American
Bible Society for Downs He has been a member of the M. E. Church for a period of thirty-
eight vears, his wife and two of the children also being members of the Church.
WILLIAM TURNER, farmer, Sec. 5; P. 0. Heyworth : born in Indiana Co., Penn., April
28, 1836 ; his father, James Turner, was born in Washington Co., Penn., and followed farming^
and milling until 1839, when he emigrated to Ohio and located in Clermont Co., where he followed
farming until his decease, which occurred Dec. 17, 1878. He was married in Pennsylvania to
.Margaret McKinney ; she was born in Pennsylvania, and is now living in Ohio ; they were the
parents of twelve children, all of whom are now living. The subject of this sketch emigrated
to Ohio, with his parents, when 3 years of age, where he was raised upon his father's farm,
until 27 years of age, the last three of which he was in partnership with his father ; he then
disposed of his interest in Ohio and emigrated to Illinois, and located in Randolph Township in
the spring of 1864, where he rented land four years, and, in 1868, he purchased his present
place of 160 acres, upon which he then located and where he has since lived. His marriage
with Mary E Hill was celebrated in Ohio, March 3, 1864; she was born in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Aug. 19, 1841 : they were the parents of five children, of whom two are deceased; the living
are — Harvey H., Mary A., Frank M. ; the deceased died in infancy. jMr. Turner is a Democrat
in politics, but has never run for office.
D. F. VANDEVENTER, farmer and stock-raiser: Sec. 12, Town 21 ; P. 0. Le Roy; born in
De Witt Co., Ill, July 29. 1845; he is the second son of Thomas Vandeventer, who emigrated
from Virginia and located in De Wilt Co. about the year l.s20. He married in De Witt Co. ta
Elizabeth .Arbogast ; she was born in Ohio ; they were the parents of six children, of whom five
are now living : the parents now live in De Witt Co. The subject of this sketch attended the
common .school and assisted his father in farming until 17 years of age, when he went to Cali-
fornia and followed teaming tliree years, driving a team of ten mules to a wagon itself weighing
two tons and hauling from five to six tons of mining machinery and supplies, the trip consuming
about six weeks ; in 1865, he returned to De Witt Co., 111., and engaged in farming and stock-
raising until the spring of 1H75, when he purchased 125 acres of land in Downs Township, upon
which he then locate<l and where lie has since lived ; he also owns forty-five acres in De Witt
Co., all of which he has accumulated by his own hard labor, energy and industry. His marriage
with Sarah Nichols was celebrated Oct. 26, 1868; she was born in Brown Co.. Ohio, July 7.
1849 ; three children were the fruit of this union, of whom two are living— Lewis N., born April
20, 1870: Dick, born March 24, 1872, died Oct. 22, 1878, and Merritt E., born July 19, 1875.
DOWNS TOWNSHIP. 983
Mrs. Vandeventer is a daughter of John and Lucinda (Teter) Nichols, wlio now live in Cham-
paign Co., 111. : Mr. Nichols was born in Germany and Mrs. Nichols in Virginia ; they were the
parents of seven children, of whom five are living.
GEORGE AVADDINGTON, farmer, deceased; born in Yorkshire, England, upon the 9th of
June, 1818; he was brought up on a farm until 14 years of age, when he was apprenticed to
the trade of cloth-dressing, and, until 1841, followed the business of dressing the finest English
broadcloth, of some of which his own wedding suit was made ; the coat is now held as an heirloom
by the family ; in the fall of 1S41, he emigrated to America and landed at New Orleans ; he then
came up the ^Mississippi to Grand Tower and settled in Williamson Co.. 111., where he was united
in marriage with Elizabeth Kershaw ; she was born in Holdam, Lancashire, England, in 1826 ;
she was a daughter of Joseph Kershaw, who now lives in Le Roy, and whose biography appears
among the sketches of Empire Township in another part of this work. In the fall of 1857, they
removed to Downs Township, McLean Co., and, in the spring of 185U, located upon Section 27,
where they lived until their decease ; Mrs. Waddington died March 10,1870; in the spring of
1874, Mr. Waddington returned to England, visiting Liverjjool, Huddersfield, his native city,
Sheffield and spent one week in London, returning home in August, of the same year; his death
occurred June 19, 1876. They were both members of the Christian Church and lived and died
consistent Christians. They now lie buried in the Gelmore graveyard, and over their grave
stands a marble monument erected sacred to their memory by their loving children ; they were
the parents of five sons and six daughters, of whom all are now living — Sarah A. (now Mrs.
John Lott, living in Sumner Co.. Kan.), Hannah (now Mrs. William Kinsey, whose sketch
appears in this work), Mary J. (now Mrs. Harrison C. Lott, living in Blue Mound Township,
McLean Co.), Joseph K. (now living upon the home farm), Martha E. (also living at home),
George W. (telegraph operator upon the Illinois Central Railroad^, William A. (living at home),
Esther E. (now Mrs. A. Montgomery, living in Downs Township), Ida A., John F. and Walter
S. Mr. Waddington commenced in Illinois with an ax and one lonesome penny : he worked and
cleared eighty aires, which he afterward entered, and enduring all the hardships and privations
of frontier life and battled against poverty, and, at the time of his decease, had accumulated a
good farm of 160 acres and raised a family of eleven children.
HENRY WAGNER, farmer, Sec. 17; P. 0. Downs; born in Centre Co.. Penn., April 15,
1819. His grandfather, David Wagner, was a Revolutionary patriot and served during the Revo-
lutionary struggle, for seven years. He was under Gen. Washington, and was an eye-witness to
the shooting of several horses upon which that eminent chieftain was riding. He was in many
engagements and served until the independence of the nation was established. His father, Will-
iam Wagner, was a soldier in the army of 1812. He was born in Dauphin Co., Penn , April 24,
1788. He was married in Centre Co., Penn., to Ellen Long; she was born in Centre Co., July
24, 1790. They were the parents of eight children, of whom five are now living. The parents
both died in Centre Co., Penn. Mr. Wagner died Feb. 4, 1868; Mrs, Wagner died Oct. lu. 1869 ;
The subject of this sketch attended the common school in his youth and assisted his father in
farming until 22 years of age, when, on the 3d of February, 1842, he was married to Elizabeth Roop;
she was born in Centre Co., Penn., May 20, 1824. They were the parents of nine children, of
whom three are deceased ; the living are — Annie Maria, born Nov. 6. 1842, now Mrs. Thomas Rut-
ledge; Emily J., Feb. 13, 1846, now Mrs. W. W. Reser; Mary E., Aug. 25, 1853, now Mrs.
Edward Stewart ; Charles C, Sept. 23, 1858; Henry H., Sept. 22, 1860; Frank E., Feb. 28, 1864.
The deceased — Lydia C, was born Feb. 10, 1844, she married J. Darby, and died Nov. 30. 1870,
and two died in infancy. Upon the marriage of Mr. Wagner, he emigrated to Indiana, where he
farmed upon rented land until he emigrated to Illinois, and located upon Sec. 17, Downs Town-
ship, McLean Co., in the fall of 1854, where he has since lived, during a period of one-fourth of
a century. He first purchased 160 acres in 1854, to which he has since added by purcliase,
until he now owns 195 acres upon his home farm, with the best of farm buildings. He has
brought the same from its wild prairie condition to its present high state of culdvation by his
own hard labor : he also owns 100 acres in other parts of the county. He has taken a deep
interest in the cause of religion and education, having been, with his wife, a member of the
church of the United Brethren for a period of 18 years. He has been School Director for nine
years, which office he now holds.
JOSEPH B. WEAVER, farmer ; P. 0. Downs: one of the early settlers of McLean Co.; born
in Lee Co., Va. His grandfather, on both his father and mother's side, were patriots of the
Revolutionary struggle and served under Gen. Greene until the close of the war. His father,
William Weaver, was born in Virginia Feb. 10, 1783. He was a Baptist preacher, which pro-
fession he followed in connection with farming, until his decease, which occurred in Downs Town-
ship, Sept. 3, 1838. He was married in Virginia Dec. 12, 1805, to Mary Sims; she was born in
Virginia, Nov. 15, 1787, and died Oct. 13, 1854. They were the parents of thirteen children, of
whom eight are now living. They emigrated from Virginia with their teams, and located in
McLean Co., in the fall of 1832, and the following spring located upon Sec. 4, Downs Township,
where he lived until his decease. He entered and purchased land until he had acciiiuulated
600 acres. A part ef the village of Downs now stands upon his old farm. The subject of this
sketch was the youngest member of the family, and now lives upon the old farm, where lie has
984 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
lived nearlv half a century, aud is probably the oldest contiauous resident of Downs Township.
He now owns 112 acres of the old farm, with good buildings. He continued farming until Aug.
8. 1862. when he enlisted in the 94th Regiment I. V. I. His first active service was in the cam-
paign of Missouri and Arkansas, being engaged in the battle of Prairie Grove. Dec. 7. 1862 :
on The dd of June, 186"^., he was forwarded down the Mississippi River to Young's Point, thence
across the country to VVarrenton, where they crossed the Mississippi River, and, upoa the 14th
of June, 1863, took their position upon the extreme left of the Union army, where they remained
until the surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, LStlS. They were then sent up the Yazoo River, cap-
turing Yazoo City, upon July 12, when they were sent to New Orleans, via Port Hudson. On
the 2°tli of Angus', 1868, Mr. Weaver was sent to the hospital on account of sickness, and did
not again join his regiment until Feb. 22, 1864, at Brownsville, Texas, where he remained until
July 80, when they were forwarded to Mobile Bay, landing at Mobile Point upon the 9th of
August, and upon the 28d instant. Ft. Morgan surrendered. He was then engaged upon the
attack upon the Spanish Fort, which surrendered April 8, 1865: Ft. Blakely fell about the same
date, among the rebel prisoners was the rebel Gen. Cockerell, now a U. S. Senator from Missouri.
Mr. Weaver was then, with the 94th Regiment, sent to Galveston, Texas, where he was mustered
out of service, and, in August, 1865, received his discharge at Springfield, 111., having serve 1 in
the Union army three years. He then returned to farming, which business he has since followed.
Of township and .school offices, he has had his full share, having held the office of Supervisor,
Township Collector, Justice of the Peace, School Director, and has been a member of the Board
of Education for fourteen years. His marriage with Margaret A. Kimler was celebrated Sept.
80. lSo5; she was born in ^McLean Co. Feb. 13, 1839. They were the parents of five children
—Theodore F., born Sept. 28, 1856; Mary B., Dec. 6, 1858; Charles W.. April 24, 1862 ; Edward
L., Sept. 2, 1866, and Lillie M., Dec. 22, 1875. Mrs. Weaver was a daughter of Bailey Kimler,
one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.
HENRY WELCH, farmer; P. 0. Downs; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co. ; born
born in Northampton Co., Penn., Nov. 14, 1816; his father was born in the same county, in
1791 ; he emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio the spring of 1817, and in December, 1822,
emigrated to Yigo Co., Ind., where he followed farming until his decease, which occurred in Feb-
ruary. 1835. He was married in Pennsylvania, to Susan A. Jacoby ; she was born in Pennsyl-
vania, in 1702 : her grand-parents emigrated to America with William Penn. and settled in
his colony; Mrs. Welch died in August, 1862; they were the parents of eight sons and three
daughters, of whom four sons aad one daughter are now living — William, born Jan. 25. 1815 :
Henry, Nov. 14, 1816: Albert, Oct. 22, 1822 ; Jeremiah, July, 1825, and Eliza Jane, about 1828.
Henry Welch came to McLean Co. in the spring of 1885, a poor boy ; he has suffered all the
privations and hardships of frontier life, and has, by his hard labor and correct business habits,
placed himself among tlie large land-holders and successful farmers and stock-raisers of McLean
Co. ; to accomplish this has been a life of labor; for many years, he followed the prairie-plow,
drawn by five yoke of oxen ; he dirl not confine his breaking to Illinois, as hundreds of acres in
AVisconsin have been broken by his labor ; he has driven his hogs to Chicago on foot, camping
out by night ; he has also driven his teams to Chicago loaded with wheat, for which he realized
48 cents per bushel : in 1836, he hauled a load of goods from Pekin to Bloomington, then to
Dixon ; he had two wagons, drawn by four yoke of cattle each ; one wagon carried a ton, the
others one and a half tons. He lias a vivid recollection of the sudden change in 188t) : the day
had been mild, and the ground was covered with slush of snow and water, when, suddenly, a
roar was heard in the west, and the change in the atmosphere was so great that everything froze
up instantly ; Mr. Welch says tliat, when the wind-storm came, his pigs huddled together in the
pen to keep warm, but several of them carelessly allowed their tails to drop into the slush, and
were frozen fast ; the next morning, his attention was called to the sty by the squealing of the
pigs, and. upon going there, found some half dozen in the above position; he loosened them by
cutting their tails with his knife. His marriage with Minerva Colwell was celebrated upon the
24th of November, 1842; they were the parents of eight children — Sarah J., born April 12,
1845, died Sept. 10, 1847; William Lee, Feb 11, 1847, died Jan. 9, 1871 ; James Adams. Jan.
6, 1849 : Susan Ann, Sept. 24. 1850; Eliza M., Oct. 8, 1853 ; Alfred J., July 5. 1855 ; George
II., .lune 18, 1858 ; Minerva E.. June 6, 1866. Mr. Welch is among the large land-holders of
McF..ean Co., being possessed of upward of fourteen hundred acres of land, with six sets of farm
buildings.
GEORGE M. WILSON, farmer. Sec. 8, Town 21 ; P. 0. Heyworth ; born in Lewis Co., Ky.,
Dec. 11, 1888. His father, George M. Wilson, was born in the same county, where he followed
farming until his decease, which occurred in 1838; he was married in Kentucky to Miss Rebecca
]»avis, who was also born and raised in the same county ; she now lives in Boone Co., Ky. The
subject of this sketch lived with his mother until 11 years of age, when he lived with Joseph
Givens until 16 yearb of age ; he then emigrated to Illinois and followed farming until 1858,
at which time he came to McLean Co., and was engaged in farming upon Sec. 10, Downs
Township, until 1KC,2, when he purchased his present place of 160 acres, upon which he located
and wliere he has since lived ; he has added by purchase until he now owns 320 acres, all
under improvement. His marriage with Harriet L. Bishop was celebrated March 22, 1860; she
FUNK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP. 985
was born in McLean Co. June 7, 1838 : she is a daughter of Jacob Bishop, one of the early set-
tlers of McLean Co., who was born in Maryland, and emigrated from Ohio to Illinois in the fall
of 1830. The children of George M. and Harriet Wilson were eleven in number, of whom
seven are deceased ; the living are — Rebecca E., Minnie M., Narcissa A., Annie E.; the deceased
died in infancy.
OTHO YOUNG, farmer. Sec. 9: V. O. Downs; born in Madison Co., Ohio, April 1, 1839 ;
he is the son of Joseph Young, who was born in Delaware Co., Ohio, May 26, 1813 ; he married
Julia A. Thomas April 15, 1832 ; she was born in Madison Co., Ohio, April 5, 1812. Mr. Young
learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed until his marriage, when he abandoned his
trade and followed farming in Ohio until 1849, when he came to Illinois, and, after looking over
the country, returned to Ohio and disposed of his property, and, the following year, came by
team with his i\imily. and in the fall of 1851 purchased 230 acres upon Sec. 4, Downs Township,
upon which he then located and to which he afterward added 30 more and upon which he lived
until his decease ; they were the parents of five children, of which three are now living, viz.:
John, born Jan. 4, 1836, living in Miami Co., Kansas ; Otho, April 1, 1839 ; Emily, May 25,
1843. Mrs. Young died in McLean Co., July 26, 1867. Mr. Young died Feb. 19, 1878. They
were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years previous to their death, and
lived and died consistent Christians. The subject of this sketch attended the common school and
assisted his father in farming until 21 years of age, when, on the 16th of May, 1859, he was
united in marriage with Susan Mannen ; she was born in McLean Co.. 111., May 3, 1840 ; they
were the parents of five children, of whom four are now living — Miles K., born Jan. 21, 1861 ;
Charles J., May 11, 1863 ; William, Oct. 3, 1867 ; Belle, March 26, 1870, died May 7, 1877, and
Harry L., born May 11, 1878. Upon the marriage of Mr. Young, he purchased his present
place of eighty acres, upon which he located and where he has since lived. He and his
wife have been members of the M. E. Church for a period of twenty years. Mrs. Young was a
daughter of Henry and Susannah (Barnett) Mannen ; they were born in Kentucky, and emigrated
to Illinois, and located in McLean Co. in 1830.
FUNK'S GROVE.
JOHN M. BURKHOLDER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. McLean; was born in Rocking-
ham Co., Va., May 26, 1830. He remained there until 1852, engaged in farming, when he then
moved to Knox Co., Ohio, and stayed there some two years ; was engaged in teaching school
during the winter at $18 per month, and farming in summer. In 1864, he came by himself to
McLean Co., 111., and settled on a small farm of forty acres, which he has now increased to 240,
every particle of which has been earned by their own labor and management. For some time
subsequent to his settlement on this farm, he was engaged in teaching during the winter ; has
taught two four-months' terms in DeWitt Co. at $20, and three terms at Fremont, in Funk's
Grove Township, at §!28. In 1862, he was in service, enlisting in the 68th I. V. I. On his
return, he began teaching in Funk's Grove at $30 per month. On April 9, 1863, he was married
to Rebecca W. Bean, born in Connecticut, April 12, 1841. Immediately after mai'riage, they
settled on his farm in Funk's Grove Township, which they have made a magnificent home. He
has held offices connected with schools, as Trustee of Funk's Grove Township, for nine years ;
was also Collector of Revenue for two terms. He received but a limited education from instruct-
ors, but has improved every advantage of informing himself by securing valuable literature.
They have had two children, viz.: Ira E., born Aug. 20, 1865 ; Bessie M., Oct. 19, 18T8.
0. H. BUCK, farmer; P. 0. McLean; was born June 19, 1841, in Switzerland Co., Ind.,
and remained there until 1851, when he came to De Witt Co., 111., and settled on a farm, remain-
ing there engaged in farming for his father until 21 years old, when he managed the form for his
father until 1876. In 1869, he was married to Hannah Hammitt, who was born in DeWitt Co.
In 1876, they settled on the present farm of eighty acres. Mr. Buck has traveled somewhat.
He works more or less at carpentering. He has recently improved his farm by adding a cosy
little cottage, and has put down tile-draining to some extent. They have two children — Oscar
0. and Cora A.
JOSEPH BAKER, farmer: P. 0. McLean; was born Feb. 21, 1834, in Morgan Co., Ohio.
When 18 months old, he came with his father to what is now De Witt Co., and remained there,
engaged in farming for his father, until about 22 years old. He worked three seasons, breaking
prairie for the public by oxteara. In 1856, he was married to Margaret Taylor, of Ohio. They
immediately settled in Die Witt Co., 111. He rented for four years, and then bought a farm of
eighty acres in De Witt Co., remaining for some time, and then moved to a farm in .McLean Co.,
and remained some four years. He afterward sold out, and bought the present farm of 209
acres, and remained there five years. From there he moved to De Witt Co., and settled on a
farm given him by his father. He soon bought out three heirs, making him 136 acres, which he
sold a year afterward, and moved back to his beautiful improved farm in Funk's Grove. At his
986 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
marriage, his father offered him forty acres of land, but he refused until later, and thus, with the
aid of his industrious wife, made his beginning. He worked one season on the railroad, with
ox-teanis, at ^o per day. He has been Pathmaster, and has held offices connected with school
interests. They have ten children, viz. : Rhoda A., Letha E., George C . Mary E., John W.,
Samuel G., Benjamin, Hattie May, Robert A., Joseph H.
JAMES COOPER, farmer; P. 0. Heyworth ; was born July 24, 1828, in Ross Co., Ohio, on
a farm, and remained there until 21 years old, when he moved with his parents to Madison Co.,
Ohio, and settled on a farm, remaining there until 1837 ; he moved from there to Illinois, set-
tling at Lexington, McLean Co., and engaging in farming, renting of A. \^. Gridley for three
years : from there they came to the head of Money Creek timber and engaged in farming, rent-
ing of Isaac Funk : he moved from there to mouth of Money Creek and settled on Stroud's
farm, moving from thei-e to Randolph Township, and engaged in working by the month, at $9, for
Benjamin Slatten ; he worked next season on farm for John Low, after which he commenced
farming for himself: was renting of Mortin Bishop for two years, renting next of George
Stillmaa one year; he moved from there by wagon to Texas and settled in Burnett Co., and
engnged in farming, remaining there four years; he then returned to McLean Co., and settled on
Judge Davis' ftirm i the one now occupied by J. 0. Davis), remaining there until 1865 ; he next
moved to Judge Davis' farm in Macon Co., and engaged in farming in partnership with Judge
Davis and Lyman Belts in raising cattle and hogs ; was there seven years ; in 1872, he settled on
the present farm of 300 acres which they have earned entirely by their own labor and manage-
ment. He was married .Jan. 2o. 1865, to Frances Veatch, born in 1842 in McLean Co., 111. He
was in the civil war, enlisting in Co. C, 94th I. V. I., under James McFarland, Captain ; was in
service eighteen months. Mr. Cooper has held offices connected with schools. In 1878, he met
with quite a loss by his home burning down, but now has almost completed a beautiful mansion
on his magnificent farm.
NEWTON CLIFFORD, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley; was born May 20, 1851, in
Lancaster, Fairfield Co., Ohio, where he remained until he was 17 years old, attending school and
clerking for D. B. Gardner in the wholesale and retail grocery business ; he then moved to
.Minonk, Woodford Co., 111., and engaged in building hedge fences for D. Mooney, working by
the month at $40 and $50 for three years : from there he went to L. H. Kerrick's farm in Funk's
Grove, and engaged in farming until 1867, when he made a sale and moved on Mr. F. M. Funk's
farm of 2,000 acres, which he mostly controlled ; he receives a salary from Mr. Funk for his
care of some five hundred head of cattle. He also rents of Mr. Funk. He was
married Jan. 5, 1876, to Miss Alice Norton, the daughter of Alexander Norton, of Champaign
Co., 111.; she was born in 1858 ; they have one child, viz., Edith. Mr. Clifford superintends the
Sunday .school at the Mcllvaioe Schoolhouse.
V. R. DUKGY, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born Aug. 18, 1827, in
Jefferson Co., N. Y., and remained there engaged in carpentering until 1849, when he' was mar-
ried to Elizabeth Hutchinson, who was born on the same day her husband was — Aug. 18, 1827.
After marriage, he continued his work at carpentering until 18G1, at which time he moved to
Iowa, settling in La Fayette Co., and engaging in farming for two years; in 1863, he moved to
Heyworth, 111., and engaged in farming, renting of Enos Passwater for one year ; he then moved
to the present farm of forty acres, which they have earned entirely by their labor and manage-
ment, and have brought to a high state of cultivation, with all the modern improvements. In
1865, he went to the war. enlisting in 150th I. V. I., and remained until the close. He has held
offices connecteil with the schools for fourteen yeai-s, and has been Commissioner of Highways.
He vvas inspector of cars in New York for three years at i$35 per month. He follows carpenter-
ing during winter and farming in summer. They have three children viz., Eveline, Charles and
Addie.
ABSALOM FUNK, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley; was born Aug. 4. 1828 (what
was then election day), in Funk's Grove Township, 111., and remained there, being engaged
in farming, until 1856, when he went to Missouri and engaged in farming and raising stock,
remaining there for some four years, at which time he held that no treasure on earth w.as so dear
AH llie old liomestead, and, in 1859, he returned to Funk's Grove and settled on Mr. Dunk
Funk's farm, engaging in farming until 1873, when he bought and settled the present little farm
of sixteen acres, which, by iiis skill, he has made into a beautiful home that even the most opu-
lent might covet. He rents ground, and thus enlists his son-in-law. Mr. Thomas J. Gates, who
makes a home with him. He was married Feb 20, 1851, to Lidda Beaver, a native of Fountain
Co., Ind., wlio vvas born in 1849. He has worked on the C. & A. II. R., grading and building,
and has iield offices connected with districts. He -has five children, viz.- Albert, deceased:
Maggie, deceased : William, deceased ; Ellen, deceased ; and Sarah, the wife of Mr. Gates.
IS.VAC FUNK, farm and stock; P. 0. Shirley; was born May 13, 1844, in McLean Co.,
111., in what is Funk's Grove, and remained tliere, working for his fatiier, herding cattle,
all the time, until 20 years old. lie then worked with his brothers, Ben and Ab, as partners,
for five years, farming and stock-raising. In 1869, he was married to Frances Correll, who was
born in Sangamon Co., 111., Aug. 20, 1847, and. in 1870, they settled on the present farm of
2,240 acres given him by his father in 1865. This farm is the old homestead of Isaac Funk, Sr.,
FUNK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP. 987
who had made it a magnificent place before his death, which occurred in 1865 ; his wife died on the
same day, four hours later. Mr Funk has taken great pains in continuing the improvements on
bis farm. He makes stock a specialty, and employs numbers of hands. He was in the State Regi
ment six months. Mr. Funk well remembers the departure of his father, in company with the
/jbler boys, .James Biggs and others, to Chicago, driving herds of cattle for market, while he
was left at home herding cattle. He has stock in the National Bank of Bloomington. They
have three children, viz.: Arthur C, Mabel, deceased, and Lawrence.
LA FAYETTE FUNK, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley; was born on a farm in
Funk's Grove Township in 1834, and remained there, working for his father (herding cattle and
plowing prairie with ox-teams as was customary in those days) until 1860, when he began improv-
ing his present farm of 2,000 acres, given him by his father. One remai-kable feature connected
with Mr. Funk s settlement is that on the 14th of May, 1824, his father settled in the Grove ; on
the 14th of Maj', 1860, La Fayette began improvement, and on the 14th of May, 1864, he settled
on it with his wife. As stated, he began work on this farm, which was then a '' raw prairie,"
which they have improved, and made one of the most beautiful farms in the county. Mr. Funk's
means, by which he improved his farm, was acquired by his rearing and marketing cattle. Many
of his lonely hours of night were spent on the prairie herding cattle, while the distant howl of
the wolves brought fe>r and uneasiness upon him. He was married in Clark Co., Ohio, Jan. 12,
1864, to Elizabeth Paullin ; born in Clark Co., Ohio, April 4, 1841 ; they have two children —
Eugene D.; Edgar P., deceased. Mr. Funk has held office as Trustee six years; Commissioner
of Highways, fourteen years : Town Clerk, four years ; Supervisor of Funk's Grove Township,
elected in 1874 and still holds that office. He owns stock in the National and National Stock
Banks of Bloomington.
F. M. FUNK, firmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington: was born Aug. 13, 1836, in
Funk's Grove, McLean Co., 111., on farm, and remained there, working for his father, until 1865,
wlien he began business for himself on his present farm of 2,200 acres, which was given him by
his father. In (_1ctober, 1865, he married Mary Houser, who was a native by birth of Kentucky ;
immediately after marriage, they settled on his farm, and began improving and raising stock,
and remained there until 1873. when they moved to Bloomington, 111., where they now reside ;
but Mr. Funk is on his farm most of the time, buying and selling stock; has on his farm now
some 500 head of cattle ; he is a j)artner in the drug store known as the firm of Funk & Lackey,
in Bloomington ; he has an interest in the Bloomington National Bank. Mr. Funk has held
offices connected with schools ; is at present member of Board of Education ; was Supervisor of
Funk's Grove Township four years ; was School Treasurer six years. They have three children —
Gracv, Laura, .Jesse D.
MRS. ELMIRA .JONES, farmer: P. 0. McLean; was born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Aug.
12,1817 ; her father's name was McLaughlin ; she remained in Ohia until 16 years old, when she
came with her sister, Mrs. Cantrell, with whom she had been making a home since her mother's
death in 1827, to Sangamon Co., 111., staying there one winter; from there she again moved with
her brother-in law and sister to McLean Co., now in De Witt Co., and settled on a farm; there
she remained until married, in 1831, to Isaac W. Jones, who was born in Clark Co., Ohio, in
1811, where he remained until 10 years old, when he moved to Indiana, and remained about
eleven years, after which he came to Illinois by wagon, as was customary, and settled in McLean
Co. The first summer after marriage, they settled on his father's farm, moving from there
to what is now the "Frisby Farm,'" which they began improving; while building, they
occupied an Indian's home, living in a little tent built out of poles. During the time Mr.
Jones was on tliis farm, he had the brick made with which they built the present house that
Mrs. Jones now occupies. In 1857, they moved to their present farm of 250 acres, earned
entirely by their own labor and management. They began improvement by erecting a beautiful
mansion and cultivating the soil, which was then a raw prairie. Sept. 18, 18t58, Mr. Jone? died,
and the management of aiiairs devolved upon Mrs. Jones. He held the office of Justice of the
Peace up to the time of his death; he worked at carpentering and sawing lumber. He was a
member of the M. E. Church, and had spent many happy hours talking of the future with his
companion, who had been an active member of the M. E. Church since she was 15 years old;
he died in 1868, leaving a fiiraily of twelve children, viz., Jennie J. (deceased), Ann E., Cyrus
H., Silvira, Louis S., Emma (deceased), Lucian W., Isaac A., William W., Ella, Eli (deceased),
and Percival G.; four of thp children have taught school, Lucian W. and Lsaac A. are physicians ;
they took a course in Louisville .Medical College ; Lucian is practicing in this State.
C. H. LAKE, farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Shirley; was barn Jan. 31, 1830, in Mont-
gomery Co., N. Y.; he remained there until 14 years old, working in a woolen factory in Johns-
town, N. Y. In 1853, he moved to Western, Orleans Co., N. Y., and was there one year engaged
in farming; he then went to Niagara Co., N. Y., settling at Lockport and engaging in the joiner's
trade for some twelve years , after which, he moved to the West, settling in McLean Co., at Lex-
ington, and remaining there engaged in farming, renting of Fulwiler for four years. In i861,
he returned to Niagara Co., N. Y., remaining one year, and then returned to McLean Co., set-
tling on a farm near Shirley, owned by Peleg Soule, which he rented for one year; he then
bouo-ht 40 acres of Soule, and owned it until February, 1879, when he traded for the Lewis
988 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Jones farm of 160 acres, which is known as one of the finest farms in the township ; was Com-
missioner of Highways for six years. He was married, in 1857, to Roby Dye, a native of Niag-
ara Co., N. Y.; they have three children, viz., Frank L., » harles H. and Cora.
GEORGE A. ROSS, farmer; P. 0. Hey worth ; was born April 19, 1828, in Saratoga Co., N. V.,
and remained there until 15 years old ; when he was 10 years old, his mother died ; his father, ?ome
time afterward, married again. In 1843, he moved with his father to Western New York, settling in
Middleport, Niagara Co., and attended school and worked for his father at smithing until 20 years
old ; he then moved to Jeddo, N. Y., and engaged in blacksmithing for himself for fourteen
months : thence to Decatur, 111., and was boss of a company grading on the Illinois Central R. R ,
for one winter ; leaving there, he went to Hudson, 111., and began working on the Illinois Central
R. R., a!< boss of section hands. Nov. 27, 1853, he was married to Ellen Jackson, who was born in
1838, in Genesee Co., N. Y.: immediately after marriage, they settled at Hudson, 111., where he con-
tinued his work on the railroad. In .January, 1854, they moved to what is now Heyworth, 111.,
and engaged in railroading until 1857, when he began farming; he rented of James McWhorter
for a year, and next rented of Mrs. Joseph Wakefield for five years. When married, they had
but S200 ; they now own a farm of 279 acres ; Mr. Ross has worked by the month at $4. In
1862, they settled on their present farm, which was then a raw prairie, but now, by their eneigy
and labor, has been transformed into one of the most beautiful farms in Funk's Grove Township.
He haj held offices connected with the schools, and has been Supervisor of Funk's Grove Town-
ship.
JOHN STUBBLEFIELD, importer; P. 0. Shirley. Of the business industries of Bloom-
ington, the firm of Geo. W. Stubblefield & Co., importers of Percheron Norman horses, forms a
conspicuous part ; the members of the firm are Geo. W. Stubblefield and his father, John Stubble-
field, who is one among the early settlers of McLean Co., having been a resident of the county
since 1824, he being at that time 4J years old, coming to this county, with his people, from
Fayette Co., Ohio, and settling in what is now Funk's Grove Township, where he has since
remained and where most of his property is located. G. W. is a native of McLean Co.; he
engaged in the importation of the Norman horses in 1874 ; since then they have become quite
extensive importers ; their barns are located on Madison street, south of Wait's Hotel, where
can always be found some of the finest imported horses in the State; they have, altogether, about
eighty head of fine imported and graded stock; their stock-farm, of four hundred and forty
acres, is located near Shirley, though they have, in all, about nineteen hundred aci-es. The
direct management of the business comes under the supervision of G; W., his father spending
the principal part of his time on the farm; by their close attention to business, square and hon-
orable dealing, they have established a reputation as importers that is largely conducive to their
success.
A. STUBBLEFIELD, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley; was born Nov. 27, 1815. in
Ohio; he remained there until 1824, when he came with his father, by ox-team, as was
customary in those days, to what was then Fayette Co., 111. — afterward Tazewell Co. — and is now
McLean Co., and settled on a farm — remaining there, working for his father until Feb. 23, 1840,
when he was married to Eliza Pearson, of Indiana, and began farming for himself, on his
father's farm, remaining four years ; he then bought and settled on the present farm of 240
acres, which, by his improvement, has become a beautiful home. His first wife died Sept. 11,
1851, by whom he had five children — M. H., T. T. (both of whom were in the civil war), J. P.,
R. W. and Sarah C. He took, for his second wife, Allie Wilson, of Perry Co., Ohio, by whom
he had six children— Harriet, Asa, William J., La Fayette, Charlotte and Mary A. Mrs. Stub-
blefield died April 18, 1869. He was again married Jan. 24, 1870— his third wife being Mary
A. Campbell, who had five children before her marriage to Mr. Stubblefield— Eliza, Jane, David
(was in the war), xMary B. and William W. Mr. Stubblefield has held offices connected with
the schools, and lias been Higlnvay Conuuissioner.
JOHN STUBBLFFIELD, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley ; was born June 4, 1820, in
Fayette Co., Ohio, and remained there until 1824, when he came to what was then Fayette Co.,
111., and, in 1831, McLean Co., and engaged in farming for his father until 22 years old, at which
time, Dec. 1, 1842, he was married to Elizannah llouser, and began working on his father's
farm, settling in a small log cabin, owned by Isaac Funk; in 1845, he began making a home for
himself, buying 40 acres of Government land, at $1.25 per acre ; he has added to this, until now
he has a fine homestead of 440 acres; he has, in all, 1,900 acres, earned principally by their
own exertions. He makes cattle and horses a specialty, and is in partnership with his son, P.
M. Stubblefield, dealing in Norman horses; he has held offices connected with the schools, as
Treasurer twenty-five years; Supervisor six years, and Director of schools six years; he is
engage<l, to some extent, in r.aising bees; they have nine children— Sarah E., David R., G. W.,
P. M., Mary F., Henry 15., Simon P., Eddy, Lincoln (deceased) and John W.
P. M. STUBBLHFIELD, farmer and stock-rai.ser ; P. 0. McLean; was born Oct. 25, 1852,
in Funk's Grove, on his father's farm; he remained there, working for his father until Feb. 27,
1879, when he was married to Miss Mattie Willerton, who was born March 24, 1853, in London,
England, and came to New York in 1854, where she remained fourteen years, and moved from
there to Bloominglon, 111., remaining some four years, thence to a farm north of Danvers, until
TOWANDA TOWNSHIP. 989
her mairiagc. Immediately after marriage, they settled on the present farm of 160 acres, given
them by his father, Mr. John Stubblefield. This is one of the most beautiful farms in McLean
Co., and is well watered by a beautiful spring, which affords water during the most continued
drouths. In 1874, he made a trip to Europe in company with G. W. and Robert Stubblefield for
the purpose of buying Norman horses. He returned in May of the same year, with several
fine horses, and still makes this stock a specialty.
WILLIAM W. SMITH, farmer; P. 0. Hey worth ; was born Nov. 10, 1823, in Washington
Co., Penn., remained thereuntil about 3 years old, then he moved to Crawford Co., Ohio, and settled
on a farm in the woods, which seemed very lonely, there being but two neighbors within seven
miles. In 1848, he moved to Ashland Co., Ohio, and settled on a farm ; was there engaged in
farming for twenty-one years, during which time (in 1845) he was married. In 1868, he moved,
with his family, to the Far West, and made a home in McLean Co., 111., settling on the present
farm of 240 acres. He has worked by the day at 50 cents, chopping and splitting rails, and by
the month at $10, which receipts were managed with frugality. He has held offices connected
with the schools as Director nine years, School Trustee two terms, and is now on the third term
in Funk's Grove Township. He was Pathmaster ten years in Ohio, and three years in Illinois;
is at present Superintendent of the Sabbath school at the Jones Schoolhouse. Has five children
— Robert, Yeoman, Oliver, Teresa and Austin.
JOHN VANORDSTRAND, farm and stock; P. 0. Heyworth ; was born .lune 11, 1830, in
Washington Co., Penn., and remained there until 1849; was engaged in farming. He then came
to McLean Co., ill., and settled in Randolph Township, engaging in selling goods at Independ-
ence, now Heyworth; was in partnership with Isaac Vanordstrand until 1855. In 1851, he
was married to Elizabeth Oliver, born in Ireland in 1828; she came to Illinois in 1849. In
1855, he began farming, renting for one year ; in 1860, he came to his present farm of o84 acres,
which he bought in 1851, every particle of which they have earned by their own labor and man-
agement. When Mr. Vanordstrand came to Illinois, he had but $25; he began business by
borrowing money, and by skillful contrivance has made himself a magnificent home. His farm
was a raw prairie when he settled on it, but now is under fine improvement. He has held
offices connected with schools sixteen years ; Highway Commissioner five years, is now on sixth ;
was Collector one year, and Assessor one year. He makes a specialty of breeding fine cattle,
hogs, sheep and horses ; especially noteworthy is his Norman horse, which is one of the finest in
the State. They have seven children — W. P. and I. S. (twins). Belle, John. Ella, George and
Afthur.
TOWANDA TOWNSHIP.
GOTTLIEB ARNOLD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 21; P. 0. Bloomington. Methodist;
Republican. One of the old settlers of McLean Co. ; born in Wurtemberg, Germany, May 30,
1831, where he worked at farming, ditching and piking until he emigrated to America, landing
in New York in 1854; coming West, he worked upon a farm in Pennsylvania eighteen months,
and came to McLean Co. in 1856 ; after working in the brick-yard one year, in Bloomington,
then two years as farm laborer, he rented land, upon which he farmed five years, when he
bought eighty acres of land upon Sec. 21, Towanda Township, upon which he then located and
where he has since lived. When Mr. Arnold came to this counti-y, he was in debt §100 for
money borrowed to come to America ; he paid the same from his first year's labor, and upon
arriving in Bloomington, his capital consisted of 35 cents; he now owns 160 acres of land, with
good farm buildings, which, with his stock, is valued at upward of $8,000, all of which he has
made by his own hard labor and good business management His marriage with Katarina
Bloom was celebrated in 1850; thej^ have six children now living, having lost three by death;
the living- are William, Charles, Katarina, George, Mary and Jacob.
D. F. BIDDLE, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Towanda ; one of the old settlers of McLean
Co. ; born in Fayette Co., Ohio, Nov. 3, 1836 ; he is a son of Noble Biddle, now living in Lex-
ington, who emigrated from Ohio and located in McLean Co. in 1849. The subject of this
sketch emigrated to this county in 1849, and remained with his father until he attained his
majority ; in the spring of 1858, he commenced farming, and, in March, 1862, removed upon
his present place, where he has since lived; he owns 160 acres upon Sec. 1, and 120 acres upon
Sec. 2, Towanda Township, all under a good state of cultivation, and upon which he has the
best of farm buildings, the above property being accumulated by his own liard labor and correct
business habits ; he farms his 280 acres of land, and some rented land, the products of which he
feeds to his stock, which consists mostly of cattle and hogs. He is now Justice of the Peace, which
office he has held for three years. His marriage with Rebecca A. Lambert was celebrated Dec.
22, 1860 ; she was born in Fayette Co., Ohio, Oct. 24, 1836 ; they have six children now living —
Melissa E., born Sept. 23, 1861 ; Edna M., Feb. 4, 1867 ; Noble M., Jan. 1, 1865 ; Elmer, May
30, 1869: John P., Feb. 23, 1871 ; Wilmer 0.. July 5, 1875. Mrs. Biddle is a daughter of John
990 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
and Rachel Lambert, who emigrated to McLean Co. in 1850, and are now living in Money Creek
Township.
B. F. BALLARD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 33 ; P. 0. Bloomington. Baptist; Demo-
crat. One of the old settlers of McLean Co. ; born in Jessamine Co., Ky., April 30, 1828 ; he
•was a son of Henry Ballard, who w.as born in Virginia in 1792, and emigrated to Kentucky in
1806, and to McLean Co. in 1856, and made his home with his children until his decease, which
occurred in 1871, at the advanced age of 79 years. The subject of this sketch lived with his
parents until he attained his majority ; the following six years, he was engaged in building
fences, in Kentucky, and, in 1855, he came to Illinois and engaged in the wagon and pump busi-
ness, in Bloomington, for four years, under the firm name of D. D. Haggard & Co. ; he then
purchased 120 acres of land in Old Town Township, improved the same six years, when he pur-
chased his present place of 160 acres, in 1865. where he has since lived. His marriage with
Sarah F. Hardesty was celebrated in December, 1850 ; she was born in Bourbon Co., Ky. : they
have nine children now living — Henry F., David W., Asa H., Charles, Herman E., Ida B., Mary
A., Benjamin F. and Lucy C.
JAMES H. B.\ LL A KD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 34; P. 0. Bloomington. Baptist;
Democrat. One of the old settlers of McLean Co. ; born in Garrard Co., Ky.. Oct. 29, 1844 ; he
was the oldest son of William L. Ballard, who was born in Kentucky, and emigrated to this
county in 1856, and purchased Sec. 34, Towanda Township, and followed farming until his
decease, which occurred in 1870. James H. Ballard lived with his father until the decease of
the latter, since which time, with the exception of one year, he has followed farming upon the
old place, where he has 160 acres of land, all under a good state of cultivation, with good farm
buildings. His marriage with Almina Holcomb was celebrated in December, 1871 ; she was
born in Ashtabula, Ohio ; they have three children by this union — Mary G., Arthur C. and
AValter R.
T. P. BARKALOW, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 8 ; P. 0. Towanda ; born in Montgomery
Co., Ohio, Jan. 9, 1830 ; he was brought up to farm labor, and, at 21 years of age, commenced
farming for himself, continuing the same in Ohio until 1864, when he disposed of his property
in Ohio and emigrated to McLean Co., 111., and purchased his present place of 160 acres upon
Sec. 8, Towanda Township, where he has since lived. His marriage with Mary F. Lloyd was
celebrated Feb. 7, 1855; she was born in Warren Co., Ohio, April 15, 1833; they were the
parents of two children, of whom one died in infancy ; the living, James A., was born Dec. 17,
1855 ; he is now living at home, and is engaged in the study of medicine with Dr. Girtin, of
Towanda. Mr. Barkalow has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion, having, with his
wife, been a member of the Presbyterian Church for the past twenty-five years.
CALVIN BARNES, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 31 ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the old-
est settlers in McLean Co.; born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., April 13, 1805 : at the age of 21, he
commenced work for himself: after working upon a canal packet for one year, he then com-
menced farming for himself, which business he pursued in New York until the fall of 1853, when
he came to this county and purchased Sec 29, this township, and has since added by purchase
until he now owns 990 acres of land, upon which he has three good sets of farm buildings, which,
together with the large amount of stock which he owns, is valued at near $60,000, and all of
which he has accumulated by his own labor and good business management. His marriage with
Luciiida Keyser was celebrated Jan. 26, 1837 ; she was born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., May 16,
1816; they have four sons and two daughters by this union, viz., Elizabeth, Franklin, Alden,
Monroe, Lucy ami Calvin, Jr. When Mr. Barnes first located here, there were but two houses
from his place to Bloomington.
FRANKLIN BARNES, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 7; P. 0. Towanda; one of the old
settlers of McLean Co.; was born in the State of New York Sept. 26, 1839 ; he is the oldest son
of Calvin Barnes, whose biography appears in this work. Franklin Barnes was brought up to
farm labor, obtaining a good common-school education. On the 24th of September, 1878, he was
united in marriage with Nancy Duncan; she was born in Clark Co., Ky., and was a daughter of
W. R. Duncan, who emigrated to this county from Kentucky in 1863, and located on Sec. 7,
Towanda Township, wliere his decease occurred in the fall of 1876. Mr. Barnes is engaged in
farming 135 acres of land, and also raising blooded horses.
JOSEPH P. 15ED1NGER, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 18; P. 0. Normal; one of the old
settlers of McLean Co.; born in Nicholas Co., Ky., July 6, 1841; in 1856, he emigrated to
Illinois with his parents, and located in Towanda Township, before the organization of the town-
ship. He located upon his present place in 1858, at which time there were only two houses within
a distance of seven miles ; lie has 200 acres upon his home farm, which he has brought from its
wild prairie condition to its present high state of cultivation, by his own hard labor. His mar-
riage with Paulina Dimmitt was celebrated Dec. 16, 1864; she was born in McLean Co., 111.,
June 17, 1842 ; they have three children now living, having lost four by death; the living are
George, Rosa and Alice. Mrs. Bedinger was a daughter of William Dimmitt, one of the early
pioneers of McLean Co.
JOHN E. CAMERON, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 23 ; P. (). Towanda ; born in Jefferson
Co.. Va., Dec. 6, 1844. He was raised t) farm labor iu Virginia until 1857, when he emigrated
TOWANDA TOWNSHIP. 991
with his parents to Missouri, and followed farming in Missouri until 1864, when he came to
Woodford Co., and engaged in farming until 1867. He disposed of his property in Woodford Co.
and removed to Texas, arriving in Jefferson, Texas, Jan. 1, 1868. He then went overland to
Collins Co., 150 miles, horseback, where he remained eight months, then returned to McLean
Co., and followed farming until 1875. He then went back to Texas with his family, and engaged
in freighting and teaming until the fall of 1878, at which date he returned to McLean Co., and
located upon Sec. 23, Towanda Township, where he is engaged in farming 300 acres. His mar-
riage with Alice Jones was -celebrated July 4, 1870 ; she was born in McLean Co., 111., May 8,
1851 ; she was a daughter of Abram R. Jones, one of the early pioneers of McLean Co. He
emigrated from Clark Co., Ohio, and entered land with land warrants, and purchased, until he
had accumulated some 1,700 acres in Towanda, and afterward owned some 4,000 acres in Crop-
sey Township, and, at the date of his death, he owned 740 acres in Towanda Township, and 240
acres in Cropsev Township. He died April 4, 1878. The children of J. E. and Alice (Jonesi
Cameron were five in number, of whom three are now living, viz. : Minnie L., born Feb. 19,
1874 ; Hattie M., April 8. 1876, and Maud, May 2, 1879. Mr. Jones has probably broken more
prairie than any other man in Illinois, having broken as high as 30,000 acres, and has cultivated .
and improved more land than any other man in McLean Co.
T. J. DJNAHUE, farmer, Sec. 36; P. 0. Holder ; born in County Galway, Ireland, Nov.
10, 1829. At 18 years of age, he emigrated to America, landing in New York in June, 1847.
Coming directly West, he followed ftirming in La Salle Co. five years. In 1853, he commenced
the carpenter's trade in Bloomington, continuing the same until 1859, at which date he went to
Colorado and followed mining three years. In 1862, he purchased an interest in a flouring-mill
in New Mexico, which he run five years, and, in 1867, he came to McLean Co., 111., and pur-
chased his present place of 240 acres upon Sec. 36, Towanda Township. He is, aside from
farming, engaged in raising and feeding stock, feeding yearly from 100 to 150 hogs, 40 to 50
head of cattle, feeding the productions of 100 to 150 acres of corn, besides some 4,000 bushels
purchased yearly. His marriage with Annie Garretson was celebrated July 9, 1867 ; she was
born in Indiana, and enngrated with her parents to Bloomington when 1 year of age.
JOHN T. DIDLAKE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 5 ; P. 0. Towanda; Christian ; Demo-
crat ; one of the oldest settlers of McLean Co. ; born in Clark Co., Ky., Oct. 29, 1833 ; at 18 years
of age, he emigrated with his father to Illinois, and located in Bloomington in October, 1851 ;
he then engaged in buying and shipping grain with his ftither, under the firm name of Didlake &
Son, until 1868, when he erected an elevator at Stanford, which was consumed by fire the follow-
ing year, and by which he suffered a loss of upward of $7,000 ; in 1868, he purchased his pres-
ent place of 140 acres, and, in 1870. located upon the same, where he has since followed farming
and stock-raising. He has had his full shai-e of offices, having filled the offices of Supervisor,
School Trustee and Town Collector in Towanda Township, and has been the Secretary of the
McLean County Agricultural Society for a period of nearly twenty years. In 1856, he was
united in marriage in Detroit, Mich., to Priscilla Parshall ; she was raised in Detroit ; they have
three sons and three daughters, viz., William P., Mildred, Charles D., Julia B., Mary P., and
John W , all of whom are now living at home with the exception of Mildred, who is attending the
University at Normal.
T. J. FORD, farmer and stock-raiser; P. (). Towanda; born in Boston, Mass., upon the 6th
of January, 1841, where he attended the public school until 12 years of age, when he emigrated
with his father to Wisconsin and located in Milwaukee Co., where he was raised to farm labor
until 21 years of age; when, upon Aug. 18, 1862, he enlisted as private in Co. H, 24th Wiscon-
sin Vol. Infantry, and went forward to battle for the Union : he was forwarded to the army of
the Cumberland under Gen. Rosecrans, and was engaged in the battle of Prairieville, Oct. 8,
1862; Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862; Chickamauga, Sept. 19 and 20, 1863; Mission Ridge, Nov.
24 and 25, 1863 : Rocky Face. May 9, 1864 ; Resaca, May 14, 1864 ; Calhoun, May 17, 1864 ;
Adairsville, May 18, 1864; Spring Hill, Nov. 29, 1864; Franklin, Nov. 30, 1864; Nashville,
Dec. 15 and 16, 1864 ; at the battle of Prairieville, he was promoted to Sergeant for meritorious
conduct ; at the battle of Adairsville, he was wounded by a ball in the left breast, and which he
yet carries in his breast, from the effects of which he is unable to perform much manual labor,
especially that which causes much movement of the chest and muscles ; he has been treated by
physicians for the same for the last fourteen years ; he laid in the hospital some six months,
when he again joined his regiment at Chattanooga, and remained with the regiment until he
received his discharge, .June 22, 1865, having served in the Union army nearly three years;
his father and brother also served in the Union army three years ; after receiving his discharge,
he returned to Wisconsin and engaged in farming until 1867, when he came to McLean Co., and
located upon his present place, where he has since lived. He owns eighty acres upon his home
place, all under a high state of cultivation ; all of which he has made by his correct business habits.
His marriage with Mary Finley was celebrated Aug. 8, 1868 ; they have no children. Mr. Ford
has taken a deep interest in politics, being a strong Republican, and has always supported
tho above party since its organization ; he has taken an interest to such an extent that he was
called upon to make speeches for tlie support of the Republican party, of which favorable men-
tion was made by the Bloomington papers : to use his own expression, he votes as he fought.
992 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
J. G. GEIGER. farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 3 : P. 0. Towanda ; one of the old settlers of
McLean Co. ; born in Bavaria, Germany, April 9, 1833 ; he was employed in his youth at farm-
ing and the lumber business until 19 years of age, when he emigrated to America, lauding in
New York May 18, 1852; coming West, he was employed upon a farm in Ohio until 1856, when
he emigrated to Illinois, and after working as farm laborer three years west of Bioomington, he
purchased eighty acres, in 1859, upon Sec. 4, where he removed and lived until 1866, when he
sold his farm and purchased 125 acres upon the northeast quarter of Sec. 3, upon which he tlien
located, and where he now lives. Mr. Geiger arrived in Cincinnati without a penny : he has
since received a legacy of $350, and now owns 285 acres of land in Towanda and Money Creek
Townships, with two good sets of farm-buildings, all of which he has made by his own hard
labor, energy and industry. His marriage with Anna Niese was celebrated in McLean Co.. in
September, 1859; she was born in Bavaria in October, 1834 : they were the parents of thirteen
children, of whom seven are now living, viz., George H., Frank. Albert P., John W., Paul
H., Magdalene and Minnie : the deceased died in infancy.
C. M. HELLER, farmer. Sec. 9 ; P. 0. Towanda ; one of the old settlers of McLean Co. ;
born in Clark Co., Ohio. Oct. 2, 1839 : he came to ihis county in 1856, and located upon Sec. 17,
this township ; Mr. Heller first commenced firming for himself upon rented land, his capital at
that time consisted of one team ; after farming upon rented land some five years, he purchased
a $1,40<* interest in his present place, and now owns 120 acres of land, all under a good state of
cultivation with good farm-buildings, all of which he has accumulated by his own hard labor
and correct business management. Upon the 28th of November, 1861, he was united in mar-
riage with Anna Fling; she was born upon Sec. 9, this township, in 1841 ; she was a daughter
of Richard Fling, one of the early pioneers of this county, and one of the Revolutionary patriots
who emigrated from Ohio to McLean Co., at a very early day. He met his death by his team
running away while in Bioomington, in the fall of 1855, at the advanced age of 70 years.
FRANKLIN HENDERSON, farmer and grain-dealer; P. 0. Towanda; one of the old set-
tlers of McLean Co.: born in Greene Co., 111., Sept. 15, 1828 ; in the spring of 1857, he came to
McLean Co., and located at Towanda, where he has since been largely engaged in farming and
buying and shipping stock to Chicago and Eastern markets, and buying and shipping
grain to Chicago : he held the office of School Treasurer for ten years ; has been
Supervisor of his township for ten years, nine years in succession, and for four years was
Chairman of the Board. Upon entering upon the duties of Supervisor, he was appointed Chair-
man of the Committee on Railroad Assessments, and, being convinced from large observations
that they were not paying tax upon their property at the rate individuals were, he at once com-
menced to raise their assessments from their schedules; to this the railroads took exceptions, and
commenced litigation, which passed through all the courts, widening and deepening as it went,
until nearly all the railroads in the State became involved in it, ending in a complete victory for
the people, and against all railroad companies and corporations, and establishing by legislation
and the courts the principles of equal taxation to all. While this was progressing in court, he
was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to visit and confer with the State Board of Equaliza-
tion, looking after the interest of the county, whose assessments had been raised by the State
Board of Equalization upward of 32 per cent upon all real and personal property ; he succeeded
in showing the State Board the injustice of such assessments, and succeeding in obtaining a
reduction of upward of 15 per cent on the next year's assessments, instead of the 32 per cent,
addition ; at the same time, he detected a clerical error the Clerk of the State Board had made
the year before of $5,000 against the county. The State Board took the ground in this matter
that they had no power to relieve the county only by recommending to the Legislature to refund
the amount by legislative enactment, and proposed to do this, but, from some cause, failed to do so;
but the error was so plain that our Senator, John Cusey, and Representatives lohn Cassedy, Dr.
Rogers and Dr. E. A. Stuart, drew up the bill, and succeeded in battling it through, and recov-
ered back .•?4,850 of the amount. Mr. Henderson now owns 240 acres of Land, 160 of which is
in this township. His marriage with Sarah A. Metcalf was celebrated Aug. 10, 1851 ; she was
born in Morgan Co., 111., Dec. 25, 1829; they have five children now living, having lost two by
death; tlie living are— George, Frank. Effie. Edwin, Harry ; the deceased died in childhood.
WILLIAM HEMSTREET. retired farmer ; P. O. Towanda ; one of the old settlers of .McLean
Co.; born in Scoharie Co., N. Y.. Nov. 15. 1807, where he obtained a common-school education by
walking a distance of four miles to and from scliool : he was brought up to farm labor until 15
years of age, when he was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith trade, which business he followed
some three years in his native town, after which he removed to Syracuse and engaged in the
same business a few years, when lie engaged as partner in the carriage and general blacksmith
business until 1855, when he emigrated West and located in La Salle Co., 111., until 1861, when
he came lo .McLean Co. and settled in Blue .Mound Township, where he purchased 170 acres of
land which at that time was perfectly wild, and which he brought from its wild prairie condition
to its present high state of cultivation by his own hard labor. In 1875, Mr. Hcmstreet sold his
farm and retired from active labor, and purchased his present residence in Towanda, where he
has since lived. Mr. and Mrs. Ilemstreet are regular attendants of the churches, having been
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for a period of half a century. His marriage with
TOVVANDA TOM^NSHIP. 993
Sophia Parker was celebrated in New York March 10, 1832; she was born in Wallingford,
Conn., Sept. 22, 1808; they were the parents of four children — Elmira H. (now Mrs. Samuel
Gardner, living in Chicago), AVilliam F., George W. (lost his life while defending his country
at Jackson, Miss., in the summer of 1863 ; lie was commissioned as First Lieutenant of Co. G, o.3d
I. V. I., which position he held until his death ; his wiilow and one daughter are now living in
Pontiac); James S., now a blacksmith and carriage maker at Delavan, Tazewell Co., 111.
FRANK M. JONES, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 15 ; P. 0. Towanda ; one of the old set-
tlers of McLean Co. He is a brother of Nelson Jones, whose sketch also appears in this work.
F. M. Jones was bornin Clark Co., Ohio, March 8, 1833. He is the youngest son of Abram R. Jones,
Sr., who was born Oct. 17, IT'H, in the State of New York, of Welsh descent; he emigrated to
Ohio in 1808, and, during the war of 1812, was engaged in hauling provisions to the army.
Upon the 13th of May, 1813, he was united in marriage with Matilda Noel. She was born in
Kentucky July 29, 1795, and emigrated to Maryland and from there to the territory of Ohio in
1802. They came to this county in 1806, whei-e Mr. Jones died Feb. 11, 1865. Mrs. Jones is
now living in Towanda, in the 84th year of her age, in possession of all her faculties, and daily
attends to the light duties of housekeeping, and is a regular attendant of the Methodist Church,
of which she has been a member for the past seventy years. Upon her 83d birthday, a family
reunion was held at the residence of her son, F. M. Jones, at which there were about one hun-
dred present, most of whom were her direct descendants, of whom were present six of her seven
living children, seventeen gi"andchildreri, and one of thirteen great-grandchildren. The subject
of this sketch came to this township in 1851, and, the following year, purchased eighty-five acres
and entered one hundred and sixty acres with land wan-ants, and engaged in farming and stock-
raising, which business he has since successfully followed. He feeds yeai-ly some two hundred
and fifty cattle, one hundred hogs, some horses and sheep, a part of the cattle being blooded
short horns. He owns upward of three hundred acres of land and rents five hundred acres,
which he makes use of for grazing, hay and corn. In 1866, Mr. .Jones contracted to break
one thousand acres of prairie for his brother, A. R. Jones, and went to Texas, where he pur-
chased one hundred and sixty-five head of steers, which he brought up and made use of, fitting
up thirteen ox-teams of five yoke in each team, supplying his own herders, blacksmith and
cook, which he kept upon the ground. His marriage with Ann M. Hampleman was celebrated
Jan. i8, 185M. She was born in Clark (.'o., Ohio, Oct. 18, 1839. They were the parents of
seven children, of whom five are now living, viz., Price M., Edwin E., Mauricf E., Cyrus G.
and Stella. — *"'~
NELSON JONES, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 16 ; P. 0. Towanda; one of the pioneers of
Towanda Township, McLean Co.; born in Clark Co., Ohio, April 5, 1826, where he was raised to
farm labor. In the spring of 1848, he came to Smith's Grove, McLean Co., and, in 1849, he and
his brother J. R. purchased 600 aores in Towanda Township In 1850, Cyrus Jones purchased a
one-thinl interest, and the three brothers continued fariuing and stock-raising in partnership
until 1854, since which time Mr. .Jones has continued the same alone. His capital, upon arriv-
ing here, consisted of $842 cash, and one horse and saddle. In 1854, he entered some two
hundred acres of land. He now owns nearly one thousand acres, upon which he has three sets
of good farm buildings, his large private brick residence being erected in 1869, at an expense of
upward of .$12,0UO ; his main barn was built in 1873, at an expense of some ,?4,500, and, with
the house, are second to no f>xrm buildings in the county. He is one of the prominent men of
the townsliip, in which he has taken a deep interest since its organization, and is now the second
oldest settler and voter of the township. Aside from farming, he is largely engaged in raising
and feeding stock, making a specialty of blooded short-horn cattle, feeding yearly some two hun-
dred head of cattle, one hundred hogs, two hundred sheep and som« horses, some seasons pur-
chasing as high as seven thousand bushels of corn for feeding, aside from the productions of one
hundred acres or more which he raises upon his own farm. His marriage with Eliza A. White
was celebrated March 4, 1857. She was born in La Fayette, Ind., Nov. 20, 1830. They have
five children, viz.: Ward B.. born June 17, 1858; Lottie G., Aoril 5, 1863 ; Julia A., Sept. 7,
1866 ; Elmetta M., June 21, 1869 ; IVtark C, Sept. 24, 1871. Mrs. Jones is a daughter of George
C. White, of whom mention is ma le in the biography of George W. White in this work. Mr.
Jones is a son of Abram R. Jones, Sr., who is mentioned in the biography of Frank M. Jones,
in this work.
HUGH LORMER, farmer. Sec. 3; P. 0. Towanda u- one of old sett'ers of McLean Co., born
in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Jan. 1, 1834. At 2 years of age, he w.as placed under the care of a dis-
tant relative, with whom he lived until 12 years of age, when he started out for himself and
secured employment with Mr. D. J. Baker upon a farm in New York for the next seven years,
then was employed as clerk in a hotel for two years, and, when 21 years of age, he emigrated
West and landed in Bloomington in the spring of 1855. He then found employment with C.
Bell for four years, when he rented land and followed farming for seven years, and, in the
spring of 1862, he located upon his present place, under a five-years lease, and purchased the
place after a residence of four years. Mr. Lormer arrived in Bloomington with a capital not
exceeding $8. He has, by his hard labor and perseverance, secured 125 acres of land, with good
farm buildings, valued at |5,000. He held the office of Commissioner of Highways for a period of
994 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
six years, and is now the present Supervisor of Towanda Township. His marriage with Caroline
A. Burch was celebrated in New York March U), 1858. She was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y.,
April 1, 18;U. They were the parents of five children, of whom two died in childhood. The
livino- are Frank B., born Nov. 14, 18ti0: Fred 11., born Sept. 15, 1862; and Carr E., born
Dec.li, 1868.
CHRISTIAN MECHERLE, farmer. Sec. 35; P. 0. Holder; born in Wurtemburg, Germany,
.Tan. 15, 1830: he emigrated to America, and landed in New. York June 17, 1852; he followed
farmin"-' five years in Ohio; in 1857, he came to McLean Co., aj,\d, in 1863, he and his brother
Fred purchased their present place of 100 acres, upon which they have lived since 1865. The
marriage of Christian Mecherle and Susan Hall was celebrated in 1865; she was burn in Ohio;
they have five children — Frederick, Will, Lucy, Laura and George. Republican ; Protestant.
WALTER NICHOLS, farmer, Sec. 28; P. 0. Bloomington ; born in Boyle Co., Ky., Dec.
29, 1805 : his grandfather, Walter Nichols, emigrated and served in the American army during
the Revolutionary struggle. The father of the subject of this sketch was born in Newport, R.
I. He emio-rated to Kentucky, and followed his trade of cabinet-maker until 1844, when he
came to lllTnois ; he died in Rushville, Schuyler Co. The subject of this sketch learned the
cabinet-maker's trade, which he followed until his marriage, when he purchased a farm of 800
acres, and followed farming and stock-raising in Kentucky until 1858; in the fall of 1860, he
came to McLean Co.. 111., and purchased Sec. 28, Towanda Township, where he has since
lived ; he has since disposed of all, except eighty acres of the above, which he now rents to his
son. His marriage with Elizabeth M. Thompson was celebrated Nov. 29, 1832 ; she was born
in Virginia, and died Nov. 15, 1840, leaving three children — Mary H., Sarah T. and Nelson A.
Upon the 16th of January, 1845, he was united in marriage with Martha Dunlap ; she was born
in Fayette Co., Ky. : they have six children now living by this union; having lost three by
death, the living are Louisa, Nannie B., James .M., Ella R., Mattie 0. and Walter; the deceased
died in infancy. Presbyterian : Democrat.
GEORGE E. RUCKER, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 34; P.O. Bloomington; one of the
old settlers of McLean Co.; born in McLean Co., 111., Jan. 25, 1849; he is a son of L. E.
Rucker. one of our early pioneers. George E. Rucker attended the public schools in Blooming-
ton until 15 years of age, after which he was employed as clerk for two years in Bloomington in
different braiiclies of trade, and the following six years was employed as book-keeper: in 1872,
he located upon his present place, where he has 160 acres of land, all under a high state of cul-
tivation, with the best of farm buildings, and is engaged in farming and stock-raising. His
marriage with Lucy E. Ballard was celebrated Dec. 25, 1871; they have two children by this
union — William B. and Mary Bell — twins, born Aug. 14, 1873. Mrs. Rucker was a daughter
of William L. Ballard, who was born in Kentucky, and came to McLean Co. in 1856, where his
decease occurred in 1870. Baptist; Republican.
S.MITH SAWYER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 19; P. 0. Towanda; one of the old set-
tlers : born in Fayette Co., Ohio, Oct. 2, 1816, where he was raised to farm labor until 21 years
of age ; he was then employed some four years buying and herding cattle, after which he
engaged in the same business upon his own account, buying and driving to market in Ohio.
About the year 1858, he located permanently in McLean Co., and for eight years was in the
employ of Judge David Davis: in 1853, he purchased from the Government, eighty acres of his
present place, at $2.50 per acre ; a few years later, he purchased eighty acres more, and now
owns 160 acres, with good buildings, all of which he has accumulated by his own exertion.
His first wife was Eleanor Bunn ; she died without children. His second wife was Clarissa
Misner: she died, leaving one child — Albert — who died in Douglas Co., Kan., of brain fever, at
22 years of age. His marriage with Mrs. Susan Whitty was celebrated in December, 1873 ; she
\*as born in Clark Co., 111.; they have two children by this union — Theodore and Nellie. Repub-
lican.
G. W. WHITE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 10; P. 0. Towanda. One of the old settlers
.if McLean t.'o.. 111.; born in Tippecanoe Co., Ind., Aug. 19, 1842. He was brought up to farm
labor, obtaining a common-school education. At 8 years of age, he emigrated with his parents,
lu Illinois, and located at Smith's Grove, Towanda Township, in 1850, and worked with his
father until 18tj8, wlien he commenced farming 160 acres of land deeded to him by his father,
upon Sec. lo, wliere he has since lived. He now owns 400 acres in Sees. 3, 10 anS 11, all of
is under a good slate of cultivation, with good farm buildings. Aside from farming, he is exten-
sively engaged in stock-raisiug and feeding, confining his business mostly to cattle and hogs.
He feeds from t;0 to 100 head of cattle, and 100 to 150 hogs. His marriage with Flora Rariden
was celebrated April 6, 1870; she was born in Indiana .March 10, 1855. They have three
children by this \i;iion — Warren T., Emma G. and Maud. Mr. White is a son of George C.
While, who was l)orn in the Stale of New York Feb. 1, 1804. He emigrated to Ohio, in 1812,
where lie lived four years, then went to Clark Co., Ohio, remaining there several years, wliere
he wa.s united in marriage to Julia A. Noal, Jan. 18, 1827; she was born in Randolph Co., Ohio,
in IHOC. They emigrated to Indiana in 1828, and located in Tippecanoe Co., where they lived
until 1850. at which date they came to McLean Co., 111., where he entered 160 acres of land,
to which he afterward added by purchase, until he had 240 acres of prairie, and some 160 acres
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP. 995
of timber land. Mrs. White died March, 1864, leaving twelve children, all of whom are now
living in McLean Co., with one exception. His marriage with Nancy Irvin was celebrated March
27,1868. Her maiden name was Nancy Pike ; she was a native of Virginia. Mr. White has
taken a deep intirest in the cause of religion, having been a member of the Baptist Church for
nearly a quarter of a centurj'. Upon arriving in Indiana, his capital consisted of one cow and
;^1 cents in money, and some cloth for a suit of clothes, which he exchanged for some corn. He
erected a cabin, for which he hauled the logs three miles. His provisions became exhausted
before he had completed his cabin, and he purchased a hog upon time, which he paid for by
splitting rails at 50 cents per hundred, and during the winter worked at splitting and cutting
rails. In the spring, he broke sod and put in eight acres of corn upon rented, land, and after
raising the second ci-op, he worked by the year for |>140, and saved $100 out of his wages, with
which he entered eighty acres of land, and which he afterward disposed of. Upon arriving in
Illinois, he had twenty-five sheep, three horses and about twenty head of cattle, calves and year-
lings, and .?75 in cash.
WILLIAM WILSON, farmer, Sec. 1 ; P. 0. Towanda ; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.;
he was born in Fayette Co., Penn., May 1, 1822. His father, Smith Wilson, was born in Ireland,
and emigrated to America with six brothers, when he was quite a young boy. He married in
Virginia, Latta Corbitt ; she was born in Virginia. They emigrated to Pennsylvania from Vir-
ginia, in the early part of the present century. Mr. Wilson died in Pennsylvania when about
45 years of age. Mrs. Wilson died in Bloomington May 15, 1864, at the age of 72 years. They
were the parents of twelve children, of whom five are living. The subject of this sketch
assisted his father in farming until 19 years of age, when he learned the brickniason's trade,
which he followed in Monongahela City for nine years, and continued the above business, with
contracting and building, until he emigrated West and located in Bloomington in the fall of 1859,
where he followed the same business until February, 1869, at which date he located upon his
present place, where he has since lived, and is engaged in farming 162 acres. He was married
in 1849, to Eliza Curry. She died in Pennsylvania in 1857, leaving two children — James, born
May 10, 1856, now living in Colorado; Belle, living in California. His marriage with Mrs.
Louisa Kennedy was celebrated Nov. 23, 1864. Her maiden name was Newton ; she was
born in Kentucky Sept. 30, 1835. She emigrated with her father, Henry Newton, to Illi-
nois, in 1836, and to McLean Co., in 1844. They have two children by this union — Eddie, born
Sept. 27, 1865; Gracie, Dec. 26, 1870. Mr. Wilson was elected Alderman of the Fourth Ward
of Bloomington, for two years, and has held the office of School Trustee and some otlier petty
offices in this township. He has taken a deep interest in the cause of religion, having been a
member of the Presbyterian Church for the last quarter of a century, and is one of the Ruling
Elders. Mrs. Wilson has been a church member for the same period.
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP.
JACOB AMSTAD, farmer. Sec. 35 ; P. O. Downs ; born in Underwelt, Switzerland, Feb-
ruary, 1826, where he attended the common school until 18 years of age, when he engaged in
freighting, driving a six-horse team until he emigrated to California, in 1856 ; here he followed
mining six years. He then came to McLean Co., 111., and located upon Sec. 35, in Old Town
Township, where he has since continued to live : he owns 163 acres of land mostly under a good
state of cultivation, which he has made by his own hard labor, energy and industry. He was
married Sept. 1, 1862, to Catherine Plemsear ; she was born in Switzerland May 19, 1840.
They have six children by this union — Bettie, born Dec. 5, 1864 ; Harmon, born April 12, 1867;
Agnes, born Nov. 26, 1868; Adeline, born Oct. 2, 1870; Anna M., born May 11, 1874; Jacob,
born Feb. 20, 1876, and one who died in infancy.
WILLIAM BLUE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 34; P. 0. Downs; one of the early settlers
of McLean Co. ; born in Champaign Co., Ohio, Feb. 11, 1836; he emigrated with his parents
from Ohio, and located in McLean Co., 111., in the fall of 1836, being then 9 months old. His
father, Zachariah Blue, upon his arrival located in Downs Township, one-half mile from where the
town of Downs now stands, where he entered 160 acres of land, upon which he lived several
years. He died in Downs Township, Oct, 9, 1858. Mrs. Blue died in the fall of 1871, upon
the place now owned and occupied by her son. The subject of this sketch lived with his parents
until 23 years of age, until January, 1859. He then was united in marriage with Kate Wood ;
she was born in Virginia June 17, 1841. Upon his marriage, he purchased forty acres of his present
place, all except five acres being timber and brush ; he then commenced improving his place, until
he has brought it from its wild prairie condition to its present high state of cultivation. Upon
locating here, he had but little means, purchasing his first forty acres, for which he paid $15 per
acre, upon time. He has since added by purchase, until he now owns 256 acres of land, with
good farm buildings, and which is now considered second in value to none in the township of its
size : 120 acres of the above being purchased at $50 per acre. The children of William and Kate
99(5 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Blue are seven in number, all of whom are now living ; their names are: Bert, born Oct. 17,
1860; Hattie, born May 10, 18G4: Katie, born Nov. :U), 186(5 ; Delia, born April 28, 1870 ;
William, born Oct. 22, 1872; Harry, born Feb. 24, 1875, and Graeie, born April 7, 1878. Mrs.
Blue was a daughter of Joshua Wood, who was born Nov. 6, 1804; he emigrated from Virginia
to Illinois, and located in McLean Co. about the year 1850. He died in Old Town Township June
o, 1868. He was married in Virginia to Ann Hedrick ; she was born in Virginia; she died April
1,1875. They were the parents of six children, of whom five are now living — George, Ahaz,
Ezra, John and Kate.
S. W. BURKE, retired farmer and loan agent. Sec. 6; P. 0. Bloomington. The subject of
this sketch was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., May 20, 1824. He was brought up to farm
labor until he attained his majority ; he then worked at the ship-carpenter's trade tour years,
and afterward followed the life of a sailor four years, most of the time upon the lakes. In the
spring of 1850, he went to California, and followed mining one year, when he engaged in dealing
in provisions and mining supplies four years, meeting with fair success. In the spring of 1855,
he returned to Jefferson Co., N. Y , and purchased a farm, and engaged in farming for fifteen
years, a portion of which time he resided in Watertown, N. Y. In the spring of 1SG5, he emi-
grated to Illinois, and purchased 500 acres of Section 3, Old Town Township, McLean Co., upon
which he located, and engaged in farming and stock-raising for four years, when he disposed of
his farm for .$25,500 cash, and, with his family removed to Bloomington, and purchased a resi-
dence on East Washington street, where he engaged in loaning money, and, in the spring of 1871,
he purchased his present place of 800 acres, upon Sec. G, where he has since lived and followed
the business of farming, stock-raising and loaning money. His marriage with Hulda E. Burke
was celebrated in New York March 18, 1856. She was born in Allen Co., Ind., April 6, 1884.
They were the parents of seven children, of whom six are now living — Byron R., May E., Charles
0., Sada i.. Reed and Clara A. : the deceased died at three years of age. The children all make
their home with their parents.
A., M. BEAL, farmer. Sec. 5 ; P. 0. Bloomington ; born in Butler Co., Ohio, Feb. 17, 1881,
where he followed farming until 28 years of age, when he engaged in school teaching a short
time, and then again resumed farming, which business he continued until 1868, at which date he
came to Illinois, and, with J. W. Doner, purchased IGO acres upon Section 5, Old Town Township.
After farming two years, he disposed of his interest to Mr. Doner, and returned to Butler Co.,
Ohio, and followed farming until 1876, when he returned to McLean Co., 111., and purchased his
present place of eighty acres, upon Section 5, Old Town Township, where he has since lived.
His marriage with Lydia Yeakle was celebrated Nov. 8, 1857 ; she was born in Butler Co., Ohio,
Feb. 17, 1888. They have two children by this union — Ada L., now Mrs. Milton H. Young, of
this township, and Daniel J., living at home. Republican ; United Brethren.
IRA P. BEDELL, farmer, Sec. 2; P. 0. Holder. The subject of tliis memoir was born
in Greene Co., N. Y., Nov. 7, 1834, where he followed farming until 1861, at which date he emi-
grated to McLean Co., 111., and. with his father, followed farming in Padua Township until the
decea.se of the latter, which occurred Dec. 10. 1868 In 1866, he purchased his present place of
eighty acres upon Sec. 2, Old Town Township, upon which he then located, where he has since
lived. His fivther, Richard Bedell, was boin Nov. 20, 1805, in Greene Co., N. Y., where he was
married to Jane Searles ; she was born July 16, 1812. They were the parents of two sons;
the youngest — lohn : he lost his life while serving in the 94th Regiment I. V. I., upon the
29th of August, 1868. Mrs. Bedell died. May 24, 1866. The marriage of Ira P. Bedell with
Sarah T. Bingham was celebrated Sept. 16, 1863. She was born in Lake Co., 111., May 19, 1842.
They have four children now living, having lo=t two by death. The living are — John S., born
Nov. 3, 1866 ; Homer, Nov. 13, 18()7 ; George E., Oct. 30, 1874; and Melvin W., April 30, 1877.
The deceased died in infancy. Mrs. Bedell was a daughter of G. J. Bingham, who located in
Lake Co., 111., at an early day, and came to Padua Township, McLean Co., in 1855, where his
decease occurred Feb. 21, 1879. Mrs. Bingham now lives upon the old place.
DYER COLAW, farmer; P. 0. Downs; one of the old settlers of McLean Co.; born in
Highland Co., Va., Feb. 20, 1846. He is the son of William Colaw, who emigrated from Virginia
and located in McLean Co. in 1854. His biogi-aphy appears among the biogr.aphical sketches of
Downs Township in this work The subject of this sketch emigrated with his parents when 9
years of age, and located in McLean Co. He attended the common school until 19 years of age,
during which time he was engaged in farming in summer. He remained with his father until
he attained his majority, wlien, upon the loth of September, 1867, he was united in marriage
with Mary J. Garr ; she was born in McLean Co. Dec. 31, 1841. They have two children —
Alpha, born Sept. 19, 1868 ; Lillie, May 21, 1872. Upon the marriage of Mr. Colaw, he engaged
in fanning two years in McLean Co. and three years in De Wilt Co., and located upon Sec. 84 in
Old Town Township, where he lias since lived. He is engaged in farming some 150 acres. Mr.
and Mrs. Colaw have been members of the M. E. Church for a period of fifteen years. Mrs. C
is a daughter of Josei)li Garr, one of the early settlers, who emigrated from Kentucky and
locateil upon Sec. 84, in Old Town Township, McLean Co., in 1836, where he lived until his
decease, which occurred March 15, 1844. lie married in Kentucky, in 1820, Margaret Galloway ;
.she wa.s born in Kentucky, and died in McLean ('o. March 9, 1876, aged 76 years.
HUDSON TP
C^
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP. 999
FREDERICK R. COWDEN, retired farmer, Sec. 31 ; P. 0. Downs ; one of the early pion-
eers of McLean Co., and one of the oldest living of the early settlers of McLean Co.; born in
Allen Co.. Ky., Nov. 30, 1811 ; his father, James Cowden, was born in Virginia, and emigrated
to Kentucky at a very early day, where he followed farming until his decease, which occurred
about the year 1835. The subject of this sketch lived with his father and was brought up to
heavy farm labor, until 21 years of age, and, in 1833, emigrated to Illinois and located m Greene
Co., and. the following year, L834, he entered eighty-one acres of land in this and Downs Town-
ship, which he at once commenced to improve. He built a hewed-log cabin, cutting and hewing
the logs himself; his cabin was at that time considered of a superior quality, as it had a brick
chimney and plank floor, the boards of which he sawed by hand ; he afterward built a frame
addition, and in the cabin lived thirty years, and a portion of it is now used as a kitchen to his
present residence. He has driven stock to Galena, 111., and St. Louis, Mo. : his milling was
done at Mackinaw, and afterward at Bloomington, which he considered quite near. At the
time Mr. Cowden settled here, there were but few settlers; some few had settled upon the streams
and timber, but not a single house was to be seen upon the prairie ; there were no roads at that
time, nothing but deer-paths and Indian trails, and to go to Bloomington or any point, a direct
line would be taken, with no fence to obstruct the way. Such has been the progress of improve-
ment during the forty-five years' residence of Mr. Cowden, that the whole vast prairie has been
improved to such an extent that upon nearly every quarter-section stands one or more houses ;
there was not a single railroad in the State at that time, while now you can reach a railroad by
going a distance of five miles in nearly every part of the county, and within a distance of seven
miles from where Mr. Cowden now lives, center eight railroads, one of which passes by his door,
the station of which is located upon his land, and is named Gillum, in honor of Mrs. Cowden. He
has suffered all the hardships and privations of frontier life ; he was his own carpenter in build-
ing his first house, burning the bricks for the chimney ; he cut and split his own rails, broke
his own prairie, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation. His marriage with Polly
(Gillum) Price was celebrated Aug. 17, 1842; she was born in Kentucky Feb. 24, 1824; they
had eight children, one died in infancy ; the living are— John J., born May 24, 1843 ; Amanda
J., born Nov. 12, 1845; William R., born Dec. 19, 1847; Eliza A., born March . 10, 1850 ;
Matilda B., born Aug. 16, 1852; Frank, born Dec. 22, 1854, and Elizabeth G., born Jan. 17,
1857 — all of whom are married and live within four miles of their parents. Of township and
school offices, he has had his full share, having been Collector, Supervisor and School Trustee
for most of the time of his residence here. Mr. Cowden had no capital when he located here,
except one horse, which he rode from Greene Co. He borrowed the money to enter his first
land, and paid it from the receipts of his wages, at $9 per month ; he has since, by his hard
labor, accumulated about five hundred acres ; has given each of his children some §3,000 in
land, and has reserved the old homestead for the support of himself and wife, who has nobly
assisted him in accumulating all the above property.
JOHN J. COWDEN, farmer. Sec. 32 ; P. 0. Downs ; one of the pioneers of McLean Co.;
born in what is now Downs Township, McLean Co., May 24, 1843 ; he is the oldest son of F. R.
Cowden, one of the early settlers of Old Town Township, and whose sketch appears among the
biographies of this township, in this work. The subject of this ske ch obtained a limited edu-
cation, in a log schoolhouse, and assisted his father in farming until 21 years of age, and, upon
Nov. 19, 1864, was united in marriage with Nancy C. Craig ; she was born in McLean Co. May
29, 1844; she was a daughter of Porter Craig, one of the early settlers of this county; they
have no children of their own, but adopted a neice of Mrs. Cowden's, when 2 days old, which
they have raised to its present age and educated as their own child ; her name is Nancy E.
Cowden, born June 9, 1870. Upon the marriage of Mr. Cowden, he located upon his present
place, where he has 130 acres, with good farm buildings. He now holds the offices of Commis-
sioner of Highways and School Director in the district in which he lives.
JOHN COLEMAN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; born in Perry Co.,
Ohio, April 28. 1833, where he attended the common schools and assisted his father in farming
until 20 years of age; in 1856, he went to Iowa, returning to McLean Co. in 1837, and. until
1864, followed farming upon rented land in Downs and Old Town Townships : he then purchased
his present place, upon which he then located and where he has since lived ; he has 159 acres
upon his home farm, under a good state of cultivation, with the very best of fiirm buildings,
which are finely located and of which the surroundings are very beautiful, showing that a large
amount of labor, care and expense have been expended upon the beautifying of the same; be
has a large and extended variety of fruits, as well as numerous kinds of trees and shrubbery, of
native and foreign growth. His marriage with Elizabeth Reddick was celebrated in May, 1855 ;
she was born in Ohio Oct. 20, 183S, and died Oct. 8, 1875. Upon the 27th of December, 1877,
he was united in marriage with Emma Bozarth ; she was born in this county May 9, 1856 ; she
is a daughter of John Bozarth, who emigrated from Ohio, and located in McLean Co. in 1854,
and now lives in Bloomington Township.
LEWIS CASE, farmer. Sec. 25; P. 0. Holder; one of the early pioneers of McLean Co.;
born in Ontario, N. Y., Feb. 27, 1809, where he was brought up to farm labor until 1824, and, at
13 years of age, emigrated to Huron Co., Ohio, from which place he emigrated to Illinois and
1000 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
located upon Sec. 25, Old Town Torfnship, in 1833 ; his capital at that time consisted of one yoke
of oxen and wagon (with which he hauled his foniily and worldly goods from Ohio), two feather-
beds and bedding, and $50 worth of leather, which he traded for a cow, one hog and seven pigs,
and provisions for the winter; he niunaged to get in a crop of corn, and, in the fall, he lost his
cow. four pigs and one of his oxen, which left him in a worse condition than when he located ;
the following summer, he made a short poke and plowed his corn with his single ox ; he built
his first house of hewed logs, besides which he got out the rails and fenced forty acres the first
year; about the year 1885, new settlers came in and gradually increased until school districts
were formed and churches were held. The first religious meeting held in Old Town Township
was in the log house of Mr. Case, and in this log house the early settlers assembled from a dis-
tance of many miles, where they worshiped God some thirteen years. Mr. Case erected the
first frame barn, in which were held two quarterly meetings, and where school was kept. Mr.
Case first entered forty acres of land, upon which he erected a rude log cabin ; to this forty acres
he lias since added until he now owns upward of six hundred acres ; in the place of the log
house stands the best of farm buildings, and his taxes have increased from 25 cents to f 2-''-'0.
His marriage with Sarah Hendrix was celebrated Oct. 13, 1831, in Ohio; she was born in New
York State. Jan. 14, 1810 ; they were the parents of five daughters, of whom four are now living,
viz , Mary A., Olive, Sarah and Hannah E. Mr. and Mrs. Case have taken a deep interest in
the cause of religion, having, with his wife, been a member of the M. E. Church for about half a
century, and tiieir children all being members of the same Church. The writer of this article is
inclined to give Mr. Case the credit of being the oldest continuous living settler of this town-
ship, but not feeling perfectly satisfied in this matter, he feels safe in saying that the two oldest
continuous residents of Old Town Township are Lewis Case and Frederick R, Cowden.
ALEXANDER CRAIG, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 25; P.O. Holder; born in Carroll
Co , Ind., July 25, 1842 ; he was a son of Charles Craig, who was born in Ohio, and emigrated
to Indiana at an early day, and then to Illinois in 1852; he located in McLean Co. in 1853 ; he
died in 1855. The subject of this sketch followed farming until Aug. 5, 1862, when, at 20 years
of age, he enlisted in Co. D, 94th I, V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union ; he served
in the campaign of Missouri and Arkansns, and, in the spring of 1863, was sent down the river,
landing at Milliken's Bend, and marched across the country to Warrenton, where they crossed
ihe Mississippi, and in June took a position at the extreme left of Grant's army in rear of
Vicksburg, remaining there until after the surrender of that place, which occurred July 4, 1868 ;
they then went up the Yazoo, and, after capturing Y'azoo City, on July 13, went down the river
to New Orleans, then to Brownsville, Tex., remaining there until August, 1864, when he was
forwardeil to Mobile Bay and was engaged in the battles of Ft. Morgan and Spanish Fort, and,
after the capture of Mobile, was sent to Galveston, Tex., in June, 1865, and mustered out of
service in July, and was discharged at Springfield in August, 1865, having served a little over
three years ; he then came to Old Town Township and farmed upon rented land some five years,
when he removed upon his present place in 1871, where he has since continued to live ; he has
148 acres of land in Old Town Township, with good fivrm buildings, and forty acres in Downs
Township. His marriage with Sallie B. Campbell was celebrated Nov. 9, 1871 ; she was born in
McLean Co., October, 1843 ; she was a daughter of John Campbell, who emigrated to McLean
Co. with his father, A. Campbell, in 1835, and was one of the early settlers. They have two
children by this union— Elizabeth A., born July 21, 1872 ; Nettie B., born Sept. 23, 1875.
A. CAMPBELL, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 24; P. O. Holder; an old settler of McLean
Co., 111., born in Ireland March 27, 1826; he emigrated to America with his parents when 1
year of age. landing in New York in 1827: coming West, they lived eighteen months in Pitts-
burgh : then moved to Jessamine Co.. Ky., where they lived eight years; they then moved to
.McLean Co., Ill , in 1835, and the following year located upon See. 26, in Old Town Township,
where his father purchased eighty acres of land, and afterward entered and purchased some four
hundred acres more ; here he lived until his decease, which occurred in August, 1873 ; Mrs.
Campbell died June 12, 1869: they were the parents of four children, all of whom are now
living, two in Padua and two in this township. The subject of this sketch made liis home with
his father until Feb. 26, 1852, when he was united in marriage with Mary Ellen Twining; she
was born in Pennsylvania June 2, 1833, and is a daughter of Thomas Twining, whose biography
appears in this work : they have seven children now living — Mary B., Thomas W., Elizabeth, Frank-
lin E., Howaril A., Charles C. and Nellie. Mrs. Campbell was a daughter of Thomas Twining, one
of the early settlers and prominent men of Old Town Township, and who.se biography appears
among the sketches of Old Town Township in this work. Upon the marriage of Mr. Campbell,
he settled upon his present place, where he has since lived during a period of a quarter of a
century; he has 3'2() acres of well-improved land, upon which he has good farm buildings ; he
«l8o owns sixty acres, upon Sec. 26, 329 in other parts of the county, 106 in De Witt Co., 80 in
Lee Co. and 80 in Kansas. A more extended mention of his parents is to be found in the biog-
raphy of his brother, James A. Campbell, in this work.
JAMES A. CAMPBELL, farmer. Sec. 26; P. 0. Holder; one of the early settlers of
McLean Co.; born in County I,ondonderry, Ireland, Feb. 27, 1822. He was a son of Archibald
Campbell, who was born in Ireland in June, 1792. He married in Ireland to Elizabeth Shield ;
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP. 1001
she was also born in the same place in 17^'0 : they emigrated to America and landed at Quebec
in (he summer of 1827 ; they then came to Pittsburgh, and, after living there eighteen months,
went to Kentucky, where they lived some seven years, from which place f hey traveled by team to
McLean Co., 111., being fifteen days upon the road : they located upon the spot where James A.
Campbell now lives, in the fall of 183-5 ; he had at that time .$1,600 in specie, good teams and
plenty of provisions ; he was the wealthiest early settler that ever came to this township ; he
first entered eighty acres of land, to which he afterward added by purchase until he had acquired
some 500 acres. He took an active interest in the affairs of the township, and held the office of
Justice of the Peace for many years ; he was a bi-ickmason and plasterer by trade, and worked
at bis trade for twenty-five years in connection with farming. He and his wife were mem-
bers of the Baptist Church at the time of their decease, having been members previous to their
marriage, lived and died consistent Christians. Mrs. Campbell died June 12, 1869, upon the old
homestead. Mr. Campbell died Aug. 23, 1873, upon the same bed his wife died on. The subject of
this memoir was raised to farm labor until quite a young man, when he commeticed to work at the
mason's trade with his father, often doing work for a distance of fifteen miles and upward from
home, viz , Cheney's Grove, Blooming Grove, Le Roy and Bloomington. At upward of 20 years
of age, he commenced for himself, and farmed in connection with his trade, continuing the same
until about the year 1869, when he abandoned his trade, since which time he has given his
attention to farming; he has, in his home place, 132 acres of land, which is the old homestead
upon which he with his fither located in 183-5 : he also owns 160 acres upon Sec. 24, making in
all a farm of 292 acres His marriage with Martha A. Shields was celebrated in Jessamine Co.,
Ky., Sept. 20, 1849; she was born in the same county April 24, 1820; they were the parents of
seven children, of whom two are living — ^John T., born Dec. ■'), 18-54, and Mary Frances, Oct. 31,
1861 ; of the deceased, four died in infancy, and one, William R., was born Aug. 6, 1858, and
died Feb. 25, 1875, in the 18th year of his age, from thff effects of sunstroke. Mrs. Campbell
was a daughter of James Shields, who was born in Londonderry, in Ireland, May 6, 1781. He
married Sarah Black in Kentucky; she was born in Kentucky Sept. 17, 1789. Mr. Shields
died in Jessamine Co , Ky,, June 20, 1865. aged 89 years. Mrs. Shields died June 14, 1867, at the
age of 78 years.
S. L. CHAPIN, physician and surgeon : Holder. The subject of this memoir was born in
Marion, DeWitt Co,, 111., June 16, 1851 ; he attended the common schools until 18 years of age,
after which he engaged in farming with his father until 21 jears of age, when he commenced
the study of medicine with Drs. Tyler & Chapin, at Marion, pursuing his studies two years : he
then entered the Rush Medical College at Chicago, attending one term, and, in March, 1875, he
located at Downs and engaged in the practice of medicine, and, the following fall, associated with
Dr. .Tames Montgomery, and erected a store and engaged in the drug business in connection with
the practice of medicine, which business they yet contiiuie, and have since added a stock of
paints, oils, glass, putty, notions, and a complete stock of such articles as is usually kept in a
first-class drug store, as well as a complete stock of groceries, provisions, etc. Their business
card is to be found in the business directory of Downs, in another part of this work. In Decem-
ber, 1878, Dir. Chapin located at Holder, where he has a constantly increasing practice, and
where he intends making his future home. His marriage with .\da P. Douthell was celebrated
July 25, 1878 ; she was born in Jamestown, Penn., March 29. 1855.
J. M. DOOLEY, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 22 ; P. 0. Bloomington : born in Clark Co.,
Ky., Nov. 11, 1830. He is a son of William Dooley, who was born in the same. county, and
emigrated to Illinois and located in Old Town Township in the spring of 1852, where he pur-
chased 1,500 acres of land upon which he eng.aged in farming and stock-raising until his decease,
which occurred June 6, 1869. The subject of this memoir remained with his father and assisted
in farming and stock-raising until Jan. 17, 1853, when he was united in marriage with Susan J.
Nelson ; she was born in Montgomery Co., Ky.. Oct. 25, 1834 : they have eleven children now liv-
ing,having lost one by death ; the living are Florence M., William L., Romulus W., Annie T., Henry
S., Samuel C, Charles W., Emma C, Raymond, Edney and Bsrnice. Upon the marriage of Mr.
Dooley, he commenced farming for himself, which business he has since followed, with the excep-
tion of ten years he lived in Indiana. He settled upon his present place in 1864 ; he owns
upon his home farm 373 acres, upon which he has good farm buildings, and 125 acres upon Sec.
20. Mr. Dooley is now Commissioner of Highways, and School Treasurer, and has also held the
office of Assessor, and other petty offices.
0. G. DOOLEY, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 30; P. 0. Downs: born in Clark Co., Ky ,
Sept. 20, 1837. He is a son of William Dooley, who emigrated from Kentucky and located in
Old Town Township in the spring of 1852, where he purchased l,-500 acres of land and engaged
in farming aiid stock-raising until his decease. The subject of this sketch attended the common
school in Kentucky, and, .after locating in McLean Co., he attended school at Bloomington one
year, then, afterward, during the winter, in an old log schoolhouse in Old Town Township. In
1859, he went with a party of twenty teams to Pike's Peak, being twenty days making the trip
from Independence, Mo., to California Gulch, where he was clerk for J. H. Be.an, from Kentucky,
in selling merchandise and merchants' supplies, where he remained two years; returning to
McLean Co., he engaged in farming, which business he has since followed. He removed upon
1002 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
his present place in 1867, where has since lived : he owns 290 acres of prairie and timber land,
all of which is under improvement and upon which he has good farm buildings ; he is engaged
feediuf cattle and hogs, raising his own feed. His marriage with Amanda J. Cowden was cel-
ebrated in December, 1864 ; she was born in McLean Co.. 111.; she is a daughter of F. R. Cowden,
one of the early pioneers of McLean Co., whose biography appears in this work. The children
of 0. G. and Amanda Dooley are four in number, viz., .John C, William F., Charles A. and
Dwight. Mr. Dooley is now Assessor of Old Town Township, which oflBce he has held for four
years.
.J. A. DAVIS, farmer. Sec. 34; P. 0. Downs; born in Greene Co., 111., Oct. 13, 1840: he
is a son of Ransom Davis, who was born near Salisbury, N. C, and emigrated to Greene Co., 111.,
when quite young, where he followed school-teaching, merchandising and farming until 1857,
when he located in Bloomington, some two years, when he removed to Sec. 29, Old Town Town-
ship until the fall of 1861, when he enlisted in the o3d III. Regt., and served three years in the
Union army; he then returned to McLean Co., and, in 1865, removed to Minnesota, where he
now lives. The subject of this sketch lived with his parents and attended the common schools in
Greene Co., until 1857, when he located in McLean Co., where he followed farming until Decem-
ber, 1861, at which date be enlisted in the 26th I. V. I., and went forward to battle for the
Union ; he was forwarded to the Army of Tennessee, and was in many severe battles, of which
were .Mission Ridge, siege and capture of Vicksburg, siege and capture of Atlanta, and with
Sherman during his march through Georgia to the sea, arriving at Savannah to spend Christmas
of 1864; he then marched north through the Carolinas and near Raleigh, N. C, Sherman
received the surrender of .lohnston ; he then marched through Petersburg and Richmond to
Washington, where, after the grand revi-ew of the army, he was sent to Louisville, Ky., where he
was mustered out of service, and received his discharge at Springfield in -July, 1865, having
served in the Union army three years *and seven months ; he then returned to McLean Co., and
farmed until 1871, when he engaged in the merchandise trade at Downs, and in 1872 was
appointed agent of the I., B. & W. Railroad, at this place, which office he held some four years;
he then engaged in the merchandise trade some three years, during which time he was Post-
master. In March, 1879, he sold out his store and removed upon his present place, where he is
now engaged in farming. His marriage with Nancy Mickel was celebrated Feb. 18, 1863; she
was born in Ohio .June 30, 1843 ; they have two children — Carrie V. and Ralph .J. ; Mrs. Davis
is a daughter of William Mickel, one of the old settlers and prominent farmers of Old Town
Township.
NOHVAL DIXON, fiirmer ; P. 0. Holder; born in Clinton Co., Ohio, May 3, 1820; he was
raised to farm labor, and worked upon the home farm until 22 years of age, when he engaged in
boating, making trips from Ripley, Ohio, to New Orleans, taking down pork, flour, meal, pota-
toes, etc., the above way at tliat time being the only route to the sea coast, stopping at diiferent
points from Memphis down the river and disposing of the cargo to merchants and planters upon
the way, the trip consuming from sixty to ninety days ; after following the above business some
three years, -in connection with farming, he engaged in the merchandise trade at Ripley, some
four years, after which he was (nonstable and collecting agent until 1853, and the following
spring came to Illinois, arriving in Bloomington in April, ]S54; he then followed clerking for
Ward &. Gallager eighteen months, when, on account of ill health, he withdrew, and, in 1856,
was appointed Deputy Sheriff under Sheriff Moore, and also engaged in the general collecting
business, and, in 1862, was elected Sheriff of McLean Co. In 1864, he was appointed Rental
Agent in tiie Treasury Department, with headquarters at Memphis, where he remained until the
close of the war. In 1863, he associated with L. Burr in the real estate, general collecting and
abstract business, under the iirm name of Dixon & Burr, continuing the same until the fall of
1865. In the winter of 1867, he obtained from Springfield the charter for the Bloomington &
Normal Horse Railroad; was elected President, and contracted to build the same. In the spring
of 1870, he superintended the grading and building of the L., B. & M. Railroad from Blooming-
ton to the State line, and the following year superintended the laying of the track of the same
line, building the roundhouse at Bloomington, the different depots, water-tanks, etc. In April.
1874, he purchased his present place, upon which he then located, and where he has since lived ;
he owns 160 acres upon his home farm, with good farm buildings ; he also owns land in different
places in McLean Co., Iowa and Kansas. He was Vice President of the People's Bank from its
organization until his removal upon his farm. He was married in 1849, to Mary Knickerbocker;
she was born in Ohio, and died in 18.59, leaving two children — Emma L., now Mrs. .John K.
Wood, of Bloomington, and Frank, living at home. His marriage with Catherine Kline was cele-
brated in 1861 ; they have one child by this union — Charles, living at home.
M. DUFFY, farmer and stock-raiser Sec. 12: P. O Holder ; Republican ; born in Philadelphia,
Penn., Aug. 22, 1820, wiiere he attended the public schools until 14 years of age; he then
engage>l in farming in (Chester Co. for a i)eriod of twenty-four years. In the spring of 1858, he
emigrated to Mci-ean ('o. and purchased 160 acres upon Sec. 12, Old Town Township, where he
has since lived. In .January, 1864, he sold eighty acres of his land, and has since followed stock-
raising and farming up )n tiie balance. His marriage with Mrs. Lydia Rudd was celebrated
March 25, 1858; she was born in Pennsylvania; she has two children by her previous husband.
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP. 1003
John Rudd, who now make their home with Mr. Dutfy. The maiden name of Mrs. Duffy was
Lydia Beaver.
WILLIAM FLEMING, Postmaster, firm of Fleming Brothers, general merchants and dealers
in grain, lumber and coal, and shippers of stock, Holder; born in Huntingdon Co., Penn., March
30, 1845; at 6 years of age, he emigrated with his parents to Fulton Co., 111., where he was
raised upon a farm, obtaining a common-school education. In the spring of 1867, he removed to
Old Town Township, McLean Co., and purchased 160 acres of land upon the spot where Holder
now stands, when he engaged in farming until the completion of the L., B. & M. R. R., when he,
with his brother, engaged in the above business, which they have since successfully followed.
They are largely engaged in buying and shipping stock to Chicago, and also in buying and ship-
ping grain to Toledo, Cleveland, Baliimore and Philadelphia, having purchased as high as
100,000 bushels of corn alone in a single season. His marriage with Helen Rudd was celebrated
Oct. 10, 1873: she was born in Genespe Co., N. Y., Sept. 28, 1847; they have two children by
this union — H;<rry, born July G, 1875 ; Herbert, March 29, 1879. Mrs. Fleming was a daughter
of John Rudd, who emigrated from Genesee Co., N. Y., and located upon Sec. 12, in what is now
Old Town Township, McLean Co., in the fall of 1855. where he lived until his decease, which
occurred in the fall of 1856.
JACOB FLEMING, firm of Fleming Brothers, general merchants and grain and stock
dealers, also dealers in lumber and coal, etc.. Holder; born in Huntingdon Co., Penn., June 2,
1841 ; his father, John Fleming, was born in Ireland in 1810, emigrated to America with his
parents in 1820, and, in 1849, came to Fulton Co., 111., where he now lives. The subject of this
sketch lived with his father until 2(» years of age, when, in August, 1861, he enlisted in the 50th
1. V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union ; he fi^st served in the campaigns of Missouri
and Arkansas, and -was engaged in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, both battles of Corinth,
Stone River, Altoona Pass, and marched with Sherman's army through Georgia to the sea,
arriving in Savannah to spend the Christmas of 1864; he then marched North, participating in
many engagements until the surrender of Johnston's army, after which he continued his march
through to Washington, and, after the grand review of the army, was sent to Louisville, Ky.,
where he received his discharge in July, 1865, having served in the Union army nearly four
years; he was promoted to Corporal, then to First Lieutenant of Co. G, of which he received
the appointment and commission of Captain. After receiving his discharge, he returned to
Fulton Co., where he followed farming and school-teaching two years, and in 1867 removed with
his brother to his present place and purchased 160 acres of land and followed farming and stock-
raising until 1871, when, upon the completion of the L., B. & M. R. R., he, with his brother,
engaged in the above business, which they have since successfully followed. His marriage with
Susan Hughes was celebrated in June, 1864 ; she was born in Fulton Co., 111., January, 1848 ;
they have five children now living, having lost two by death; the living are Fred E., Joseph
B.. Mary E., Ida H. and John R.
CHARLES FULLER, farmer and stock-raiser ; P.O. Bloomington; born in Jefferson Co.,
N. Y., March 16, 1816 ; his father, Oliver Fuller, was born in Vermont and emigrated to New
York previous to 1812, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812 ; he married Sally Healey ; she
was born in Rhode Island ; they were the parents of ten children, of whom seven are now living ;
Mr. Fuller died in New York in 1858 or 1859, and Mrs. Fuller is now living at the advanced age
of 92 years ; she now draws a pension for the services of Mr. F. in 1812. The subject of this
sketch was brought up to farming until he emigrated to Illinois and located upon Sec. 4, where
he purchased 653 acres of land, upon which he then settled, and has since followed farming and
stock-raising. His marriage with Eliza A. Griffin was celebrated in 1836 ; she was a native of
New York ; they have ten children now living, having lost one by death ; the living are Sidney
C, Healey R., George 0., Hiram, Charles, Edwin M.. Lupinda, Alice, Amelia and Mattie. Mr.
Puller now lives upon the old farm, and has given each of his five sons that are married eighty
acres, and all are living upon the home place within one mile of their parents ; although he is
64 years of age, is yet able to do a good day's work, and is engaged in farming 253 acres. All
the above property he has accumulated by his own hard labor, energy and industry, in which he
has been nobly assisted by his wife.
ORRIN LOO.MIS, Jr., farmer. Sec. 6; P. 0. Bloomington. The subject of this sketch was
born in Medina Co., Ohio, Nov. ]8, 1838; he was a son of Orrin Loomis, Sr., who was born in
the State of Connecticut in the year 1791 : he emigrated West and located in Ohio in 1816, and
was the second settler of the township; at that time there was an abundance of game, and it
was not an unusual occurrence for him to kill bears and other game ; he commenced clearing the
timber from the land for his own use and his neighbors. He was married in Ohio Jan. 14, 1823,
to Mary Ann Eyler ; she was born in Connecticut. March, 1805; they were the parents of nine
childrfn, of whom seven lived to grow up and six are now living; they lived in Ohio until 1866,
when they removed to McLean Co., 111., and lived in Old Town Township until their decease.
Mrs. Loomis died Nov. 22, 1874 ; Mr. Loomis died Dec. 9, 1876 ; they lie buried in the beautiful
cemetery at Bloomington, their graves properly marked by a monument of Italian marble. The
subject of this sketch followed farming in Ohio until the spring of 1865, when he emigrated
West, remaining one year: he then returned to Ohio, and was employed two years as express
1004 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
messenger with the American Express Company, after which he returned to Illinois and lived
some two years, when he removed to Michigan and followed farming one year; then came back
and located in Old Town Township, McLean Co., and engaged in farming, which business he
has since followed ; he owns eighty acres upon his own farm, all under a good state of improve-
ment. His marriage with Marinda E. Harrington was celebrated in Ohio May 18, 1838; they
were the parents of three children, of whom one died in infancy ; the living are Anna V. and
Saloma.
EDWIN LOOMIS, farmer. Sec. 5; P. 0. Bloomington ; born in Medina Co., Ohio, Oct. 16,
182'.»; his father, Orrin Loomis, was born in 1791 ; he emigrated to Ohio about the year 1816,
where he lollowed farming until he came to Illinois in 1866 ; he made his home with Edwin
Loomis until his decease, which occurred Dec. 9, 1876. He married Mary Ann Eyler Jan 14,
1823, in Medina Co., Ohio ; she was born in Connecticut in March, 1805 ; they were the parents
of nine children, of whom seven lived to grow up and of whom six are now living. Mrs.
Loomis died Nov. 22, 1874. The subject of this memoir obtained a common-school education
and was raised to farm labor and assisted his father until 1854 ; then he commenced farming for
himself «ntii the spring of 1865, when he emigrated to Illinois and settled upon Section 5, Old
Town Township, McLean Co., where he purchased eighty acres, upon which he settled and where
he has since lived. His marriage with Saloma A. Harrington was celebrated Aug. 14, 1854 ; she
was born in Lake Co., Ohio, July 13, 1828; they have one child by this uniou, having lost one
by death, named Gertrude C, born Aug. 14, 1856; she was married Oct. 28, 1875, to John J.
Pearson, and died Sept. 26, 1876 ; the living — William P. — was born Oct. 8, 1865. Mrs. Loomis
is a daughter of Otis Harrington; he was born in Berkshire Co., Mass., Feb. 14, 1803 ; he mar-
ried Lyma Coming; she was born in New Hampshire in 1806; she died in 1831 in Lake Co.,
Ohio; Mr. Harrington is now living in McLean Co. at the age of 76 years.
D. Mc'BARNES, farmer; Sec. 15; P. 0. Bloomington; one of the old settlers of McLean
Co., born in Harrison Co., Ohio, Oct 1, 1821; his father, Dennis McBarnes, was born near
Glasgow, Scotland, in the year 1759 ; he went to Ireland when he was a young man, and, after
working several years at the trade of harness-making, emigrated to America and located first
near Philadelphia; from there to Harrison Co., Ohio, where he purchased land and engaged in
farming until his decease, which occun-ed in April, 1844, at the advanced age of 85 years. He
married in Pennsylvania to Mary Voden ; she was born in Pennsylvania and died a few years
after the death of her husband ; they were the parents of seven children, of whom four are now
living. The suljject of this memoir was brought up to work upon his father's farm in Ohio until
he attained his majority, when he commenced farming for himself, which business he followed
in Ohio until he came to Illinois and located on his present place in the spring of 1853, where
he has since lived, during a period of twenty-six years, and is consequently classed as one of the
old settlers ; he owns eighty acres of well-improved land upon his home farm with good form build-
ings and also eighty acres in Anchor Township, all of which he has, by good business manage-
ment, accumulated. In politics lie is a stanch Republican, having joined the above party upon
its organization and has since labored for the success of the same ; he has taken a great interest
in the cause of religion and education, h.aving been a School Director many years and is now
School Trustee ; he and his wife have been members of the Christian Church for a period of
upwiird of twenty years ; the second oldest daughter being a member of the same church. His
marriage witli Mary Jane Dickey was celebrated in Harrison Co., Ohio, upon the 18th of Septem-
ber, 1847; she was born in Harrison Co. .March 4, 1826 ; they were the pai-ents of seven chil-
dren—Sarah J., born June 18. 1848 (^she died March 1, 1870); Maggie, born Oct. 3, 1849 (now
Mrs. Joseph Brookbank, of Anchor Township): John, born July 24, 1851; Agnes, Feb. 22, 1853;
Hannah M, June 18, 1855: Elizabeth, May 11, 1857, and Edward, Nov. 8, 18-58; of the chil-
dren, the two sons are farming in Anchor Township : the four daughters attended the University
of Bloomington, both the Normal and Wesleyan, three of whom are engaged in school-teaching in
McLean Co., the oldest of whom has taught ten years ; John attended the Normal three years ;
Edward is now attending the Wesleyan.
JOHN J. PENN, farmer and stock-r.iiser ; Sec. 26 ; P. 0 Holder ; one of the early settlers
of McLean Co., born in Northainptonshire, England, Oct. 25, 1824; he emigrated with hia
parents to America, lamling in New York wlien five years of age : they lived in New York Slate
five years, when they emigrated West and located in Harrison Co., Ohio: his father, John Penn,
was born in Northamptonshire, England, in 1777. He married in England to Hannaii Watson;
she was born in the same shire in 1787 ; she died in Ohio in the fall of 1845: Mr. Penn died
at the residence of his son in INlcLean Co., 111., in 1860, at the advanced age of 82 years ; they
were the parents of thirteen children, of whom six are now living. The subject of this sketch
engaged in teaming in Ohio until lie emigrated to Illinois and located in McLean Co. in the fall
of 1851; he then farmed upon rented land until 1863; he first purchased ninety acres, for
which he ran in debt $2,000, which he paid for in four years, and disposed of the same at a
profit of upward of $2,000; he tlien purchased 160 acres of raw prairie, which he improved
some four years and sold at a profit of $7,000 ; he purchased 157 acres of iiis present place in
1868, and settled upon the same in 1869, where he owns 238 acres with farm buildings, all of
which he has made by his exertions and perseverance. His marriage with Sarah J. Boyce was
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP. 1005
celebrated Sept. 12, 1844 ; she was born in Harrison Co., Oliio, Nov. 80, 1825 ; she was a daughter
of William Boyce, who was born in New York State Oct. 14, 17f>7; he emigrated and settled in
McLean Co., 111., in 1851, where he lived until his decease, which occurred May 7, 1879, in the
82d year of his age. He was married in Ohio to Sarah Reynolds ; she was born in Ohio in 1807,
and is living upon Section 26, Old Town Township; they were the parents of twelve children,
of whom six are now living.
WILLIAM H. PORTER, farmer, Sec. 20; P. 0. Downs; was born in Washington Co.,
Penn,, Aug. 31. 1839, where he attended school in winter and assisted in farming until 15 years
of age, when he emigrated to Illinois with his parents in 1854, and located upon Section 8, Old
Town Township, McLean Co. ; here his father purchased 240 acres of land and engaged in
farming and stock-raising some five years, when he removed with his family to Bloomington,
from which place he continued farming in Old Town Township until 1877, when he retired from
active business. The subject of this sketch continued farming for his father until 1873, when he
settled on his present place, on Section 21, in Old Town Township ; he has 160 acres of land,
mostly under a good state of improvement. His marriage with Amanda Rodman was celebrated
Jan. 16, 1866 ; they have four children by this union, having lost two by death ; the living are
Ellen, Frank, Eliza and Camilla. Mrs. Porter was born in Muskingum Co., ()hio, Sept. 4, 1842;
ahe is a daughter of Scamon Rodman, who was born in Pennsylvania and located in McLean
Co., 111., in 1853, and whose sketch appears among the biographies of this township in this
work.
JAMES V. PORTER, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 17; P. 0. Bloomington; wa.s born in
Washington Co., Penn., Feb. 9, 1845 ; he is a son of James Porter, who was born in Pennsylvania,
and emigrated to Illinois ; in the fall of 1854, he purchased land in Old Town Towi^hip, until
he had secured 1,500 acres, and was extensively engaged in stock-raising, in connection with
farming, and most of the time resided in Bloomington, to educate his children. The subject of
this sketch attended the school mostly in Bloomington until 1870, when he attended the Wes-
leyan University ; some two years after, he engaged in farming upon Sec. 17, where he has
since lived ; he owns 400 acres upon Sees. 16 and 17. and is largely engaged in raising and feed-
ing stock — mostly cattle and hogs — in connection with farming : he plants largely — averaging
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty acres of corn, most of which is fed to his stock ; he
fed, last season, some 400 hundred hogs and 150 cattle. His marriage with Elizabeth Armstrong
was celebrated in 1871; she was born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., in 1848; they have two children —
William S. and Isabella W.
SCAMON RODMAN, farmer. Sec. 23; P. 0. Holder; one of the old settlers of McLean
Co.; was born in Berks Co., Penn., Aug. 27, 1810; he was the second son of Joseph
Rodman; was born in the same county and State, in the early part of the year of 1780. He
married Mary Street; she was a native of the same county, born in May, 1785; they were the
parents of ten children, of whom six are now living; they emigrated to Muskingum Co., Ohio,
in 1821, where they lived until the decease of Mr. Rodman, which occurred in April, 1853;
Mrs. Rodman died in Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., Ohio, in February, 1876, at 91 years of age. The
subject of this sketch followed farming in Ohio until he emigrated to Illinois, reaching Bloom-
ington Oct. 8, 1853 — driving by team from Ohio — being sixteen days upon the trip; he rented
land for two years near Bloomington, and, in the spring of 1856, he located upon his present
place, where he purchased 120 aci-es of land, and upon which he now lives ; he afterward
added, by purchase, until he had accumulated 320 acres ; he now owns 280 acres, with good
farm buildings. His marriage with Eliza Woolf was celebrated Feb. 17, 1833 ; she was born in
Fauquier Co., Va., May 21, 1811; they were the parents of nine sons and one daughter, of
whom one son is deceased; the living are — William. Francis A., James M., Samuel, Amanda
(now Mrs. William Porter), Scamon C, Julius N., Winfield S., Oscar ().; of the above, three
served in the Union army, during the late war of rebellion — James, Samuel and Scamon. The
eight sons, with their fiither, are all Republicans, and voted for Hayes. Mr. Rodman w«8
formerly an Old Line Whig; and upon the organization of the Republican party, joined the same,
and has labored for the support of the same. He has voted every general election, with two
exceptions, since 1881 ; of township and school offices, Mr. Rodman has had his full share,
having been ftrst Supervisor of Old Town Township in 1858, which office he held five years ;
Justice of the Peace twelve years; School Treasurer thirteen years, and other petty offices,
having held one or more offices continually, since the organization of the township. He has
taken a deep interest in the cause of religion, having been a member of the M. P. Church since
1830— a period of nearly one-half a century, and has held ditferenl offices in the church, for a
period of forty-five years. Mrs. Rodman has been a member of the same church for forty
years.
ROBERT REID, sheep-raiser, Sec. 30; P. O. Downs; l)orn in the Parish of Irvine, Ayr-
shire, Scotland, Nov. 7, 1830, where he obtained a good, common-school education, and follo\yed
farming until he emigrated to America, landing in New York in the spring of 1852 ; coming
directly to Illinois, he remained in Knox C^o. several months, and, after seven months in San-
gamon Co., he went to California, where he followed mining for eighteen months, when he
returned to Illinois, and, in the spring of 1850, he hired out with .Mr. H. Bishop, and worked
1006 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
with him until his? decease, when he engaged in raising sheep, which business he has followed
for nearly one-fourth of a century, and during which time he has made five trips to Scotland ;
he now rents upward of four hundred acres of land, for which he pays cash, and then re-rents
for grain, which he feeds his sheep, of which he has upward of seven hundred ; he reserves
some two hundred acres for sheep pasturage.
JOHN UODM.AN, farmer, Sec. 22 , P; 0. Holder; one of the old settlers of Illinois, whose
birthphice was Berks Co., Penn.; he was born Dec. 5, 1817 ; he emigrated to Ohio with his
parents, when 1 year of age, and located at Muskingum Co., where he attended school in an old
log schoolhouse, with mud-and-stick chimney, the fireplace extending nearly across one end,
and would burn wood eight feet long; the seats were of split logs, extending across the room,
and around the walls being a desk for writing ; in 1838, he commenced farming for himself
upon rented land for thirteen years, when he purchased eighty acres of timber land, and
improved, until he came to Illinois and settled in Old Town Township, McLean Co., Dec. 13,
1854 : he then purchased 110 acres of land on Sec. 22, where he has since lived, during a period
of one-fourth of a century ; he has since added, by purchase, until he now owns 230 acres, with
good buildings, all of which, with the exception of $400, he has made by his own efforts. His
marriage with Mary Jane Gray was celebrated Feb. 15, 1838 j she was born in Muskingum
Co., Ohio, May 1. 1810 ; they were the parents of seven children, of whom three are deceased ;
the living are Joseph L., Eliza (now Mrs. Homer Boyce), Edmund L. and Lucinda W.; of the
children, two sons and one daughter are living less than one-fourth of a mile from their parents
— the others living within three miles. Mr. Rodman has taken a deep interest in the cause of
religion, having, with his wife, been a member of the M. E. Church for forty years, and all the
children are members of the same church.
J.VMES RAYBURN, Jr., farmer and stock -raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the old set-
tlers of McLean Co.; born in Madison Co., Ohio, March 14, 1836. He emigrated with his parents
to Illinois in 1851. He attended school and assisted his father in farming until 19 years of age,
when, upon Dec. 19, 1855, he was united in marriage with Susan Bishop ; she was born in
McLean Co., June 26, 1886. They have two children now living, viz., Ida May. born May 1,
1858, and Eda Bell, April 10, 1860. He has 280 acres in his home farm, and, aside from farm-
ing, is extensively engaged in feeding and shipping stock, feeding about 100 cattle, 150 to 200
hogs, 300 to 500 sheep, and some horses. Besides feeding the products of 250 acres of corn, he
last season purchased some 3,000 bushels, which he also fed. He is now feeding sixty bushels
of corn per day to his stock, which he ships over the C. & A. R. R. to the Chicago market. He
and his wife have been members of the Presbyterian Church for a period of twenty-five years.
Mr. Rayburn is the present Supervisor of Old Town Township, which office he has held for ten
years in succession, the duties of which he has performed with credit to himself and satisfaction
to his township. He is a son of James Rayburn, who was born in Virginia April 6, 1799. He
emigrated with his parents to Ross Co., Ohio, at an early day, and followed farming until 1851,
when he emigrated to Illinois, and located upon Sec. 30, Old Town Township, where he has lived
for a period of twenty-eight years. In 1850, he was a member of the State Legislature of Ohio.
Upon the 24th of September, 1816, he was united in marriage with Jane McCoy; she was born
in Ross Co., Ohio, July, 1799, and was the first white child born in that county. She died Aug.
15, 1876. Mr. Rayburn now lives upon the home farm with his son, James, Jr. He has been a
member of the Presbyterian Church since his youth, and is now one of the Elders of the First
Presbyterian Church in Bloomington.
SAMUKL SCOTT, farmer. Sec. 34 ; P. 0. Downs ; one of the old settlers of McLean Co. :
born in County Down, Ireland, March 28, 1836, where he attended the public school until 14
years of age, when he worked at farming and weaving in the linen mills for four years, and, in
1855, emigrated to America, landing in New York Jan. 15, 1856, having been ten weeks and five
days making the voyage. Upon arriving in New York, his capital consisted of 7 cents. He then
worked at farming in New Jersey two years, when he came to Illinois, arriving in Bloomington
in the spring of 1858. He then worked as farm laborer for five years ; then he farmed upon
rented land two years, and, in 1858, he purchased thirty acres of his present place, upon which
he then located, and where he has lived since 1865. He owns ninety acres of well-improved
land, which he has accumulated by his own hard labor. He married Maria Jamison in 1858:
she was born in Ireland ; she died in Illinois Aug. 27, 1875, leaving one child — John — born
Sept. 15, IHno. His marriage with Mrs. Bridget Tulick was celebrated Sept. 22, 1876 ; she was
born in Ireland. They have one child by this union — Mary J., born Aug. 21, 1877.
PATI'iK'K SAVAGE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 33 ; P. 0. Downs ; born in County Kerry,
Irclan<i, .March 17, 1827, where he attended the public school until 13 years of age, when he
emigrated to America, landing in New York in the spring of 1840. His father. Jeremiah Sav-
age, had preceded him ten years, locating first in Canada, where he lived five years, when he
came lo Rochester, N. Y., wliere he followed his trade of mason and stone-cutter, in connection
with farming, in Monroe Co., N. Y., until his decease, which occurred in the winter of 1872.
HiB widow survived him, and died in Rochester in April, 1879. The subject of this sketch
attended the public schools during the winter in New York until 23 years of age, during which
time he was employed in farming and working upon the canal-boats, after which he had
OLD TOWN TOWNSHIP. 1007
command of a boat for three years. In the spring of 1851, he emigrated West, and worked in
Effingham, Coles and Champaign Cos., getting out timber for the 111. Cent. R. R., for nearly two
years, when he returned to Rochester and remained some three months. He then came to
McLean Co., and resided in Bloomington one winter, being employed in chopping wood. The
following summer, he and his wife were employed upon a farm ; then he returned to Blooming-
ton and followed fixrming and teaming some ten years, and, in January, 1866, he removed upon
his present place, where he has since lived. He owns, upon his home place, 146 acres of land,
with the best of buildings, which he has made by his continued hard labor, in which he has been
nobly assisted by his wife, to whom he was united in marriage Oct. 1, 1854. Her maiden name
was Susan Fagan ; she was born in County Down, Ireland, May, 1829 ; she came to America
when qdite young. They have seven children now living, having lost one by death. The names
of the living are Mary A., born July 3, I'feSS ; Till en, Feb. 23, 1857 ; Morris S., Dec. 13, 1858 :
Frances, Nov. 8, 1860, died June 13, 1866 ; John B., born Nov. 6, 1862 ; Thomas, Oct. 17, 1864 :
Susan, Oct. 13, 1866; Elizabeth, Oct. 5, 1868. Mr. Savage came to Illinois without capital ; he
had not the means to purchase a bed, and used a tick made by Mrs. Savage, filled with straw,
and made upon the floor. They had neither table nor chairs, using for a table a trunk. He
purchased his first bedstead with the proceeds of his labor, cutting cord-wood at 50 cents per
cord. He has steadily kept at work, until he is now one of the responsible farmers of McLean
Co., having nearly 100 acres under fence and a good state of cultivation, and upon which there
is no incumbrance
JAMES SHIELDS, farmer. Sec. 24; P. 0. Holder; born in Jessamine Co., Ky., Sept. 17,
1816, ; his father, James Shields, Sr., was born in Londonderry, Ireland, May 6, 1781 ; he
married Martha Paul in Kentucky ; she was born March 24, 1783 ; he emigrated to America the
second year of the present century; he first lived in Virginia, then came to Kentucky, where he
was married, and followed farming until his decease, which occurred in Jessamine Co., Ky., June
20, 1865. Mrs. Shields died many years previous in the same State and county ; thi-ee of their
children by this union are now living — John, Hugh and James. The subject of this sketch
lived with his father in Kentucky until 24 years of age, when he was united in marriage with
Martha E. Mahan, March 26, 1840; she was born in Jessamine Co., Sept. 29, 1822; they were
the parents of five children, of whom four are now living — Archibald, born July 14, 1842; Sam-
uel H., Oct. 3, 1844: Parilee M., March 19, 1846; Milton H., Dec. 1, 1847; the deceased,
Martha Jane, was born Jan. 16, 1841; she was married to Henry Zeigler, and died Oct. 23,
1873, leaving nine children. Mrs. Shields was a daughter of Elijah Mahan, who was born in
Woodford Co., Ky., in November, 1801. and is now living at the advanced age of 78 years. Mrs.
Mahan was born in Jessamine Co., Ky., in March, 1802; her maiden name was Jane Scott;
she died in March, 1877. They were the parents of seven children, six now living. Milton H.
Sheilds, the youngest son of James and Martha (Mahan) Shields was born in Montgomery Co.,
Ind., December, 1847 ; he married Sept. 17, 1874, and is now living at home.
THOMAS TWINING, farmer and stock-raiser, deceased ; one of the early pioneers of
McLean Co.; born in Berks Co., Penn., Feb. 16. 1808; he attended the common schools, and
completed his education by a collegiate course of five years, the last two years of which were
devoted to medicine ; in the fall of 1836, he emigrated to Illinois, and located upon Sec. 32, Old
Town Township, and entered some 300 acres of land, and engaged in farming and stock-raising;
he took an active interest in politics, being an Old-Line Whig, until the organization of the Repub-
lican party, after which he became an active and prominent member of the same; he had no
aspirations for ofhce, but held some township and school offices, and was Justice of the Peace
for many years ; he took a deep interest in the affairs of his township, and his influence with the
County Court was of good effect; by his influence and labor the township saved .$10,000 in the
matter of voting assistance to the L., B. & M. Railroad ; upon his locating here, his capital con-
sisted of less than $200 ; he borrowed money to enter his first land, and at the time of his death
owned upward of 500 acres of land, besides his personal property. His marriage with Sarah
A. Beam was celebrated March 8, 1832; she died July 17, 1845, leaving four children. He
married for his second wife Mrs. Elizabeth Randolph Jan. 28, 1849; she was a daughter of
Benjamin Cundiff; she was born in Virginia Oct. 15, 1816 ; three children were the fruit of this
union, of whom two are deceased. Mr. Twining died upon the old homestead Dec. 6, 1872. C.
H. Twining, the only surviving child by the last marriage, was born upon the old farm Nov. 12»
1852, and has always lived upon the old place and in the same house in which he was born, a
part of which is the original house erected by his father forty-two yeUrs ago. He owns upon his
home farm 280 acres, and aside from farming is extensively engaged in stock-raising. Upon Jan.
6, 1873, he was united in marriage with Mary Savidge ; she was born in McLean Co. Jan.
26, 1854; they have three children now living by this union — Musetta, T. J. and Earl.
JEREMIAH WHITCOMB, farmer. Sec. 2> ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the old settlers of
McLean Co., 111. ; was born in Vermilion Co., 111., Jan. 10, 1839 ; his father, Francis, was born in
Grafton Co., N. H., Jan. 28, 1786; he emigrated West and located in Indiana in 1814 or 1815,
and came to the Territory of Illinois in 1816, and located near Danville, Vermilion Co., where
he engaged in the manufacture of salt; after which, he followed farming until 1849, when he
located in what is now Old Town Township, McLean Co., where he purchased 300 acres in Sec.
1008 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
21. upon which he settled ; he afterward added by purchase until he had accumulated upward
of 700 acres in this and Padua Township. He married in Vermilion Co., 111., to Jane Evans ;
she was born in Ohio in 180 J: they were the parents of nine children, of whom six are now
living. Mr. W. died upon the home farm Jan. 16, 1872. Mrs. W. now lives with her son —
Jeremiah, at the advanced age of 7-') years. The subject of this sketch came to McLean Co. with
his parents in 184'.i, and has lived upon the home farm for a period of thirty years, where he
owns 1 tiO acres with good buildings. He married upon the 27th of February, 1862, Lucinda
Rodman; she was born in Ohio ; they have four children now living — Sylvia A., Lillie M.,
William A. and Mary F. Mr. VV. has had his ful) share of petty offices ; has held the office of
School Trustee for seven years ; Town Clerk two years, and is now Justice of the Peace.
GEORGE P. WOOD, farmer. Sec. 33; P. 0. Downs; born in Pendleton Co., Va., July 26,
1826; he is a son of Joshua Wood, who was born in Virginia Nov. H, 1804. He married in \ ir-
ginia Anna Hedrick ; she was born in Virginia ; they emigrated from Virginia to Illinois and
located in McLean Co., in 1850, where they lived until their decease. Mr. Wood died June 3,
1863; Mrs. Wood died March 28, 1865. The subject of this sketch made his home with his
father in Virginia and emigrated to Illinois at the same time, where he remained with his father
until 27 years of age, and, Aug. 31, 1854, he was united in marriage with Huldah Teter ; she
was born in Virginia, Nov. 14, 1831 ; they have six children now living, having buried three;
the living are Charles A., born Dec. 22, 1855; Sarah R., born Aug. 18, 1857; Pemnelia E.,
born March 2, 1861 ; Charlotte, born Jan. 30, 1863 ; Amanda S., born April 18, 1865 ; William
D., born June 17, 1867 ; the deceased died in childhood. Upon the marriage of Mr. Wood, he
rented land for two years, when he purchased land and improved the same, and sold, which
business he repeated six times, when, in 1876, he purchased his present place, upon which he
then located, and where he has since lived. He owns upward of 149 acres upon his home place,
all of which is under fence and improvement.
JOHN L. YOUNG, farmer, deceased ; one of the old settlers of McLean Co., 111., born in
Clark Co., Ky., Oct. 22, 'i829 ; he was raised to farm labor in Kentucky until he emigrated to Illi-
nois and located in McLean Co. in the spring of 1852 ; in 1859, he purchased some land in Sec.
28, Old Town Township, which he settled on and improved until 1864, when he purchased
the present place of 240 acres, upon which he located and where he lived until his death ; he also
owned eighty acres in Kentucky, and a house and lot in Bloomington. He took a great interest
in the affairs of his township, and was one of the prominent men of the township, and Super-
visor of Old Town Township, at the time of his decease, which was his fourth year in succession.
His marriage with Martha A. Dooley was celebrated Oct. 9, 1851 ; she was born in Nicholas
Co., Ky., Aug. 16, 1832 ; they -were the parents of nine children — Milton H., born Oct. 11, 1852 ;
Lee, Dec. 3, 1854 ; Mary E.. Aug. 23, 1857: Clara N., April 27, 1859; William F., April 8,
1861 ; Robert L., May 16, 1863 ; Florence B., May 9, 1866 ; Obadiah L., Aug. 21, 1869; Min-
erva D., born May 2, 1871, died June 11, 1877. Mr. Young died Jan. 10, 1872; he lies buried
in Bloomington Cemetery ; over his grave stands an Italian marble monument, erected sacred to
his memory by his loving children. Mrs. Young was a daughter of William Dooley, who emi-
grated to Illinois in 1851, and located in McLean Co., in 1852, and was largely engaged in farm-
ing and stock-raising, owning some 1,500 acres of land at the time of his death, which occurred
June 6, 1869; she lives upon the same place upon which she located in 1864.
ALLIN TOWNSHIP.
JOSIAH ARTER, farmer and stock raiser; P. 0. Stanford ; was born in Crawford Co., Ohio,
April 24, 1834. He came to McLean Co., 111., Feb. 17, 1857, and to Dale Township in the spring
following, went back to Ohio in December, but returned to Dale Township the next February,
and, in the fall of 1858, to Allin Township. He married Martha Ann Van Gorder, Feb. 28, 1867;
she was born ia McLean Co. May 16, 1843. Her father, Abraham Van Gorder, and her mother,
Amanda Disbrow, were born in the Staie of New York, and moved to Ohio, and from there to
McLean Co. in 1842. .Mr. and Mrs. Arter have four children — Delilah, born Jan. 10. 1868; Cora,
Feb. 25, 1871 : John, March 16, 1875, and Ida, March 4, 1877. He owns a farm of eighty acres
and a fine home, and in politics is a Democrat.
MUyrON BOZ.AIITM, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Stanford ; was born in Christian Co.,
Ky., Jan. 15, 1832, and came to Brown's Grove, Allin Township, with his parents, Sept. 10,
183*J, where he resided until he married. He married Anna Baker April 20, 1859; she was
born in Rockingham Co., Va., Feb. 9, 1842. Her fatiier, John Baker, was born in the .same
county ; also her mother, Sarah Richie. Mr. Bozarth's mother, Cynthia Bozarth, is living in
Brown's Grove. Mr. Bozarth move) onto tlie farm where he now resides, in A])ril, 1859. They
have had five children, who all died in early infancy, except Franklin, who was born May 11,
1861, and died July 12, 1871. Mr. B. owns about 270 acres of land in Allin Township, and a
fine residence. In politics is a Democrat.
ALLIN TOWNSHIP. 1009
ABEL BROOKS, broker, Stanford ; was born in Allin Township (formerly Mosquito Grove
Township), March 6, 1852. He is the second son of Pre-iley T. Brooks. He married Miss
Livonia Summers, daughter of Dr. Andrew Summers, April 2, i874; she was born in Franklin
Co., Ohio, Oct. 10, 1851. They have had two children— Myrtle, born May 19, 1876 ; died April
9, 1878, and Lee, born Dec. 17, 1878. In addition to his brokerage business, Mr. Brooks is
engaged in the lightning-rod business.
MILES BROOKS, Police Justice; Stanford ; was born in Allin Township Oct. 8, 1845, and
is the oldest son of Presley T. Brooks, who is the oldest living settler in Allin Township, and
now resides in Eureka, Woodford Co., 111.; he was born in Hart Co., Ky., Nov. 9, 1821, and came
here before the organization of the county of McLean, Dec. 29, 1842. He married Eliza Silvay
Larrison. In t,he winter of 1829-o0, he entered land now known as Brooks' Grove, and in
March, 1830, moved into his log cabin. The Indians, wolves and deer had everything their own
way, but the Indians were friendly. Miles Brooks, at the starting of Stanford village, went into
the lumber and grain business, and has followed that with stock-buying and shipping ever since.
In 1876, he was elected Police Justice, and re-elected in the spring of 1879. He married Miss
Sarah R. Johnson, daughter of Caleb Johnson, of Danvers Township, May 13, 1869. They have
two children living — Alpha, born Sept. 27, 1874, and Pearl, July 17, 1877. The eldest died in
early infancy, unnamed.
MALVINA B. CAVETT, farming ; P. 0. Stanford ; widow of John Cavett; he was born in
Posey Co., Ind., May 22, 1817, and was raised a farmer, and always fallowed the business. He
married Miss Malvina McReyuolds Jan. 11, 1838; she was born in the same county. May 17,
1817, and they moved to McLean Co., Allin Township, in October, 1854; he d ed Sept. 5, 1870.
They have seven children living — Mary Ann, born Oct. 31, 1844; John A., born March 23,
1846; Thomas W., born April 22, 1848; Margaret J., born Oct. 24, 1850; William W., born
Sept. 1, 1855; Josephine S., born Oct. 5, 1858; Charles H. C, born Dec. 26, 1862, and James,
deceased; Nancy E., born Jan. 3, 1842, and died Dec. 31, 1842. They own a fine farm of
200 acres — rolling prairie.
ROSETTA FITZPATRICK, farmer; P. 0. Covel, Dale Township; was born in Enniskillen,
Ireland, April 25,1841, and is the widow of James Fitzpatrick ; he was born in Boston, Mass.,
April 1, 1837. She came to this country with her uncle, John Cox ; landed in New York in
1845; they lived in New Jersey until the spring of 1860, when they moved to Colorado. She
married' James Fitzpatrick in Denver City Aug. 22, 1860. They moved to Bloomington, McLean
Co., III., in the summer of 1865, and that fall bought the fiirm where she resides, in Allin Town-
ship. He ded Dec. 17, 1873, in Bloomington. They have six children — -James F., born in
Denver City July 15, 1861 ; Mary E., born in Denver City Ap»il 25,1863; John C, born in
St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 5, 1866 ; Martin H., born on their farm Aug. 1, 1868 ; Robert E., born in
Bloomington Nov. 26, 1870, and Rosette, born in Bloomington Nov. 25, 1872. She owns a
nice home of 160 acres in Allin Township, and a house and lot in Bloomington.
AMOS W. HARRISON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O.Stanford; was born in Andrew
Co., Mo., July 28, 1844 ; went to Knox Co., Ohio, with his pai-ents, in 1848, and to McLean Co.,
111., in 1851. His father, Abraham Harrison, was born in Essex Co., N. J.. Dec. 10, 1815, and
married Nancy Kinkade in Knox Co., Ohio, Dec. 23, 1838; she was born in Maryland May 6,
1816. Amos W. Harrison married Miss Alice Ward in Macon Co., Mo., Oct. 20, 1867 ; she was
born in McLean Co., 111., Feb. 1, 1850. They moved to Allin Township in March, 1878, where
they now reside. They have three children — James A., born Aug. 10.1869; Ethel M., born
"Nov. 12, 1873, and Bertrand 0., born Feb. 17, 1874. His brother-in-law, William Paul, and
himself, own 238 acres of fine prairie, where he lives. In politics, he is a Democrat.
WILLIAM HILLY ARD, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Minier, Tazewell Co., 111. : was born
in Vermilion Co., III., Sept. 25, 1842 ; his father, John Hillyard, was born in Northampton Co.,
Penn., in 1799, and died in Tazewell Co. March 11, 1862 ; his mother, Sarah ( Hatfield), was born
in Hamilton Co., Ohio, in February, 1809 ; she resides with William Hillyard, the su^^ject of this
sketch, 'who married Miss Susan J.ColvilleNov. 12, 1868; she was born in Harrison Co., Ky., June
29, 1839. They have four children— Mary E., born Aug. 25, 1869; John W., May 11, 1873 ;
Edward A., March 3, 1875, and Sarah Maud, Dec. 11, 1878 Mr. Hillyard is a Republican.
CALEB JOHNSON, retired farmer, stock-raiser and dealer; P. 0. Stanfoi'd; was born in
Monroe Co., W. Va., March 22, 1813. His school advantages were limited to a few months in a log
cabin. He followed farming. Sept. 16, 1856, he started out with his family and household goods,
all in four two-horse wagons, and eight horses, for his new home in Danvers Township, McLean
Co., 111., where he had bought, the year previous, 560 acres of prairie and timber land They
reached their farm Oct. 13, following. He married Miss Eliza J. Beard June 27, 1839. She
was born in Monroe Co., Va., Dec. 11, 1813. They have six children — Ward P., born June 8,
1840 (he married Elizabeth Deal); Madora E., born March 4, 1843 (she married George W.
Holland); Sarah R., born April 11, 1845 (she married Miles Brooks, Esq.) : James W. was born
Aug. 23, 1847 (he married Lois Rowel) ; John A. was born March 18. 1851 (he married Julia
Lehmann) ; Louise S. was born March 7, 1855 (she married Frank P. Browning). One son lives
in Kansas and two daughters in Mis.souri, the rest here. He now owns, altogether, 406 acres
of land and, resides in Stanford. He is a Democrat in politics.
1010 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
JAMES JOHNSTON, farmer, stock-raiser and fruit-grower; P. 0. Danvers; was born in
Greene Co.. Ohio, Nov. 15. 1828 ; with his parents, moved to Allen Co., Ind., in 1836 ; he then,
as now followed ' farming. His earlymdvantages for an education were confined to a rude log
building: but his was one of those persevering spirits that overcome many obstacles that, to
many others, appear insurmountable, and for awhile himself taught school, and farmed, and, as his
work shows, is not .an indifterent carpenter and builder. In 1853, he started with his wife and
chattels, in a two-horse wagon, for McLean Co.. 111., for the place or land he purchased in Allin
Township in 1852. Ttiey were eleven days on the road, camping in their wagon every night. He
eni^aged in farming, and otherwise, so that he did not reach his farm until the spring of 1855.
He^married Miss Eleanor Jane Marrs, of Allen Co.. Fnd., Dec. 8, 1852. She was born in Shelby
Co., Ohio, June 13, 1S30, and went to Allen Co., Ind., with her parents in 1849. They have
four bovs, viz.: Lucian C, born July 12, 1854 (he married Ellen B. Dickinson Jan. 1,
1S78, and' lives in Nebraska); Alva E., born March 16, 1859; Milo D., born May 30, 1866;
Virgil W., born March 15, 1871. The last three are living at home with their parents. They
own 165 acres of fine, rolling prairie and a fine house.
JOHN L. KAUFMAN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Stanford; was born in York Co.,
Penn., May 31, 1833 ; his fiither, John F. Kaufman, was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., Oct. 11,
1808. and married Elizabeth Legrone June 3, 1828 ; she was born in the same county ; moved
to McLean Co., 111., in 1854; in the mean time, spent two and a half years in Ohio, and from
Richland Co., Ohio, drove their own team through ; after they reached Spring Creek, 111., found
but one house in traveling thirty-two miles, to Indian Timber, on their way. For his second
wife he married Elizabeth Swinehart, of Montgomery Co., Penn., Aug. 16, 1840; she was born
in 1816. John L. Kaufman married Mary Eversole April 16, 1861 ; she was born in Perry Co.,
Ohio, Jan. 20, 1834 ; her father and mother moved to McLean Co. in 1857. Mr. Kaufman came
with his parents in 1854 ; he had learned the wagon-making business, and worked at his trade
in different places, and part of the time farming, until he moved to Allin Township in the win-
ter of 1860, and at repairing for a longtime after, for there were no blacksmiths or wagon-mak-
ers nearer than Danvers or Bloomington ; has been School-Fund Treasurer three years, and is
now Commissioner of Highways and Supervisor. They have four children — William R., born
May 9, 1863; Gary B. F., born Dec. 15, 1866 ; Sarah E., born Dec. 30, 1868; Lillie Bell, born
Sept. 19, 1872. He owns 400 acres of prairie land and a fine home near Stanford, and no waste
land, owing to extensive tilling of all his low, marshy land.
ELISHA S. KEARBY, wagon-maker and blacksmith; P.O.Stanford; was born in Madi-
son Co., Ky., April 10, 1820; his father, Jesse Kearby, in Woodford Co., Ky., in January, 1805,
and his mother, Martha B. (Burnam), in Madison Co., Ky., in 1811 ; he died April 4, 1842, and
she died in January, 1879. Elisha S. Kearby married Elizabeth Fletcher Sept. 19, 1850; she
was born in Garrett Co., Ky., June 5, 1831 ; her father, Thomas Fletcher, was born in the same
county in 1792, and died in 1835; her mother, Mary (Lear), was born in Culpeper Co., Va.,
June 10, 1799, and died .Tan. 28, 1873 : Mrs. Kearby's grandfather, David Lear, was born in 1765,
and died August, 1841 ; her grandmother, Lucy (Lear), was born in 1767, and died Sept. 20,
1857, aged 90 years and 9 months. Mr. and Mrs. Kearby came to McLean Co., 111., Dec. 20,
1860, and to Stanford in March, 1867 ; they have had nine children — Mary M , born Oct. 16.
1851 (married Joseph N. Tyner Feb. 23, 1870); Lucy E. B., born April 18, 1854; Nancy A.,
born Aug. 18, 1856; John T., born Dec. 12, 1859; Sarah A., born Jan. 22, 1863; David F.,
born May 14, 1866, died March 11, 1870; Dora C, born Dec. 12, 1868; Jesse M., born Sept.
16, 1871 ; Ella May, born March 4, 1874. Mr. Kearby has worked at his trade, without inter-
mission, over thirty-five years.
HENRY M. KHRBAUGH, farmer; P. 0 Stanford; was born in Greene Co., Tenn.,
Jan. 14, 1823: there he followed farming In the fall of 1853, he moved to Allin Township,
McLean Co., 111. He married Margaret Davis, daughter of Thomas Davis, of Tennessee ; she
was born Feb. 19, 1817; they have six children living, viz., Mary K., Joseph D., Martha A.,
Andrew J., Catherine E. and laicy J. (twins) ; the first-born, Margaret M., died Aug. 23, 1869,
aged 21 years and 1 month. He owns a fine farm of 80 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Kerbaugh and
their family are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, on Sec. 15, he being a char-
ter member, and one of the main organizers and aiders in erecting the edifice ; the Church was
organized in what was known as the Indiana Schoolhouse ; and the church was completed and
dedicated Aug. 18. 1866.
CHRIST0FI<:R LKIBFRITZ, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O.Stanford ; was born in Wurtem-
berg, Germany, Nov. 17, 1840; came to this country with his father in 1851, who settled in
Erie Co., N. Y. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the 116th N. Y. V. I. for three years' service ;
was mustered in at Buffalo, N. Y. They went to Baltimore, and from there to New Orleans into
Gen. Banks' command, and the next spring, the regiment was transferred to Gen. Phil Sheri-
dan s command, on the Mississippi River; he was in the siege of Port Hudson, and nine general
engagements ; was mustered out in Washington, D. C, June 27, 1865; received an honorable
disclinrge on tiieir return to Bufl'alo. He then for awhile went to Monroe Co., N. Y., and in
September to .Mcl-ean (^o., 111. He married Mary Springer, of Allin Township, Sept. 8, 1868:
she was born in Butler Co., Oliio. Nov. 16, 1838, and came here with her parents in 1854; her
ALLIN TOWNSHIP. 1011
father, Peter Springer, died Sept. 16, 1867, and her mother, Mary Springer, Sept. 5, 1870; they
have three children — Kate, born Aug 12, 1870; Emma, June 17, 1872; and Charles F., Dec.
12, 187-i. He owns 160 acres of fine prairie land in Allin Township.
HENRY LINEBARGER, grain-buyer and shipper, Stanlord ; was born in Jackson Town-
ship, Will Co., Ill,, June 22, 1840; his father, Henry Linebarger, was born in Lincoln Co., N. C,
Dec. 24, 1807, and emigrated to Will Co., III., in an early day, where he died in the latter part
of 1842. Henry L., the subject of this sketcii, moved to Stanford in October, 186U. He mar-
ried Miss Jane Phillips June 4, 1862 ; she was born in Strasburg, Germany, Oct. 10, 1844,
and^came to this county with her parents, who now reside near Bridgeport, Madison Co., N. Y.,
in 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Linebarger have three children — Joseph 0., born March 11, 1864; Ida
May, July 4, 1866: Almond, Feb. 21, 1869. Mr. L. and two brothers own two grain-elevators
in Stanford, at this time tilled witli corn His son, Joseph 0., is publishing the Stanford
Tribune, a young weekly newspaper, established in February, 1879.
JAMES P. McREYNOLDS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Posey
Co., Ind., Aug. 11, 1828; his fiither, Leonard, was born in Kentucky ; his mother, Huldah, in
Posey Co., Ind. James P. McReynolds married Susan W. Eaton Jan. 18, 1849; she was born
in Posey Co., Ind., Oct. 4, 1828 ; they moved to Woodford Co., 111., in the fall of 1849, and to
Allin Township in April, 1855, to the farm where they now reside ; they have six children —
John F., born .July 8, 1852; Sarah A., Nov. 25, 1857; William A., Aug. 26, 1859 ; Mary E.,
Aug. 21, 1861; Elmer A., Aug. 13, 1863; Cornelia A., Aug. 18, 1875: .John F., the oldest,
married Sarah F. Harter, of Brooks Grove, Sept. 26, 1872. Mr. McReynolds owns 165 acres of
prairie and timber land.
LEONARD A. McREYNOLDS, Justice of the Peace and carpenter and builder, Stan-
ford; was born in Posey Co., Ind., April 14, 1844; moved to Woodford Co., 111., in the fall
of 1851, and, two yeais later, to Allin Township. He married Sarah J. McReynolds, of Posey
Co., Ind., Sept. 19, 1865. They have two children, viz., Alcieona B., born Oct. 11, 1866; and
Oliver A., born Oct. 13, 1876. In September, 1862, Mr. McReynolds enlisted in the 19th
Regt. Iowa Volunteer Infantry, at Abingdon, Jefferson Co., Iowa, for three years. They were
immediately mustered into service, and were engaged in action at Prairie Grove, Ark., with
Price's rebel force. He was there wounded with a minie-ball through his thigh. His brother
Willi.qm was killed, and 196 others of his regiment. He was at the iriege of Vicksburg, Miss.,
thirty days ; soon after, at the capture of Yazoo City, and at the siege of Spanish Fort and Fort
Blakely,-in April, 1865. On their return for discharge at Davenport, 4owa, in September,
1865, there were left out of their regiment only about one hundred of the original enlistment.
He then returned to Allin Township (Stanford), and resumed his business of carpejiter and
builder, which he has since followed ; has been Tax Collector and Clerk of Village Trustees and
Trustee, and in April, 1879, was elected Justice of the Peace.
JAP. W. .MORGAN, station agent and telegraph operator C. & A. R. R ; P. O. Stanford ;
son of Gerard Morgan, who was born in Nicholas Co., Ky., May 16, 1806, and married Eliza A.
Hamilton Jan. 1, 1^32. She was born in the same county July 15, 1816, They moved to Deca-
tur Co., Ind.. in 1834, and to Coles Co., 111., April 11, 1857, and to McLean County in 1875.
They have six children, viz., William H., John W., Louellie, Leonidas, James A. and Jap W.,
the subject of this sketch; he was born in Decatur Co., Ind., May 5, 1854 In September,
1872, went West on a visiting and prospecting tour to California and most of the Territories.
Returning to Mattoon, 111., in October, 1874, he then made a tour through the Southern States,
Texas and Indian Territory, returning to Bloomington May 5, 1875. He soon commenced study-
ing telegraphy, in the emp'oy of the C. (."v: A. R. R. Co. April 18, 1878, he married Miss Emma
R. Meagher, daughter of Capt. J. C. Meagher, of Cambridge, Ohio. She was born in Kimbolton,
Guernsey Co., Ohio, Aug. 3, 1860, and came to Stanford in June, 1872.
CHRISTIAN A. NAFZIGER, groceries, Stanford : was born in Danvers Township, McLean
Co., 111., Jan 13, 1849; his father. Christian P., was born in Baden, Germany, in 1827, and
came to this country, landing in New York City in the spring of 1848 ; that year, he moved to
Danvers Township, and, in 1850, moved to Tazewell Co., and bought 320 acres of land ; in 1859,
he moved to Peoria, and, in 1861, to Allin Township, and, in 1875, to Bloomington ; in 1875-76,
he sold out his farms (1,040 acres j in Tazewell and McLean Cos., and bought 120 acres near
Bloomington, paying $23,000. He had six children — Christian A., Lizzie, Frederick, Lena,
Arthur and Emilie. Christian A., engaged in tlie business here of dry goods, boots and shoes, hats
and caps, groceries, etc., in March, 1874 ; sold out in September, 1877, and went to Bloomington
•and clerked for awhile, but bought back his old store in the spring and reduced it to groceries
exclusively. He married Lizzie B. Gardiner, of Allin Township, Oct. 15, 1878 ; she was born
there Aug. 26, 1857. He is an active, wide-awake Republican, taking a lively interest in town
and county elections. They have one boy, born May 4, 1879.
CRISTIAN W. NAFFZIGER, dealer in lumber, coal, Whitehall tile, salt, lime, cement, etc.,
Stanford; was born in Hessen, Germany May 28, 1819; there he followed farming until he came
to this country; the 22d day of September, 1846, he landed in New York; he went to Butler
Co., Ohio, and from there to McLean Co., 111., in the spring of 1854; in the fall, he bought a
farm of 160 acres in Allin Township, and now owns 120 acres; this is worked by his three
1012 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
oldest sons. He married Elizabeth Eresraann March 15, 1849; she was born in the same place in
Germany in November, 18'2:^, and came to this country with her parents in 1842 : they have six
children — Tohn H., Christian F., Eliza M., Gustave A., Lena E. and William H. John H. mar-
ried Elmira NatTziger : Eliza ^L married Henry Linkert. Mr. Naffziger has been in his present
business a little more than a year, and is the only one in like business here.
.lEREMIAH NEFF, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O.Stanford; was born in Rockingham
Co., Va,, Dec. '20, 1819; his father, Abraham Neff, and his mother, Catherine, were born in the
same county. Jereniiah Nelf married Catherine Kiser Dec. 22, 1846 : she was born in Augusta
Co., Va., June 20, 1823 ; her father, George Kiser, and her mother, Susan Kiser, were born in
the same county. Mr and Mrs. Neif have had seven children — John Edward, born Sept. 23,
1847 (he married Catherine Wright) : George Marion, born Sept. 6, 1850. died Oct. 18, 1862, of
diphtheria (all the children were attacked with the same disease, and, but for timely discovery,
all would, undoubtedly, have died); Lydia Jane, born Jan. 30, 1853 (married Silas Hains) ;
Caioline Susan, born March 15,1855; Pleasant Harvey, born Feb. 7, 1858 ; William Henry,
born May 26, 1860; Elizabeth Ann, born Jan. 10, 1863, and Philander Artemus, born Oct. 3,
1865. Mr. Neff came overland, direct to Allin Township, with his own team, and was five
weeks and three days on the road ; arrived here in October, 1856 ; he owns 743 acres of land in
this township and Kansas. In politics, is a Democrat.
JACOB W. OSMUN, farmer and mechanic ; P. 0. Stanford; was born in Bureau Co., 111.,
Feb. 22, 1844; came to Allin Township in March, 1861. He enlisted in the 94th Regt. 111. Inf.
in August, 1862, for three years' service ; was mustered in August 17, and served out his full
term; was mustered out in Galveston, Tex., at the expiration of his term, but, with what was
left of liis regiment, was discharged at Springfield, 111.; he was in nine engagements, viz., Prai-
rie Grove, Van Buren, siege of Vicksburg, Spanish Fort, Fort ISIorgan, Mobile and Brownsville,
Tex., Morganzia and Yazoo City, and numerous skirmishes ; himself and Edward K. Stahl, of his
regiment, were the first to enter Fort Morgan ; they captured a rebel flag and a tobacco-box.
He married Luella Snndgrass Feb. 28, 1869: she was born in ^IcLean Co., 111., May 10. 1851;
they have had four children — Minnie May, born Dec. 21, 1869; Annie A„ May ■',, 1871 ; Lunna,
born Oct. 3, 1873, and Milton X., born Jan. 17, 1875: Annie A. died in October, 1871. In pol-
itics, he is a Democrat.
NATHANIEL PERRY, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O.Stanford; was born in Jessamine
Co., Ky., Sept. 24, 1817, and came to McLpan Co., with his parents, in 1836; his father, .John
Perry, was born in Philadelphia, Penn., Feb. 22, 1790; he married Charity Pew July 25, 1815,
in Mercer Co., Ky.; she was born in North Carolina March 10, 1800; she died April 10, 1863,
and he died Aug. 12, 1865. Mr. Nathaniel Perry married Polly Margaret McCullough July 30,
1846; she was born in Fleming Co., Ky.. Jan. 10, 1825, and, with her parents, came to Dry
Grove Township in 1826: her father, Peter .McCullough, that year erected the first house built
by a white man in Dry Grove Township, McLean Co. They have had twelve children — Mary
E., born April 24, 1847 (she married Wm A. Shields); Mary F., born Dec. 4, 1848 (she mar-
ried .Abraham Crist) ; Edmond R., born June 18, 1851 (he married Sallie A Harrison) ; William
R., born March 22, 1853 ; Jessamine Y., born Jan. 15, 1855 (married Kemp James) ; Milburn
B., born Jan. 27, 1857; Nathaniel R., born Jan. 20, 1859; Charity M.. born April 20, 1861;
Hetty Ann, born Sept. 8. 1863, died Aug. 4, 1864; George 0., born March 26, 1865, died March
21, 1866: Frank, born June 23, 1869, and Gabrilla, born May 19, 1871. He owns 642 acres
prairie an<l timber land. Is a Democrat, politically.
WILLIA.M H. PERRY, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O.Stanford; was born in Danvers
Township, Dry Grove, March 22, 1853; has always followed farming and stock-raising. He
married .Miss Lillie E. Briggs April 1, 1878; she was born in Tazewell Co., 111., April 14. 1859;
her fa'her, John S., was born in Kentucky May 31, 1818, and married Amanda N. Railsback
Oct. 14, 1841 : she was born in Tennessee Dec. 4, 1823: she now lives in Tazewell Co., 111.
William H. I'erry owns 160 acres in KingDan Co., Kan. In politics, is a Democrat.
ADDISON RITCHIE, farmer, stock-raiser and hunter: P.O.Stanford; was born in Rock-
ingham Co., Vn., Feb. 17, J834 ; was raised on a fixrm and has followed the business, together
with hunting wild game, a pursuit he has always been devoted to ; he moved to Brown's Grove,
Allin Township, in November, 1857. He married Miss Isabelle Bozarth Feb. 16, 1860; she
was born in Christian Co., Ky., Feb. 9, 1835, and came here with her parents in 1839. His
father, John Ritchie, was born in Rockingham Co., Va., April 5, 1799, and died at Brown's
Grove Oct. 3, 1860, and his mother. Magdalene, was born in the same county .March 8, 1800, and
died Nov. 1, 1854, in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. A. Ritchie have had five children — Robert F.,
born Sept. 16. 1861, and died Sept. 28, 1865 ; Leslie A. was born Sept. 20, 186C) ; Ira J., born
.March 8, 1868, died Feb. 20, 1869 : George M. was born May 24, 1870 ; Addie Bell was born
Jan. 24, 1874. He owns 265 acres of prairie and timber land in Sec. 14, Allin Township. "
WILLI.VM C RUSMISKLL. dry goods, notions, boots and shoes, etc., Stanford ; was born
in Augusta Co., Va., July 18, 18:;5 ; became to McLean Co. with his parents in 1848. His
father, David H.. was born in Augusta Co.. Va., in 1808, and married Catherine Deal in 1833;
she was born in the same county July 1, 1811 ; they had twelve children — five only are now living;
he died in .May. I860; his death was hastened by his being acciilentally thrown from his
ALLIN TOWNSHIP. 1013
carriage. William C, the subject of this sketch, enlisted in the 94th I. V. I., Aug. 12, 1862, and
served two years and nine months, participating in several engagements, and received an
honorable discharge in April, 1865, on account of chronic (diarrhoea) disease, which he has
not yet recovered from. He returned to Danvers Township. In August, 1869, engaged at
clerking in Bloomington, and Oct. 20, 1871, came to Stanford and engaged in mercantile busi-
ness on his own account. He married ISIiss Delia Johnston Dec. 15, 1870 ; she was born at
Branch Hill, Clermont Co., Ohio, Aug. 31, 1843. He was appointed Postmaster at Stanford
Jan. 26, 1874, and still holds the position in connection with his store.
HENRY J. SCHULZ, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Stanford; was born in Hanover,
Germany, Dec. 7, 1827 ; his father, Christopher, and his mother, Catharine Dorothea, were born
in the same place: Mr. Schulz landed in New York City Oct. 18, 1856; came to Joliet, 111., in
March, 1857, and to Tazewell Co. in June, I860, where he remaine<l about six years ; he moved
to the farm, where he now resides, in Allin Township, in March, 1866. He married Miss Jane
Bolton Dec. 8, 1870 ; she was born in Yorkshire, England ; her father, John Bolton, was born
Dec. 15, 1816, and still lives in Yorkshire; her mother, Fanny (Carter), was born May 26, 1815,
and died March 5, 1871, in Yorkshire. Mrs. Jane Schulz came to New York June 17, and from
there to Bloomington, 111., the 25th of June, 1868; they have had five children — John B., born
Sept. 30, 1871 ; Dora, Jan. 14, 1878: Fannie born April 28, 1874, died Aug. 25, 1877; Henry
H., born Oct. 17, l876, died Aug. 19, 1877, and Frank, born March 4, 1878. They own a fine
prairie farm of 120 acres.
GEOliGE SHUTT, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Lebanon Co., Penn.,
Aug. 31. 1826 ; -went to Berks Co. soon after, with his parents, and to Montgomery Co., Ohio, in
the spring of 1842 ; there he obtained work on the canal at 75 cents a day, until he had a little
over §20 — the most money he had ever possessed ; worked at whatever he could get to do
uuiil 1852, when he went to La Fayette, Ind. He married Elizabeth Waltz, daughter of
Llias and Rachel Waltz, of Montgomery Co., Ohio, Oct. 25, 1849. In the fall of 1860, they
moved to Shelby Co., ind., and bought his father's farm; in September, 1864, they sold the
larm and moved to Blopmington, 111. : in the meantime followed farming; in March, 1869, he
bought 200 acres in Sec. 1, Allin Township, where they now reside; they have had ten children
— Cyrus W., born July 9, 1850 (he married Mary F. Rector Nov 1, 1877); William A., born
Sept. 19, 1851; Elias B., Sept. 28, 1854; Sarah I., March 9, 1859: Oliver F., July 25, 1861;
Jotin E., Jan. 27, 1865 ; Lucetta J., born June 9, 1853, and died Sept. (">, 1854 ; Joseph A., born
April 23, 1857, died Sept. 20, 1857: George W., born Jan. 8, 1864, died Feb. 10, 1864; Richard
K., born Jan. 27, 1872, died July 1(», 1872. They now own 210 acres of prairie and timber in
Allin Township and 160 in Nebraska. Mr. Shutt, in his youth, never had any school advant-
ages ; never owned a slate until he bought one for his children, for whom he takes pleasure in
providing the ways and means for a good education : nevertheless, he has applied himself in.
such ways as he could and made himself competent to transact all business that he is called
upon to do.
PETER D. SPRINGER, Justice of the Peace, farmer and stock-raiser; P, 0. Stanford; was.
born in Lorraine, France, Sept. 5, 1828; his father. Christian Springer, was born Oct. 15, 1792,
and his mother, Magdalena (Engel), was born Feb. 2, 1796; both were born in Lorraine, France.
From 1812 to 1815, he was in the service of, and member of the body guard of Napoleon the
First. He came to the United States, and landed at New Orleans June 12, 1830 ; went to Hamil-
ton, Butler Co., Ohio, July 5, the same year, and to Danvers, McLean Co., 111., Nov. 10, 1854,
and 10 Allin Township, where he now resides in 1856. His wife, Magdalena, died Sept. 30, 1870
Peter D. Springer went into partnership with his brother, Joseph E., in general dry goods busi.
ness, in Hamilton, Butler Co., Ohio, in 1853 ; their store was destroyed by fire in February-
1854, destroying nearly their entire stock; he then went to Peoria, 111., and engaged clerking in
a wholesale and retail dry-goods house two years. He married Eliza Brenneman Nov. 13, 1856 ; she
was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, Oct. 13, 1831 ; her father, Daniel Brenneman, was born
March 16, 1804, and her mother, Elizabeth (lutzi). was born Oct. 16, 1806 ; both were born in
Hesse Cassel. Mr. and Mrs. Springer have had six children — Emelia P.. born Sept. 17, 1857,
died Oct. 17, 1857: Mary E., born Oct. 29, 1858: Edward D.. born June 24. 1861, died March
12, 1872 ; Emma A., born Aug. 13, 1863 : George B., born April 14, 1866, died May 5, 1867. and
William H., born July 12, 1868. Mr. Springer has held several offices in his town : was elected
Justice of the Peace, in 1873. and re-elected in 1878. He owns a fine fixrm and good home. In
politics, is a Democrat.
ANDREW SUMMERS, M. D., retired physician, Stanford : was born in Pendleton Co., Va..
about 1812: went to Franklin Co., Ohio, and to De Witt Co., Ill , in 1856, where he resided
about one year and a half; he then moved to Tazewell Co., where he resided about four years ;
he then came to Allin Township, and bought a farm: he moved to Stanford in 1868. He com-
menced the practice of medicine in 1S36, and practiced with skill and success about forty years.
He married Mits Elvila Dillow April 18, 1833 ; she was born in Tefferson Co., Va., June 20, 1814.
They have had ten children, seven are now living — Valentine, Olive, Montraville, Calvin A ,
lehabod N., Livonia and Zelotes F. Alonzo De A., died Oct. 21, 1865, in the Indian Territory,,
aged 29 years 5 months 15 days ; Calvin A. died June 28, 1862, aged 22 years 4 months and 7
1014 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
days ; he was killed at AUatoona Pass, Ga., in the discharge of his duty in the Union service;
only sixteen of Co. E, 7th Regt. I. V. I., came out alive; fifty-six went into action. Malvina
died Dec. 19, 1850, aged 6 years t) months and 27 days. Dr. Summers was elected Justice of the
Peace in Ohio, and held the office three years ; but his life has been mainly devoted to his pro-
fession.
RICHARD A. WARLOW, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Stanford: was born in Oneida
Co., N. Y., March 20, 1822, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Bond) Warlow, who were
among the earliest settlers of McLean Co., settling on the " Bond Farm," in Dry Grove Town-
ship, in the spring of 1837. He was born in New York City, and she in Massachusetts. In
June, 1832, they moved to Painesville, Ohio, and. in September following, they reached Circle-
ville, Ohio, and, in 1834, they moved to McLean Co., 111., and, as will be observed, to the " Bond
Farm," in 1837. Early that year, they entered the quarter-section (Sec. 12) where
Richard A. now resides, in Allin Township. Mr. Richard A. Warlow married Miss Lovina
Bozarth, of Allin Township, April 29, 1849 ; she was born in Christian Co., Ky., April 3, 1829,
and came here with her parents in 1839. They have seven children, viz.: Leslie, born March 31,
1851 (he married Georgie Taylor) ; John B.. Sept. 26, 1853 (he married Frances Bower) ; Belle,
March 13, 1856; Ellen F., May 3, 1858; Julia, July 31. 1860; Charles A., July 2, 1862, and
Sarah A., Sept. 13, 1864. Their house was destroyed by fire, March 27, 1856. They saved very
little furniture, and barely their lives. They rebuilt, and moved into their new house before it
was finished, in November following. He owns about 870 acres — five fine farm houses, with out-
buildings. In politics, is a Democrat.
JaSiES a. WALTER, farmer and mechanic; P. 0. Stanford; was born in Ohio May 14,
1820. When 3 years old, his parents moved to Richland Co., Ohio. When he was 17, he went
to Franklin Co,, Ohio, and worked eight years in grist and saw mills. He married Margaret
Spangler in Franklin Co., Ohio (where she was born). May 28, 1842 ; she was born ^larch 12,
1825. By her he had one child — Mary S.; she married David Bierbower, and lives in Martin
Township. McLean Co. Mr. Walter moved to Harley's Grove, Dale Township, in September,
1856, and to Allin Township in the spring of 1858, and owns eighty-eight acres of excellent land
and a fine house in Allin and Dale Townships. His house is in Allin Township. In politics, he
is a Democrat.
SAMUEL B. WRIGHT, M. D., physician and surgeon, and druggist, Stanford; was born
in Sumner Co., Tenn., June 18, 1850. He read medicine, and graduated at the University in
Nashville, in 1875. He also was one of the first graduates of the Vanderbilt University, of
Nashville, in the same year. In March, 1875, he came to Stanford and commenced practice,
and the next year opened his drug store. He married Miss Brooks, a daughter of Presley
T. Brooks, of Brooks' Grove, Allin Township, Dec. 23, 1875. They have two children — Homer,
born Sept. 20, 1876. and John T.. Sept. 30, 1877.
BELLEFLOWER TOWNSHIP.
CHARLES BAKER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bellefiower; was born in Massachusetts
Dec- 14, 1828; came to this State and settled in Belleflower Township, McLean Co., in 1868.
Since his residence here he has held the offices of School Trustee and Director six years. He
was married in 1855, to Miss Eliza J. Nichols, who was born in Massachusetts Dec. 20, 1837.
Tliey have five children— Alvin L., Wilber 1.. Elmer E., Wallace F. and Carl L. The farm of
Mr. Baker consists of eighty acres, valued at $3,500.
W. T. BRADBURY, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Belleflower; one of the early settlers of
the township; was born in Clermont Co., Ohio.Mune 26, 1830;,came to this State and settled in
Belleflower, McLean Co., in 1860. Since his residence in the township, he has held the office of
Supervisor one year. Treasurer and Collector twelve years each. His farm consists of 160 acres,
valued at $6,000. In 1852, he was married to Miss Tempa E. Gibson, who was born in Indiana
Dec. 11, 1834. They have seven children— .John E., H. E., E. S. and E. S. (twins), Mertie M.,
Thomas W. and James M.
J. H. BURNS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belleflower; was born in Maryland Jan. 19,
1H48. Came to this State and settled in Tazewell Co., in 1870, and in the same year removed to
McLean Co., where he has since resided. His pursuits since his residence here have been that
of a farmer and stock-raiser. He is now farming 160 acres. He has held the office of Road
<Jommissioner three years. In 1871, he was married to Mi.ss Rebecca A. Petry. They have four
children — Annie May, Willie H., Cora I. and an infant.
J. C. BUTCHER, fanner and stock-raiser ; P. O. Belleflower ; one of our first settlers ; was
born in Indiana Oct. 7, 18;:9 ; came to this State in 1852, and settled in Buckles' Grove, McLean
Co., in the same year; he removed to Belleflower in 1859, at that time called Prairie. He was
married, in 1851, to Mi.ss Jane E. Emmitt, now deceased, who was born in Indiana Aug. 21,
1834 ; they have had six children, four of whom are living — Sarah F., Emma L., John A. and
p^ -^?^^??r^S^^>!'-"i:X-. • ■> ^-,
^ i
BElLLEirLOWEfi
BELLEFLOWER TOWNSHIP. 1017
Ida A.: deceased— William T. and James M. Mr. Butcher's second marriage occurred Oct. 2,
1872 ; his second wife's name w^ s Miss Susan Harris, who was born in Hlinois July 27, 1838 ;
they have two children— Jay S. and Myron H. The farm of Mr. Butcher consists of 165 acres,
valued at $6,600. He is a member of the M. E. Church, and was a contributor to its con-
struction.
JOHN CARLYL, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belleflower ; one of the first and most
prominent settlers of the township ; was born at Srawns on Millbank, St. Mungo, Dumfries-
shire, Scotland, Feb. 18, 1822: came to the United States in 1861. and settled in McLean Co.,
this State, in the same year. He was married at Linn Hall, Tundergarth, on the 6th day of
March, 1855, to Miss Mary Smith, who was born at Linn Hall, Scotland, Feb. 18, 1827; they
have had seven children, four of whom are living — Helen B., Walter, John Smith and Janet;
deceased — Margaret J., died Oct. 10. 1864; Jemima A., died April 27, 18G8 ; Mary .Jane M.,
died June 12, 1877 ; the farm of Mr. Carlyl, which is named by him Pleasant Park, consists of
400 acres, valued at §10,000.
MARTIN V. CLINE, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belletiower ; one of the early settlers;
was born in Ohio April 15, 1837 ; came to this State with his father's family, and settled in
Sangamon Co , in 1840. In 1863, he was married to Miss Annie Smith, who was born in Mich-
igan June 28, 1841 ; they have three children — .Jacob S., Silas and Edith. In 1861, he removed
from .Sangamon Co. to McLean Co. His farm consists of 160 acres, valued at §5,000.
THOMAS DILLON, general merchant, Osman ; one of the first settlers, and owner of the
entire village; was born in Oneida Co., N. Y., Feb. 13, 1843, came to this State in 1869, and to
this county and settled at Osman, Belleflower Township, in 1874. In the same year, at Brook-
lyn, N. v., he was married to Miss Mary A. Hartigan. Since Mr. Dillon's residence in Osman,
his occupation has been that of a general merchant, railroad and express agent and Postmaster.
ISAAC E. FUNK, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belleflower; one of the natives of Illinois ;
was born in McLean Co., 111., Feb. 10, 1843. He is the son of the late John Funk, deceased,
who was one of the first settlers and pioneers of this county. Mr. Funk was married Dec. 24,
1867, to Miss Mary Jenkins, who was born in Virginia March 23, 1848; they have had four
children, three of whom are living, viz., Bettie L., Guy J. and Lafayette; deceased — Julia Anne.
Since Mr. Funk's residence in the township, he has held the offices of School Director and
Road Commissioner several years. His farm consists of 160 acres, valued at $5,000. He was
a participant in the late war ; he enlisted in the 117th I. V. I., served three years, and was dis-
charged with honor at the close of the war.
L. B. <tRANT, collecting agent, Postmaster and .Justice of the Peace, Belleflower; was born
in Ralls Co.. Mo., Feb. 10, 1825; came to this State and settled in Sangamon Co. in 1840, and
removed from there to McLean Co. in 1865; in 1841, he entered on an apprenticeship as black-
smith, served out his time, and his avocation has been such until the last few years of his resi-
dence in this township. He was married Feb. 4, 1850, to IMiss Siren Rhea, who was born in San-
gamon Co., 111., March 3, 1830; they have seven children, viz., Mary Alice, Peter, Susan,
Ulysses S., Cora, Edward and Richard. Mr. Grant has held the office of Justice of the Peace in
this township for six years, and, during his residence in Sangamon Co., held the office of Col-
lector one term.
GEORGE HELENA, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Belleflower; one of the early settlers
of the county ; was born in Washington Co., Md., Aug. 31, 1829; came to this State in 1857,
and settled in McLean Co. He has been a resident of Belleflower since_1871. In 1855, he was
married to Miss Rachel Wendel, who was born in Vii-ginia, Nov. 27, 1827 ; they have had eight
children, five of whom are living, viz., Martin L., Simon Francis, George J., Lee Wesley and
William Milton ; deceased — John Henry, Mary C. and Frairklin David. The farm of Mr. Helena
consists of 160 acres, valued at ?5,000.
MRS. ELIZABETH INGLE, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Saybrook ; one of the first set-
tlers of Belleflower Township ; was born in Fleming Co., Ky., July 14, 1844 ; came to this State
with her parents when 7 years old, and settled in McLean Co. ; sLe is the widow of the late
William Ingle, deceased, who was born in Tennessee Dec. 20, 1826, and who died March 5, 1877;
they have had eleven children, five of whom are living, viz., Nettie, Sadie, Ella, Hilary and
James ; deceased — Millie, Henry, Amos, Charles and two infants. The farm of Mrs. Ingle con-
sists of 152 acres, valued at §6,000.
L. S.- JONES, farmer and stock-raiser; P 0. Belleflower; was born in De Witt Co. Sept.
1, 1845 ; came to ^IcLean Co. in 1858, and settled in Belleflower Township in 1870. He was
married to Miss Nellie F. Moore, who was born in McLean Co., 111., Aug, 29, 1844; they have
had three children, two of whom are living, viz., Grace B. and Percival ; deceased, Willie J.
The farm of Mr. Jones consists of 118^ acres, valued at $4,200. He was a participant in the
late war, enlisting in the 145th Regt. L V. I. ; served five months under Governor's call, at (he
expiration of which time he was discharged with honor.
GEORGE KIRK, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Kumler ; was born m Kentucky Aug. 24,
1842. Came to this State and settled in McLean Co. in 1874. He has been a resident of Belle-
flower Township since 1875. His farm consists of 100 acres, valued at §4,000. He was mar-
ried Feb. 4, 1873, to Miss Euphrasia Reynolds, who was born in Kentucky Jan. 9, 1846. They
UU
1018 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
have three children — Linden. Theodore H. and May F. Mr. Kirk was a participant in the late
war, having enlisted in Co. L, 2d Regiment Ky. V. C., and serving three years and three months.
His time of enlistment had more than expired when he was discharged with honor, Feb. 13,
1865.
JOHN KISSACK, farmer and stock raiser : P. 0. Kumler ; one of the early settlers of the
township : was born in England Feb. 12, 1844. Came to the United States in 1866, and to this
St.ate in 18G7, and settled in Tazewell Co. In 1871, he removed to McLean Co.. and settled in
Belleflower Township. His farm consists of 241.^ acres, 160 of which are located in Piatt and
De Witt Counties. The whole is valued at ?8,000.
NORKIS C. LA TEEll, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belleflower: one of the early set-
tlers; was born in Sussex Co., N J., Feb. 0, 1821. Came to this State in 1858, and settled in
Belleflower Township, this county, in 1861. Then purchased the farm he now owns, which consists
of eighty acres, valued at $2,500. He was married in Pennsylvania to Miss Cynthia Ann Jayue,
who was born in Pennsylvania Jan. 16, 1827. They have had four children — Henry E., Lydia
C, W. J. and Susie J. Since Mr. La Teers residence in the township, he has held the office of
Supervisor six years and is at present Commissioner of Highways.
ALBERT H. MARQUIS, farmer and sf ock-raiser ; P. 0. Belleflower ; one of the early set-
tlers of the county; was born in Knox Co., Ohio, in 1834 ; came to this State in 1858, but did not
make a permanent settlement until 1865 ; having in his boyhood days a proclivity for traveling,
he set out for this State in the employ of ClafHin & Co., of Ohio, manufacturers of paper ; while
in their employ, he traveled principally through the eastern part of this State and Indiana with
a team, as at that time there were no railroads in this section of the country. Since his residence
in this county, he has held the office of Supervisor and other prominent offices. In 1861, he
was married to Miss Martha J. Logan, who was born in New York ; they have six children, viz.,
Ross, George, Frank, Harry K., Ralph S. and Mabel. The farm of Mr. Marquis consists of 160
acres, valued at §6,500.
JOHN H. ^lARSH, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Kumler ; was born in Indiana April 27,
1853 ; came to this State and settled in McLean Co., in 1875; his farm consists of 160 acres,
valued at S6,000. He was married Feb. 25, 1874, to Miss Lida Leming, who was born in Indiana
April 6, 1857 ; they have one child, viz., Archie L.
R. E. MORELAND, grain dealer, Belleflower ; one of the early settlers of Belleflower Town-
ship : was born in Virginia April 7, 1833 : when he was four years old, he moved with his parents
from his native State to Ohio, where he remained until 1850, when he came to Illinois and settled
in Tazewell Co. ; in 1858, he removed to McLean Co., and settled in Belleflower Township, at
which time he made some investments in land : his present farm consists of 160 acres. He was
married to Miss Margaret A. Davis, who was born in Illinois May 11, 1838; she is the daughter
of Mr. H. Davis, who is one of the first settlers and pioneers of Tazewell Co. : they have seven
children, viz., Anna, Nellie, Jennie, Eddie, Albert B., Isabel and Thurman. Since Air. More-
land's residence in the township, he has held the office of Justice of the Peace fourteen years ;
be has also held the office of Township Clerk, and nearly all the other township offices ; he is
now Notary Public, which position he has held six years.
BERNARD MORELAND, fiirmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Belleflower; one of the early set-
tlers in the southeastern part of McLean Co. ; was born in Muskingum Co., Ohio, May 7, 1837 ;
came to this State and settled in Tazewell Co. in 1851, and, in 1858, removed to McLean Co. and
settled in Belleflower Township ; his pursuits have been that of a farmer and stock-raiser from
boyhood; his present frirm consists of 160 acres, valued at $6,400. He was married to Miss
Elizabeth West, who was born in Indiana; they have three children — Mason B., Ambrose and
Walter. Mr. Moreland served in Quartermaster's Department about six months during the late
war; since his residence in this township he has held the office of Assessor three years.
JOHN NICOE, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belleflower; one of the early settlers of the
county; was born in Lochmaben, Dumfrieshire. Scotland, May 15, 1823; came to the United.
States, in 1852, and settled in McLean Co., this State, in tlie same year. In 1851, he was married
to Miss Jane Wells, now deceased, who was born at Lochmaben, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, in 1833,
and wiio died in 18G3 ; they have had eight children, six of whom are living — Andrew, Mary,
Margaret, Jane, Helen and Janet ; deceased, two infants. Since Mr. Nicol's residence in this
township, he has held office of School Trustee six years ; he is now Highway Commissioner. His
farm consists of 160 acres, valued at |6,400.
T. L. P.\ULL1N, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belleflower; was born in Ohio Sept. 8,
184!i ; came to this State with his father's family and settled in Logan Co., in 1851. Mr. Paullin
was married, in 1871, to Miss Nannie J. Constant, who was born in Sangamon Co., 111., March
21, 1854; they have had three children, two of whom are living— Edna and Walker ; deceased,
Ernest. Since Mr. PaulJin's residence in this township, which has been since 1873, he has held
offices of Roadmaster and School Director. His farm consists of 200 acres, valued at $7,000.
HUGH R. PORTER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Osmnn ; an early settler in the .south-
eastern poitioii of McLean Co.; was born in London, Eng., Jan. 14, 1845: came to the United
States in 1854, an<l settled in McLean Co., 111., in 1868. He was married, in 1875, to Miss Eliza
Walker, who was born in Liverpool, Eng., Sept. 1, 1853 ; his farm consists of 172 acres of land,,
BELLEFLOWER TOWNSHIP. 1019
valued at $6,000. He served a short time as teamster in the late war, in a pressed gang from
Tennessee ; being a Union man, and loyal to the U. S. Government, this was forced upon him
against his will. He is the first settler in this part of the county, coming here when transpor-
tation was done with horse and mule teams, and his nearest post office was twelve miles distant ;
game was plentiful in those days, consisting of deer, geese, etc., and, in the year 1867, he had
200 bushels of cribbed corn destroyed by them. Mr. P. has lived to see and take part in the
construction of the public roads all over this vicinity; he has traveled nearly this whole world
over, and this to him is the best of all countries.
JOHN E. RAWLINGS, farmer and breeder of fine stock ; P. 0. Kumler: one of the early
settlers of the State ; was born in Fleming Co., Ky., Oct. 18, 1810 ; came to this State, in 1837,
and settled in Sangamon Co. in the same year; he has been a resident of McLean Co. since
1859: his farm consists of 160 acres, valued at ,^6,000. Previous to his coming to this county,
he resided in Menard and Sangamon Counties twenty-four years, during which time he held
the office of Justice of the Peace in Menard eight ye.ars ; Constable in Sangamon three years,
and Coroner in Menard two years. He was married, in 1884, to Miss Polly Scott, who was born
in Tennessee ; they have had seven children — five of whom are living — Austin. Ella, ^linnie,
Francis A. and John F.; deceased — Louisa and Mary Jane. Austin, the eldest son of Mr. Raw-
lings, served four years in the late war; he enlisted in the 1st Mo. Cav., which was afterward
credited to this State, at the expiration of which time he re-enlisted as a veteran : was promoted
Sergeant, and later was elected 2d Lieutenant: he served until the close of the war, when he
was discharged with honor by general order.
ROBERT RO.VIE, general merchant, Belleflower ; one of the most prominent settlers ; was
born in Scotland Oct. 20, 1847 ; came to the United States and this State in 1871. and sett'ed in
Belleflower, McLean Co.. in the same year; his occupation, since i-esiding here, has been that of
a general merchant; he is the constructor and proprietor of the third oldest establishment in
the township. In 1874, he was married to Miss Agnes Brown, who was born in Scotland Jan.
3, 1852 ; they have two children — Sarah Jane and Clara Agnes.
J. W. SNYDER, farmer, stock raiser and manufacturer of tile ; P. 0. Belleflower : one of
the most prominent settlers : was born in Indiana Jan. 29, 1829; he is the son of Mr Simon E.
Snyder, who is one of the early settlers of that State. Mr. Snyder came to this State la 1873,
and, in 1874, settled in Belleflower Township, McLean Co.; since his residence here, his pursuits
have been that of a farmer, stock -raiser and manufacturer of tile. In 1850, he was married to
Miss Mary A. Benner, who was born in Indiana; they have had five children, three of whom
are living, viz., Cyrus, Orville, and Charles; deceased — Simon and Dora A. The farm of Mr.
Snyder consists of 300 acres, valued at $12,000.
G. W. STOKES, druggist and grocer, Belleflower : was born at Huddersfield Bridge,
England, April 28, 1849 ; came to the United States with his father's family in 1853. and settled
in Chicago, tliis State, in the same year. He has been a resident of McLean Co. for the past
four years, during which time his pursuits have been that of a druggist and grocer. In 1875, he
was married to Miss Julia P. AVinter, who was born in Bureau Co., 111., Feb. 4, 1856; they have
two children — Arthur Winter and George Armitage.
MARK M. SUTHERLAND, fiirmerand stock-raiser ; P. 0. Belleflower ; one of the natives
of Illinois ; was born in Cook Co. March 14, 1845 ; came to McLean Co. in 1872, and then settled
in Belleflower Township ; his farm consists of eighty acres, v.alued at .|4,000. He was married,
in 1865, to Miss Beulah J. Foster, who was born in Canada Oct. 30, 1843 ; they have had five
children, three of whom are living, viz., Silas S., Harriet E. and Richard W.: deceased — Lydia
and an infant. Mr. Sutherland has held the office of School Director constantly since his resi-
dence in this township.
HENRY TOBIN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Osman ; was born in Tipperary Co., Ire-
land, Jan. 27, 1842; came to the United States and to this State in 1857, and settled in McLean
Co. in 1863. His farm consists of 120 acres, valued at $3,600. In 1865, he was married to
Miss Lizzie Huston, now deceased ; in 1874, he married again, to Miss Lizzie Trainor, of Bloom-
ington. 111.; they have one child — Nellie.
MARTIN M. VREELAND, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Belleflower; was born in New
Jersey Oct. 14, 1828 ; came to this State in 1860, and to this county and settled in Belleflower
Township in 1870. In 1875, he was married to Miss Mary A. Hamilton, who was born in New
Jersey Feb. 16, 1837; they have three children — Jane A., Charles McClellan and Mary E. The
farm of Mr. Vreeland consists of 100 acres, valued at $4,000.
PETER M. VREELAND, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Belleflower; was born in New
Jersey April 8, 1831 ; came to this State, in 1867, and settled in McLean Co. in the same ye.ar.
He has been a resident of Belleflower Township since 1870 ; his fiirm consists of eighty acres,
valued at .¥3,000. He was married Nov. 28, 1867, to Miss Silvira Jones, who was born in
DeWitt Co., 111., Sept. 8, 1843; they have three children — Elmira J., John M. and Lucian M.
WILLARD I). WARNER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Osman; was born in the State of
New York Sept. 22, 1835 ; came to this State with his father's family when he was 9 years old ;
they settled in Tazewell Co. In 1859, he was married to Miss Sar.ah Anne Lawrence, who was
horn in Indiana Jan. 12, 1841 : they have four children — Frank L., Edith A., Lemma M. and
Adelia A. The farm of Mr. Warner consists of 124 acres, valued at $5,000.
1020 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
G. W. WHEELER, deceased, whose portrait appears in this work, was born near Bristol,
Harttbi-d Co.,Couu.. Aug. "29, 1820 ; his father's name was William, and was of English descent ;
his mother's maiden name was Hila Curtis; his father died while he was still a child, after
which he continued to reside with his mother until he was 18 years of age. when he went to
Xew York State, and was engaged with his brother peddling goods for about two years ; in the
year 1840. he went to Kalamazoo Co., Mich., and worked upon a farm for his brother for four
years, and then went to Scioto, opposite the city of Portsmouth, and worked in a foundry ;
there'; on June 21, 1840, he married Miss Helen M. Wilson, daughter of John and Isabella
Wilson, of Pennsylvania, and immediately afterward moved to Kalamazoo Co., Mich., and
engasredin farming up to 1858, vvh.Mi he came to the State of Illinois, and first settled in Bureau
Co., and from there, in the yeai- l8o8, came to Belleflower Township, in McLean Co., and settled
upon the farm upon which his widow still resides, where he died Oct, 26, 1877. His estate con-
tains 320 acres. His family consisted of ten children, nine of whom are living— Armina I. (now
Mrs. John H. Dean, of Belleflower Township, married in April, 1805), Allie M. (now Mrs. Frank
Dixen. of Bloomington, married July 0, 1874), John N. (who married Miss Jennie Conrad March
4, 1870, and lives in Belleflower Township) : the following still live at home — Thomas M. (who
married March 7, 1870. Miss Laura Garst of Allin Township), Alida V., Nettie I., George W.,
Frank W.. Nellie M.. and one deceased. Lewis.
MONEY CREEK TOWNSHIP.
AUSTIN Y. BARNARD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 20; P. 0. Towanda ; born in Money
Creek Township Feb. 10, 1841, which has been his home since, with the exception of a residence
in Ford Co., III., for four years. Enlisted in August, 1802, in Co. I, 94th 1. V. I., and served
until the close of the war; he was in the following engagements : Prairie Grove, Ark., siege of
Vicksburg, and other battles and skirmishes about Vicksburg, Fort Morgan, Ala., Spanish Fort,
same State, and Mobile ; was with the regiment in Texas, and during their stay they were for
a short time on Mexican soil for the protection of the American Consul at Matamoras. Married,
in ISOO, .Miss Tabitha A. Trimmer, who was born in Money Creek Township ; five children by
this union, three living — Myron D., Ida C. and Ada A.; lost two — Allie, died in 1874 ; Ranson,
died in 1870. Mr. B. is a member of Lodge, No. 206, I. 0. 0. F.
LEVI BAJINARD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 20; P. 0. Towanda; born in Money Creek
Township, this county, Sept. 1, 1843. His father, Melman N. Barnard, being one of the
early settlers, having settled in this county nearly fifty years ago. The subject of this sketch
now resides within one-half mile of his birth-place. Married, in 186^, Miss Caroline Morris,
who was born in Ohio ; four children by this union, two living — Jesse H. and Melman N.; lost
two — Edgar L., died in 1873 ; one died in infancy.
SAMUEL F. BARNARD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 21 ; P. O. Towanda ; born in Money
Creek Township May 31, 1837; his father, Melman N. Barnard, settled in the township forty-
eight j'ears ago ; he came to the county about 1831. The subject of this sketch now resides
on the land entered by his father, and within one-half mile of his birth-place; owns 151 acres
of land in Money Creek Township ; served as Town Clerk two ye.ars, and School Director nine
years. Married, in 1858, Miss Nancy J. Poulson, who was born in Ohio; she died Feb. 28,
1872; four children by this union, tiiree living — Tohn M., Sherman E. and Ethel; lost one —
Dora A.; she dieil in 18(;i. Was again married, in November, 1872, to Ruth A. Wilson, who
was born in Washington Co., Penn.
ROBERT FINCHAM, farmer; P. 0. Towanda ; one of the old settlers of .Money Creek
Township, McLean Co., III. The subject of this sketch is known as Uncle Robert Fincham ; he
was born in (^ulpeper Co., Va., May 7, 1811 : at 10 years of age. he commenced to follow the
plow, and from this time was constantly employed upon the farm. Upon the 25th of January,
1831, he was united in marriage with Kmma Weakley; she was born .Jan. 11, 1815, in the above
county. In September, 1831, tlieir capital consisted of one bed, their clothes, three knives and
forks, one skillet, two tin cups and §13 in cash ; with the above worldly goods, they started out
in the world to seek their fortune, their destination being Ohio; contracting for the bringing of
their bed and clothes to Ohio, they crossed the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains, and
arrived in what is now Licking Co., Ohio, upon Oct. 12, 1H31, having traveled the whole
distance upon foot. Upon ariiviiig at their place of destination, and jiaying $7 for bringing his
bed and clothes, liis capital consisted of $1.50; they invested $1 in provisions, and in a short
lime paid their last 50 cents as double postage upon a letter ; he obtained permission to occupy a
vacant cabin, into which he moved and lived the first winter; he first obtained work at chopping
cord-wood, at 25 cents per cord, which ))usiness he followed the first winter, in connection with
making and hocjping barrels and tubs in bad weather, and shoe-making during tlie evenings, by
the liglit of a tallow candle ; their furniture consisted of some stools, and, for a table, a board
wn,s laid acro.ss two blocks. The spring found them in possession of a cow and an established
MONEY CREEK TOWNSHIP. 1021
credit; he then hired out for six months, for fl2 per month, and, the following year, had saved
the means to purchase a horse, which he placed with one of his neighbors, and they put in thirty
acres of corn, selling their product at 18 cents per bushel he continued the struggle against
poverty until 1842. when he purchased si.\ty-two acres of land and improved it, until 1851,
when he disposed of the same, and, emigrating to Illinois, located in Money Creek Township,
where he has since lived, driving from Ohio by team, the trip consuming forty days; he first
secured 110 acres, to which he afterward added, until he had 320 acres, with buildings erected,
at a cost of upward of $6,000, all of which he, with the assistance of his wife, had accumu-
lated by their own hard labor, energy and industry. Mr. Fincham has held the office of Com-
missioner of Highways for twelve years, and several other petty offices. In the spring of 1879,
lie, with his wife and two daughters, removed to Towanda, to look after the interest of some
property he had there, but his residence will soon be upon his farm again. They were the
parents of fifteen children, of whom thirteen are now living — Alexander T. William J., Henry
iVI., Mary, Martha, Elizabeth, Margaret, Lemuel, Benjamin F., Rachel, Laura, Adeline and Nel-
lie : the deceased died in infancy.
WESLEY P. FRANKLIN, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 1 ; V. 0. Lexington ; born in
Owen Co., Ind., March 15, 1837, where he resided until 13 years of age. In May, 1850, he •
came to Illinois, locating in Money Creek Township. During the first seven years, he followed
herding cattle on the then universal pasture— the prairies ; then engaged in driving and shipping
stock. Since 1872, he has followed farming and stock-raising. His farm of 390 acres, valued
at $15,000, has a good supply of water, and is well adapted to stock-raising. He has served as
Commissioner of Highways two terms ; Town Trustee and School Director several years. Mar-
ried, in. 1858, Miss Anna Puett, who was born in Indiana; four children by this union — Stella,
Herschel, Lillian and Daisy.
WILLIAM GILMORE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 22 ; P. 0. Lexington ; born in Fayette
Co., Ohio, Sept. 21, 1830, but removed in early childhood with his father's family to Dayton,
Ohio. Came to Illinois in the fall of 1834, locating in Money Creek Township, this county.
Elected Justice of the Peace in 1870, serving till 1873, when he was re-elected, and served until
March, 1875, when he removed from the township. Served as Supervisor one term. Owns 120
acres of land in Money Creek Township. Married, in 1855, Miss Aladelphia A., daughter of
Melman N. Barnard, who settled in the county nearly fifty years ago. She was born in Money
Creek Township. Six children by this union, four living — Noah E., James N., Charles H. and
Sinnia E. ; lost two — Martha E., died in 1855 ; Ira E. in 1864. Mr. G. served four: terms as Col-
lector in Gridley Township. His fiither, James Gilmore, who was a native of Ohio, settled in
Towanda Township in 1834.
JOHN A. HEFNER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Lexington; born in Money Creek
Township, Sept. 16, 1844, his father, Peter Hefner, having settled in the township in the
fall of 1830; owns 250 acres of farm lands in Money Creek Township, well watered and well
adapted to the i-aising of stock ; served as Justice of the Peace since April, 1878 : enlisted in
Co. K., 145th I. V. I., May 10, 1864; mustered out Sept. 23, 1864. Married Feb. 14, 1868, to
Miss Mary E. Steward, who was born in Indiana; three children by this union — Joseph H.,
Ida and Andrew P.
GEORGE HENLINE, deceased. Mr. Henline was born in Madison Co., Ky., June 6, 1796;
he was married Dec. 17, 1817, to Miss Margaret Rayburn, who was born in Kentucky Oct. 31,
1798. Mr. H., with his family of seven children, removed to the then Far West in the fall of
1828, locating in what is now Lawndale Township, this county, and five years later he located in
Money Creek Township, where he resided at the time of his death, which occurred Oct. 2, 1868,
his wife surviving him until April 13, 1872; of their family of ten cliildren, seven are now liv-
ing— Almarine, wife of John Dawson; Sabra, wife of Jonathan Darnall ; John; Mary A. L.,
wife of John Gregory ; Louisa S., wife of J. B. Hopkins; Matilda J., wife of Matthew Adams;
and William M. ; three deceased— Perry, died Nov. 5, 1818; Zarilda J., Feb. 5, 1825 ; George,
March 3, 1855.
WILLIAM M. HENLINE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 10 ; P. 0. Lexington ; born in Money
Creek Township, this county, July 3, 1838, and now resides on the farm where he was born;
his father, George Henline, who was a native of Madison Co., Ky., removed to Illinois in the fall
of 1828, and settled in Lawndale Township. The subject of this sketch has resided in Money
Creek Township since birth, a period of over forty years; he owns 405 acres of land in Money
Creek Township ; served as Collector for four years. Married in 1858 to Miss Sarah C. Stew-
ard, who was born in Indiana July 13, 1839 ; died April 10, 1872 ; two children by this union —
Stephen A. D. and William A. R. ; was again married, Dec. 5, 1872, to Eliza A. Griffith, who
was born in Fayette Co., Penn. ; two children by this union, one living — Noah O. A. Mr. H, is
a member of McLean Lodge, No. 206, I. 0. 0. F., and Lexington Encampment, No. 161.
FRANCKE B. HOBART, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 16; P. 0. Lexington; born in
Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, Feb. 22, 1854, but removed to Illinois in early childhood with his father's
family, locating at Maroa, Macon Co.; came to this county in 1865, locating on the farm where
he now resides ; owns 320 acres of farm binds. Married in 1876 to Miss Mary E., daughter of
Jesse Trimmer, who was born in Money Creek Township: one child by this union— Frederick E.
1022 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
C. J. W. McNEMAR, farmer aud stock-raiser, Sec. 4 ; P. 0. Lexington ; born iu Hardy
(now Grant) Co., W. Va., May 12, 1836, where he resided until the fall of 1857 ; then removed
to Illinois, locating in McLean Co. at Lexington ; came to his present home in January, 1859 ;
was engaged in farming iu Gridley Township from 1863 to 1806 ; owns 270 acres of land in
Money Creek and Gridley Townships. Married, in 1861, Miss Mary E. Pirtle, who was born iu
Indiana : her father's family removed to Illinois in 1849 ; they have had eight children, seven
of whom are living — Osceola, Estella, Hattie A., Ida E., Noah B., Eva and Christian E. ; lost
one — John T., died April 5, 1877. Mr. Thomas J. Pirtle was born in Kentucky March 22. 1812 ;
afterward removed to Owen Co., Ind., where he was married in 1837 to Miss Elizabeth
McNaught, who was born in Owen Co., Ind., March 1, 1818. In the spring of 1849, the family
removed to Illinois, locating on the farm where his widow, Mrs. Pirtle, now resides ; her
husband died in 1865 : they had seven children, five of whom are living — Sarah C. (wife of A.
Ogden), Mary E. (wife of C. J. W. McNemar), Ezra S., James B. and Thomas M.
CHARLES M. MOuTS, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 30; P. 0. Towanda; born in Cham-
paign Co., Ohio, Feb. 10, 1832, where he resided until 1852, then removed to Logan'Co., Ohio.
In 1854, he came to Illinois, but returned to Ohio, where he remained until the spring of 1856,
then located in Towanda, this county, where he engaged in the boot and shoe business, and the
following year removed to the farm where he now resides. Owns 195 acres of land in Money
Creek Township. Served as Constable two years. School Director nine years. Was appointed
Deputy SheritF in fall of 1879. Married, in September, 1857, Miss Adaline Busic, who was
born in McLean Co. Her fatlier, Nathaniel Busic, was one of the early settlers of McLean Co.
Nine children by this union, seven of whom are living — Mary A., Francis N., Ida D., Charles
E., Bunyan C, Bertie and Sarah G.; lost two — Lincoln A. was born May 6, 1865, died Aug. 13,
1873; James W., was born May 25, 1871, died Aug. 21, 1872. Mr. M. is a member of the Money
Creek U. B. Church.
BENJAMIN OGDEN, deceased. Mr. Ogden was born in Ohio Feb. 7, 1803; he removed
from Fayette Co., Ohio, to Illinois, in the fall of 1830, locating in what is mw Money Creek
Township, this county. In 1824, he was married to Miss Sarah Stretch, who was born in
Pennsylvania July 18, 1806. They haa a family of ten children, five of whom are living —
Maria, wife of Dr. E. McAferty ; Amanda, widow of J. McAferty ; Margaret, wife of W. Haworth ;
Elizabeth, wife of John W. Stover. They have lost five children, most of whom died in child-
hood. Mr. Ogden's death occurred Sept. 27, 1873.
JESSE OGDEN, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 33; P. 0. Towanda; born iu Money Creek
Township .)uly 20, 1834, his father, Benjamin Ogden, a native of the State of Ohio, having
settled in the township in October, 1830. The subject of this sketch now resides on the farm
his father bought soon after he came to the State, and near the old homestead owns about 700
acres of laud in Money Creek Township. Served as Supervisor two terms. Assessor two terms
and has held other minor offices.
CHALMERS RAYBURN, teacher and farmer. Sec. 35 ; P. 0. Towanda; born in Madison Co.,
Ohio March 26, 1848, but removed iu early childhood with his father's family to Illinois, locating
at Blooming! on iu the fall of 1851. The following March the family removed to Money Creek
Township, where the subject of this sketch remained, working on his father's farm until 18
years of age. In 1806, he entered the State Normal University, at Bloomington, and graduated
at that institution in 1872; since the above date, he has followed teaching in McLean and other
counties iu this Slate, and for a time was engaged m teaching in Iowa. He owns eighty acres
of farm lauds iu Money Creek Township. In 1874, he was married to Miss Bell Hutton, who
was born in Indi;ina. They have one child — James Q.
MERLE H. RAVBUllN, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 35; P. 0. Towanda; born in Madison
Co., Ohio, Jan. 22, ]«45, where he resided until 1851 , removing to Illinois in the fell of that year,
stopping at Bloomington until the spring of 1852, then located in Money Creek Township. He
served as Town Clerk one year. Enlisted in the 145th I. V. I., in 1864; mustered out in the
fall of the .same year. Married, in 1872, Miss Emma Overman, who was born in Fulton Co.,
III.; two children by this union— Merle I. and David Q. Mr. R. owns eighty acres of form
lauds in Money Creek Township.
JOHN W. STOVER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 34 ; P.O. Towanda; born in Pickaway
Co., Ohio, May 15, 1833, wiiere he riesided until his removal to Illinois in about 1852, when he
located in Money Creek Township, this county. Married, iu 1857, Miss Elizabeth, daughter of
Benjamin Ogden, who was one of the early settlers in that township, locating there as early as
the fall of 18;;0. Mrs. Stover was born iu Money Creek Township. They have four children
living — Sarah, Cora, Etta aud Benjamin W. ; lost two— Ida, and one who died in iufancy. Mr.
S. owns 277 acres of farm lands in Money Creek Township.
ENOS A. TRIMMER, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 17; P. 0. Towanda; born in Money
Creek Township, this county, Oct. 18, 1856. His father, Jesse Trimmer, came to this county
in the summer of 1820. Mr. Trimmer now resides on the old home place, and his farm consists
565 acre.-jof land, valued at ,'517,000. A sketch of his father will be found in the Lexington Town-
ship list ol biographies, and, in the history of Money Creek Township, further mention in con-
nection with settlement of the township.
BLUE MOUND TOWNSHIP. 1023
JOHN F. TRIMMER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 20; P. 0. Towanda ; born in Money
Creek Township Jan. 17, 1844, his father, Jesse Trimmer, having settled in the township in
1826; owns 785 acres of farm lands in Money Creek and Gridley Townships. Enlisted in Co.
C, 94th Illinois Infantry, in January, 1864; transferred to the 37th Illinois Tufantry in August,
1865 ; mustered out in May, 1866. During his term of service, he was in the following battles :
Fort Morgan, and other engagements in the vicinity of Mobile, Ala. Married, in 1870, Miss
Priscilla C. Surface, who was born in Illinois. Four children by this union — Artie G., Dai-(y
D., Willie W. Mr. Trimmer owns what is known as the Thomas Mill, located on Sec. 20, Money
Creek Township. He has recently put in one run of stone, and is now prepared to manufact-
ure meal and feed for stock.
BLUE MOUND TOWNSHIP.
JEHU ALLEN, farmer. Sec. 31 ; P. 0. Holder. The subject of this memoir was born ia
Shenandoah Co., Va., Nov. 15, 1804. There he resided until his parents' removal to Belmont
Co., Ohio, which was in 1811. His parents were among the first settlers of that portion of Ohio.
His union with Mary A. Garretson occurred in Flushing, Belmont Co., Ohio, April 2, 1835.
She was born in Adams Co., Penn., Sept. 5, 1808. She is a daughter of Amos and Mary Gar-
retson. Her mother's maiden name was Mary Talbott. They were married according to the
rites of the Friends' Society, and have been exemplary members of the same all their lives, as
have been all their children. From the union of John Allen and Mary A. Garretson there were
five children, four of whom are now living, viz., Mary, Rebecca, Alcinda and Edward W. All
the children are married and living in the county except Edward W., who lives in Lincoln, Neb.
Mr. Allen has been a resident of Blue Mound Township since 1865 ; owns seventy acres of land,
all under a good state of cultivation.
ROBERT BARR, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O. Selma ; Presbyterian; Republican; one
of the early settlers ; born in Allegheny Co., Penn., Nov. 9, 1831. He removed with his parents,
when quite young, to Cass Co., Ind., where he was raised to farm labor. In 1856, he came to
Lexington Townsliip, McLean Co., where he lived one year, then one year in Knox Co., and, in
the spring of 1858, located upon his present place, where he purchased eighty acres, to which
he added, in 1864, by purchase, eighty acres more, making a farm of one hundred and sixty
acres, with good buildings. He has resided upon his present place for a period of upward of
twenty-one years, and is, consequently one of the oldest continuous residents of the township.
He was married Aug. 16. 1860, to Nancy Williams. She was born in Ohio April 5, 1840. They
have two children by this union, viz., Sarah E., born July 13, 1862; and Marietta, born May
4, 1867.
GEORGE W. BINGHAM, farmer, Sec. 32; P. 0. Holder. The subject of this sketch was
born in Johnston Co., N. Y., March 22, 1832 ; his parents came to Lake Co., 111., in 1834, where
they lived until 1855, at which time they came to McLean Co. and located in Padua Township,
where they have since resided. Mr. Bingham's father was a native of Connecticut, and his
mother of New York ; the father died Feb. 21, 1879 ; the mother is still living, and is in posses-
sion of all her faculties. The subject of this sketcli has been a resident of McLean Co. twenty-
four years, and of Blue Mound Township three years. Owns forty acres of nicely-improved
land, which he has made by his economy and industry. He was united in marriage with Han-
nah J. Bedell May 5, 1875 ; served three years in the war of the rebellion ; was in Co. D, 94th
I. V. I., and served with distinction until his discharge.
E. C. BLISS, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 7 ; P. 0. Towanda ; one of the old settlers of
McLean Co. ; Congregationalist ; Republican ; born in Bristol Co., Mass., Nov. 27, 1822. At the
age of 22 years, he learned and worked at the carpenter trade until 1846, when he went to
Havana, Cuba, and worked at his trade in the car-shops some eight months ; in 1851, he came to
Jacksonville, Morgan Co., 111., and worked at his trade for ten years ; in 1861. he came to Blue
Mound Township, and, in 1864, he purchased 160 acres of wild land, which he has since
improved, and where he has since lived. His marriage with Lucy A. Harmon was celebrated in
St. Louis April 20, 1852; she was born in Suffield, (^onn., June 13, 1830; they were the parents
of three children, of whom two are now living — Herbert E., born May 30, 1854, and Leonard
H., May 4, 1865, and who weighed 210 pounds at 14 years of age, and is considered tlie largest
boy of his age in the couuty. While in Cuba, Mr. Bliss became so impressed with the evil eflFects
of slavery, that, upon his return home, he affiliated with the Abolitionists until he witnessed the
extinction of slavery in this country, since which time he has labored for the success of the
Republican party.
JOSHUA BROWN, farmer and dealer in live stock, Sec. 31 ; P. 0. Holder. The subject of
this sketch was born in Lancaster Co., Penn.. Aug. 10. 1810, where he resided until 1830, at
which time he came with his parents to Tazewell Co., 111. ; there he remained until his removal
to McLean Co., which occurred in the fall of 1866 ; on first coming to the county, he located in
the city of Normal, and engaged in the lumber trade, in which business he continued until his
1024 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
removal to Blue Mound Township, which was in 1874. Mr. Brown is one of the large farmers
and stock-raisers in Central Illinois; owns 4G0 acres of land in Blue Mound Township, 320 acres
in Anchor Township, a nicely-improved property in the city of Normal, and tracts of land in
Marlon Co., Ill , and in Missouri and California; he also owns " The Old Home Farm" (440
acres) in Tazewell Co., which is one of the best improved fixrms in that county; he has madp,
for most part, wliat he now has, by close attention to business, combined with industry and
economy. His marriage with Hannah A. Russell was celebrated in 1832; from this union there
were two children — William and Marshall. Mrs. Brown died in the spring of 1855. Mr.
Brown was united in marriage with his present wife Feb. 28, 1876; her maiden name was Julia
A. Cook, and she was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., Oct. 5, 1821 ; there are four children from
this marriage — Allen, Wilner, Charles and Susan. Mr. Brown is a consistent member of the
Friends' Society, as are all his ftimily.
GRIFFITH E. CO ALE, former. Sec. 31 ; P. 0. Holder. The subject of this sketch was born
in Huntington Co., Ind., June 15, 1848, where he lived until 1867, at which time he came to
Blue Mound Township, McLean Co., 111., where he has since resided. His father (Benjamin
Coale) was born in Chester Co., Penn., Aug 17, 1821, and his mother in the city of Philadelphia,
July 16, 1826; her maiden name was Elizabeth H. Edwards; their marriage occurred July 29,
1846 : from this union there were six children, five of whom are now living — Mary, GriflBth E.
(the subject of this sketch), Vincent M., Joseph W. and Rebecca J.; the name of the one
deceased was Robert H. The subject of this sketch was united in marriage with Mary E. Moore
Dec. 15, 1869. Mr. Coale owns a nicely-improved farm of 120 acres, which he has made by his
own exertions.
A. H. CO\GER, farmer, stock-raiser and shipper, Sec. 18; P. 0. Towanda ; one of the old
settlers of Blue Mound Township. Baptist; Republican. Born in Licking Co., Ohio, March
19, 1830. In 1855, he emigrated to McLean Co., 111., and was employed as farm laborer until
1859, when he rented land one year, and, in 1860, purchased eighty acres of his present place,
locating upon the same the following year. Upon the 28th of April, 1861, he was united in
marriage with Ellen J. White; she was born in Tippecanoe Co., Ind., Oct. 12, 1839; they have
six children now living, having lost two by death ; the living are Clara A., Charlie C, Cora A.,
Bertice H., Pearl F. and Blanche E. Upon the marriage of Mr. Conger, he worked by the
month to obtain means to put up his house, which was 12x16, in which he lived four years.
Mr. Conger came to this county with a capital not to exceed $50; he now owns 195 acres, which
he has improved by his own hard labor, with good farm buildings, all of which he has accumu-
lated by his own exertions. In 1876, he engaged in the agricultural trade, in Towanda, since
which time he has been engaged in buying and shipping stock to the Chicago market. Mr. Conger
is now Town Collector of Blue ]\Iound Township. Mrs. Conger is a daughter of George C. White,
one of the old settlers of the county, and whose sketch appears in this work.
JOHN 0. B. CRIST, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 35; P. 0. Ellsworth. The subject of
this sketch was born in Brown Co., Ohio, March 22, 1835, and removed with his parents to
Tazewell Co., 111., in 1845, where he remained till 1849, at which time he came to Danvers Town-
ship, where he lived until four years ago. His father kept a hotel in Tremont, Tazewell Co.,
in an early day, he was a native of Ohio ; his mother, who is now living in Danvers, was born
in New York : tliere were eiglit children in his father's family, most of whom ai-e now living in
.McLean Co. His union with Clarinda Johnson was celebrated March 1, 1860 ; she was born in
Monroe Co., Va,, May 15, 1837 ; from this union there are four children, viz. : Cora, born May
2, 1862; Franklin, born Feb. 7. 1864; Lilly, born Oct. 5, 1866, and Mattie, born Sept. 2, 1875.
Mr. Crist owns 1 60 acres of nicely-improved land, all of which is under a good state of cultivation.
JESSE DRULEY, farmer and dealer in live-stock; P.O. Normal. The subject of this
sketch was born in Clermont Co., Ohio. Jan. 9, 1809, and, in 1815, when but a child, came with
his parents to what is now known as Wayne Co., Ind ; his mother is still living in Wayne Co.,
on the place they first improved when they came to Indiana. The Mher had been a soldier
in the war of 1812; had assisted in (he organization of Wayne and adjoining counties, and was
a very prominent and influential man in his life-time ; he died in 1874, at the advanced age of
92 years. The subject of this sketch came to Atlanta, Logan Co.. 111., Oct. 20, 1857, without
any means whatever to support a family of eleven persons ; he not only managed to support his
family, but, by hard work and economy, succeeded in accumulating considerable property. His
removal to iMcLean Co. occurred in 1866, where he has since resided. His residence is on North
Lynden street, and it is one of the best improved properties in the city. He also owns 85 aci-es
in Normal Township, and a nicely-improved farm of 210 acres in Blue Mound Township. His
union with Jane Oartliwait occurred Nov. 18, 1830; she was born in Elizabetlitown, N. J., Dec.
24, IHU ; from this union there were eleven children, eight of whom are now living, viz., Mary
J., William M., Emma J., Edwin P., Mary A , Rufus A., Amanda E. and Albert A. On Nov.
18, 1880, they purpose celebrating their golden wedding, when they expect about two hundred
friends and relatives to be with them.
JA.MKS F. (iOLDEN, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 26; P.O.Ellsworth; one of the old set-
tlers of Blue .Mound Township; was born in Madison Co., Ky., April 4, 1837: he has been a
resident of Blue Mound Township for most part since 1857; his parents are both dead, the
BLUE MOUND TOWNSHIP. 1025
father dying in 1855, and the mother in 1865. In his father's family there were eleven children,
three of whom are now living in McLean Co. He was united in marriage with Mary Spawr
Oct. 9, 1864; she was born in McLean Co., 111., Feb. 6, 1839 ; from tliis union there are sis
children, viz. : Lizzie J., born Aug. 26, 1865; Alta R., born July 24, 1867 : Gilbert F., born
March 31, 1870 ; Lulu B., born June 30, 1872; John F., born Sept. 24, 1876 ; and Edna E.,
born Sept. 18,1878. Mr. Golden owns 120 acres of nicely-improved land in Blue Mound Town-
ship, and 240 acres in Marion Co., Kan., located on Section 26, Town 17, Range 4 east of
Third Principal Meridian ; all this Mr. Golden has made by hard work and economy.
HAMILTON GREEN, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 7; P. O. Towanda ; one of the old set-
tlers of Blue Mound Township. Methodist; Repub'ican. Born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., Jan.
4, 1829. He emigrated to McLean Co. in the spring of 1856, purchased his present place of ItiO
acres in July of the same year, and located upon the same the following September, at which
time there were only fifty-two acres broken, and which he has brought from its wild prairie con-
dition to its ni'esent high state of cultivation by his own hard labor ; there were no roads at that
time, and to go to any point a direct line would be taken, with no fence to obstruct the way ;
they first rented an unfinished house, in which they lived until they erected what is now a part of
their present residence, which was 16x24 feet. The early settlers, like the ancient Israelites,
experienced no trouble in worshiping God, and the first prayer-meeting of the district was held
in Mr. Green's house, and in this house Mrs. Green taught the first school of the district, her
scholars coming from three districts and two townships, and for several years singing-schools
were also taught in the same house. His marriage with Elizabeth C. Ludwig was celebrated in
1855 ; she was born in Northumberland Co., Penn., Oct. 15, 1831, and was raised in Orleans Co.,
N. Y.; they are the parents of four children — Gertrude, born July 12, 1857 ; William F., Aug. 2,
1861 ; Thomas, May 2, 1864; John H., Aug. 30, 1869. Mr. Green has been Town Clerk four
years. Town Trustee six years, and has held other petty offices.
C. HOPT, fiirmer. Sec. 15 : P. 0. Towanda ; born in Wurtemberg, Germany, Jan. 28, 1830 ;
in the fall of 185'>, he came to America, and spent the winter in New York ; in the spring of
1857, he came to Logan Co., 111., where he was employed as farm laborer seven years, and fol-
lowed fiirming five years upon rented land ; in 11" 69, he located upon his present place, where
he has 160 acres, all under a good state of improvement, which he has accumulated by his own
hard labor, energy and industry, in which he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife, to
whom lie was united in marriage in 1865; her maiden name was Anna A. Alpter ; she was a
native of Prussia : they have five children — Peter, Charlie, Sophia. Annie and Johnny.
CHARLES E. KRAUSE. fixrmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 29 ; P. 0. Bloomingtoa. The sub-
ject of this sketch was born in Prussia May 4, 1844, and came to the United States when a boy
10 years of age ; resided in Bloomington until 1860, at whicli time he moved to Towanda Town-
ship, where he remained for a period of ten years ; he was a soldier in the war of the re^ellion,
and served one year; was in Co. A, 150th I. V. I.; enlisted in 1864, and was dischnrged in
1865. He has been a resident of Blue Mound Township nine years : owns 160 acres of nicely-
improved land. He was united in marriage with Elizabeth Fletcher Dec. 24, 1867; from this
union there were six children, four of whom are now living — Ida A., born Nov. 3, 1870 ; Charles
F., June 25, 1872; Mary, Aug. 16, 1874; and Peinhold, July 29, 1878; the names of those
deceased were Elizabeth E., born Sept. 1, 1868, and died Oct. 12, 1873; and Emil, born Feb. 9,
1877, and died March 1, 1877. Mrs. Krause was born in Hampshire, Eng., Dec. 28, 1850 ; her
father, John Fletcher, is one of the large land-holders of Blue Mound Township.
THOMAS H. NEWTON, farmer. Sec. 11; P O.Selma; oneof the oldest settlers ; born in Han-
cock Co., 111., Feb 16, 1843 ; he was brought up to farm labor until August, 1862, when he enlisted
in the 94th I. V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union ; he served in the campaign of
Missouri and Arkansas, siege and capture of Vicksburg and Yazoo City ; they then went to
Brownsville, Tex., and, in August, 1864, returned to New Orleans, from thence to Baton Rouge,
La., where he was detailed in the Quartermaster's Department, and, in October, joined his reg-
iment at Ft. Morgan, Mobile Bay ; he was engaged in the capture of Spanish Fort, and, in June,
1865, he was forwarded to Galveston, Tex.; mustered out of service in July, and received his
discharge in August, 1865, having served in the Union army for three years, and was never off
duty after the first two months of his enlistment ; he has since followed farming, with the
exception of two years labor in Bloomington ; in 1869, he purchased his present place of eighty
acres, where he has since lived. He was married Feb. 18, 1869, to Eliza Smith ; she was born
in Indiana; they have two children — William W. and Gracie. Mr. Newton is a Republican,
and votes as he fought; he is the second son of W. H. Newton, who is one of the early settlers
of this township; he was born in Trigg Co., Ky., Jan. 23, 1818; he came to Illinois in 1833,
and to McLean Co. in 1844 ; in 1857, he came to Blue Mound Township ana purchased 160
acres upon Sec. 11, where he has since lived ; he assisted in the organization of the township ;
voted at the first town meeting, and has voted at every town meeting since. He married Martha
E. Routt May 26, 1840; she was born in Kentucky May 22, 1822; they have six children —
John H., Thomas, Richard, Mary, Olive and Mattie.
MILTON K. SMITH, farmer. Sec. 30 ; P. 0. Holder. The subject of this sketch is (he son
of Nathan and Rebecca L. Smith : the father was born in Loudoun Co., Va.. and his mother in
1026 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Belmont Co., Ohio; her maiden name was Pickering; they came to Indiana in an early day,
and settled in Henry Co.; after living there a time, they removed to Wayne Co.; there, on the
IStli of August, 1835, the subject of this sketch was born. He was united in marriage with
Mary G. Allen April 15, 1857; she is a daughter of Jehu and Mary A. Allen, whose sketch
appears in this work; from this union there were five children — Alva C, Edgar .J., Elizabeth
A., Nathan F. and .Jehu W. Mr. Smith and his wife are members of the Friends' Society, as
were their parents. He owns forty acres of nicely improved land, which he has made by his
economy and industry.
HE\^ JOHN S. STAGNER, Christian minister, Sec. 27; P. 0. Ellsworth. The subject of
this sketch was born in Madison Co., Ky., March 1, 1829, where he resided until his removal
to McLean Co., which was Oct. 19, 1852; he has been a resident of Blue Mound Township since
March 1, 1855, and is one of its oldest living settlers. He was united in marriage with Julia
A. Golden April 10, 1848; she was born in Madison Co., Ky., March 25, 1829, and died Nov.
10,1873; from this union there are ten children — John F., born March 1, 1849; Nancy C,
June 20, 1851 ; Mildred G.. June 21, 1853 ; Thomas R., April 2, 1857 ; Lytle W., Jan. 5, 1859;
Ida A., July 16, 1860; Pattie L., Dec. 18, 1863; Allie J., Dec. 17, 1865; Benjamin F., Feb.
18, 1867; and Evalena, Aug. 7, 1870. Mr. Stagner has been a minister of the Christian Church
eighteen years, and a member since 1854 ; he has held the offices of Commissioner of Highways
and School Trustee ; owns 210 acres of land in Blue Mound Township, and 240 acres in Marion
Co., Kan., all of which he has obtained by his economy and industry.
SAMUEL A. STOOPS, farmer and manufacturer of all kinds of drain tile, Sec. 32 : P. 0.
Padua. The subject of this sketch was born in Fayette Co., Ky., April 22, 1831 : came, with
his parents, to Marion Co., Ind., when a child, where he lived until 1850, at which time, he
removed to Fulton Co., 111., and engaged in the wagon manufacture, in which business he con-
tinued for about twelve years ; in 1866, he sold his interest in the wagon-shop and bought a farm
in the same county; did not keep the farm he bought in Fulton Co. but a short time before he
sold it and came to McLean Co., 111.; this was in 1867, and he has been a resident of Blue
Mound Township ever since. He owns 160 acres of land, upon which are two beautiful resi-
dences; he is also senior partner in a large drain-tile manufactory; from this manufactory come
the best tiles in Central Illinois ; it was started about a year ago, and they now find it quite
difficult to manufacture sufficiently fast to meet the demand ; this is owing to the superior qual-
ity of tile they manufacture; it is located on the L., B. & M. R. R , Padua, McLean Co., 111.
Mr. Stoops had no means to commence with, and he owes his success in life to his close atten-
tion to business, combined with economy and industry. Mr. Stoops' father was born in West-
moreland Co., Penn., in 1787, and died in Marion Co., Ind., in 1854; his mother's maiden name
was Rosanna Kephart ; she was born in Maryland in 1802 ; she is still living, and is in possession
of all her faculties. The union of Samuel A. Stoops and Eleanor Clanin was celebrated Sept.
21, 1854; she was born in Hamilton Co., Ohio, April 9, 1834; from this union tliere are five
children — Artha A., born June 22, 1856; Laselle, born Sept. 19, 1858; Elma A., born Aug.
31, 1862 ; Tiieodore, born Sept. 17, 1867, and Amy J., born July 5, 1871.
MATTHIAS SUTTER, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 19; P. 0. Holder. The subject of this
sketch was born in Baden, Germany, Sept. 7, 1821, where he lived until 1854, at which time he
came to the United Slates ; lived in Albany, N. Y., for a short time previous to his removal to
.McLean Co., whicli occurred in 1855; he lived in Blooraington for twelve years, and was
engaged in working for the Chicago & Alton R. R. He has been a resident of Blue Mound
Townsliip since the spring of 1868; owns 140 acres of well-improved land, which he has made
by hard work and economy. He was united in marriage with Louisa Balshewel Feb. 2, 1856;
they liave six living children — Samuel. Joseph, Henry, Addie, William and Frank ; they have
lost three cliildren by the I'cmorseless hand of death — Louisa, .Mary and a babe, not named.
Mr. Sutter and his family take a great interest in books and papers, and are among the most
intelligent of tlieir people in the county.
JAMES .M.VINCENT, farmer, Sec. 30; P.O. Holder; one of the old settlers of Blue
Mound Township ; was born in Hami)shire, England, Nov. 14, 1825 ; came to the United States July
€, 1H54 ; at tlie time of his coming to tlic United States, he was a single man, and for quite a num-
ber of years traveled in different parts of the United States and Canada, until, in the fall of 1856,
he came to Bloomington, 111., where he has since resided. On the lltli of April, 1858, he was
united in marriage with Maria Ward; from this union there are six children, all of whom are
living — Henry, Frank, William, Richard, James and John. Mr. Vincent has held a number of
offices of i)rofit and trust in the county, and is one of the intluential men of tlie township in
whicli he lives ; owns 120 acres of land, all of which is under a good state of cultivation, which
he has obtained by hard work and economy.
ADA.M WEBER, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 20; P. O Padua. The subject of this sketch
was born in Prussia, July 8, 1826, where he lived until 1854, at which time he came to
the Uniieil States, and settled in Muscatine Co., Iowa, where he lived five years ; he then returned
to Prussia, wliere lie married his present wife ; her maiden name being Anna M. Baker; they
came to tlie United Stales in the fall of 1859, and, in the spring of 1860, came to Blue Mound
Township, where he has since resided ; they have eleven children, viz., Francis, John A., Mary,
DALE TOWNSHIP. 1027
Frank, Elizabeth, Ida, Peter, Henry, Anna, Kate and Emma. Mr. Weber owns 160 acres of
land all under cultivation, which he has made by hard work and economy.
WILLIAM H. WHITE, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 17 ; P. 0. Towanda ; born in Tippe-
•canoe Co., Ind., Nov. 12, 1835 ; at 15 years of age, he emigrated with his father to Smith's Grove,
Towanda Township, McLean Co., where they located in 1850; upon March "20, 1864, he located
upon his present place, where he has since followed farming and stock-raising, where he owns
240 acres all under a good state of cultivation. His father, George C. White, as well as several
■of his brothers and sisters, is mentioned in this work. His marriage with Martha Donavan
was celebrated Jan. 19, 1865 ; sho was born in Clark Co., Obio, April 12, 1840; four children
were the fruit of this union — William E., born Oct. 4, 1873, died, July 31, 1875 ; Hattie
E., born July 8, 1876. died Oct. 3, 1877 : George C, born Dec. R, 1865 ; and Annie E , June 8,
1869.
DALE TOWNSHIP.
JAMES ALLISON, farm and stock ; P. 0. Covell ; was born, June 28, 1827, on a farm in
Bedford Co., Penn.; remaining there with his father until 12 years old, when they moved to
Miami Co., Ohio, remaining nine years, engaged in farming, renting of F. J. and J. Weddle
four 3 ears, then of Johnson five years. In 1849, they came to McLean Co., 111., settling at Twin
<jrove, renting of Munsell & Beeler ; he then began business on his present farm of 100 acres —
earned entirely by his own labor. In April, 1847, he was married to Eliza J. Colebough, of Penn-
sylvania. Mr. Allison remembers well the howl of the wolves and almost the shriek of the Indian.
But little was known of the merits of the now rich soil of Dale Township when Mr. Allison set-
tled his now most beautiful farm, which was then a raw prairie. They have three children, viz.,
Cordelia J., Alphert>x and James A.
H. G. BOMGARDNER, grocer and station agent and Postmaster, Covell ; was born in
Dauphin Co., Penn., Nov. 4, 1840; remained there until 1856; was engaged in farming until
1853, when he engaged in dry-goods business, clerking for M. Weiler at |35 per year; in
1856, he came with bis aunt, Mrs. D. Gerberich, to Bloomington, 111., and engaged in clerking
for R. Leach, for one year, at $25 per month ; he then went in partnership with H. Slope, in
general notions, for six years. In 1861, he was married to Ellen E. Walcott, of New York; one
year after marriage, they went to Chicago, and he engaged in managing business for K. R.
Landon, at $125 per month, for nearly two years; moved from there to Danvers, 111., and
engaged in business for three years, dealing in general notions; he moved from there to Bloom-
ington, 111., and engaged as clerk in dry goods store, for J. E. Houtz, three and one-half years ;
he then made his final settlement at Covell, where he is engaged in general notion store, and is
also Postmaster, and railroad station agent on Jacksonville line ; also buys grain for Linebarger
& Bro., of Stanford, at this place. They have six children, viz., Alice, Harry, Tillie, Charlie
(deceased), Winnie and Clara. He and wife are members of the Congregational Church at
Danvers.
R. R. CAMPBELL, farm and stock; P. 0. Covell ; was born Oct. 7, 1826, in Franklin Co.,
Penn.; remained there until 1849, in which year he was married to E. C. Harvey, a native of
Pennsylvania; the first year after marriage, they managed his father's farm, and moved then to
Indiana, settling in Clinton Co., on farm, renting of William Parrin for seven years; he then
moved to McLean Co., 111., settling, in 1846, on the present farm of eighty acres, which he has
increased to 240 acres, earned by their own labor ; it was then a raw prairie, but now presents
the view of a most magnificent farm. Mr. Campbell has not been forgotten by the voters of
Dale ; he was Supervisor in 1863-64. and School Director three years. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell
<lo not forget the Sabbath, but take an active part in the Sunday school at Covell Union Church,
of which they are members, of Presbyterian denomination. They have four children, viz.,
Harriet E, J.N., William and E. C.
A. D. BENJAMIN, Jr., farm and stock ; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born Sept. 2t), 1852, in
Dale Township, McLean Co., on present farm, which was given him by his father, and is the " old
homestead," settled by A. D. Benjamin, Sr., now deceased. He came from Hinsdale, Mass.,
and entered this farm of forty acres, in 1849, which he increased to 314; at his death, it became
the children's by will. He married Sarah E. Stiger, a native of Pennsylvania. He was a sailor
on the Atlantic from 16 to 22. , His son, A. D., was married January, 1875, to Esther E. Darrow,
born in Pennsylvania, Schuylkill Co., Aug. 16, 1854; after marriage, they settled on their pres-
ent farm, his father remaining with him until death, which was Sept. 19, 1878. Has one child
— Ira, born Dec. 13, 1877. A. C. Benjamin, his brother, was born in 1855, in Dale Town-
ship, 111., on same farm; remained until 21, when be began working in a clothing store for
Livingston & Co., Bloomington, six months, Heldmon, two months. Goldsmith, four months,
worked next for Freeman by month, also for Sutton ; he then began working in a wagon fac-
tory for T. H. Smith & Co., of Pekin. Was married Feb. 7, 1878, to Josephine Lovenguth.
1028 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
JAMES F. IJOULWARE, farm and stock; P. 0. Shirley; was born Dec. 23, ISIS, on
farm in Mailison Co., Ky. ; was fifth son of John'Boulware, born in Virginia about 1788. He
was married to Mai-y Mcl'lain, oi' Virginia. Mr. Boulware remained in Kentucky, engaged in
farming until 1852, when he came to Illinois. In 1851, he was married to Mary Kelly, born in
Madison Co., Ky.; in 1852, they made their final settlement in Dale Township, and improved
three farms; first, what is now the Boyd fiirm ; second, the Lane farm. In 18G7, settled on
present farm of lUO acres, earned principally by their own labor and management; they have
made this one of the finest farms in the county ; every convenience that could be desii-ed is
pre.sent Mr. Boulware has held the office of Supervisor of Dale Township; is now Trustee :
Commissioner, two years. His mother died Feb. 16, 1870 ; she was one of those ambitious women
who never ceased to be doing something, and when near 9(! and 92 years old, she did some elegant
crocheting, making spreads and napkins. Mrs. Boulware, wife of Mr. Boulware, was a grad-
uate of the lUchmond, Va., Female Academy; she takes great interest in literature; she writes
often for the Oenwcralic Xews, of B\oommgton ; also contributes her own productions to American
Christian Revieic, of Cincinnati, and Christian of St. Louis. She has also on hand many able
manuscripts. They have one adopted daughter — Mary R. .Mr. and Mrs. Boulware are members
of the Christian Church, at Shirley.
HAMILTON BOID, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley : was born in 1817, in Jefferson
Co., Ohio, and remained there xnd in Coshocton Co. until 1855 ; wjis engaged in farming and
running canal-boat, managing shipping wheat, wine and whisky. In LS42, he was married to
Margaret Boyd, of same name, but no connection: she was born in Keen Township, Coshocton
Co , Ohio. After marriage, they settled on a farm, which they bought, for two years. In 1855,
they came to Illinois by wagon, as was somewhat customary, and settled in Bloomington for some
time; afterward moving to Tazewell Co. In 1858, they settled the present little farm of eighty-
tliree acres, which he has made a magnificent little home. He has worked by month, at $10 to
$15. Mr. Boyd makes a specialty in breeding fine horses. He has now one fine horse. He has
held the offices of School Director and Pathmaster. Have five children — John, Anderson, Mary
E., Margaret, Sarah.
J. L. DOUGLASS, grain merchant, of the firm of Funk & Douglass, grain, coal, lumber
and salt merchants, Shirley, was horn in York Co., Penn., Oct. 0, 1843. In 1868, he came West,
looking for work, and first stoppe<l at Chicago. Here he failed to find work, and then went to
Bloomington, where he found that, by applying, he could get a place at Shirley as school
teacher. He went there at once and accei ted the appointment which was offered him, and from
that first step, he has gradually improved his condition in life. He was appointed station
agent for the C. & A. R. R.,'then express agent, and then Postmaster; these offices he has
filled for the last nine years. He entered the grain business, with Mr. Funk, iti 1876; they
handle some 40,000 bushels of grain in a year, and own a first-class eUvator, having a capacity
of 12,000 bushels. Mr. Douglass married Miss Nancy Johnston, of Allegheny City, Penn., who
is a graduate of the State Normal School, of Millersville, Penn. They have four children —
three boys and one girl. Mr. Douglass has held several offices in connection with schools, and
is, at present, .<chool Treasurer. '
JOHN FREED, farm and stock; P. 0. Covell ; was born Nov. 25, 1815, on a farm in Fay-
ette Co., Penn , and remained there until 45 years old ; was engaged in farming, working for
his father until 24, when he began business for himself. Dec. 12, 1830, was married. to Fan-
nie hobinson, daughter of James Robinson, a distiller and farmer. After marriage, they settled
in Fayette Co., renting of his father five years. He then bought a farm of 140 acres ; remained
there until 1861, selling out in 1860. In 1861, they moved to Gridley ; remained eighteen
months, farming, renting of the Railroad Company. From there, they came to Towanda, and
bought eighty acres of .Miller, paying $25 per acre ; .some time after, buying eighty acres of
Papunaw, making 160 acres. In 1865, he sold-the farm to Bone, at ^40 per acre, and then
moved to his present farm of 180 acres, ac<iuired by their own labors. Has also a; house and lot in
Blonmington. Their marriage ble.«sed them with nine children, viz., Albert, Ann Eliza, Cyrus
(was killed in the war, in Sherman's raid to Atlanta; died in 1864), Henry, George C, James,
John, Clark, Smith. He has taken much interest in educating his children. Henry has taught
Hchool, in Illinois, five years; is now in Penns)ilvania, in the dry goods business. George is
now practicing law at Leavenworth, Kan. ; he has been insurance agent for the California
Insurance Company: afterward took agency for the combined companies, California and Mis-
souri Valley Company ; has also taught school, .\lbert has taught school, and has been Tax
Collector, for seven years, of Dale. Mr. Freed has held offices connected with schools, and
Pathmaster. He and wife belong to the Baptist Church of Bloomington.
D. G. F0RM.\N, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Bloomington; was born in New Jersey
Dec. 20, 1834 ; remained there until 25 years old. working for his father, when he began busi-
ness for himself, working on a farm : renting of Shougles for one year, and of Olden two years.
He then came to Illinois, settling in McLean Co., and working for Bolusteer for one year at $40
per month ; was overseeing his farm. He soon bought a farm of eighty acres in Dale Township,
which, by careful management, has become a beautiful farm, and has been increased to 325
acres which he has earned entirely by his own labor and management. He was married in
DALE TOWNSHIP. 1029
1856, to Sarah Flock, born in New Jersey. They have three children — William, F. and Susie E.
Mr. Forman and wife are members of the Baptist Chnrcli in Bloomington. He has held offices
connected with schools.
JOHN M. HOLMES, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Bloomington: was born in 180G, in
Kildare Co., Ireland; remained there until 24 years old ; was a soldier in the Royal Artillery
for fourteen years. In 1831, he came to Halifax, and "engaged in artillery for six years. From
there he moved to Lower Canada, in 1837 ; engaged in soldiering; afterward taking a position
in the British Government as soldier for twenty years. On the 1st day of May, 1860,-he settled
at Decatur, 111., and engaged in painting for six years. He next engaged in painting at Bloom-
ington for seven years. After which he went to Ireland and received an inheritance of $40,000.
In 187*3, he returned and bought him a pleasant little home of eighty acres, which he has
impi'oved. Was married, tirst time, in 1829. to Susan Diinn; second time to Sarah West; both of
whom were born in Ireland.
J. M. HARYE^i farmer and stock-dealer ; P. 0. Covell; was born Feb. T), 1837, on farm in
Franklin Co., Penn., and remained there engaged in farming until the spring of 1865, when he
came with his father to McLean Co., 111., settling in Dale Township, on what is now the T. A.
Rogers farm. They bought a farm of eighty acres and owned it some eight years. In October,
1862, he was mariied to M. J. Witherow, of Franklin Co., Penn. After marriage, they settled
in Shirley, one winter. Moved from there to Bloomington Township and engaged in gardening,
renting a small piece of ground of J. Hessell. Rented next of W. (}. Witherow, for one year.
He then bought and settled the present farm of eighty acres, which he has made a beautiful
home. He has held offices connected with schools ; a Director three terms ; Road Commissioner
three terms; Town Clerk one term. Mr. Harvey has topped corn at 12^ cents per day ; has
taught school at $30 per month ; worked by the month at $6. Mr. Harvey's life has been almost
one of self-care, his mother having died when he was 12 years old. He has two cliildren — Nellie
F..and Mattie E.
A. P. HKFNER, blacksmith, Covell ; was born Dec. 7, 1825, on a farm in Augusta Co , Va.;
remained there with his father as a farmer, afterward moving to Frankfort, Ind., and engaging
in smithing, working there two years, moving from there to Kirkland, Ind., and engaged with
his father in smithing twelve years; they then moved to a farm in Clinton Co., which they
bought, working at smithing two years: he then went to Frankfort, and engaged in working at
gear worl<*with Fenner for six months; he then moved to Delphi and engaged in smithing, and
at wagon :ind plow works for Dunkle cSi; Killgore for four years. In 1852, was married to
Levina Witherow, of Delphi, hid.; born in Pennsylvania In 18)7, he came to McLean Co.,
111., settling at Shirley and engaged in smithing for six years, moving from there to El Paso, 111.,
engaging in smithing two years ; he then moved to Covell, 111., and began business with nothing ;
has now ten lots ; his present dwelling is one of fine improvements. Has four children, viz.,
W. G., Florence B , Libbie M., Nannie J. He has held offices connected with schools.
JESSH HILL, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington; was born Nov. 24, 1809, in
Pennsylvania, near Lexington, Ky.; remained there until about 9 years old, when he left the
scenes of his childhood and moved with his father to Jefl'crson Co., Ind.; remained until 21,
engaged in milling and d stilling for his father ; when in his 21st year, he moved to Illinois, his
only treasure a little knapsack, which he carried on his back, measuring the distance with much
rapidity on foot. Mr. Hill settled and engaged in working by the month at $8 ; by day at 25
cents. He soon married Col Buler's daughter, and settled on the farm where Jesse Enlow now
lives, afterward settling the present farm of 220 acres, which he took from raw prairie, and has
made one of much beauty and value. Mr. Hill has been married three times ; first wife had
four children— John W., Polly Ann, Jane, Martha; by second wife, had four children, viz.,
Nancy A., Zerah, Polly M., James: by third wife, four children — Phoebe E., Jessie A., Charles,
William.
C. S JARRETT, farm and stock : P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in 1830, in Greenbrier
Co., Va.; remained there until 21 years old ; was engaged principally in stock-raising — cattle,
sheep and hogs. When Mr. Jarrett was 2 years old, his father died and left him as one of a
family of five children — Johnson, Leonard, Clark, K.ite In 1871, he came with his mother to
McLean Co., 111., and settled on the beautiful little farm of sixty-five acres, on which they now
make themselves very comfortable. The situation of this farm and surroundings make it one
much to be desired. Leonard and Johnson were in the civil war ; Johnson returned, but
Leonard never more saw his old native home ; he died with brain fever.
WILLIAM JOHNSON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; was one of fourteen
children, and was born in West Virginia in 1829, on a farm, and remained there, engaged in
farming and going to school, until 20 years old. In 1846, he came to Illinois, with a number of
hands, to manage farming 1,200 acres, which his Mher bought ; they came to Illinois by team,
stopping over Sunday and enjoying, perhaps, the company of some lone wanderer who had
staked his tent along some beautiful brook. Mr. Johnson was on farm in Twin Grove three
years before marriage, managing and improving this raw prairie. In 1851, he was married to
Amanda Harris, daughter of A. C. Harris, of Kentucky, born in 1808; he was a minister in his
younger days, and his father a minister all his life, and was the father of seventeen children —
1030 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
twelve boys and five girls ; six boys were ministers. Mr. and Mrs. Harris had five children ;
one is profe-Sor in Lincoln (111.) schools ; immediately after marriage, they settled the present
farm, then 160 acres, given him by his father, which he has increased to 300 acres ; he has, in
all, f^oO acres, and is a stock-holder in McLean County Agricultural Society : he has held school
offices twelve years : hired a substitute tor civil war at $900. Mr. and Mrs. .Johnson are active
members of the M. K. Church at Twin Grove; they have taken quite an active part in moving
and preparing this house of worship; they have seven children, viz., Belle, Emma, Ida, Ellen,.
Willie, Amos and an infant ; they are taking quite an interest in schooling their children ;
Emma and Belle are attending the Wesleyan University at Bloomington. Mr. .Johnson makes a-
specialty in feeding stock and trading in same. The war whoops of the murdering Indians had
scarcely ceased when Mr. Johnson settled this lonely prairie, and at his settlement yet remained
many deer and wolves, which had narrowly escaped the flint-rock spears of these savage red
men. Mr. Johnson, father of Wm. Johnson, was born in Virginia in 1794; died in 1877; his
mother was born in Virginia in 1800, and died in 1861. Mr. Johnson's grandfather was a Cap-
tain in the Mexican war, and was a great hunter and associate of Daniel Boone, of Kentucky.
Thus ends the sketch of lives which have been active every moment of their short career,
and many of tliem have realized the full amount and even more of their allotted three score
and ten.
JAMES LUCAS, farm and stock : P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in White Co., 111., Dec. 25,
1812, and remained there working at farming and distillery until 22 years old. In 1833, he
was married to Mary A. McFall, of Ohio. After marriage, they settled in White Co. until 1834 :
then moving to .McLean Co., settling near Le Roy, on a farm which they bought of the Govern-
ment : was then engaged in farming twelve years ; he then settled in Bloomington and engaged
in a confectionery and bakery, in partnership with William Harvey ; closing out business there,.
he settled on a farm in AUin Township, which he bought, remaining some eight years, moving-
from there to Dale Township, buying a farm of 100 acres, earned entir<!ly by his own labor and
management, paying S9,000 for it: one time of note, when the Indians made way to his father's
house, and, finding an opening through the log hut, they put their guns through and fired,,
luckily, killing no one. They have four children — S. Jane, John, Martha and Francis.
JOHN LUt^AS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born Sept. 11, 1839, on a farm
two miles east of Le Roy ; remained there engaged in farming for his father and teaching school —
taught four years, winter and summer : in 18ti7, he began farming for himself on his farm in what
is now Allin Township, for eight years ; he then sold out, and bought the present form of eighty
acres, forty of which was given him bj' his father, and the rest they have obtained by their
own ettorts. He managed this farm until married, which was in 1867 to Elizabeth Sill, of Penn-
sylvania : born in 1847. They settled on his farm immediately after marriage. He and wife
are active members of the M. £. Church at Twin Grove ; he is teacher in the Sunday school at
that place: has held school offices and Pathmaster. They have four children — Charlie E., Lillie
D., Gracy and an infant.
JAMES G. McCLELLAN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley ; was born March 28, 1824,
on a farm in Mifflin Co , Penn.; remained there till 1851, when he came to McLean Co., 111.,
settling on his present farm of 109 acres, whicli he has obtained by his own efforts : when he
was 2 years old, bis mother died, and he was left in care of Mr. and Mrs. McNiel. Mr.
McClellan was married Dec. 23, 1,S73, to Mary ("roft, born in 1851, in Somerset Co., Penn.
After marriage, they began hou.sekeeping on the present farm; when Mr. McClellan settled in
Illinois, the country was but little settled: the farm he now lives on is one of fine quality,
being intersected by the C. & A. R. R. ; he has made good improvements; does his own
carpentering and smithing. He was. by marriage with Mary Croft, blessed with three children —
James. George B. and .Alice May.
iSAMUEL MILLER, Shirley; was born Jan. 12, 1826, on a farm in Kentucky; remained
there until 9 years old, when he came with his father to McLean Co., settling in Dale Township,,
reniing of Henshaw for two yeais: his father then bought land in Dale Township, settled, and
engaged in farming ; .Mr. Miller worked for his father until 21 years old, when, on Aug. 28,
1H}7, he was married to Priscilla Allison, of Pennsylvania ; after marriage, they settled on the
present farm of eighty acres, which they have improved and made an elegant home. Mr. Miller
was one of fifteen children, the blessings of the marriage of his father to Miss Lloyd : all the
family of children are nuw living, except one, who died in the army. Mr. Miller has held offices
connected with schools as Director, and Pathmaster. They have eight children — Isabel, Annie,.
Priscilla, Thomas, Sumuel, Kebecca, Elmira and Luella.
JONATILVN PA KK, farmer and ^^tock-raiser; P. O Shirley: the son of Eli Park, of Nortb
Carolina: was born on a farm in Madison Co., Ky., July 14, 1S15, and remained there until
1863 ; engaged in farming for his father and teaching until 1836, when he married Borthana
Quinn, who was liorn in Kentucky Oct. 27, 1818 : they immediately began farming, renting of
Moberly for one year : he afterward bought 64 acres, paying for it by his own labor; they set-
tled on tiiis farm and improved and increased it to 119 acres, when, in 1853, they sold out and
<-iuiic by iciim to McLean Co., 111., settling in Dale Township, on their present fai-m of 226 acres,
which they have made and improved ; the whole country was then mostly raw prairie. Mr..
DALE TOWNSHIP. 1031
rark is very careful in business, keeps an account of every cent received and paid out,
not even the least item being left out ; he also keeps a diary of every dfiy. Has held office
in the militia, in Kentucky, for ten years; as Captain and Major; Township Trustee, Assessor
five terms, Commissioner two terms, Justice of the Peace seven years. School Director ten years.
He does his own carpentering. He and wife are members of the Christian Church, of wliich
denomination he has served as a minister tor twenty years ; has also auctioned goods. Their
marriage blessed them with eight children, all of whom are church members — Minerva E.,
Sydney I., Alwilda J., William E., Hiram R., Rhoda W., Sallie, Lucy, Mary.
QUINN & QUINN, merchants, Shirley. These gentlemen are the leading merchants of
Shirley ; they carry a stock of general merchandise: commenced business in 1870, having pur-
chased a stock from William B. Lane. They are natives of Kentucky, H. W. Quinn being the
senior member; B. F. Quinn was born Oct. 23, 1851, and is the son of S. M. and Sallie A.
(Boulware) Quinn, of Kentucky, having moved to McLean Co. in 1852.
J. W. ROGERS, farm and stock ; P. 0. Covell : was born March 9, 1835, on a farm in Perry
Co., Penn., remained there engaged in farming, working for people by munth and day ; his father
was a weaver by trade, was born in 1806 ; married, June 19, 1827, to Elizabeth Waterson, born
in Perry Co., Penn. J. W. Rogers was third son of W. L. Rogers, and, in 1847, he came with his
parents to Peoria, 111., settling there for four years, his father engaging in weaving and teaming,
and thus employed his son ; they next moved to a farm near Peoria, renting of Charles Denton for
four years; he then came to Funk's Grove Township, remaining five years farming; he then,
with his father, bought the present farm of 160 acres, which they have earned by their own labor
and management. Was married, in 1862, to Nancy A. Hull, born in Illinois in 1841 . Mr. Rogers
has worked by the month at $10, the receipts of which he has frugally used, has grown
from a poor boy to a manhood accompanied by plenty of the world's sustenance. He and his
wife have not forgotten the eternity of life, and have been active members of M. E. Church
sometime; have four children, viz., Lelia, Louis E., Jesse, Eddy; deceased — Ollie. His father
aud mother live with him.
T. A. ROGERS, farm and stock ; P. 0. Covell ; was born July 1, 1828, in Perry Co., Penn.,
and remained there engaged in farming and working at barking for tanners until 20 years old ;
his parents were poor, and he was compelled to work by the month at $4 to $6 per month ; in
1847, they came to Peoria Co., 111. ; when the family landed at Peoria, they had not one cent ;
Mr. Rogers was engaged for a time in rafting timber and managing a saw-mill at Peoria for four
years; the family moved to a farm in Peoria Co., renting of Charles Denton for four years. In
1855, was married to Elizabeth M. Shrade, born in Perry Co., Penn. ; after marriage, they settled
un the Sholty farm for one winter; in spring of 1856, they settled the present farm of 160 acres,
which they have obtained by their own efforts; has made improvements by tiling and buildings,
making a most beautiful and productive farm. Has held held offices connected with schools, and
Commissioner ; is now on his fifth term of the Patron's Fire Insurance Co., of Stanford, as Director
and Treasurer. He and his wife belong to M. E. Church at Covell ; he is Trustee and Steward ;
has five children, viz., Maggie, Mary B., Stephen A. D., Nettie, Arthur.
W. H. ROGERS, farm and stock ; P. 0. Covell ; was born in February, 1833, in Perry Co.,
Penn., on a farm ; remained there engaged in farming and working by the month at $3 for three
years, would drive four-horse teams; in 1847, he moved to Peoria, 111., and, settling there,
engaged in rafting and saw-mill business for two years, for Capt. Moss, Bradley & Smith, at |12
per month ; in 1850, they moved to a farm in Peoria Co., renting of Charles Denton for five years.
In 1855, he was married to Mary Hart, of Kentucky, born in 1839 ; her parents were born in
Kentucky ; after marriage, they settled on present farm of eighty acres, which was then raw
prairie, but now by their management has become one of fine quality. Mr. Rogers is a brother
of T. A. Rogers, whose family ancestry has been referred to, noting the fact that at their land-
ing in Peoria, they had not 1 cent. He and his wife belong to the Presbyterian Church. He
has held offices of school and Pathmaster ; they have had eight children, viz.. William (deceased),
Carrie, Lottie, Fannie (deceased), Addie, Lucy, Mattie, W. C.
D. H. SALISBURY, farmer and stock-raiser : P. 0. Covell ; was born in New York March
2, 1813 ; remained there until 1 year old, when he moved to Rhode Island ; his father died
when he was quite young, leaving him in the care of his mother, who lived among her people for
some time; she then moved to Miami Co., Ohio, leaving D. H. with an uncle of his, where he
made a home until 21 ; he then went to Miami Co., Ohio, where his mother and brother were ;
remained there until 1837, at which time they moved to South Bend, Ind., and engaged in farm-
ing for one year : returned then to Miami Co., remaining until 1843, when they moved to Illi-
nois, settling in McLean Co., and renting for five years ; he then settled on the present farm of
125 acres, earned entirely by his own labor and management. Was married in 1850 to Irene
Baker, of Indiana.
JOSHUA SELLS, farmer and stock -raiser : P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in 1827, in
Franklin Co., Ohio, on the bank of Scioto River ; remained there engaged in farming and teach-
ing; taught six terms. Was married when 22 years old to Eliza J. Smith, a native of Water-
town, N. Y., daughter of Col. Smith, of war of 1812; after marriage, they settled on a farm of
thirty-three acres in Franklin Co., which he increased to 133 acres; they remained there uniil
1032 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
1804, and iben came to McLean Co., 111., and engaged in farming his present farm of 247 acres,
earned entirely by their labors, on which farm Mr. Sells takes much pains in raising stock and
grain ; he makes a specialty in seed-corn. Has held office of Justice of the Peace six years
Director of Schools twenty-four years in Ohio and Illinois; Commissioner of Highways. Was in
the army in l^Go, entering in the 95lh and I'-ioi Ohio V. I.; he takes the stump on the Green-
back system ; was a delegate to Cleveland to inaugurate the Greenback party, and to Indianap-
olis to nominate a ticket, which resulted for Cooper and Cary, and to Toledo to name the party.
Has six children — Laura E., Charles S., Samuel, Sumner, Abram, 0. P.
JACOB SHOLTEY, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Shirley; was born Sept. 10, 1805, in
Lancaster Co.. Penn.; remained there thirty-three years, engaged in farming. In 1830, he
married Mary Kauffman, born in 1810; after marriage, they settled on a farm, Mr. Sholte^'
working by the day at 40 cents, and at $4 per month ; in 1835, he moved to Juniata Co., Penn.,
and engaged in a ilouringmill for one year ; selling out, he settled three miles east of Dayton,
Ohio, and engaged in working for Messrs. ]Monker aad Williams for six months ; he moved from
there to Indiana, settling in Delaware Co., on a farm of eighty acres, which they bought in green
woods ; their only bedstead during seven yeai's, was poles fastened to the wall and made to rest
on a stool at the other end; next bought mill property, owning it four years ; in 1849, he
moved to Bloomington, 111., engaging in farming, renting of W. Wallace; in 1850, settled on
his present farm of 125 acres, which they have increased to G30 acres, earning all by their own
labor and management ; has made fine improvements ; the barn cost S4,000; has fine facilities
for watering stock. Has had nine children — Christian (deceased), Henry C, Susan, Samuel B.
F., Benjamin D., Levi W., Annie M., Sophia (deceased), John (deceased).
FRANKLIN SPAULDING, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born ■ ept.
(3, 1799, on a farm in Windsor Co., Vt., and remained there until he was '27 years old, at which
time he was married to Azubah H. Cole, of Vermont; after marriage, they settled in Weathers-
field, Windsor Co , until 1849, then moving by team, as was customary, to Troy, taking canal,
bound for Bufialo, and by steamer they glided over the foaming waves and anchored safely in
harbor at Detroit, taking Michigan Central to New Buffalo, from thence to Chicago, and were
soon seen gliding down the beautiful canal toward La Salle ; they finally settled in Sangamon
Co., 111. In September, 1849, they seitled on their present farm of 128 acres, earned entirely
by their own labor and management. Have had three children, viz., Mary M.. deceased in
1854 ; Amos C, deceased in 1857 ; Annie E., deceased in 1857. Has held the office of Justice
of the Peace in Vermont ; School Director, in Vermont, three terms, in Illinois two terms. Mr.
Spaulding is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
DR. E. STRETCH, physician, Shirley; was born in McLean Co., 111., June 2, 1852, on a
farm ; remained there on the farm, which was four miles north of Towanda, until 4 years old,
wiien liis father moved to Lexington and engaged in livery business until 1860, when he moved
to a farm, renting of S. White for some four yeai-s ; moving from there to a farm near Towanda,
remaining until 1870, at which time his father bought a store in Towanda and had Mr. Stretch
take care of it for some seven years, during which time he was reading medicine with Dr. Ready of
Towanda. In 1876-77-78 lie attended tlie Ru.'^li Medical (JoUege at Chicago. He paid his own
way tiirough college. On his return from college, lie began business in Shirley and is the only
physician at that place. He was married in 1876 t ) Ella Rogers, a daughter of Dr. Rogers, of
Hey worth ; they have no children.
D. R. STUBBLKFIELD, farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Covell ; was born April 13, 1846,
in Funk's Grove Township, on a farm, remaining tiiere some time : then moved with his father
to liis present farm in Funk's Grove, and remained engaged in farming for his father until 24
years old, when, in December, 1870, he was married to Matilda Bower, born in Pennsylvania in -
1844, and came to Illinois in 1846 ; immediately after marriage, they settled on their present .
farm of 160 acres, inherited by his father, which they have improved by building a beautiful house
and barn, and have done a good deal of tiling on the farm. Mr. Stubbletield makes a specialty
of breeding fine imported Norman horses; is in partnership with P.M. Stubblefield. Has
helJ the office of School Director five years, and is now of No. 6, Dale. He and his wife are
members of the .Metliodist Episcopal Church at Covell ; he is Steward and Class Leader and
Trustee ; has also been Recording Steward. Children — Lilly G., deceased, Nettie M.. Lawrence W.
J. P. STUBBLEFIELD, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Sliirley; was born Feb. 28, 1845,
on farm in Funk's Grove Township. He was third son of Abraham Stubblefield. He remained
there until 1 year old, when lie left tiie scene of liis childhood, and moved with his father to the
farm now occupied by him in Funk's Grove Township. He remained with his father until 28
years old, at whicli lime, on Aug. 8, 1867, he was married to N. C. Thomas; born in Fayette
Co., Penn. Her father was from Pennsylvania; his mother, whose maiden name was Moore, was
born in Maryland. Mrs. Stubblefield, wife of J. P., came to Illinois with her sister, Mrs. Bright.
Immediately after marriage lliey settled on present farm of 225 acres; 143 of which was given
him by his father, the rest they liave made by their own labor and management. It was then raw
prairie, but now has become a fine farm, by being improved by building and tiling. He has held
ollices connected with .schools. He and wife are members of United Brethren Church. Have one
child — Cora. Mr. Stubblefield takes great interest in e<tucating Cora, both in music and
:^
'^
*\'^
^P^<
WHITE OAK TP.
DANVERS TOWNSHIP. 1035
literature. Rachel Horden, a sister of Mrs. Stubblefield, makes lier home with them, and is
one of fourteen children. Her father and mother are still living in Adams Co., Md.
EDWARD WILSON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington ; son of William Wilson,
and brother of A. J. Wilson; was born in Madison Co., N. Y., Aug. 6, 1827, on farm ; remained
there until 17 years old, engaged in farming. In 1844, he came with his father to McLean Co.,
111., settling in Dale Township, in what is now Twin Grove. He remained with his father until
1854, and then began business for himself, on his present farm of 300 acres, which he has prin-
cipally earned. Mr. William Wilson, father of A. J. and Edward, was born at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, England. He emigrated to America early [in this century, and stopped for a while at
Schenectady, and afterward came up the Mohawk on a flatboat, and landed at what was then
known as Bigg's Tavern, now the flourishing city of Utica. Mr. .Ed.. Wilson has been an
active Republican, casting his first vote when 21, and lias missed but one vote since in any
election. In 1864, was married to Mrs. Louisa McWhorter, of Kentucky. Her father was
from Philadelphia, Penn. In 1846, he joined the army to go to the Mexican war. Was
rejected on account of lameness. He has held office of schools nine years as Director. Is now
Assessor of Dale Township. They have had four children — William L., Esther M., John P.;
deceased — Walter C. Stephen A. McWhorter, step-son of Mr. Wilson.
A. J. WILSON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; was born in 1829, Dec. 26, on
farm in Madison Co., N. Y.; remained there, farming, until 21 ; when he was 14 years old, his
father moved to Illinois, leaving A. J. with his uncle, Edward Wilson, with whom be made his
home until 1850, when he came to Bloomington and engaged in clerking for Betts, Allen & Co.,
in dry goods, for twelve years. In 1860, lie was married to Ellen Cornell, of Pi-ovidence, R. I.
After marriage, they settled in Springfield, 111., and he clerked for Benjamin & Co., in dry goods
store for two years. He then returned to McLean Co., and engaged in farming on his present
farm of eighty acres ; renting at that time of his father. Sometime afterward he bought, and
by impi'ovement has made a most beautiful home. Mr. Wilson, in connection with farming grain,
makes a specialty of raising hedge plants. He has held office of School Director fourteen years,
Supervisor of Dale Township two terms, is now on third term. They have eight children —
Nellie, Charlie, Edward. Elizabeth, Abby, Mary, Robert and Frank.
DANVERS TOWNSHIP.
IRA ABBOTT, dry goods and groceries, Danvers ; was born in Bath, Grafton Co., N. H.,
Feb. 17, 1828. His early life was that of a farmer's son. In addition to his common-school
education, he attended select schools of a high grade, at Newbury and St. Johnsbury, Vt. In
1851, he came West to Missouri, and engaged in farming, near the present town of Dalton. In
the fall of 1853, he went south to Louisiana, and engaged in gardening, near the city of New
Orleans. In May, 1854, he settled in Danvers, McLean Co.. 111., where he has since resided.
Here he engaged in merchandising, an ! has been conducting the dry goods and grocery business
longer than any other merchant in tlie village. He was married, in 1851, to Martha F. Stange,
of Lynchburg, Va. Six children — five boys and one daughter — have been born to them — Rob-
ert, George, Arthur, Frank, Mary, Walter. Of these, Frank and Walter are dead. Mr. Abbott
was appointed Postmaster in 1861, under the administration of A. Lincoln. Under the reign
of Andy .Johnson, he was ousted, but re-appointed under the administration of U. S. Grant, and
has since held the position. Mr. Abbott has always taken a deep interest in whatever tended
to the improvement and advancement of the interests of his village, and has always I)een liberal
in furthering its various enterprises.
S. W. BAKER, lumber merchant, Danvers; was born in Westfield, Essex (now Union) Co.,
N. .J., May 11, 1830. His early life was spent in farm labor, and his education secured at the
common schools. In 1832, his father moved to the immediate vicinity of Elizabeth City, N. J.,
and here S. W. grew up to manhood. At the age of 16, he went to New York City, to learn hi,s
trade — that of a mason. He served an apprenticeship of four years. At the age of 23, he
returned to New Jersey, remaining till the spring of 1860, when he came West, and, Aug. 17,
1860, located in Danvers. He followed his trade nine years. In 1869, he bought out the gro-
cery and hardware store of George Baun, and conducted the business till September, 1876. He
then sold to J. S. Yoder. In January, 1875, he had purchased the lumber yard of Mr. Fordyce,
and this he has since operated. He was married, March 17, 1853, to Elizabeth ('ory, a native of
New York City. Five children have been born to them — Aaron T., Henry, Mary, and two dying
in infancy. Has held the office of Town Trustee five terms. Owns eighty-five acres of land,
town property, lumber yard, and is financially solid. He has met with good success in his
various business enterprises, and is a thorough-going business man.
GEORGE BUNN, dealer in groceries, real estate and loan agent, Danvers ; was born in Ross
Co., Ohio, May 20. 1832. His early life was spent in attendance upon the graded schools of
Adelphi, his native village At the age of 16 years, he attended upon his father's warerooms.
1036 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
in the capacity of clerk and book-keeper. His father vTaa a cabinet-maker by trade. In 1849,
the family moved to Bloomington, 111. In 1851, he entered the employ of Newman & Co.,
as clerk in their dry goods store. In 1852, he went to Vermont, Fulton Co., in a like
capacity, in the employ of Stevens & Wining. In 1854, he came to Danvers, and was connected
with the general store of T. J. Bunn one and one half years. Re next formed a copartnership
with Gen. E. N. Banks, and engaged in the sale of furniture in Petersburg, Menard Co., one and
one-half years. In 1857, he returned to Vermont, Fulton Co., and, in company with a Mr.
Swartz, engaged in the sale of furniture for the space of five years. In 1862, he went to
Macomb, and was in the same business one year. In 18G4, he returned to Danvers. Here he
has since been engaged in active mercantile life. At one time, he operated a general store, was
partner in a boot and shoe store, and also operated a grocery store. He has equipped and
started more stores than any other citizen of the village, and has done more to advance the
inierests of the village than any other one man within her limits. In 1879, he engaged in the
real estate and loan business. He was married, Aug. 1. 1854, to Ellen N. Reyburn, a native of
Illinois. Has had six children — Adie, Etta, Harry, Eddie, Frank and Nellie. Of these, Adie is
dead. He was commissioned a Notary Public, July 13, 1878, by Gov. S. M. CuUom. Has been
a member of the Board of Village Trustees six or seven terms, and President of the Board four
lernis : also Director of the Village Schools three terms. Since 1876, in connection with his
merchandising, he has bought and shipped grain largely. He is a successful, active, energetic
business man, and has given his best energies to further the interests of the village.
JACOB COOPER; farmer, P. 0. Danvers; was born in Hardy Co., Va., Jan. 12, 1827.
AVlien 0 years of age, he came with his parents to Greene Co., Ohio. Here he grew to manhood,,
receiving rather a limited education at the common schools. At his majority, he began life for
himself as a farmer. In 184'.i, he came West to Illinois, and settled near the site of his present
residence. Soon after coming, he purchased forty acres. This he has increased by successive
purchases, until he now owns three hundred and seventy acres. He was married Oct. 9, 1848,
Jo Mary J. Pierce, a native of Indiana. The same minister officiated at his nuptials that performed
the marriage ceremony for his bride s father and mother. He has five children — Charles W.,
Margaret E., Louisa B., Parizade D., Henry F. When Mr. Cooper landed at what was to be
his future home, he had a cash capital of but §22 ; but, with a stout heart and willing hands, he
set about the work of gaining a livelihood, and by industry and good management, he has
acquired a desirable competency for himself and family.
H. I. DEAL, farmer; P. O. Danvers; was born in Waynesboro, Augusta Co., Va., Oct.
13, 1817. He is the son of John and Ellen (Imboden) Deal. His father was a tanner by trade.
Voung Deal attended the village schools until 14 years of age. He worked upon the farm owned
by his father for the space of four years. At the age of 18, he began the saddler's trade, and
served an apprenticeship of three years in the village of Greenville. He followed his trade ab> ut
twenty-five years. In the fall of 1849, he came to McLean Co., 111., and settled on the farm
now owned by J. L. Shorthose, purchasing at that time 140 acres of land In 1851, he sus-
tained an injury in the fracture of his left leg, and was thereby rendered unable to follow farm-
ing for some years. He rented his farm for some time, moved to Danvers (then Concord), and
again worked at his trade. In 1857, he purchased a stock of dry goods and groceries and
engaged in merchandising about two years. He purchased his present farm in 1851, improved
it, and moved to it in 1864. He was married Jan. 2, 1841, to Catharine G. Swope, a native of
Virginia. Four children have been born to them — John H., Elizabeth M., James H., Ella E.
Of these, John H. and Elizabeth M. are deceased. Owns 171 acres, valued at $11,000. Has
held the office of Justice of the Peace for a number of years. His finely-improved farm is in
perfect keeping with those of his surrounding neighbors.
A. S. DUi^Lt)P, farmer; P. 0. Danvers: was born in Washington, Washington Co., Penn.,
Jan. 18, 1815. In the following March, his father moved to Ohio and settled in Fairfield Co.
Here A. S. grew to manhood, a farmers son, not receiving over six months' tuition at the com-
mon schools. He remained at tiie homestead and contributed to the support of the family till
30 years of age. In October, 1861, he came West to Illinois, and first settled in Vermilion Co.
In 18(16, he moved to Tazewell Co., and, the following year, to McLean Co. In the spring of
1868, he purchased his present fiirm in Danvers Township, and began improving the same. He
owns 130 acres, valued at $6,500. He was married June 25, 184(i, to Sarah Bott, a native of
V'ork Co., Penn. Has had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters — Constantine H.,
William L., George W., Alexander L., Oliver P., John H., Charles F., Mary E , Caroline A.;
I wo infant daughters and an infant son are deceased. He has kept a daily record of passing events
for a period of thirty-six years past. This contains much interesting and tiseful information.
JOHN A. EWINS, farmer and stock-dealer; P. O. Danvers. The subject of this sketch,,
whose portrait appears in the work, was born in Kingston, N. H.. in November, 1825. He is
the son of James P. and Mehitable (Clement ) Ewins. His father and family came West in 1834,
stopping a short time in Chicago. .U that time, the present city of Chicago was a village of not
more than 300 inhabitants. Here John A. attended school on what was known as the South,
Side. In October, 1834, he remembers seeing wolves chased over the very ground whereon now
stand the finest portions of the city, many being pushed into the Lake near where the Exposition/
DANVERS TOWNSHIP. 1037
Building now stands. Indians, at that time, were numerous in Chicago, and on one occa-
sion, as young Ewins was carrying home a bucket of water, he was accosted by a very large
Indian, who, in broken Englisli. said to him, '• Gimme drink of water." He replied, '• I have
nothing from which you can drink ; ' whereupon the Indian took up the bucket and drank from
it, and, with a grunt of satisfaction, passed on. Mr. Ewins, though but a boy, deemed this act
rather cool on the part of the noble red man of the forest. He remembers to have seen a wed-
ding celebrated, in which the contracting parties were a gentleman of 60 and a blooming and
blushing lassie of sweet 16. In December, 1884, the family settled in La Salle Co., at Waupaun-
sie Grove, his father pre-empting 200 acres of land. This was afterward purchased by an East-
ern capitalist, and one-half, or 100 acres, given to his father in compensation for the information
he had given him of the country. In the foil of 18o6, the family came to McLean Co., and stopped
a short time near the present village of Danvers. In the spring of 1837, his father purchased
forty acres of what is now included in the homestead of his son. He died in November, 1846.
Mr. Ewins lived with his parents till his majority. Starting in life for himself, he engaged in
fiirming. In the spring of 1856, he moved to Danvers, and engaged in merchandising. In 1858,
he returned to his farm, where he now resides ; now owns 600 acres in McLean Co. Most of his
land is in pasture and meadow, and he deals largely in cattle and hogs. In 1869, he purchased
one-half interest in the Danvers Mills ; this he sold in 1873. In 1865, he was chosen Supervisor
of Danvers Township, and his efficiency in managing the interests of the township is best attested
by the fact that he is now serving out his eleventh term in that capiicity. He was married, in
1854, to Euphemia E. Blair, a native of Illinois ; she died ten days after marriage. He was mar-
ried to his present wife, Malinda T. Franks, a native of Boone Co., Ky., in 1856 ; has three
children — Jennie L., Frank P., Chester Pv. Mr. Ewins has been largely successful in his various
enterprises, and is to-day one of the wealthy men of his township.
B. J. FORBES, stock-shipping and butchering ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born near Cadiz, Harrison
Co., Ohio, A. D. 1834 ; his early life was passed upon the farm, with the experience of a farmer's
son ; his education was limited to attendance upon the common schools ; in the fall of 1852, he came
to Illinois, with the feniily of his father, settling in what is now Dry Grove Township ; his father
died in 1855; B. J. remained at home and superintended the farm interests for his mother and
younger members of the family ; his older brothers were then waging tlie bnttle of life for
themselves. He was married in 1865, to Maretta Dawson, a native of Illinois; her grand-
parents and parents were among the earliest settlers of McLean Co. Has had three children —
Harry L., Annie B., Charlie ; of these, Annie B. is deceased. He at present owns eighty-six acres
of the old homestead, in Dry Grove Township, and village property in Danvers. Was Collector
of Dry Grove Township one term, and has held the office of School Director. In addition to
buying and shipping stock, he operates a first-class meat market, in Blooinington.
JAMES T. FRANKS, farmer, deceased ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Virginia Dec. 1, 1795 ; he
was raised a farmer's son, and received a limited education at the common schools ; his early man-
hood was spent in farming and vai-ious other pursuits. He was twice married, the first time to
Malinda O'Rear, a native of Virginia; his second marriage was to Rebecca Walton, of Kentucky,
who still survives him. In 1836, he came to Tazewell Co., 111., and settled in Pekin ; here he
remained about nine years ; in 1845, he came to McLean Co. and settled the farm now resided
upon by his widow and youngest son; he died Dec. 31, 1872. Eleven children were the fruit
of this union— Mary F (wife of James Rose), Elizabeth W. (wife of Heuson Richmond), Malinda
T. (married John A. Ewins). AVilliam H., Amanda M. (married John Huffman , Louisa E.,
Rebecca A. (married Robert K. Jones), Jennie E. (married John S. Popple), James R., Lucilla
W. (married James Wilson), Eugene L. Mr. Franks was an energetic business man, kind and
obliging to his neighbors and friends. He never aspired to political preferment, and held no
office save that of School Director.
EUGENE L. FRANKS, farmer : P. O. Danvers; was ))orn in Danvers Township, McLean Co.,
111., Nov. 20, 1854 ; he was reared on the farm where he nowlives, and is the youngest of a family
of eleven children; in addition to his common-school education, he attended Lincoln College one
year, when, on account of ill-health, he relinquished his studies; he has always resided at home
with his parents, and for the past four years has operated the farm, in the interests of himself
and his widowed mother. He was married, Sept. 12, 1878, to Carrie E. .Johnston, a native of
Springfield, 111. In addition to his farming, he takes much interest in the breeding and rearing
of fine stock.
DR. D. C. GIDEON, physician and editor, Danvers ; was born Nov. 27, 1848, on Wolf Creek,
S.angamon Co., 111., the first and only child of his parents, Alfred L. and Elizabeth Gideon ; in
March, 1851, his parents moved to Mount Pulaski, 111., which town was then the county seat of
Logan Co.: here he grew up to manhood, attending school ; he was 18 years old when he began
the study of medicine, under the tutelage of his uncle. Dr. John Clark. The 1st day of August,
1867, in company with Daniel Morgan, he started on horseback for the West ; the fall was spent
in traveling over Missouri and along the Kansas border : returning home early in the winter, he
continued his medical studies until the following spring, when, on the 1st of May. he again
started for the West, driving a herd of cattle and mules for .Milton Patterson, who had sold his
farm to Jacob Row, who afterwai-d became the father-in-law of Dr. Gideon ; arriving in Jasper
1038 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Co., Mo., about the Ist of June, he concluded to again h)ok over the State of Missouri ; the sum-
mer was spent in travel, and, in September, he returned to Mimnt Pulaski, and, on the 27th of
that month, 1868, was married to Miss Sarah Row, youngest daughter of .Jacob and Sarah Row,
Dr. John Ciurk othciating ; their first child, Alfred, was born June 4, 1869 ; during the sum-
mer of 1870, he engaged in fiirming his laud, one mile northeast of Mount Pulaski ; this not
proving of sufficient interest to him, he again rented his farm the next spring and commenced
the practice of medicine : Feb. 4, 187B, he graduated with honor at the Eclectic Medical insti-
tute of Cincinnati, Ohio ; their second son, Clark, was born April 6, 1873; after his return
home, he formed a partnership with his former preceptor, and continued his practice until
November, 1873, when he again formed a partnership with Dr. W. H. Davis, of Springfield,
where he removed, and, until the 1st of May, 1874, did a good business; the continued illness
of his mother kept him by her side until her death, in August, at which time he came back
to Mount Pulaski and settled up his business, when, selling his farm to his father, he removed
to Watseka, Iroquois Co., 111. ; here he lived for two years, but, not liking the swamps and sand
ridges of Iroquois (^o., he removed to Danvers, McLean Co., 111., March 14, 1877, where he pur-
chased a comfortable residence, and has since that time had a very good practice. March 29,
he, together with George Bunn, started a weekly paper, known as the Danvers Independent ; soon
afterward, Mr. Bunn withdrew, leaving Dr. Gideon editor and proprietor: the paper promises
to become one of the permanent things of Danvers. Dr. Gideon enjoys an extensive acquaint-
ance with the professional men of Illinois, and, being yet a young man, has a good chance for
promotion in his profession.
J. T. GUNNELL, farmer and stock-dealer; P. O. Danvei-s ; was born in Christian Co., Ky.,
May 9, 1830; in 1834, his father came West and located in Tazewell Co., 111., on a quarter-
section of land, entered the fall previous to his removal ; this he improved and sold, and, in
1837, the familj' moved to Stout's Grove (now Danvers Township), McLean Co., where he pur-
chased and improved 200 acres of land; this farm is still in the possession of the family and is
managed by the eldest son, J. T Gunnell ; young (lunnell passed his early life upon the farm,
and, in addition to his common-school education, attended, for a short time, a select school kept
by Cyrus Haines, a Presbyterian minister in the church at Stout's Grove, and known as Stout's
Grove Academy : after his majority, he engaged in the rearing of sheep for some years, handling
from 1,500 to 2,000 head per annum ; he owns 160 acres in Tazewell Co., which he keeps mainly
for a stock farm. Has held the office of Road Commissioner. So far through life, Mr. Gunnell
has resisted Cupid's darts and bids fair to end his days in the enjoyment of single blessedness.
0. T. HALL, farmer; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Rockingham Co., N. H., April 3, 1828;
in 1834, his parents came West to Illinois, stopping for a short time in Chicago ; his father first
settled permanently where his son now lives, purchasing eighty acres, and, soon after, an
additional eighty, a part of which is now comprised in the limits of the village of Danvers ; he
was reared a tiller of 'the soil, and obtained his education in the common or subscription schools
of his boyhood ; he has always remained with his parents. He was married, in December, 1870,
to Eliza H. Wilson, a native of Indiana ; has one child — Gertie Wilson. Owns 240 acres and
village property. Has held the office of School Trustee and that of Town Clerk four or five
years. He is one of the substantial business men of his township.
F. M. HALL, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Todd Co., Ky., March
25, 183;'.; his father. Young Hall, came with his family to Illinois in 1835, and first stopped in
Washington, Tazewell Co. ; in 1836, he came to Stout's Grove, McLean Co., where he engaged in
running a saw and corn mill ; his son secured to himself a good education for those days ; he
atlen<led some two or three winters the academy at Stout's Grove, under the direction of Rev.
Cyrus Haines ; he received his first certificate, from Prof. C. P. Merriman and taught school the
winter he was 19 years of age; the following spring, he began breaking prairie with an ox-
team ; before he was 20. he purchased 130 acres in Dry Grove Township, for which he paid $9
per acre ; this he might have purchased two years before at %\ and |1.25 per acre ; so successful
was he in farming, that the first crop of wheat he raised paid for the land, the breaking and
fencing included ; he now own.s 600 acres in McLean Co., requiring some fifteen miles .)f fen-
cing to inclose it; Mr. Hall has been very successful in life, ami attributes most of his money-
getting to the successful handling of cattle ; his life has been largely devoted to this branch of
business; he was a personal friend and acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A.
Douglas, having visited the latter at his home in Washington City; by an extended cour.se of
reading, he has kejjt himself posted on the leading topics of the day and is well versed in ancient
and modern history; he has made two trips to Mt. Vernon, Washington ('ity, ami spent a week
at the late Centennial. He was married in ]8.")5 to Jane E. Barnard, of Illinois ; has had eight
children— .fames F., Lydia R. fwife of Bennett Swarely), Young .M., Eva J., living; William,
Eddie, Jesse, Ella, deceased. Has held the office of School Director.
JAMES HAYS, farmer; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Knox Co., Ohio, May 4, 1834; he
obtained a good English education at the common schools, and spent his early life upon his
fath(!r's farm ; at the age of 25 years, he purchased a small farm of fifty-three acres, and
engaged in farming for him.self ; in 1864, he came West, to Illinois, and settled in McLean Co.,
near the place where he at present resides. He is the eldest of a family of seven, and is the only
DANVERS TOWNSHIP. 1039
member of the family living. He was married Dec. 15, 1858, to Isabel Murdock, a native of
Oliio ; has three children — Mary E., Sarah L., Bertha E. He is the son of William and Martha
(Hood) Hays ; his father still lives, having reached an advanced age. He owns eighty acres, well
improved, valued at_S4,000 ; has held the office of School Director. Mr. Hays is a genial, atfable
gentleman, possessed of rare social qualities, a successful farmer and a kind and obliging neighbor.
I. D. JAMES, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in New London Co.,
Conn., A. D. 1812; when he was 16 years of age, his father moved to Western New York ; his
early life was devoted to f\irming and the acquisition of an English education ; besides his com-
mon school education, he attended a select school for some time, in Le Roy, N. Y.; after reaching
manhood, he learned the carpenter's trade ; this he followed a few years, securing from hard labor
at the bench the means with which to enter a quarter-section of land in Jlichigan. In the fall
of 1837, he came West to prospect the country ; the broad expanse of the Prairie State capti-
vated him, and he at once determined to make it his home. Returning to New York, he was
married, Oct. 2, 1838, to Olive M. Hinsdale; soon after marriage, he came with his young bride,
and, settling down where they now live, purchased eighty acres and began life in earnest. He
now owns 570 acres, and deals extensively in stock. By industry and good management he has
accumulated a vast amount of property ; no one more energetic and stirring can be found in the
community to-day.
ANDREW JARRETT, farmer: P. 0. Danvers; was born in Greenbrier Co., W. Va., Dec.
17, 1847 ; he was reared a farmer's boy, and secured only a common-school education; he lost his
father when but 5 years of age ; at the age of 17 yeai-s, he took supervision of the farm for his
mother ; at his majority, he began life for himself: he purchased the homestead as the heirs
became of age, thus securing for himself a farm of 180 acres in the " Old Dominion." He sold
out in January, 1877, and the following November came to Illinois, stopping for the winter with
his mother, near Bloomington. March 1, 1878, he took possession of his present farm, south-
west of the village of Danvers ; owns 200 acres, all in a fine state of improvement, valued at
$12,000. He was married Oct. 5, 1871, to Alice M. Argabrite, a native of West Virginia ; has
three children — Laura, Delta I., Ora J. He devotes himself mainly to the rearing of cattle and
hogs, and has been very successful in his business enterprises.
J. WALLACE JOHNSON, farmer and stock-dealer ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Monroe
Co., W. Va , Aug. 27, 1847: he is the son of Caleb and Loui'-a (Beard) Johnson ; in 185G, his
father came West to Illinois, and settled upon the farm now owned and occupied by his son ; he
purchased about 600 acres of land in Danvers Township, McLean Co. : this he improved and
brought to a fine state of cultivation ; Wallace was raised a farmer's son. In addition to his
common-school education, he attended for the space of one year Lincoln College, but owing to ill
health was obliged to relinquish his studies at the end of that time ; he returned_to the farm and
has since devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He now owns 440 acres of the old home-
stead secured to him by his father-in-law, Richard Rowell. He was married Feb. 7, 1878, to Lois
Rowell, a native of Illinois : her father is a very prominent and highly-respected citizen of
McLean Co. ; they have one child — Homer. Mr. Johnson bids fair to became a very successful
farmer, and will doubtless follow in the footsteps of both his father and father-in-law in becoming
one of McLean Co.'s wealthy farmers at no distant day.
H. M. KENNEDY, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Danvers : was born in Philadelphia, Penn.,
A. D. 1837 : his early life was spent in attendance upon the Military Academy, at Brandywine
Springs, Del., and Jefferson College, Penn. : at the age of 20 years, he engaged in farming in
Maryland, and upon his farm the first regular skirmish of the late civil war occurred ; in 1870,
he came West to Illinois and settled about one mile south of the village of Danvers, where he at
present resides ; this land had been entered in 1837, and was yet unimproved ; the whole track
of 480 acres is at present in a high state-of cultivation, and, with his fine and substantial improve-
ments, has been rendered second to none in this whole section : in addition to his extensive
farming, he rears and deals largely in cattle and hogs, handling annually some .?6,000 worth of
stock. He was married in 1863, to Arabella Buck, a native of Wisconsin; has three children —
Maxwell K., Sallie B., Sabilla M. Has held the office of School Director two terms. Mr. Ken-
nedy is one of the financially solid men of the community ; his personal and real estate aggre-
gating not less than $40,000.
JACOB MUSSELMAN, blacksmith and wagon-shop, Danvers ; was born in Baden Baden,
near the river Rhine, ^Larch 7. 1827; he emigrated to America in 1848, and first settled in
Butler Co., Ohio ; soon after coming, he struck a job of harvesting at 25 cents per day : he was
thus employed fourteen days, working hard and living high on side-meat, cucumbers, molasses
and biscuit ; this was served out faithfully every day without change ; he soon after engaged to
work at his trade for a Mr. Fisher at $6 per month: but Fisher failed after some six or eight
months, and he lost all his wages : this financial disaster left him $16 in debt for a suit of clothes
contracted ; however, he soon found employment and cleared off the debt; in October, 1853, he
came to Danvers, where he at present resides ; at that time, Bloomington was but a village,
adorned by only two brick houses: the surrounding country was but sparsely settled ; after
buying his lots, erecting his house and shop, and laying in a small supply of material, he had
hut 1 cent left. He was married in 1853 to Melinda Erisman. a native of Hesse. Germany ;
1040 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
eight children have been born to them— Henry, William, John, Henry, Frederick, Louis, Charles,
Mary : these are all living excepting the first son named Henry. He has held the office of Road
Commissioner one or two terms.
HENRY N.\FZIGER, farmer; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, A. D.
1832. His early life was that of a farmer's son, and his education was obtained at the common
schools. In 1S47, the family emigrated to America, his father settling in McLean Co., a short
distance southwest of Danvers, on the farm now owned and occupied by his son. On reaching
liis majority, Henry left liome, and labored as a farm-hand some two years. He then rented the
homestead, and began farming for himself. In 1865, he purchased the homestead, containing
'200 acres, and this he has increased by successive purchases, until he now owns 350 acres, valued
at $18,000. He was married, in 1855, to Helen Nafziger, a native of Germany ; has six cliil-
Jren — Robert, Erurua, John. Fred, Albert, Jacob ; three deceased. Has held the office of Com-
missioner of Highways nine years, and that of School Director for the past eight years. His
finely-improved farm exhibits the industry and enterprise so frequently noticed among that class
of our foreign population.
H. PARKHURST, physician and druggist, Danvers ; was born in Windsor Co., Vt., A. D.
1823. His early life was passed upon the farm, with such experiences as are common to farm-
ers' boys. In addition to his common-school education, he was preparing for college at Phillips
Academy, Andover, Mass., but did not enter college. In 1847, he began the study of medicine,
and attended his first course at Pittsfield, Mass. ; his second at Woodstock, Vt., and, in 1851,
graduated at Buffalo Medical University. Prior to graduating, he practiced some two years in
Otsego, Mich., and, soon after completing his studies, located in Prairieville. Here he remained
till July, 1853, when he located in Danvers, his present residence. In addition to his extensive
practice, he owns and operates the only drug store in the village. He was married, Jan. 1, 1854,
to C. L. Skillman, a native of New Jersey. Three children have been born to them ; none are
now living. By his own personal exertions, he has accumulated a competency, and is tlie lead-
ing practitioner of the community.
WILLIAM PAUL, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Knox Co., Ohio,
April 29, 1827. He is the son of James and Sarah (Bain) Paul. He was reared a farmer's
son, and secured his education at the common schools. When 19 years of age, he began life for
himself as a farmer. In 1851, he came to Illinois. In company with Harrison and Hughes, he
bought 1,600 head of sheep, Mr. Paul owning one-third interest in the tlock. In the fall of 1852,
he purchased 240 acres in Dry Grove Township. This he improved and resided upon until 1856.
In 1858, he purchased 116 acres of his present homestead. He now owns 825 acres in Danvers
Township, and an undivided half-interest in 238 acres in Allin Township. In April, 1858, he
went to Texas, and sojourned in that State till March, 1861. He was first married, in 1846, to
Elizabeth A. Bell, a native of Ohio. She died in March, 1847. His second marriage occurred
in October, 1861, to M. L. Harrison, of Ohio. Had one child from first marriage. From second
wedlock, three children — Mary B., Nannie E., Sadie R. Has held the office of Road Commis-
sioner and that of Scliool Director. He deals quite largely in cattle and hogs. For a number of
years, he devoted himself largely to the rearing and improving of sheep.
JOHN PERRY, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Jes.samine Co., Ky.,
Nov. 13, 1825. His early life was passed upon the farm, and his education was limited to a
a short attendance upDn the common schools. His father came West to Illinois in 1836, and set-
tled in what is now Dry Grove Township. John remained at home till he was 20 years of age,
when he started in life for himself. He began working as a farm-hand at $10 per month, but
soon rented and farmed for himself. In 1849, he purchased his first land, 160 acres, the south-
east quarter of Sec. 36, Danvers Townsliip ; here he made his farm and has since resided ; this
he has since increased by successive purcjiases, until he now owns 1,300 acres, valued at 1)70,000.
He was married, in 1850. to Susanna Hiate, a native of Illinois; she died in April, 1870. He
was again married, in 1872, to Mi's. Sarah M. Bethel, a native of Illinois; eight children were
born from first wedlock, five daughters and three sons ; from second marriage, he has three
dauj^ters. He deals quite extensively in horses, cattle and hogs, and very largely in sheep of
a high grade. He has not sought political distinction, but has avoided office-holding. Has been
School Director a number of terms.
SAMUEL PERRY, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Danvers; was born in .lessamine Co.,
Ky., April 24, 1834; he is the son of John and Charity (Hayes) Perry. In 1836, his father
came West to Illinois, and settled in McLean Co. Here, Sstmuel grew to manhood, with such
experiences as are common to a farmer's son ; his education was limited to the common schools.
He remained at home until he reached his major'ty, when he engaged to work for an older
brother, at $20 per month. He has devote! his entire life, so far, to agricultural pursuits. He
was married, ill November, 1863, to Rebecca Hiatt, a native of Illinois; two children have
been born to them, but death has deprived them of both. He owns 220 acres of land in Dan-
vers and Dry Grove Townships, valued at $11,000. He handles considerable stock, in the way
of cattle and hogs. Mr. Perry has never been an aspirant for official honors, and though once
elected to office, paid his fine rather than serve. He is noted for his strict intcgriiy and upriglit-
ness of life, and for his fair and honorable dealing with all men.
DANVERS TOWNSHIP. 1041
JOHN S. POPPLE, hirdware merchant and insurance agent, Danvers ; was born in Boston,
England, Jan. '24, 1841. He emigrated with his parents to America in August, 1851, the
family first settling in Oswego, N. Y. His father, Samuel Popple, was a minister of the Method-
ist Church, and died in Watertown, N. Y., in 1855. John S. attended school in Oswego, and
secured to himself a good English education. The family came to Bloomington, 111., and in
1860, to Danvers. During the residence of the family in Bloomington, John worked in the
Eagle Mills, and, on coming to Danvers, followed milling ten years in the Danvers Mills. In
1870, he went to Chicago and was a student in Prof. Palmer's Musical Academy two sessions,
and, for five years, devoted himself to teaching both vocal and instrumental music. In 1875, in
connection with his brother, M. Luther Popple, he bought the hardware stock of William Estes,
in Danvers, and the firm of Popple Bros., was established. They conduct the only hardware
establishment in the village. He was married June 4, 1868, to Jennie E. Franks, a native of
Danvers, 111 ; has one child — Edwin G. He is agent for the .Etna, Underwriters,' Hartford,
Phoenix and Rockford Insurance Companies ; also. Secretary of the Danvers Mutual Insurance
Company, and the Rock Creek Fair Association.
ED. L. PRICE, farmer and grain dealer; P.O. Lilly, Tazewell Co.; was born in Urbana, Ohio,
April 15, 1844. He is the son of Rev. Hugh R. and Ann (Thomas) Price. His father is a native of
Wales, and a minister of the PresbyterianChurch. Ed. L. spent his early life in attendance upon the
schools of his native city. In 1859, the family moved to Bloomington, McLean Co., 111.; here his
father was Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church about seven years ; here E. L. attended the
public schools, and, later, was a student in the model department of the State Normal School. In
1862, he enlisted in Co. F, 68th Regt. I. V^. I. and was in the service five months. In 1864, he
re-enlisted in Co. B, 145th Regt. I. V. I., and remained in the service till the close of the war.
On his return from the war, he engaged with Krum & Robinson, of Bloomington, in purchasing
grain, and as foreman iu the lumber yard. In the fall of 1872, he moved to his farm in Danvers
Township, and engaged in farming four years. In the fall of 1876, he formed a copartnership
with I. R. Krum, under the firm name of Krum & Price, for the purchasing of grain and the sale
of lumber, at Lilly, Tazewell Co. This, in connection with farming, he has since conducted.
He was married in 1868 to Emma M. Mitchell, a native of Illinois ; has two children — Helen L.,
Hugh M. Owns 120 acres valued at $6,000 ; also one-half interest in the business at Lilly.
R. ROBINSON, contractor and builder, Danvers; w.is born in Shelby Co., Ohio, Oct. 30,
1832 ; his early life was that of a farmer's son, and his education was obtained at the common
schools ; he remained at home till 25 years of age, engaged in farming the homestead. In 1859,
he went to Gentry Co., Mo., where he purchased a farm of forty acres, but, owing to the exigen-
cies of the war, remained but a short time ; leaving Missouri, he came to Danvers, McLean Co.,
111., and soon after coming engaged in carpentering with P. W. Rhodecap ; he continued as
"jour" workman some eight or nine years; he then engaged in contracting and building on his
own responsibility. He was murried in 1854 to Sarah E. Cory, a native of Ohio ; has three
children — Cory E., Frank L., Hattie Jean. Still owns his land in Missouri, and the best city
property in the village of Danvers ; his property has been accumulated by his own personal
exertions. He is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Sturm) Robinson ; his father was one of
the early settlers of Shelby Co., Ohio, having settled there when the surrounding country was
one unbroken wilderness.
IRA ROWELL, farmer; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Haverhill, N. H., May 20, 1831 ; his
youth ^nd early manhood was passed upon the farm ; his education was confined to the common
schools, and was somewhat limited even in that respect. By an extended course of reading,
however, he has accumulated a vast fund of knowledge, and but few men are more thoroughly
posted in ancient and modern history than Mr. Rowell. In 1849, the family came to Illinois,
and settled in Dry Grove Township, McLean Co. At the age of 18 years, he began life for him-
self On the death of his fatiier, he returned to the old homestead, and cared for his widowed
mother and the younger members of the family. He built his present residence in the spring of
1854. and it became at once headquarters for the family. He was married Nov. 10, 1869, to
Lavinia Carlock, a native of Woodford Co., 111.; she is the daughter of Abraham W. Carlock,
familiarly known as the ■' Old Democrat; three daughters bless and enliven their household —
Lilly E., Laura B., Lulu J. Owns 120 acres valued at $7,200. Has held the office of School
Trustee for the past twelve years ; also those of Road Commissioner and School Director, each a
number of terms.
C. C. ROWELL, merchant, Danvers; was born in Haverhill, Grafton Co., N. H., Dec. 11,
1836 ; his early life was passed upon the farm ; at the age of six, ho went to live with an uncle,
and remained with him until he was 14 years of age; in the summer of 1849, lie came with the
family to Illinois, his father settling on the east side of Dry Grove, on what is now known as
the John McCullough farm; about two years after coming, his father died, and he, with his
brothers, first sought to procure a home for their widowed mother; in 1854, he began life for
himself, working as a farm-hand for I. D. Janes, at $12.50 j)er month ; so faithful was he in the
discharge of his duties, that at the close of the year Mr. Janes rewarded him with pay at $16
per month instead of $12.50 ; he next went to Iowa and spent some months clerking in a store ;
returning to Danvers, he entered the employ of Ira Abbott and clerked for him two years, not
1042 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
losing a day. In the spring of 18(51, he was married to Margaret Rayburn, a native of Dan-
vers. 111.; after marriage, he farmed two years, and then became a partner with George Bunn
in the grocery trade : at the close of one year, his brother Frank bought out Bunn's interest,
and the firm of C. C. Rowell & Co. was established ; in 1876, Seymour Case became his partner,
and two years later, G. L. Johnson. Has three children — Katie, William S., Charles C, Jr.
Has held the ofiBce of Commissioner of Highways three years, School Treasurer four years, City
Clerk two years.
THOMAS H. SHORTHOSE, farmer and stock-dealer ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Stafford-
shire, England, A. D. 1818: his early life was passed upon the farm, and his education derived
from the common schools; in 1849, he, with his brothers John L. and Herbert, emigrated to
America and first settled near Zanesville, Ohio, and engaged in farming; in the spring of 1852,
he came West to Illinois, and was a resident of the village of Danvers about six months; in the
fall of 1852, he purchased 136 acres of land about two and three-fourths miles southwest of the
village; here he has since resided, engaged in agricultural pursuits and the rearing of stock ;
he at present owns 451 acres in McLean Co., finely improved, valued at |25,000; also 245
acres in Jasper Co., Mo. He was married, in 1852, to Rosanna Frazier, a native of Virginia ;
she died in October, 1876; four children were the fruits of this union — Ann E., Emma,
William, Bessie J.; of these, Ann E. and Bessie J. are deceased. He has held the office of
Road Commissioner and School Director a number of terms. He deals quite extensively in fine
cattle and a high grade of hogs; he has been very successful as a farmer, and through industry
and energy has accumulated a large competency.
JOHN SLOAN, Roadmaster I. B. & W. R. R.; was born in Neury, County Down, Ireland,
in December, 1840: his parents emigrated to America in 1842, and first settled in Canada; in,
1852. the family came to Joliet, AVill Co., 111.; after a residence of about twenty years, his
parents moved to Pekin, Tazewell Co., where they at present reside ; he obtained his education
at the common schools and has spent the greater portion of his life actively engaged in railroad-
ing; during the years 1862, 1863, 1864 and 1865, he was engaged in boating on the I. & M.
Canal; in 1872, he was first appointed Roadmaster of the I., B. & W. R. R., but by a subse-
quent change in the officers of the road, lost his position; he was re-appjinted in 1878, and
still holds the position ; in 1871, he moved to Danvers, where he has since resided. He was
married in November, 1870, to Elizabeth Henry, a native of McLean Co.; has three children —
Mary E., Bertha E., Theresa A. Has been a member of the Board of Village Trustees for the
past six years, and is also a member of the present Board.
JOSEPH STUCKEY, minister ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Alsace, France, July, A. D.
1825; he was raised upon a farm, and his education was limited to the common schools. In
18.30, his parents emigrated to America, and settled in Butler Co., Ohio; here he grew to man-
hood ; in 1850, he came West, to Illinois, and, purchasing some two hundred acres of land in
Danvers Township, McLean Co., settled, and began the labor of opening up a farm; here he
remained until 187C, when he removed to the village of Danvers, where he now resides. In
1860, under a sense of duty, he began the study of the Holy Scriptures, with a view to entering
upon the work of the ministry; in 1865, he entered regularly upon the work in which he has
since been engaged ; he is a minister of far more than ordinary ability, and is Pastor of a large
and influential Mennonite Church, some three miles north of Danvers, as well as of other
churches in this and adjoining counties. He was married, Dec. 23, 1844, to Barbara Roth,
born near Paris, France; has two children — Phoebe and Christian R. Owns 200 acres, valued
at $6,000, besides village proj>erty and an interest in a boot and shoe store in Danvers, con-
ducted by his son. Has held the office of School Director ten years, and that of Road Commis
sioner six years.
CHRISTIAN STRUBHAR, farmer; P. 0 Danvers; was born in Danvers Township, McLean
Co., 111., June 13, 1844; his father, John Strubhar, emigrated from France and settled in Dan-
vers Township as early as 1839. He obtained a fair education at the common schools, and spent
his early life upon his father's farm. At his majority, he began life for himself, farming land
rented of his father; in 1874, he purchased forty acres of his present farm ; this he has since
increased to one liundred and sixty. He was married Feb. 22, 1806, to Magdalena Ehrismaun,
a native of Illinois ; has two children — Samuel, Lydia. Has held the offices of School Director,
Commissioner of Highways, and at present holds the office of School Trustee for Danvers Town-
sliip. His finely-improved farm bespeaks for him a tlirift and enterprise which is characteristic
of our best class of well-to-do farmers.
C. J. WHRKLER, miller; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Salem, Rockingham Co., N. H., Nov.
15, 1828; lie is the son of Abitha and Mary E. (Gordon) Wheeler; his early life was that of a
farmer's son, and his education was limited to an attendance upon the common schools. In
1837, he came, with the family, to Illinois, his father locating near the present village of Dan-
vers ; four years after coming, the father died, and young VViieeler, the oldest son, labored for
the support of his widowed mother and the rest of the family. At the age of 18 years, he went
GUI from home and engaged in labor as a farm-hand, at If8 per month ; he followed farming in
this manner until he reached the age of 28 years. In 1866, he purchased forty acres of land
and engaged in improving it. In 1869, he traded his land for one-half interest in the Danvers
LAWNDALE TOWNSHIP. 1043
Mills, now owned by Wheeler & Fanson. He was married in 1858, to Jane A. Boggs, a native
of Illinois; has six children — Helen E., Frank, Harvey, Lizzie, Earl, Ora. Mr. Wheeler has
never aspired to office, and has held only that of Roadmaster.
CORODON WINSLOVV, retired farmer; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Rutland Co., Vt., July
1, 1817 ; he lost his mother when but 10 years of age, and his father two year-t later. His father
was a man addicted to the use of strong drink, and left, at his death, to his seven orphaned boys
the patrimony of a beggar. After the death of the parents, the family was scattered about in
such homes as each could procure for himself. His education was, as a matter of course, very
limited ; Mr. Winslovv set about life with a determination to make the most out of it that was
possible ; by industry and hard labor, he accumulated about 5700 when he reached the age of 23
years ; in 1840, he came to Hartford, Licking Co., Ohio; here he purchased TOO acres of land
and engaged in farming ; hard times setting in upon him, he lost most of the money invested, as
he could not meet the deferred payments as they fell due, and was obliged to give up his pur-
chase; in 1851, he came to Illinois, and, in 1852, he pre-empted the quarter-section now owned
by him in Danvers Township ; this he improved and cultivated till April, 1874, when he built
himself a residence and moved to the village of Danvers. He was married, in 1843, to Sarah
Ann Wheaton, a native of New Jersey ; has had six children — Corintha A., William F., Mary E.,
living ; two daughters and one son died in infancy. Has held the office of Road Commissioner
and School Director. He owns 160 acres, worth .S8,000, and has ready money besides.
PROF. JOHN P. YODER, Principal of Schools, Danvers; was born in Juniata Co., Va.,
Sept. 4, 1845 : he is the son of Elias and Lydia (Plank) Yoder. In 1848, the family came West
to Illinois, and first settled in Woodford Co.; in 1850, his father moved into McLean Co., near
Brown's Grove. Here young Yoder spent his early life upon the farm, and secured to himself a
good English education at the common schools; during his minority, he learned the carpenter's
trade under the instruction of his father : this he followed at different periods in life. Feb. 3,
18G5, he enlisted in the United States service as a private in Co. A, 150th Regt. I. V. I., and
served till January, 1866. In 1867, he entered the State Normal University at Normal, from
which he graduated in 1871 ; during his attendance, he taught the winters of 1868, 1869 and
1870 in Danvers Township ; aftei- completing the course, he became Principal of the Blue Island
Schools, remaining one year : the winter of 1873-74, he taught a session in Dry Grove Township ;
in the fall of 1875, he was chosen Principal of the Danvers Schools, a position he still holds.
Under his supervision, a course of study has been arranged, the schools graded, and the first
class graduated April 9, 1879. He was married Dec. 28, 1875, to Rebecca Lautz, a native of
Illinois ; has two children — Lydia J. and Arthur E. He is at present a member of the Board of
Village Trustees, and a Director of the Danvers Library and Literary Association. Prof. Yoder
has proved himself a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, both at the bench and in the
schoolroom.
LAWNDALE TOWNSHIP.
JOHN W. ABBOTT, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Lexington; the subject of this sketch
was born in Culpeper Co., Va., Nov. 18, 1830 ; came to Licking Co., <Jhio, with his parents in
1831, and, in 1852, he came to McLean Co., 111., where he has since resided ; has been a resi-
dent of Lawndale Township for thirteen years, and owns a beautiful farm in the township,
which comprises 108 acres, all of which is under a good state of cultivation. Mr. Abbott has
held the offices of Township Clerk, Assessor and Commissioner of Highways. His union with
Melinda White was celebrated Sept. 4, 1856 ; Mrs. Abbott was born in Tippecanue Co., Ind.,
March 24, 1834 ; from this union there are nine children, all of whom are living, viz., Mary T.,
James C, Charles E., Elmer E., Julia A., Eliza E., Judson A., Lena M. and a babe, two weeks
old. .Mr. Abbott is son of A. and E. Abbott, both of whom are living in Towanda Township;
they celebrated their golden wedding April 9, 1879 ; there were present nearly one hundred
friends and relatives ; there were eight children, thirteen grandchildren and one great-grand-
child present. The old people bid fair to live many years yet.
MARTIN BATTERTON, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 32 ; P. 0. Lexington ; one of the
pioneers of Lawndale Township; born in Madison Co., Ky., Sept. 29, 1857; son of Abraham
and Susanna Batterton, who came to Madison Co., Ky., during the Revolutionary war in 1783.
Martin Batterton came to this township in January, 1834, and is now living upon the land
the improvements of which he bought at that date ; when he located here, there were only five
families living in what is now Lawndale Township : he and his wife are now the oldest residents
of the township ; assisted in the organization of the same, and held offices of trust soon after.
He was united in marriage with America Taylor Oct. 10, 1836 : three children were the fruit of
this union, of whom two are now living — Mrs. T. B. Kilgore, whose sketch appears in this work,
and Mrs. A. J. Moon, now living in Lexington, this county : their only son, Ira A. Batterton,
was assassinated in Vicksburg because he was a Union man, and nobly and fearlessly expressed
his Union principles through the columns of the Vicksburg Herald, which at that time was ably
1044 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
edited by him. He served in Co. K, 8th I. V. I , until he was mustered out of service to accept
the position of Adjutant. After the fall of Vickshurg, he started the above paper, which was
the cause of his death, upon July 14, 1865. Mr. Batterton owns 280 acres of land, free from
incumbrance and under a good state of improvement ; the above property being accumulated by
his own hard labor, industry and economy, in which he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife.
CYRUS H. BENSON,' farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 22; P. 0. Potosi. The subject of this
sketch is one of the leiding and prominent men of Lawndale Township ; wis born in McLean
€o.. 111., Sept. 16, 1835; has been a resident of Lawndale Township ten years ; he has held the
offices of Supervisor, Assessor and Commissioner of Highways, in all of which he faithfully dis-
charged his duty. He was united in marriage with Lucy A. Rowell .Tune 8, 1864 ; there were
two children from this union — Edward M. and Lucy A. Served three years in the war of the
rebellion : enlisted Sept. 1, 1S61. and was discharged Sept. 1, 1864 ; was in the engagements of
Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and a number of lesser engagements. Mr. Benson was again
married March 16, 1871, to Mary K. Denmin, whose father now lives in White Oak Township,
and who has been a- resident of McLean Co. for over fifty years ; from this union, there are four
children — Arthur D., Mary, J^mes R. and Roy, all of whom are living. Mr. Benson owns 160
acres of land, which is nicely improved.
JAMES P. BENSON, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 36 ; P. 0. Potosi ; one of the enterpris-
ing young farmers of Lawndale Township, and son of James and Pollie A. Benson, who came to
.McLean Co. at an early day. The subject of this sketch was born in McLean Co., 111., Aug. 21,
1847 ; owns eighty acres of well improved land, which he has made by his own exertions. Mr.
IJenson is a single man, and one of the reading men of the township ; has a well-selected library,
which he has bought from time to time, as his means would permit.
JESSE M. BENSON, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec 36; P. 0. Lexington ; one of the prom-
inent farmers of Lawndale Township : was born in McLean Co., 111., Nov. 12, 1839, where he has
since resided. Served three years in the army during the war of the rebellion, and was at
engagements of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and a number of lesser engagements ; enlisted
in the springof 1861, in Co. G, 17th I. V. I., and served with distinction until his discharge,
which occurred in July, 1864. In 1869, VIr. Benson bought 160 acres of wild prairie land,
which he has improved until he now owns one of the prettiest places in Lawndale Township.
He was married to Elizabeth W. Conger Sept. 22. 1864 ; from this marriage there are four chil-
dren, all of whom are now living — Nancy, John F., Bruce and Franklin. Benjamin Conger,
father of Mrs. Jesse Benson, is now living with his daughter; he is believed to be the oldest
living inhabitant of McLean Co., having come to the county in 1821, where he has since
resided.
HENRY L. BOURQUIN, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 23 ; P. 0. Potosi. ■ The subject of
this sketch was born in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, Nov. 15, 1816; landed in America
June 18, 18.^3; lived in Philadelphia a short time; then moved to Columbiana Co., Ohio, and
from there to McLean Co., 111., in 1840; lived in McLean Co. but a short time, when he moved
to Peoria, where he lived twelve years ; since that time, Mr. Bourquin has lived in Kansas and the
northern part of Peoria Co. ; became to Lawndale Township in 1867, where he has since resided.
He was united in marriage with Mary A. Grosjohn in 1836; they have six children — Peter,
(Jharles, Francis, Susanna, Harriet and Mary. Mr. Bourquin owns 160 acres of land, all under
a good slate of cultivation.
HON. JOHN CASSEDY, farming and stock-raising. Sec. 7 ; P. 0. Lexington. The subject of
this sketch is a native of New York, was born July 7, 1827 ; came to McLean County in 1851, and
entered 200 acres of land, returning the same year to his native State. In August of 1855, he
again came to McLean County, and settled on the land he had entered in 1851, -where he has
since resided. He has been adding from time to time to what he entered until he now owns 742
acres of land, all of which is under cultivation. Mr. Cassedy has held a great many positions
of honor and trust. Among the local offices held by Mr. Cassedy might be mentioned those of
Justice of the Peace, Township Trustee. Township Clerk, etc. He was the first and is the present
Supervisor; in all of these offices he well and faithfully served his constituents. In 1872, the
]ieople of McLean County called upon him to represent them in their State Legislature, which
be faithfully and honorably did. The following resolution was brought forward by Mr. Cassedy,
wiiich passed both Houses:
Il''itoliUion.—\V\u're!iH, tlic Ccmstitution of tlie United States makes it the duty of Congres.s to regulate commorcfi
hetwi-cii the States; ttierefore, reiolved, by the House of Representatives, tlio Senate concurring herein, tliat our
Senators be instructed, and our Ilopresentatives in Congress be requested to use all lawful means to procure a law of
</orn;re.tH preventing railroads or transportation companies, doing business through or between the States, from making
unjust charges or discriminations for such service.
Mr. Cassedy assisted in the organization of Lawndale Township, and proposed the name the
township now bears. He was united in marriage with Mary A. Brown February 2, 1857. Miss
I5i<jwn was born in Sangamon Co., 111.. July 18,1838. By this union there are six children,
all of whom are now living, viz.: John F., Annie M., Minnie F., Cora B., lona M. and Ida L.
LKWLS DECKER, farmer. Section 25; P. O. Potosi. The subject of this sketch is son of
tieorge J. and .Margaret Decker, who came from Bavaria to America in 1832 ; lived in Pennsyl-
vania thirty-two years, and in New York (Jity four years. In the last named place the subject of
LAWNDALE TOWNSHIP. 1045
this sketch was born, November 5, 1844. He has been a resident of Lawndale Tp. six years; is
one of the prominent men of the township, and takes a deep interest in education, books and
papers ; has a complete library, which he has bought from time to time as his means would
admit of his doing.
JOHN HICKEY. ''armer and stock-raiser. Section 8; P. 0. Lexington. The subject of this
sketch was born in Tipperary County, Parish of Holy Cross, Ireland, June 26, 1838; is son of
Michael 0. and Catherine Hickey. Mr. Hickey came to Americi in 1856, lived in New Jersey
for two and a half years, at which time he came to Lawndale Township, in 1808, where he has since
resided. Mr. Hickey's farm is nicely improved, and consists of 320 acres. He deals in hogs
and cattle, and is one of the enterprising men of Lawndale Township.
GEORGE W. HISER, farmer. Sec. 4; P. O. Lexington. The subject of this sketch is son
of James and Elmira Hiser ; he was born in Wayne '"o., Ind., Feb 7, 1854 ; the year his father
came to McLean Co. ; they lived in Dry Grove Township until their removal to Lawndale Town-
ship, which occurred in the spring of 1866. Mr. Hiser has four good horses, and deals largely
in Poland, China and Berkshire hogs.
THOMAS B. KILGORE, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 26 ; P. O. Lexington ; born in Frank-
lin Co., Ohio, March 23, 1840, where he resided until 1867, removing to Illinois in March of
that year, locating in Lawndale Township, this county. Mr. Kiser has served as Supervisor
three terms, and has held other minor offices ; owns 480 acres of farm lands in Lawndale Town-
ship. Married in April, 1867, to Miss Mary E. Batterton, who was born in Lawndale Township ;
her father, Martin Batterton, was one of the early settlers ; three children by this union — John
M., Lizzie M. and Maud B. Mr. Kilgore enlisted in Co. K, 1st Ohio C, in August, 1861, and
served until the expiration of his term of service, and was mustered out in October, 1864; he
pirticipated in the following battles: Corinth, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Rocky
Face Ridge, Resac.l, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach-tree Creek, Atlanta and many other skirmishes.
Member of Bethesda Lodge, No. 661, A.. F. & A. M , at Potosi.
FREDERICK W. KNIGHT, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 27 : P. 0. Lexington. The subject
of this sketch was born in Caledonia Co , Vt., Jan. 16, 1855; came to McLean Co. when a child
3 years of age, where he has since resided ; has been a resident of Lawndale Township for five
years. He and his uncle, J. W. Arnold, own and farm 320 acres of land, and are engaged in
raising Norman horses, they having quite a number of this valuable breed. He was united in
marriage with Marr A. Arnold Feb 26, 1877; they have one child — Carl F.,born Dec. 19, 1877.
WILLIAM B. KNIGHT, farmer. Sec. 36; P. O. Potosi; was born in McLean Co., 111., Feb.
22, 1855, and is the son of M. H. and E. D. Knight, who came to the county ranre than forty
years ago. Mr. W. B. Knight is now living on part of the estate of the late M. H. Knight. Was
married to Sarah J. Mitchell Feb. 10, 1878. Mr. Knight is an enterprising young man, and
bids fair to become one of the first men of Lawndale Township.
JAMES McjNAB, farmer and dealer in stock. Sec. 11 ; P. 0. Fairbury. The subject of this
sketch was born in Livingston Co., N. Y., Aug. 15, 1830, and came to Lawndale Township April
12, 1874; he is the son of John and Annie McNab, who came from Scotland to New York in
1800; they were the parents of thirteen children; James, the subject of this sketch, and his
brother Malcom, being twins ; their mother's maiden name was Annie Mclntyre ; there are
eleven of the children now living- — Christian, Peter, John, Daniel, Malcom, James, Margaret,
Allen, Isabel, Alexander B. and .loseph ; the names of those deceased wire Helen and Mary.
Mr. James McNab owns 160 acres of land, which is well improved, and which he has earned by
his own exertions.
HARVEY MOON, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 8 ; P. 0. Lexington. The subject of this
sketch was born in Madison Co., Ohio, Nov. 20, 1822; came to McLean Co. in 1861, and to
Lawndale Township in 1865; owns 240 acres of land all under cultivation. Mr. Moon deals
lai-gely in cattle and hogs. He was united in marriage with Sarah A. Stroup, Dec. 31, 1843 ;
there were twelve children from this union, eleven of whom are now living — Volney, Arthur,
Harvey, Rosanna, Naomi, John, Albert, Jane, William, Jonathan and Jacob. Aaron (deceased)
was in the 94th I. V. I.; died at Benton Barracks in 1864.
GEORGE W. MYERS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Fairbury; one of the large land
owners of Lawndale Township ; was born in LcLean Co., 111., Nov. 23, 1836, and where he has
since lived; owns 558 acres of land, and is the present Township Assessor. He was united in
marriage, with Annie M. Woodard, in 1856; she was born in Muskingum Co., Ohio, April 1,
1837 ; from this union there was one child— Franklin P. — born June 10, 1857, and died Sept.
10, 1857.
SHELTON SMITH, farming and stock-raising. Sec. 19; P. 0. Lexington ; one of the pio-
neers of Lawndale Township; came, with his father, from Switzerland Co., Ind.. in the fall of
1834, being then but nine years of age; he has since resideil in the township; was Justice of
the Peace previous to township organization ; assisted in the organization of the township, and
has been Supervisor for seven years ; was also the first Township Collector. John Smith, f ither
of the subject of this sketch, came from Maryland, and died upon the farm now owned by
Shelton Smith, in the 77th year of his age. Mr. Smith now owns 560 acres of land, all of which
is under a good state of cultivation. There never has been a lien or mortgage on the land now
1046 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
owned by Mr. Smith, since it was entered by his father in ]8?>9 — a fact of which Mr. Smith is
justly proud. The subject of this sketch was born in Switzerhxnd Co., Ind., in 1825. His union
with Malinda Powell was celebrated Nov. 16, 1851, and it is greatly owing to this good woman's
economy and advice, that the subject of this sketch owes his success in life. From the union
of Shelton Smith and Mary Powell, there were seven children, five of whom are now living —
Emma, Lou, Lottie, Shelton L. and Albert ; the names of those deceased were Harper and
Cassandra. Mr. Smith's mother, aged 80, is now living; is a sprightly woman for her age, and
is in possession of all her faculties.
UOBERT M. VAXCE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 3 ; P. 0. Lexington. The subject of
this sketch is one of the old settlers of Lawndale Township ; was bora in Adams Co., Ohio, June
9, 1821, where he lived until the fall of 1852, at which time he moved to McLean Co., 111. ; lived
near Pleasant Hill for four years, then came to Lawndale Township, where he has since resided.
On first coming to the township, Mr. Vance bought eighty acres of wild prairie land, to which
he has since added eighty acres, until at the present he owns 160 acres, all nicely improved.
He was united in marriage with Melissa Jennings Nov. 19, 1845; she w>\s born in Adams Co.,
Ohio, March 81, 1826. From this union there were nine children, all of whom ai-e now living —
Virginia, James M., Naomi, Salonia, Robert, Nora, Franklin, Ella and William M.
SAMUEL A. VANCE, farmer and stock-raiser. Sec. 3; P. 0. Weston; one of the prominent
Republicans of Lawndale Township ; was born in Adams Co., Ohio, July 9, 1818, where he
resided until 1849 ; he then moved to Scioto Co., Ohio, in 1849, and lived there until his removal
to Lawndale Township, which occurred in 1858. Mr. Vance owns 160 acres of nicely-improved
land, which he has made by his own exertions His marriage with Sabra Stout occurred Jan.
23, 1844; she was bot-n in Adams Co., Ohio, April 23, 1825. From this union there were eight
children, six of whom are now living— Albert B., John A., Cora A., Misha A., Charles D. and
Avirda M. The names of those deceased were Monroe C. and Jamie S.
EDWARD M. WHITE, farmer, Sec. 11; P. 0. Lexington. The subject of this sketch is a
son of G. C. and J. A. White, whose biography appears in this work, and who were pioneers of
McLean Co. ; was born in Tippecanoe Co., Ind., Sept. 17, 1845. Mr. White is one of the leading
Republicans of Lawndale Township ; owns 160 acres of nicely-improved land.
JOHN M. WHITE, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 11 ; P. 0. Lexington ; one of the large land-
holders of Lawndale Township ; was born in Tippecanoe Co., Ind., Ang. 17, 1837; came to
McLean Co. in* 1850, and has been a resident of the county ever since; moved to Lawndale
Township .March 20, 1862. The subject of this sketch is the son of George C. and Julia A.
White. His mother died March 25, 1865. The father is still alive, and lives in Towanda Town-
ship ; he is 76 ye^rs old, in good health, and in possession of all his faculties. xVIr. White owns
one of the best improved farms in McLean Co., which consists of 252 acres. He was united in
marriage with Theresa Hamilton April 18, 1868. There are two children from this union —
Clarence M., born Dec. 30, 1868. and Morry H., born July 30, 1878. Mrs. White was born in
Brown Co., Ohio, June 18, 1847.
LYTLE R. WILEY, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 33 ; P. 0. Lexingtx)n. The subject of this
sketch is one of the oldest living settlers of McLean Co. ; was born in Garrard Co., Ky., Nov. 7,
1815, and came to Indiana with his father when but a child ; came to McLean Co., 111., with his
parents, in the fall of 1835, where he has since lived ; assisted in the organization of Lawndale
and .Martin Townships. He now owns 1,020 acres of good, tillable land. There has never
been a mortgage or lien on the land since in came into his possession, and he, at the age
of 63, justly feels proud that he can leave such a financial recoi-d to his family. He was united
in marriage with Sarah R. Wiley June lo, 1843. From this union there were eight children, six
of whom are now living — Thomas R., Rhoda M., John J.. Sarah L., Lytle R. and Mary C. ; the
names of those deceased were Hannah E. and WiUiaiji S.
DRY GROVE TOWNSHIP.
ISAAC S. BARRETT, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Warrick Co.,
Ind., Feb. 12, 1850: came to this Slate in 1877, and then settled in McLean Co. His farm con-
sists of 125 acres. He was married, in April, 1869, to Miss Louisa Corn, who was born in Pike
Co., Ind., Aug. 20, 1855. They have five children, viz. .Euphrates, Rafa C, Ella, Pleva and Amos.
S. H. BROWN, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of tiie early and promi-
nent settlers of the county ; was born in Windsor Co., Vt. Aug. 12, 1815. His early life was
spent upon his father's farm in the East. In 1836, he came to Illinois, and located in Tazewell
Co. In 1840, he was married to Fidelia Munsell, now deceased. They have had three children,
one of whom is living, viz., Angeline; deceased — Saraii and George. George was a participant
in the late war, and died at Vicksbiirg in 1863. Mr. Brown married again in 1850, on the
25tli day of December, Miss Mary Henry, who was born in Ohio March 23, 1828. They have
had six children, one of whom is living — Fred S. ; deceased — John J., Charles E., Norman E.,
DRY GROVE TOWNSHIP. 1047
Lincoln and Truman E. Since Mr. Brown's residence in McLean Co., he has held the offices of
Justice of the Peace twelve years, and Assessor three years. His fiirm consists of 168J acres,
valued at $l-_',00lt.
JAMES W. CAMPBELL, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the early
and prominent settlers ; was born in Adams Co., Ohio, May 15, 1829 ; came to this State and
settled in McLean Co. in 1852. Since his residence in the county, he has held the offices of
Supervisor in Dry Grove Township three years, and Commissioner three terms. His farm con-
sists of 240 acres, valued at ?ir2, 000. He was married in Ohio, in 1858, to Miss Sarah J. Kirk-
patrick, now deceased. They have had six children, five of wliom are living, viz., Elizabeth,
Mary, Bryson M., ilmma, Eva K. and OUie A.; deceased — Annie K. Mr. Campbell was married
again, in Hlinois, to Mrs. Nancy Kirkpatrick, of Harri3on Co., Ohio.
SAMUEL C. DEAL, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Bloomington; one of the early and
most prominent settlers; was born in Augusta Co., Va., Oct. 28, 1814. In October, 1848, he
removed from his native State to Illinois, with his father's family, wlio were in company with
several other families. Mr. Deal settled in Dry Grove Township, McLean Co. His farm con-
sists of 1,209 acres, valued at $55,000. He was married in Virginia Dec. 21, 1836, to Miss Per-
cilla Brown, now deceased, who was born in Rockingham Co., Va., April 7, 1816, and who died
June 6, 1S74. They have had nine children, seven of whom are living — John B., Samuel A.,
Elizabeth E., Mary J., Sarah A., Emma P. and Virginia IT. The deceased are James W. and
Jane A.
ISAAC DARST, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington : one of the early settlers of
the county; was born in Miami Co., Ohio, April 25, 1823; came to this State, and settled in
Logan Co. in 1846, and, in 1848, he removed to McLean Co., where he has since resided. His
farm consists of 100 acres, valued at $6,000. He was married, April 1, 1844, to Miss Matilda
Decker, who was born in Athens Co., Ohio, Dec. 5, 1825. They have seven children, viz., Frank
lin, Mary, George, John, Annie, Lizzie and Sarah. Since Mr. Darst's residence in this county,
has held the offices of Overseer of the Poor in Dale Township two years, and School Director
in Dale and Dry Grove Townships four years.
WILLIAM D VVIDSON, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington; one of ihe early and
prominent settlers of the county; was born in Westmoreland Co., Penn., .June 22, 1818; came
to tliis State and settled in McLean Co. in April, 1854. He was married in Pennsylvania to
Miss Mary Morton, of West Virginia ; they have had seven children, six of whom are living —
Macgaret, Jane, Alzinous Y., Lydia, Lauretta, Robert and Cornelia Ann; deceased — Sarah 1.
The farm of Mr. Davidson consists of 240 acres, valued at |)14,000. Alzinous, the eldest son of
Mr. Davidson, was a participant in the late war : he served four years in I. V. C.. and, at
the close of the war. was discharged with honors.
SAMUEL A. DEAL, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Danvers ; one of the early settlers of
the county; was born in Augusta Co., Va., July 8, 1842; came to this State with his father's
family, and settled in what is now Dry Grove Townsliip, McLean Co., in 1848. He was married
in McLean Co., 111., on March 27, 1873, to Miss Mary E. Harris, who was born in Kentucky,
near Bowling Green, April 6. 1846; they have had four children, two of whom are living —
Hattie E. and an infant ; deceased — James Newton and Mary P. The farm of Mr. Deal consists
of 747i acres, valued at |30,000.
JACOB DONNER, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Germany
April 17, 1820; came to America with his father's family in 1826: they settled in Canada,
and, shortly after, removed to Ohio ; in 1839. Mr. Donner came to Illinois and settled in
McLean Co., where he married Miss Frances Schwartzer, who was l)orn in Germany Oct. 23,
1881 ; they have nine children, all of whom are living — Barbara, Mary, Lizzie, Christian,
Edward, Anna, Jacob, Valentine and George. Since iNIr. Donner's residence in this county,
he has held the office of School Director three terms. His farm consists of 110 acres, valued at
15,000.
W. R. DOAK, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in Ohio March 30,
1849 ; he is the son of Mr. Robert Doak. who was one of the early settlers of Ohio : Mr. Doak
came to this State and settled in McLean Co. in 1870; his farm consists of seventy-three acres.
He was married in Bloomington, 111 , July 4, 1873, to Miss Mary Winklepleck, who was born in
Ohio Oct. 25, 1847 ; they have three children — Anna 0., Robert D. and Thomas S.
JACOB FINK, carpenter and builder; Oak Grove; was born in Virginia Dec. 1, 1827;
went to Pennsylvania in 1851, and, in 1862, volunteered in the late war. enlisting in Co.
H, 16th Penn. V. C, and serving seven months, when he was discharged on account of disabil-
ities contracted in the service. In 1871, he was married to Louisa Mills, who was born in
Harrisburg, Penn. Since his residence in Illinois, he has been a carpenter and builder.
ANDREW FORBES, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the early settlers ;
was born in Washington Co., Penn., .March 8, 1825 ; came to Ohio with his parents when he was
but a boy, and, in 1852, he came to Illinois and settled in McLean Co. His occupation .since boy-
hood has been that of a farmer, witli the exception of one year spent in Iowa in the mercantile
business; his farm consists of eighty acres, valued at $5,000. He was married. June 22, 1854,
to Miss Christy Ann McMillan, wlio was born in Guernsey Co., Ohio, Nov. 12. 1829; they
1048 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES;
have six children, viz., Cassius M. C, Agnes Belle, James M., John B., Frank J. and Adolphu&
B. Since Mr. Forbes' residence in this county, he has held the offices of Road Commissioner and
School Director several years; he is at present, for valuable services rendered as local agent, a
life member of the Dry Grove Branch of the .McLean Bible Society.
CLAUS F. GEOUGE, farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in Germany;
came to the United States with his father's family in 1866; they settled in McLean Co., 111., irt
the same year. His father is Mr. John George, of this township ; he was married in Holstein,
Germany, to Miss Christina Hennes, who was born in Germany ; they have had eight children,
two only of whom are living, viz., (Jlaus P., the subject of this sketch, and Henry ; deceased —
Frederick, Annie, Nicholas, Lena, William and William Nicholas. The farm of Mr. George con-
sists of 128 acres, valued at §7,000.
D. GEBBERICH, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the early settlers of
the township; born in Lebanon Co., Penn., Feb. 9, 1809 ; came to this State in 1851, and then,
settled in McLean Co., in what is now Dry Grove Township. He was mai'ried in his native
State, to Miss Nancy Bender, who was born in Pennsylvania; they have had eight children, four
of whom are living, viz., Allen D., Francis, Marcus and John C: deceased — Lyman T., Nathaniel,
Sarah and Anna S. When Mr. Gerberich emigrated from his native State, he took his wife and
family overland in wagons. Since his residence in Dry Grove Township, he has held the office
of School Director several years. His farm consists of 180 acres, valued at $10,000.
JACOB HARMAN, farmer; P. 0. B}oomington ; was born in ^lissouri March 20, 1840, and
is the son of the late Nathan Harnian, who was one of the early settlers of Davis Co., Mo. The
farm of Mr. Harmau consists of fifty-five acres. He was man-led, in 1874, to Mrs. Mary Stout,
who was born in McLean Co., 111.; they have three children — Ellen Stout, Lydia Harman and
Pay F. Harman. At the outbreak of the war, Mr. Harman went into the Government work on
the frontier ; he served there until the close of the war, in 1865.
JOHN W. HILTON, farmer and blacksmith ; P. 0. Bloomington; was born in AVashingtoc
Co., Penn., Jan. 18, 1821 ; he moved from his native State to Ohio with his father's family when
he was 11 years old, and at the age of 16 he entered an apprenticeship as smith; he served
thre^ years and six months, and, until his removal from Ohio to Illinois, in 1873, his pursuits
were entirely in that capacity. He was married in Ohio to Miss Mary V^asbander, who was born
in Washington Co.. Penn., A. D. 1826; they have four children — Margaret Jane, Thomas Hamil-
ton, Mary Agnes and Jacob Newton. The farm of Mr. Hilton consists of 160 acres, valued at
$7,500. During his residence in Ohio, he held office of Justice of the Peace in Harrison Co. nine
years, and was also a participant in the local militia of that State, and at different times held
offices of Captain and Lieutenant.
ELI HAMILTON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Oak Grove ; was born in Harrison Co.,
Ohio, April 18, 1810; came to this State with his family and settled in Dry Grove Township.
McLean Co., in 1873. His farm consists of 155 acres, valued at $7,500. He was married in
Harrison Co., Ohio, in 1840, to Miss Mary Ann Hilton, who was born in Washington Co., Penn.,
Jan. 16, 1819; they have seven children living, one dead; Margaret Ann died in Ohio; the
names of the living are Nancy Jane, William, Elizabeth, Thomas, John, Robert and Mattie.
Since .Mr. Hamilton's residence in this county, he has held office of School Director two years ■,
he also held the same office in Ohio for the same length of time.
G. M. HINSHAW, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; one of the early settlers of
the county; was born in Overton Co., Tenn., April 25, 1820; came to this State with his
father's family and settled in McLean Co. in 1827; he has been a resident of Dry Grove
Township since 1830. His farm consists of 200 acres, valued at $8,000. He was married Nov.
20, 1844, to Miss Martha Anne Ward, who was born in Ohio Sept. 20, 1822; they have had
twelve children, six of whom are living. Mr. Hinshaw has been a member of the Christian
Churcii since 1842 ; since that time he has been a prominent member of that society : in 1848, he
was ordained Deacon, which position he sustained for five or six years, when he was made Elder,
in which office he now stands ; he was a supporter of and contributor to the*". C. building,
erected in this township in 1848, and also to the new bui ding erected in 1864 ; his time, for
fourteen years, after his becoming of age, was divided in carpentering and farming; now that he
is in the evening of life, he will finish it in the pursuits of a farmer.
JAMES MONROE JAMESON, farmer ; P. O. Bloomington ; was born in Jefferson Co., Ind.,
April 23, 1K26 ; he received a liberal education in his native State, and upon arriving at the age
of irianhood was ajipreiiticed to a saddler ; he followed this business for many years. At the
outbreak of the war, he received a commission as Lieuteuiiiit, and, later, at his own request was
ordered in post-regimental quarters; he remained in the service until 1864, when he came to
Illinois and married Miss Mary J. Holcomb, of Indiana ; they then settled in Dry Grove Township,
McLea nCo. ; tl»ey have two chiMren — Thomas II. and Love H. Mr. Jameson is now Justice of
the Peace, it is the only public office he holds ; he has retained the position since 1872. His
farm consists of forty acres, valued at $2,500.
DANIEL 1). KENT, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington. One of our early and
prominent settlers : was born in Brown Co., Oliio, Feb. 6, 1800. Came to Illinois with his father's
family when he was 13 years old. He is the son of Mr. Nathaniel Kent, now of Dale Township,
DRY GROVE TOWNSHIP. 1049'
McLean Co. Tlie farm of Mr. Kent consists of 194 acres, valued at $9,000. He was married
in Illinois to Miss Jane JNI. Stiger, who was born in McLean Co., 111., and is the daughter of Mr.
Abraham Stiger, now deceased, who was an early settler of the county. The family of Mr. and
Mrs. Kent consists of two children — Eura A. and William B. Since Mr. Kent's residence in Dry
Grove Township, he has served the township as Supervisor one term, and School Trustee three
years.
MARTIN KAUFMAN, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Germany Nov.
11, 1832; came to the United States with his father's family in 1853 ; they settled in Michigan,
and, in 1857, Mr. Kaufman went to Illinois and settled in McLean Co. ; his farm consists of 160
acres, valued at $8,000. He was married in Illinois to Miss Cathe^ne Dischler, now deceased ;
they have had seven children, viz., Charley, Otline, Lewis, Martin, Susan, Christian and Chris-
tena.
CHRISTIAN KENNEL, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Danvers ; one of the early German
settlers of the township ; was born in Germany Jan. 10, 1826 ; came to the United States in 1852,
and settled in Ohio ; he removed from there to Illinois and settled in McLean Co. in 1854. He
was mai-ried in Illinois to Miss Katie Nafeiger, who was born in Germany Aug. 17, 1831 : they
have two children, viz., Emma J. and John E. The faftn of Mr. Kennel consists of 175 acres^
valued at $9,000. Since his residence in the township, he has held the office of School Director
several years.
MRS. CATHARINE KING, farmer; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the early settlers ; was bora
in Pennsylvania Aug. 16, 1827 ; she is the widow of the late Nich. King; they have had four
children, three of whom are living, viz., Susan C, Jacobine and Adam J. ; deceased — John. The
farm of Mrs. King consists of 275 acres, valued at $11,000.
DANIEL KING, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Oak Grove; was born in Butler Co., Ohio,
April 15. 1837; came to this State with his father's family, and settled in McLean Co. in 1847.^
lie is the son of Mr. Christopher King, of Dry Grove Township. Mr. King was married, in
this Stale, in 1860, to Miss Mary Hodler, who was born in Butler Co., Ohio, Dec. 5, 1840.
They have three children, viz., Joseph, Lydia A. and Christopher. The farm of Mr. King con-
sists of 160 acres, valued at $^,000.
JOSEPH W. KING, proprietor of Twin Grove Mills, Bloomington, one of the prominent
settlers ; was born in Wayne Co., Ohio, Jane 21, 1832. He is the son of Mr. Samuel King, vvho'
was born in Pennsylvania in 1805, and who was an early settler in Wayne Co., Ohio, and who
is now a resident of Tazewell Co., 111. Mr. King came to this State, with his father's family, in
18il. They first located in Marion Co. ; from there they removed to Tazewell Co., where the
old gentleman still resides, at the advanced age of 74 years. Mr. Joseph King was married
Jan. 12, 1854, in Tazewell Co., 111., to Miss Susannah Stutzman, who was born in Wayne Co.,
Ohio, Jan. 1, 1833. J hey have six children, viz:, Orphie E., Ida, Elizabeth, Franklin, Joseph
and John. Mr. King located in McLean Co. in 1860, since which time, his occupation, with the
exception of four years spent in farming at Lexington, 111., has been that of a miller. The
probable value of his mill, etc., is $3,000.
SIMEON LANTZ, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Oak Grove; one of the early settlers of
the county; was born in Mifflin Co., Penn., Sept. 16, 1829; came to this State in 1849, and
settled in McLean Co., in 1853. In 1856, he married Miss Mary Plant, who was born in
Wayne Co., Ohio, Aug. 16, 1833. They have had eight children, viz., Milo, Lyman, Nancy,
Selina, Ellen, Lydia, bimon and John. Since Mr. Lantz's residence in this township, he has held
the office of Supervisor three terms. His farm consists of 320 acres, valued at $14,000.
JOSEPH K. MILLER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; one of the early
settlers of the county, was born in Butler Co., Ohio, Sept. 29, 1844. He is the son of Mr.
Michael Miller (low deceased) and Magdalena King. They were married in Baden, Germany,
and came to the United States ia 1834. and settled in Ohio, where Joseph was born. He came
to Illinois, from his native State, with his father's family, and settled in McLean Co. in 1852.
His mother still resides with him, at the advanced age of 79 years. Their farm consists of 198
acres, valued at $10,000. Mr. Joseph Miller was married, in this State, June 24, 1872, to Miss
Li/zie Mast, who was born in Holmes Co., Ohio, Oct. 2, 1854. They have two children, viz.,
\\ illiam and Bertha.
DICK McCULLOUGH, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. O. Bloomington ; one of the natives of
Illinois ; was born in McLean Co. Feb. 2, 1848 ; he is the son of Mr. Alexander McCullough, now-
deceased, who was an early settler of the county, and the grandson of Mr. Peter McCullough,
also deceased, who it is said was the first permanent settler in Dry Grove. With the exception
of fourteen years spent in Texas and New York, and elsewhere, Mr. McCullough, the subject
of this sketch, has been a resident of McLean Co. : his principal pursuits since boyhood have
been those of a fai-mer and stock-raiser ; in boyhood, he received a liberal education, and a part of
his life has been spent in teaching. He was married in the State of Texas to .Miss Emma C.
Rogers, who svas born in that State Feb. 1, 1858. His farm consists of 120 acres, valued at
$7,000.
ELEAZER MUNSELL, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the very early and
prominent settlers ; was born in Seneca Co., Ohio, July 28, 1824 ; he removed from his native
1050 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
State with his fathers family to Indiana, in 1831, and, in 1837, they removed to Illinois, and
settled in AIcLean Co. Mr. Munsell now owns and resides upon the farm his father, Roswell
Munsell, now deceased, purchased partially from the Government, and the balance at second-hand ;
it now consists af 280 acres, valued at $17, OUO. Since Mr. Munsell's residence in this county
he has served the township in tilling a number of township offices; he is at present writing
Assessor for the township. He was married in this Slate to Miss Zerilda Perry, who was born
in Kentucky, and removed to this State in I806. Her father, Mr. .John Perry, who was an
early and prominent settler, is also deceased. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Munsell consists of
seven children — Milan, Stephen A., Zerilda, .John R.. .Josephine, Minnie W. and Eleazer
Austin.
JOHN A. MUSICK, far*er and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the natives of Illi-
nois; was born in Logan Co. Feb. 8, 1851 ; he is the son of Mr. .John Music, now deceased, who
was an early settler in Illinois. Mr. Musick came to McLean Co. and settled in Dry Grove Town-
ship, in 1875. In 1875, he was married to Miss Belle Munsell, who was born in Dry Grove
Township, McLean Co., 111., July 3, 1857. They have one child— George, born Sept. 1, 1876.
Their farm consists of fifty-seven and one-half acres, valued at $4,000. Mr. Musick is now serv-
in<^ the township as School Director in Dictrict No. 1 : it is the only public of&ce that he has yet
hetd.
JOSIAH MYERS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; was born in Circleville,
Ohio, June 7, 1839; came to this State with his father's family, and settled in Sangamon Co. in
1856 ; they removed to McLean Co. in 1859, and settled in Dale Township, where Mr. Myers
was married to Miss Rebecca B. Freeman on tlie 8th of February, 1861 ; she was born in McLean
Co., 111., Sept. "26, 1840. They have had four children, three of whom are living — Hannibal
Hamlin, Samuel L. and Daisie D. ; deceased — Jesse. The farm of Mr. Myers consists of sixty-
seven and one-half acres, valued at $3,400. Since Mr. Myers' residence in McLean Co., he has
held the office of Constable in Dry Grove Township seven years.
JACOB \V. NAFZIGER, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Bloomington; one of the early
German settlers of the county ; was bOrn in Germany June 26, 1817 ; came to the United States
in 1853, and to this State and settled in McLean Co. in the same year; he resides and has
resided on the farm of Mr. Gridley, of Bloomington, two and one-half years ; it consists of 400
acres. He was married in Germany to Miss Elizabeth NafiFziger, who was born in Germany
May 24, 1822 ; they have had seven children, .six of whom are living — Ferdinand, Gustav,
Lewis, Edward, George and Bertha; deceased — Elizabeth.
WILLIAM PATTON, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Hudson; was born in Somerset Co.,
Penn., Nov. 1, 1829; he is the sou of the late Robert Patton, deceased ; Mr. Patton came to this
State in 1877, and settled in McLean Co. in the same year. He was married in Pennsylvania
to Miss Matilda Hutzel, who was born in Somerset Co., Penn., Dec. 4. 1837 ; they have seven
children living and one dead : the names of the living are Adam, John VV., Claretta, Robert,
Harvey, George and Edward ; deceased — Nancy.
FRED. SAGERT, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in Germany
Oct. 5, 1846 ; came to the United States in 1872, and to this State and settled in McLean Co., in
the same year ; his farm consists of 100 acres. He was married, in 1872, on leaving his native
country, to Miss .Mary Damlov, who was horn in Germany June 10, 1846 ; they have three chil-
dren— Mena, Mary and Albert. Mr. Sagert was a participant in the late war between Germany
and France ; he was a volunteer and served one year, when the war ended and he was dis-
charged with honor.
JOHN SCH(E.VBECK farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Dan vers ; was born in Germany May
21, 1811 ; came to the United Sta4es in 1839, and to this State in the same year, when he
returned to Ohio ; he remained there and in Kentucky until 1858, when he removed to Illinois
and settled in McLean Co. ; his farm consists of 362 J acres, valued at $16,000. He was married
in Ohio Oct. 31, 1841, to Miss Barbara Schertz, who was born in France May 21, 1822 ; they
have had seven children, five of whoui are living — Anna, Mary, Lizzie, Barbara and Jacob ;
deceased — John and Catharine. During Mr. Schoenbeck's residence in Kentucky, he held the
office of School Director and Road Overseer.
JOHN H. SHIRK, fiirmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Danvers ; was born in Pennsylvania May
3, 1828; came to this State and .settled in McLean Co. in 1856. He was married in the same
year to Miss Rebecca Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania Oct. 18, 1824 ; they have had three
children, two of whom are living— John A. and Emma E.; deceased, an infant. The farm of
Mr. Shirk consists of eighty acres, valued at $4,000: since his residence in this county, he has
held the office of School Director four years.
J. L. SHORTHOSE, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Danvers; was born in Statfordshire,
Eng., A. D. 1827; his early life was passed upon the farm, and his education procured at the
common schools. .At the age of 16 years, he entered a wholesale crockery house in London as
clerk, and served an apprenticeship for six years; he emigrated to America in July, 1849, stop-
ping for a season in Zanesville, Ohio ; in the fall of 1851, he came to Illinois, and was, for a short
lime, a resident of Peoria County; in the winter of 1852, he came to Danvers, McLean Co., and
purchased a half-interest in the saw-mill ; bought lots and built a residence ; in the fall of 1853,
z
BLOOMINGTON
WHITE OAK TOWNSHIP. - 1053
he moved to his present farm, having traded his village property for 145 acres of land, paying
the diflference in cash ; now owns 448 acres in Dry Grove and Danvers Townships, worth i>25,000.
He was married Sept. 12, 1851, to Eleanor Frazier, a native of Ohio ; five sons a»d three daugh-
ters have been born to them — Alice (now the wife of James Dickinson), Andrew R., Josie
(widow of Thomas Sheridan), John L., Thomas H., Belle, Frank and Willie; John L. was
drowned in the Mackinaw a few years ago, while in bathing. Mr. Shorthose deals quite exten-
sively in blooded cattle, and a fine grade of hogs. He has held the office of Highway Commis
sioner, and that of School Director some seven or eight terms. He has revisited his native land
twice since coming to America.
JONAS SILL, farmer and breeder of fine stock ; P. 0. Bloomington ; one of the early and
prominent settlers ; was born in Bedford Co., Penn., April 10, 1819 ; came to this State and set-
tled in McLean Co. in 1856. He was married in his native State, in 1842, to Miss Theresa
Boyer, who was born in Somerset Co., Penn., Oct. 2, 1820; they have four children — William
H., Elizabeth, Catherine and Daniel Martin. The farm of Mr. Sill consists of 266 acres, valued
txt $14,000 ; t-ince his residence in this county, he has held office of Township Clerk two terms,
and Road Commissioner five years. In 1875, he made a trip to Europe, for the purpose of
importing horses to America ; while there, he visited London, Paris, Scotland, and all the prin-
cipal countries of the old world; on his departure for America, he brought with him four fine
horses, three of which he still possesses.
R. E. STRIMPLE, farmer; P. 0. Bloomington; one of the early and prominent settlers of
the township; was born in Clermont Co., Ohio, Feb. 22, 1819; moved from his native place to
Illinois, with his and his father's family, and settled in Pike Co. in 1849. He was married in
1841, to Miss Annie McCune, of Clermont Co., Ohio; they have six children — William 0., James
A., Charles J., Laura A., Samuel 0. and Emma F. Since Mr. Strimple's residence in this town-
ship, he has held the office of Justice of the Peace four years ; Supervisor several years ; and
is, at present. Township School Treasurer and Supervisor; during his residence in Pike Co., he
served as Justice of the Peace (Jiree years ; he was also one of the Committee on the poor form,
and one of the special committee of the building for the insane of McLean Co. His farm, which
consists of 300 acres, is valued at $15,000. He is, at present. Justice of the Peace.
MRS. SUSIE H. STOUT, retired, Bloomington; one of the first settlers of the township;
was born in Tennessee May 30, 1813 ; came to this State, and settled with her parents in McLean
Co., in 1824, since which time both her parents have died; their names were .Jacob and Mary
Henshaw. Mrs. Stout was married in Illinois to Mr. Amasa Stout (now deceased), who was
born in Tennessee March 1, 1799, and who died in 1872 ; they have had four children — George,
Jacob, Mary and Eleck Mrs. Stout is now one of the oldest living settlers in McLean Co.
WHITE OAK TOWNSHIP.
W. J. BALDRIDGE, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Oak Grove ; was born in Cherry Fork,
Adams Co., Ohio, Oct. 13, 1839 ; in 1852, he came with his parents to this State, his father set-
tling in Danvers Township, McLean Co.; he remained with his fiither till his majority, and then
engaged in farming for himself In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Co. E, 94th Regt. I.
V. I., and served three years ; he participated in the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., the raid to
Van Buren, siege of Vicksburg, Ft. Morgan, Spanish Fort. On his return from the army, he
again engaged in farm pursuits; lie purchased where he now lives in the fall of 1871, and occu-
pied it in 1872. He was married Nov. 21, 1867, to Carrie Wright, a native of Ohio; has five
children — Clarence, Myrta, Lucia I,, Mary M. and William C. Owns 160 acres, finely improved,
and deals largely in cattle and hogs. Has held the offices of Road Commissioner. Town Collector,
and at present holds the office of Justice of the Peace. Mr. Baldridge is a thorough-going busi-
ness man, and a very successful farmer and trader.
K. J. BROWN, farmer and stock-dealer; P. O. Oak Grove; was born in McLean Co., 111.,
May 13, 1832; he is the son of L. and Elizabeth (Jones) Brown; he was reared to agricultural
pursuits, and secured only a common-school education ; at his majority, he began life for him-
self on the farm where he now lives, settling his homestead in the fall of 1853. He was married,
in 1853, to M. A. Sandifer, a native of Illinois ; one child has been born to them — Francis %t.,
deceased. Has held the office of Supervisor of Wliite Oak Township three terms ; that of .\ssessor,
several terms ; Commissioner of Highways, and that of School Director, eight years. No finer
improved farm or more desirable location than Mr. Brown's can be found in the township ; he
owns 230 acres, all in high state of cultivation, valued at not less than |15,000: he also devotes
considerable attention to the breeding and rearing of Mambrino, Messenger and Morgan horses,
and is the owner of a fine lot of road-sters.
ABRAHAM W. CARLOCK, farmer, whose portrait appears in this work, was born April
7, 1800, in Hampshire Co., W. Va.; his paternal grandfather emigrated to this country from Ger-
many and settled in Virginia shortly before the war of the Revolution ; while Abraham was an
•' WW
1054 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
infant, his father moved to Over'on Co., Tenn., about fifteen miles from Livingston, the county
seat : here he began farming on a small scale. On the lUth day of April, 1825, the subject of
thi.s sketcli, at the age of -4. married Mary Goodpasture, daughter of .John and Margery Good-
pasture, of Overton Co., Tenn.; she was born .Jan. 24, 1804 ; in the spring of 1827, with his
wife and two children, he moved to Dry Grove, .McLean Co., and, in 1836, having sold his prop-
erty, moved to White Oak Township, where he has since resided; he owns 1,200 acres of
land, lying partly in Woodford and partly in McLean Co.; although his house stands about one
l.undred yards outside of the line of McLean Co., he considers himself a McLean Co. man, as
nearly all iiis interests are connected with it. He and his wife have been blessed with a family
of twelve children, eight of whom are now living, viz., John G. (living in White Oak Township).
Madison P. (in Logan Co.), Sarah (^now Mrs. George Cranston, of Normal), Mahala (now Mrs.
Benjamin Gaddis, in Martinton, Iroquois Co.), Lavina (now .Mrs. Ira Rowell, of Danvers Town-
ship), William B., Abraham H. and Margie ; and four deceased — .Martha, Reuben, Nancy J.
I formerly Mrs. T. W. Brown, of W'liite Oak Township) and Mary. Mr. Carlock is jovial, kind-
hearted and hospitable by nature, and has a great many friends. In politics, he is an uncom-
promising Democrat ; he cast his first vote for Andrew .lackson, and his last for Horace Greeley,
because Mr. Greeley was nominated at Baltimore ; lie is such ,a stanch, uncompromising Demo-
crat that many people who are unacquainted with his name, know him as the " Old Democrat,"
and his paper would pass current if signed with that si^uhriquei ; in religion, he is a Universalist,
and believes in the salvation of all mankind. He is full of eccentricities ; he was never known to-
make a visit, iri the strict sense of the word. He is greatly attached to his home and never gets
into debt. He has never ridden in a railroad car, a steamboat or even an omnibus.
JOHN G. CARLOCK, farmer and stock-dealer; P.O. Oak Grove; was born in Overton
Co., Tenn., Jan. 28, 1826 ; he is the son of A. ^V. and Mary (Goodpasture) Carlock ; his parents
moved to Morgan Co., 111., in 1829 ; the family came to Dry Grove Township, McLean Co., and was
there during the winter of the deep snow ; John G. remained at home till he reached the age of 25
jears ; his schooling was such only as the pioneer's boy usually obtained, but few men of his age in
the county have performed more hard labor than the subject of this sketch ; being the eldest son of
the family, he contributed much by his labor and management toward starting his father on the
road to wealth. He was married Sept. 5, 1850, to Lueinda Musick, of Logan Co., 111. ; eight chil-
dren have been born to them — Dillard H., George M., Mary L., Richard L., Hester E., S. Ger-
(rude, John G., Jr., Loran A. He owns a fine farm of 400 acres, backed up by a good bank
account ; he took great pride in educating his children, and has expended a large amount of
means for their education. Few men in McLean Co. have experienced more mental anguish
than has fallen to the lot of Mr. Carlock to endure in the past few years. He has buried one-
half of his family — Dillard II., a young man of great promise, a member of the Junior Class in
Euteka College, was cut down suddenly in the very flush of manhood ; John G., Jr., and Loran
A. followed in quick succession ; Hester E., a bright ejed girl of four summers, was first called
away. Mr. Carlock deeply deplores the loss of his children ; he has erected tasteful monuments,
with befitting inscriptions, to each one.
R. L. CARLOCK, merchant; Oak Grove; was born in White Oak Township, McLean
Co., III., -Aug. '.», 1856 ; he was reared a farmer's son ; having acquired a good English education
at the common schools : in 1875, he entered Eureka College, and attended two sessions; in Sep-
tember, 1876, he entered Eastman's National Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from
whjch he graduated Feb. 20, 1877 ; on his return home, he engaged in farming till September,
1878, when he opened a general merchandise store in Oak Grove, in company with W. L.
McNeil, under the firm name of McNeil & Carlock; Nov. 1, 1878, McNeil sold his interest to-
George .M. Carlock, and the firm became that of Carlock Bros. ; March 1, 1879, George M. sold
liis interest to J. H. Swanly, and the present firm of Carlock & Swanly was formed. This is the
second store established in the village. He was married, Dec. 19, 1878, to Sallie G. Dunlap, a
native of Illinois. The firm of Carlock & Swanly is fast gaining the confidence of the people,
and their range of patronage is on the increase. Both members of the firm are promising young
busines.s gentlemen, and bid fair to meet with deserved success.
M. E DEN.MAN, f\vrmer and ttock-dealer ; P. O. Oak Grove ; was born in Licking Co.,
Ohio, March 2, 1820; his early life was that of a farmer's son ; excepting the summer of 1841.
spent in Illinois, he remained with his parents till 23 }ears of age; in the fall of 1843. he pur-
chased a black.smith's outfit and materials, and began the trade ot smithing; this he followed ten
years ; in the fall of 1852, he came to White Oak Township, McLean Co. : in the spring of 1853,
he pre-empted 265 acres in Hud.son Township; this he still owns; in the fall of 1855, he moved
to his land, and began improving it; in 1867, he purchased wiiere he now resides, and occupied
it in the spring of 1868. He was married, in November, 1842, to Elizabeth B. Smith, a native
of Muskingum Co., Ohio; have liad twelve children— John H. (Thomas S., Sarah J , twins),
Eunice A., Daniel E., Charles L., Belle, living; Martha F., Elizabeth, two infant daughters, and
one infant son, deceased, ll.as held the office of Commissioner of Highways and School Director.
Owns 580 acres, valued at $30,000. When he came West, he had one horse, some household
goods and about §350 ; he has been very successful in accumulating property, and is now in the
front rank of wealthy men in his township.
WHITE OAK TOWNSHIP. 1055
ELISHA DIXON, farmer ; P. 0. Oak Grove; was born in Hampshire Co., Va., June 14.
1809 ; in 1815, his father moved with his family to Ohio, and settled in Harrison Co. ; here Mr.
Dixon grew to manhood with the experiences of a pioneer farmer's boy; his education was
limited to the common schools, reading and spelling being the chief studies : in 1828, he came
West to prospt ct the country, and, in 18'29. his father came with the family and settled in Dry
Grove Township, McLean Co., on the farm now cwned by Peter Downer ; in the winter of 183('.
Mr. Dixon came to White Oak Grove and made an improvement where James Johnson now
resides ; here he lived neaily forty years ; he then sold his fine farm of 254 acres, and, in 1869,
purchased where he now lives ; owns 120 acres, valued at $G,000. He was married in December,
1829, to Mary Brown, a native of Tennessee: she died in 1866; nine children were born to
them — William and Eliza Ann (twins), Lucinda. Sarah, John ; four died in infancy. William
and John are still living. He has held the ofBces of Constable, Road Commissioner, and was
School Treasurer fourteen years in succession. In 1828, when only 19 years of age, Mr. Dixon
voted for Gen. Jackson for President; there were only thirteen votes polled in a district of
territory larger than two or three of the smaller New England States.
CHARLES JOHNSTON, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Oak Grove; was born in Sussex
Co., N. J., July ol, 1814 ; his parents came to Ohio in an early day and settled in Greene Co. ;
both parents died when he was quite a small boy ; his brother was a distiller, and much of the
early life of Mr. Johnston was spent in work in and about the distillery; on arriving at man-
hood, he engaged in farming; in 1849, he came West to Illinois and purchased land in Danvers
Township; this he improved, and, in 1856, sold out and purchased the farm on which he now
resides ; he has owned large tracts of land at different times, and has accumulated large amounts
of money by trading in land and stock. He was married, in 1833, to Rebecca A. Stevenson, of
Ohio ; nine children resulted from this union, six daughters and three sons — James S . Mary A.,
John S., Martha J., Joseph H., Catherine, Rebecca I., Amanda, Sarah. He now owns 385 acres,
and has one of the best stock-farms in the county. He has held the office of Supervisor several
terms. In 1865, he became afflicted with rheumatism, which has resulted in the partial destruc-
tion of his powers of locomotion and speech ; from this, however, he suffers no piin.
A. J. MrWILLlAMS, farmer; P. 0. Oak Grove: was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, in
November, 1827. His early life was spent upon his father's farm. At his majority, he engaged
in agricul'ural pursuits for himself. In 1850, he purchased eighty acres of land, and farmed in
Oliio till 1854, when he came to Illinois, stopping about two years in Bureau Co. In 1856, he
came to McLean Co., and located on his present homestead. He was married, in 1851, to Jane
Drennan, a native of Ohio ; has four children — Lou L., Mary E.. Ann E., Melissa. Owns 160
acres, valued at |8,000 ; has held the offices of Township Trustee, Township Clerk, Road Com-
missioner, Assessor, etc. He is the son of John and Mary (Hogue) McWilliama. Mr. McWil-
liams is a pleasant gentleman, affable in his manners, and has been very successful in his farm-
ing enterprises.
ALBERT WRIGHT, farmer; P. 0. Oak Grove; was born in Adams Co., Ohio, March 19,
1842. In the fall of 1853, his parents came West to Illinois, and setiled in White Oak Town-
ship, near where ^e now lives. He was reared a farmer, and received only a common-school
education. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. E, 94th Regt. I. V. I., and remained in the service three
years. During his term of service, he was never absent from his command, nor missed a single
day's duty. He participated in the following battles: Prairie Grove, Ark., siege of Vicksburg,
campaigns in Missouri. Banks' Expedition to the Rio Grande, siege of Fort i\iorgan, Spanish
Fort, etc. On his return from the army, he began the improvement of his present homestead.
He was married, April 14, 1871, to Martha M. Eyer, a native of Butler Co., Ohio. H.as two
children — Ada L., Charles A. Has held the office of Supervisor of VVhite Oak Township for
the years 1872. 1873, 1874, 1876, 1878 and 1879. He is the son of Samuel and Mary (Bayless)
Wright. His attention is given wholly to agricultural pursuits, and the rearing of stock.
Owns 123 acres, finely improved valued at $7 000.
W. H. WRIGHT, farmer; P. 0. Bloomington ; was born in Adams Co., Ohio, May 19, 1839.
In the fall of 1853, he came West with the family to Illinois. He remained with his parents till
his majority engaged in farm labor, and receiving his education at the common schools. On
leaving home, he opened up his farm on Sec. 35, White Oak Township. Eighty acres of this was
given him by his father. This he has increased to 120 acres. He entered the United States ser-
vice as a member of Co. E, 94th Regt. I. V. I., in August, 1862. He was elected First Lieuten-
ant of the Co., but on account of his ill health was forced to resign and quit the service, in
April. 1863. Returning from the army, he again engaged in farming, and this he has since con-
tinued. He was married, Feb. 25, 1864, to Kate Johnson, a native of Greene Co. Ohio. Has
six children— Minnie H., Charles F., Floretta, Ida B., Lula, Ollie. Flas held the office of School
Trustee two terms, and that of Assessor four terms.
1056 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
ANCHOR TOWNSHIP.
\V. H. ANDERSON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Lexington ; was born July 26, 1840, in
Jennings Co., Ind.; in 1855, he came with his father to McLean Co., HI., settling south of
Bloomington, in what is now Randolph Township, remaining there two years ; in 1858. he settled
on his father's farm, near the head of Mackinaw, staying there until 21 years old ; he then
taught school for some ten years, teaching all that time in two places ; in his 21st year, he
attended college at Eureka, 111.; "he has been no office-seeker, but has been connected with
schools. He was married, Dec. 25, 1863, to Charity Williams, a native of Ohio; they moved to
Illinois, and engaged in farming; in 1865, he settled on his beautiful farm of 170 acres, lying on
ilie banks of the Mackinaw, wiiich he obtained entirely by his own efforts. They have two
children — John M. and Nettie P.
R. H. ARNOLD, farmer and stock-raiser ; P.O. Potosi ; was born Jan. 12, 1885, in Perry
Co , Ohio ; when quite a child, his father removed to Licking Co., Ohio, remaining there until
'17 years of age, when he came to McLean Co : settling at White Oak, he engaged in farming;
he moved from there to Tazewell Co., remaining one year ; then removing to White Oak, where he
remained until 1806-67, at which time he was engaged in a grist-mill in Tazewell Co., owned by
his father; was also in a mill at White Oak six years. In 1867, he moved to his present farm
of eighty acres, given him by his father. He has been Pathmaster, and does his own carpen-
tering, masonry and plastering. Mr. Arnold was married on Sept. 30, 1856, to Polly Benson,
who is a native of McLean Co.; they have seven children, viz., .Mary A., Charles E., Liddie A.,
Lucy M., Nancy J., Charity P. and Willie A.
'a. CLAYPOOL. farmer and stock-raiser; P. O Gibson; was born Oct. 14, 1828, in Mus-
kingum Co., Ohio ; he remained there until 1856, farming for his father until 1851, when he was
married to Elizabeth Simpson, who is a native of Ohio. Immediately after marriage, he settled
on his father's farm, remaining there five years; he then came to McLean Co., 111., settling on
Mr. OrendortF's farm, remaining there during the winter : in the mean time, renting a farm of Mr.
Colvin and remaining there eight years ; he moved from there to Blue Mound, remaining two
years, at the expiration of which lime he settled on his present farm of eighty acres. He has
been connected with the schools for twenty years, and has been Collector two terms, and is now
on his third term. Mr. Claypool is 50 years old, and never had a lawsuit. They have nine
children, viz., Josephine, .\ustin, Ottawa, Ella, Ruth, James, Aletha and Blanche living, and
.\rl R., deceased.
P. J. DECKER, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Potosi; was born Feb. 9. 1836, in Philadel-
phia, Penn., and moved from there with his father to York Co., Peun., remaining there seven
years, when he moved to New York City, staying there six years, moving thence to Y'ork Co.,
Penn., where he remained some time ; then emigrated to Livingston Co., 111., engaging in farming
;ind working for Mr. B. Walton for two years. He was married, in 1866, to Mary E. Austin, who
was born Dec 28, 1849, in Richmond Co.. Va.; after marriage, they managed thefarm of Mr. Wal-
ton, and then moved to Fairbury, remaining there one year; from Fairbury, they came to the
present farm of eighty acres, earned entirely by their own labor and management. He has held
town offices, worked at stone and brick laying, and has taught five terms of school in Pennsyl-
vania ; he ran a planing-mill one year in .Jersey City, managed the packing department of a soap
factory, and worked two years in a saw-mill in Wrightsville. Penn. They have five children —
Charles H., born (tct. 26, 1W8; Jennie, July 16, 1872; Philip J., Jan. 17, 1876 ; Edward L.,
Feb. 15, 1878; Albert, Jan. 16. 1874.
J. A. ESPY, farmer and stock- raiser; P. 0. Garda ; was born in Pennsylvania July 6, 1829;
he remained in Pennsylvania, working on a farm, until 20 years old, at which time he moved
to Peoria, 111., engaging with his brother in the boot and shoe business for four years : he then
moved to Tazewell Co.. engaging in farming for one year: from there to Peoria (>)., farming
there for fourteen years ; from there he located on his present farm, in Anchor Townshij), of
eighty acres, which he earned entirely by his own labor and management. He was married the
first time to Martha Fry, a native of Pennsylvania, Feb. 22, 1855 : there were six children by
this union — ^"Mary E., Isabella F., Winfield S., William E., David E. and Charles E. His second
marriage occurred Oct. 4, 1871 ; two children were the fruit of this union. He has been Path-
master and connected with the schools as Director. He has followed chair-making and painting ;
was agent for State map of Pennsylvania and one of North America and Europe : was also
agent for a book entitle<l " Beyond the Mississippi."
NATHAN HLN'SH AW, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Garda ; was born March 1".), 1831, in
McLean Co., 111.; he remained there for some time, working on the farm: thence to Mosquito
tlrove, and staid there some sixteen years ; in 1874, he settled on his present farm of
{20 acres, earned princij)ally by his own labor and management ; he has made good improve-
ments in the way of building a handsome little cottage and barn. He has been no office-
seeker, but has been.connected with the schools as Director. He was married, Jan. 3, 1858, to
ANCHOR TOWNSHIP. 1057
Philura J. Endecott, a native of Posey Co., Ind.; they have five children — Mary C, born Dec.
18, 1858 ; Malinda E.. .Ian. 4, 1861 ; Emma J., Fel>. 1".. 1864 : Hannah F., July 13, 1869 : James
A., April -28, 1876.
CAPT. S. P. HOWELL, farmer and stock-raiser : P 0. Saybrook ; was born Dec. 23, 1837,
in Licking Co., Ohio ; remained there, working on a farm, until 1852, when he moved West,
settling in McLean Co.. near Bloomington ; worked for his lather on a farm until 1869, when he
settled on the present farm of three sections, equal to 1,920 acres, which is managed by himself
and brothers. He was in the civil war, enlisting in Co. 1, 94th I. V. I ; was Second and First
Lieutenant and Captain of Co. I. struggling for three long years for our noble land, saved by
Washington and redeemed by Lincoln. Was married Feb. -8, 1872, to Mary L. Brooke, born
in Pennsylvania Oct. 23, 1848 : they have three children — Nellie, Brooke and Mannie.
GEORGE HESTER, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Saybrook ; was born May 28, 1842, in
London, England. In 1846, he moved with his parents to Knox Co., 111., traveling by team from
Chicago. In 1856, he moved to Galesburg, Knox Co., remaining there some time. He left
home March 1, 1861, and enlisted in the 13th Regt. 111. Cav. ; remained over three years. He
then engaged in the nursery business, working for |30 to f 100 per month, and was engaged
some ten years. On Dec. 24, 1875, he was married to Mary A. Pirkey, and Fettled on his pres-.
ent farm of 120 acres, earned entirely by his own labor and management. He has been Path-
master, and was First Sergeant and Second Lieutenant by commission. He is a member of the
Christian Church ; his wife also belonged to that denomination : she died, deeply lamented,
April 10. 1878.
.lOHN N. KING, farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Saybrook; was born Feb. 3, 1828, in
Champaign Co., Ohio; emigrating to Illinois, he settled in Logan Co.. remaining some time;
moving from there to Sangamon Co., at which place his father died, leaving him in care of a
widowed mother. Some time after, his mother married, and they moved to Logan Co., settling
on a farm. He went from there to Havanna, 111., by ox-wagon, and took steamboat, bound for
(yincinnati ; went thence to Dayton, then to Champaign by wagon, and settled in Clark Co.,
remaining there until 21 years old, when he came West on horseback, stopping in Smith's
Grove. Sept. 10, 1850, he began working by the month, at $13, for A. R. .Jones. In 1851, he
taught school, afterward working for .Jones, and was married Nov. 9, 1851, to Mary White, of
Ohio. His first winter after marriage, he made rails and farmed ; the next summer for himself;
then taught three terms of school in succession: locating then on forty acres west of Smith's
Grove, remaining some time. Afterward bought 160 acres in Anchor Township, paying cash,
settling on it in 1868, which he has made info a magnificent home. The yard is most beautifully
arranged with evergreens and mounds of well-selected rocks. He has been Supervisor, Commis-
sioner, .Justice of the Peace, Overseer of Poor, and is now in the sixth year as Trustee of Anchor
Township, and has been connected with the schools. They have had six children — Olando,
Scevolia R., George E., Effie ; deceased — Mary and John N.
C. W. KINGSTON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Garda ; was born Sept. 9. 1836, in
Woodford Co., Ill, remaining there until 1868, when he removed to his present farm, in Anchor
Township, of 180 acres, which, through his energy and skillful management, has made an ele-
gant and magnificent home. He started on the ocean of life, and unfurled his sails to an
untried breeze, and as a shallop, which sailed out of harbor noiselessly and unnoticed, has
anchored safely in port. He has held offices connected with schools, and has been Pathmaster.
Was married, in 1865, to iSIiss Cameron, a native of Virginia. They have six children, viz..
Elizabeth B., Jennie S , Alice B., Beecher L., Llewellyn, Clark C. Mr. Kingston, the father
of C. W. Kingston, makes a home with his son, Mrs. Kingston having died in 1864.
MRS. E. D. KNIGHT, farmer and stock-raiser: P. 0. Potosi ; was born Dec. 27. 1831, in
McLean Co., 111. Moses H. Knight, her late husband, was born June 30, 1830, in Vermont, and
when he was 20 years old, came to McLean Co., and soon after was married to Miss E. D. Ben-
son, the present Mrs. E. D. Knight. They engaged in farming a tract of land eight miles north
of Bloomington. From there they removed to East White Oak, remaining until October, 1865,
when they settled on the present farm of 240 acres, which they earned by their own manage-
ment. Mr. Knight was a patentee of a portable fence, a teacher of rare attainments, and had
labored for 20 years as a minister of theChristinn denomination. His services were generally
free. Only a few months have passed since his generous soul took its eternal flight, and his
death was greatly mourned by all his friends and acquaintances. Mrs. Knight has managed the
affairs of the farm since his death, and it would be doing the deceased an injustice not to say
that he was kind and generous to his family, and went through all his labors unostentatiously
and with his best efforts. Thus passed away a noble man. They have had ten children, viz.,
Mary A. (deceased), William B., Samuel H. (deceased), Alice. Winton C, Hattie A., James P.
(deceased), Orrin H., James B., and Lois E.
R. H. MADDOX, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Saybrook: was born in Virginia April
30, 1823. When he was 5 years old, his father moved to I'erry Co.. Ohio, settling on a farm, and
remaining there ten years. He then moved, with his father, to Licking Co., Ohio, and stayed
there twenty years. From thence he came to McLean Co., engaging in farming, and renting of
Martin Arnold and R. Brown. He moved from there t.(j Peoria, and rented land for two years.
1058 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES :
In 1809, he settled on the beautiful little farm of eighty acres, which he now possesses, earned
eatirely bv his own manual labor. He was married, in 1852, to Elizabeth Tobing, of Virginia;
they have had four children, viz., John B., Mary E. and Margaret J. and Lucy A. (deceased).
S. M. SMITH, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Burr Oak.s ; was born Oct. 13, 1848,
in Monongalia Co., Va. Lived there until 20 years old, when he came with his father to
Woodford Co., 111. Engaged in working on a farm for "Representative" J. Kanney, for four
years, at $25 per month. On Dec. 24, 1871, he was married to Mary J. Mundell, a native of
Woodford Co., who was born Oct. S, 185(j. Immediately after their marriage, they settled on
Mr. Mundell's farm, remaining there six years. In 1877, he took a trip to the East, and, in
1878, made another tour for the purpose of making a home, when lie made the wise choice of a
very fine farm of 160 acres in Anchor Township, situated on the banks of the beautiful Macki-
naw. They have three children— Charles A., born Dec 6, 1872; James A., Sept. 13 1874 ;
Maudie M., Feb. 14, 1877.
E. C. SU.MMERS, farmer and slock-raiser ; P. 0. Burr Oaks; was born Feb. 23, 1837, in
Darke Co., Ohio, on a farm ; remained there until 8 years old, when he went with his father to
Whiteside Co., 111. ; remaining tiiere one year, he returned to Darke Co., Ohio, remaining there
three years ; in 184G, he moved to Jasper Co., Ind., engaging in farming with his father for two
years ; from thence to Shelby Co., III., where he engaged in farming for one year ; his next move
was to Tazewell Co., 111., and tilled the soil until 18(il, when he moved to the southwestern part
of McLean Co. ; he now lives on a beautiful farm in Anchor Township, of 280 acres. His first
marriage to Mary J. Paugh occurred in 1858; they had four children — Harry, Lawson, Clara
and Charles. On the 22d of March, 1872, his first wife died : he was married the second time to
Maggie Perry, of Ohio. He has held offices connected with the schools, and is at present ^uper-
visor of Anchor Townshiji. In 18ij2, he enlisted in Co. F, 106th I. V. I., and was in the war three
years.
J. C. SWARTZLliY, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Garda ; was born Jan. 29, 1836, on a
farm in Augusta Co.. Va., remaining there twenty years ; removing thence to Woodford to., 111.,
engaging in farming and teaching, and has taught the winters and part of the summers of
eighteen years ; he left Woodford Co. in 1858, and went to Missouri, remaining there until 1860,
when he was married, Oct. 2, to Jennie L. Cameron, of Missouri, and returned to Woodford
Co., and engaged in farming and teaching; in 1868. he moved to McLean Co. and settled on his
present farm of eighty acres, situated in what is now Anchor Township. He has made this
beautiful little home by his own skillful management. He has held the office of School Trustee
nine years ; Assessor, five years ; Collector, two years ; Town Clerk, nine years, and is at
present Clerk of Anchor Township ; he is an ornament to the community, honest and upright in
all his dealings, and has made a host of friends; they have seven children — Willie H., Maggie
D., Anna Belle, Ella V., Alice L., George L. and Jessie N.
J. M. URBAN, farmer and stock-raiser; P, 0. Gibson; was born Oct. 11, 1838, in Lan-
caster Co., Penn.; he was engaged, during his early years, as a farmer, and at an early date he
began teaching school, and taught several terms; in 1866, he came to McLean Co., settling west
of Bloomington, and renting the farm of Henry Sholty ; leaving there, he bought and settled on
the present farm of 160 acres, which he has converted into a very desirable farm, admired by
all who see it. In August, 1862, he weal at his country's call to war for the Union, entering as
a Corporal and leaving as a Sergeant. He was married in 1866, to Fannie Stoner, a resident of
Ohio ; he has been connected with schools, and is now in his third term as Commissioner. He
made a profession of religion in 1867; has made quite a liber il donation for church building.
They have five children — Levina M., born Dec. 16, 1866 ; Willie S., June 6, 1868 : Samantha J.,
Jan. 12. 1870; Benjamin H., April 12, 1873; Charles C, April 12, 1876.
T. J. WAKEFIELD, farmer and stock-raiser; P.O.Gibson; was born Aug. 7, 1842, in
Tazewell Co., 111.; lived there until the war broke out, when he entered as a private, enlisting
in Co. B, 73d III. Kegt.; he was three years in service, and was engaged partly in Sherman's
march ; after returning from the war, he engaged in farming in McLean (^o., near Towanda, and
remained there three years; he then went to Blue Mound and engaged in farming ; in 1864, he
bougiit the present farm of eighty acres, earned entirely by his own labor and management ; he
has worked at carpentering and masonry, and sometimes works at plastering; in the winter
time, engages in public work, shelling corn. He was married, in 1869, to Mary E. Parr, a native
of Ohio; they have no children. Mr. Wakefield built his own cosy little cottage, and there
enjoys a happy home.
CROPSFA' TOWNSHIP 1059
CROPSEY TOWNSHIP.
J. C. ARNOLD, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Potosi ; was born in 1839, in Licking
<Jo., Ohio, and, in 1853, settled in McLean Co., IIL; remained there until 1857, then moved to
Tazewell Co., aud there engaged in farming; in 1859, he moved to White Oak, and remained
until 1861, when he enlisted in Co. G, of the 17th I. V. L; he was in the service over three
years, and became a Corporal. After returning from the war, he married Susanna Benson, who
was born in 1844, and soon bought 120 acres — a farm, choice and well-improved, and watered
by excellent springs ; the house is situated among thousands of beautiful forest and fruit trees ;
he has held oiEces connected with the schools, and is, at present. Highway Commissioner; they
have eight children— Ruth V., born Sept. 19, 1865; Ada J.. March 18, 1867; Alta G., Oct. 20,
1868; John S., April 24, i871 : Jesse H., April 19, 1873 ; Moses E., Feb. 9, 1878; two deceased
— James M. and Otis L.
G. W. FRESHCORN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Potosi; was born >ov. 20, 1811, in
Chester Co., Penn., and lived there until 1856, when he came to McLean Co., buying and settling
on his present farm of 155 acres, which he earned principally by his own labor and management ;
he was a wagon-maker and worked under the supervision of his father in Chester Co., Penn. He
has been no othce-seeker, but has held the offices of Justice of the Peace, Assessor, Commissioner
and has been connected with the schools : he is a minister of the M. E. Church, and was mar-
ried, in 1847, to ("atharine Gayman, a resident of Chester Co., Penn.; they have five children —
Fannie, Mary, George F., AVesley J. and Clara: (^lara is a teacher of rare attainments. This
fine old gentleman has made home happy by the associations of literature and art.
A. W. GREEN, M. D., physician and merchant, Potosi ; was born Jan. 26, 1842, in Jef-
ferson Co., Ind., where he remained until 16 years old, when he came to McLean Co., HI.; here
he remained until 1861, when he moved to Clay Co.. 111.; was there until 1864; he had been
engaged in farming and teaching for two years, and was reading medicine ; in 1864, he was in
the army, enlisting in the 136th I. V. I. ; was Orderly and Fir.«t Duty Sergeant ; after his return
from the war, he proceeded with the study of medicine ; attended Rush Medical College, at
Chicago, in 1865-66; returned home and began business with a capital of 80 cents; he lived
with David Crum nearly three years : he bought land, and began building the town of Potosi,
laying it out m 1869 ; he began with a drug store, and his business now includes dry goods and
general notions; he is also Postmaster; he has held town offices. He practices medicine in
addition to his merchandising; also, is in the ministry of the Christian denomination, with four
regular places of appointment. He was married in 1869, to R. Sophia Luse, a native of Ohio ;
he has two children— Arthur L., born Oct. 15, 1870, and Effie A., Feb. 29, 1872. ^ July 13,
1878, his wife met her death by an accident ; she was driving out in the city of Bloomington,
when the horse becoming frightened, ran, throwing her out and injuring her so severely that
she died the same day.
W. A. KNIGHT, farmer and stock-dealer ; P. 0. Potosi ; was born March 15, 1832, in Ry-
gate, Caledonia Co., Vt., where he remained until 19 years old, engaged in farming; he then
went to Massachusetts, worked in Lawrence, manufacturing cotton goods ; he became a mechanic,
and worked at making engines and cotton machinery. In 1854, he went on a farm, and engaged
in farming and carpentering. In 1858, he moved to White Oak, McLean Co.; engaged in farm-
ing with his brother, M. H. Knight. In 1868, he settled on his present farm of eighty acres,
where he has been ever since. Was married May 6, 1853, to H. M. Moore, of Massachusetts;
they have thirteen children — Fred W., Elizabeth J., Alfred T., Frank £., Clara J., Mary E.,
Ralph H., R. Ella, Eugene E., Bert. H., William E., Minnie A., Jesse L. He has not had a doc-
tor for sixteen years, and has done his own practicing. The children are all living. He has
been Collector, Town Clerk, Pathmaster, and connected with the sclioo's. He now manages a
large farm, and practices somewhat in medicine.
D. B. MEEKER, farmer; P. 0. Potosi; was born Oct. 8, 1845, in Indiana, and moved, when
young, to Tazewell Co.. 111.; remained there until 21 years old, working on the farm for his father;
In 1870, he settled on the present farm of 840 acres, owned by his father, Moses R. Meeker,
which he and his brother, E. B. Meeker, manage and control. Mr. D. B. Meeker was married
Feb. 18, 1873, to Sarah Jane Zumwalt, a native of Indiana. Immediately after marriage, they
settled on his father's farm, which he has taken much pleasure in improving. He has two chil-
dren— Arthur, born April 25, 1874, and Nellie May, born Nov. 27, 1877.
E. MERRILL, farmer; P. 0. Potosi: was'born Sept. 7, 1830, in Wayne Co., N. Y.;
remained there until 14 years old, then moved to Chautauriua, N. Y., and engaged in
farming, remaining there until 1853 ; he then moved to McLean Co., 111., and worked a farm as
renter, for ten years, and also worked five years at carpentering.' In 1868, he bought and set-
tled the present farm of 640 acres. He has held such town offices as Assessor and Commissioner.
He was married, in 1852, to Fanny Brigham, of Chautauqua, N. Y. They have nine children —
Alice, born Feb 20, 1856; Jay, Nov. 14, 1859: Rollan, Oct. 1, 1860; Delia, Dec. 2,1362; Vina,
1060 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Nov. 17, 1864 : Fores<, April 21, 1866 : Lee, May 3, 1868; Conwell, Aug. 10, 1870: Sanford,
March 29, 1874.
WILLIAM STICKLER, farmer and teacher ; P. 0. Potosi ; was born Sept. 13, 1847, in Lan-
caster Co., Penn. : when quite young, he moved with his parents to Champaign Co., Ohio, set-
tling on a farm : while there his father died. Soon afterward they moved to Livingston Co., III.,
and settled on a farm ; they remained there some years, and from there moved to McLean Co.,
settling on the present farm of eighty acres, which they have made a cheerful home. He is now
Assessor. He is a carpenter by trade, and carries it on in connection with farming. He is a
teacher of rare attainments, and has taught in three districts; in the first, for one term ; second,
live terms : third, four terms ; he has taught the home school four terms, and is engaged for
next year. He was married April 16, 1874, to Maria Crumbaker, a native of Coshocton Co.,
Ohio. They have one child — Maggie Ellen, born Jan. 16, 1875.
JOHN STRAKSSER, farmer; P. 0. Potosi; was born in Blair Co., Penn., Dec. 18, 1843;
when quite young, he moved, with his father, to Peoria Co., 111. ; remaining there, engaged in
farming for twenty years ; in 1866, he left home and came to McLean Co., buying and settling
the present farm of 160 acres. He has been no office-seeker, but has been Pathmaster and con-
nected with the schools. His father was born in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1802, and served
twelve years in the war. Mr. J. Straesser has never been married.
L. TERPENING, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 0. Potosi: was born, June 15, 180y, in
Herkimer Co., N. Y. ; remained there until 1854, when he came to De Kalb Co., 111., settling on
a farm which he bought, and where he remained eleven years ; he then sold out and moved to
McLean Co., settling in Cropsey Township, where he has lived ever since. He was an overseer
of workmen of the Erie Canal for eight years ; was also a manufacturer of powder for two years,
in New York; he was also a distiller for some time, in Frankfort, N. Y. He was married, in
1825, to Elizabeth Clapsaddle, a native of New York. They have three children — Mary, born
Sept. 2, 1829; Margaret. March 29, 1833; Henry L., April 30, 1836.
J. B. VAN PETTEN, farmer ; P. 0. Potosi ; was born Jan. L 1855, in Peoria Co., 111., where
he remained until 1869, when he came to McLean Co., 111., and settled on his present fiirm.
Thomas W. Van Petten, his father, died in 1862, leaving a snug fortune with Mrs. E. Van Petten,
who has managed ii. They have 240 acres, excellently improved, the greater part of it now
being under the management of J. B. Van Petten. They have had nine children — William, Veeder,
Spencer, Lydia, Henry, Sabra, J. B. ; Archie and Ella (deceased). Mrs. E. Van Petten was born
in Louisville, Ky., in 1824; Mr. Thomas W. Van Petten was born in Syracuse, N. Y., in 1819.
E. H. WARD, farmer; P. 0. Potosi ; was born Sept. 27, 1820, in New York ; he went from
New York to Pennsylvania, and, when quite young, engaged in driving a team for a lumber
dealer; when 18 years old, he went to Ohio and engaged in farming; in 1849, he moved to Ken-
dall Co., 111., and began on farm, working by the month, at $10 to $14 per month. In 1850, he
was married to Ruth Brown, of Ohio ; he remained with his father-in-law a year, raising tobacco ;
in 1852, he moved to Kendall Co., 111., and was engaged in farming seven years, renting four
years ; he then bought eighty acres, whicli he traded for 160 acres in McLean Co., remaining on
that six years; he then sold out and bought the present farm of 160 acres. He has been Com-
missioner twelve terms. They have seven children — Benjamin, now a missionary in India ;
Willie, born Dec. 16, 1855; Henry, March 16, 1858; Albert, Jan 14, 1861 ; Arthur, Jan. 19,
1863; John Logan, April 28, 1865; Nannie, Jan. 17. 1870. His wife's father, Charles Brown,
was one of the first captains on Lake Eiie.
YATES TOWNSHIP.
J. H. AMSLER, farmer; P. 0. Weston ; was born in York Co., Penn., Dec. 22, 1832 ; at
the age of 3 years, he went with his parents to Peoria, 111., then consisting of about three frame
houses ; his father, who was born in Switzerland, worked by the day in a brickyard at Peoria,
but afterward entered a farm of eighty acres, ten miles north of Peoria, and the subject of this
sketch helped liim on the farm until the age of 21, at which age he left his home and rented a
farm on shares in Woodford Co., conducting it with profit to him.self and the owner for one year;
from Woodford Co., he went to Tazewell Co.. farming for one year, and during the next year,
he was confined through sickness: he then removed to Marshall Co., seven miles south of
Lacon, where he continued farming ; from there he returned to Tazewell Co., living near
Tremont, and from there he returned to Woodford Co., and continued farming for two
years ; he afterward removed to within three miles south of Metamora, and farmed there
for four years ; from there he removed to McLean Co., buying and breaking 160 acres of
raw prairie, and built a house thereon, and afterward bouglit eighty acres in Sec. 23, Yates
Township: his farm is all under cultivation, and' valued at §40 an acre. He was elected to
the office of School Director shortly after coming to Yates, and has held the office at intervals
ever since. He was married to Miss Sarah A. Clifton, who was born in Woodford Co., 111., in
YATES TOWNSHIP. 1061
1843 ; they have had a family of six children, two dead and four living, viz., Cora, Charles, Ida
and Amber. Mr. Amsler's farm and residence are on Sec. 26, Yates Township, except eighty
acres on Sec. 23.
SIMON BAECHLER, farmer, Sec. 13 ; P. O. Fairbury ; was born in Lorraine (near the city
of Nancy), Northeastern France, in 1834: in France Simon followed farming with his father,
commencing work at a very early age : his father removed to America in the year 185o, settling
in Tazewell Co., 111., to which place Simon had preceded him one year before ; in Tazewell, Mr.
Baechler, Sr., continued the pursuit of farming, Simon working with him until the year 1859 ;
then he returned to France, remaining there from the spring of 1859 until fall, when he married
and returned to America, bringing his wife with him ; for two years, he and his wife remained
with his father, and then settled on the Little Mackinaw in Tazewell Co., remaining there until
their removal to Yates Township, McLean Co., where he purchased and broke 180 acres of raw
prairie ; in the spring of 1879, he bought seventy acres more, making 250 acres, all of which is
under cultivation, and valued at about $40 an acre ; the farm is a good one, and is considered
one of the best improved in Yates Township. In the year 1874, he was elected to the office of
Road Commissioner, serving three years, from 1874 until 1877. Himself and family are mem-
bers of high standing in the Mennonite Church. In 1859, he was married in France to Miss
Elizabeth Wenjer, born in 1842, in Alsace, France ; they have had a family of six children, tw»
of whom, Helene Ida and Simon Oliver, are dead ; the living are Anna M., Eliza A., Emma H.
and Mary L.
EDGAR BLAISDELL, grain-dealer and Postmaster, Weston; was born in Kingsbury,
Washington Co., N. Y , in 1834; in 1855, he left Kingsbury, going to Madison, Dane Co., Wis.,
remaining there ten years ; in 1865, he left Madison, going to Chenoa, McLean Co., 111., remain-
ing there one year; he went to Chicago; from Chicsgo, he returned to Chenoa and remained
four years; in the spring of 1872, he removed to Weston, where he has resided ever since, deal-
ing in grain. He also holds the office of Postmaster. In 1871, he was married to Miss Susan
A. Armstrong, of Peoria, who was born in Peoria in 1849; they have three children — Fanny,
Louisa and Edgar. He is a gentleman of culture and refinement, and an enterprising, wide-
awake business man.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD, farmer; P. 0. Chenoa; was born in Stirlingshire, ten miles from
the city of Stirling, Scotland, February, 1819, where he lived and followed farming until Nov-
ember, 1848, when he came to this country and settled in .Jersey City, N. J., following vegetable
gardening until the fall of 1871, when he moved to Illinois, settling upon his present location,
where he has remained ever since, following the pursuit of farming. He was married in .June,
1848, to Miss Mary Henderson, who was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland, April, 1820; they have
five children living, viz., James, William, Christina H., Robert A. and Mary J. Mr. Crawford
owns a fine farm of 240 acres, located on Sec. 9. in a high state of improvement, valued at ^50
an acre, and all under cultivation. He holds the office of School Director of District No. 5. He
is a man of large views, generous and enterprising, and takes an interest in everything connected
with the welfare and advancement of his township.
JOHN GRAY, farmer; P. 0. Chenoa; was born in Meade Co., Ky., Feb. 9, 1826; in 1829,
he went to Harrison Co., Ind., remaining there until the age of 25, when he removed to Illi-
nois, and settled in Peoria Co., ten miles northwest of Peoria, where he engaged in farming until
the year 1865, when he enlisted in the Federal army, serving one year; in 1867, he removed to
McLean Co., 111., settling upon eighty acres on Sec. 29, Yates Township, which he had purchased
and broken from raw prairie before removing there ; in 1875, he purchased eighty acres of land
in Martin Township, Sec. 23, McLean Co., all of which, together with eighty acres on Sec. 29,
Yates Township, is under cultivation, and valued at about $40 an acre. He was married Oct.
24, 1850, to Miss Nancy Hunter, who was born in Durbin, Ohio, in 1830; they have had a
family of twelve children, three of whom, Francis, William Walker and Florence Cornelius, are
dead ; nine are living — Pinckney Calhoun, Sarah Catharine, Thomas Alamson, John Asbury
Laura Virginia, Anna Mary, Ruth, Abner L. and Franklin H. .
JOHN RUPP, farmer. Sec. 22; P. 0. Weston; formerly farmer, but now, and for five
years past, retired ; was born near Sarrebourg, Lorraine, Northeastern France, in the year 1824,
where he followed farming with his father until the year 1855, when he came to America, and
went directly to Peoria City, and from thence immediately to Tazewell Co., where he followed
farming until the year 18G4, when he removed to his present home in McLean (]o. In the year
1874, Mr. and Mrs. Rupp returned to France and visited the scenes of his boyhood days,
which he found almost without change ; he then made an extensive tour through Europe, visit-
ing Paris, Strasbourg, Colmars, Switzerland, Basle and Balfron (the locality of one of the great
battles of the Franco-German war). Mr. Rupp is an observing traveler, and his tales of locali-
ties made famous during the Franco-German war, are very interesting. They returned to
America in October, 1874, after an absence of four months. His farm is one of the finest in
Yates Township, consisting of a half section (320 acres), mostly under cultivation, and in a fine
state of improvement ; he has purchased a residence in the town of Chenoa, and will remove
there this fall, renting his farm in Yates. He was elected to the offices of Collector of Tazewell
and Assessor of Yates Township, but declined serving. He was married, in 1853, to Miss Mary
1062 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Bacchlcr, born near Nancy, Lorraine, France : they have one child — Mary Valerie, born in
France in 18-54.
JOHN WADE, farmer, Sec. oO; P. 0. Chenoa ; was born at Oberlin, Lorain Co, Ohio,
Western Reserve, in September, 1840, where he followed agriculture with his father, and, at the
age of 14 years, he entered Oberlin College, where he remained two and one-half years, and, at
the end of that period, he returned to farming, which he followed until he left home, in the
spring of 1861, in which year he enlisted in the 16th Ohio Battery (Capt. .James A. Mitchell
•commanding), for three years, serving two years in Missouri and the Southwest, under Gen.
Curtis, and participating in all actions under that General. In the spring of 1868, he returned
from the army, and, after a trip to England, returned to this country, and, in the spring of 1864,
went to McLean Co., 111., when he settled upon Sec. 19, where he had formerly purchased eighty
acres. From Sec. 10, he removed to Sec. 30, Yates Township, and purchased 160 acres, all of
which he has placed under a high state of cultivation, and said to be as well-improved as any
farm in Yates. Mr. Wade's land is all underdrained, and valued at $40 an acre. He contem-
plates further improvements in the way of a new dwelling, barn, etc. He also uses the best
agricultural implements, and believes in improvements in every way. In 1863, he married Miss
Susan Squire, born at Oberlin, Lorain Co., Ohio. They had three children — Lydia, Eddy and
Emma. Mrs. Wade died Aug. 9, 1871. Mr. Wade was married Mai-ch IH, 1874, to Miss Mary
Lewis, who was born near Washington, Tazewell Co., 111., in the year 1840. He dates his des-
cent from the Pilgrim Fathei's, who landed at Plymouth Rock in the winter of 1620, and bears
the sturdy, large-hearted characteristics of that race. He is a thorough farmer, and works his
farm upon true scientific principles, resulting in a high state of improvement thereof.
JAMES E. WIKOFF. farmer, deceased; P. 0. Chenoa. Among the many self-made men
of McLean Co., who have risen to eminence in the affairs of their own township by their enter-
prise, intelligence and integrity, and who take rank among the best in their sphere, was James
E. WikoiF, who was born in Adams Co., Ohio, in 1828, where he followed farming, with the
exception of four years previous to his leaving Adams Co., during which period he was superin-
tendent of his brother's saw-mill. In 1854, he left Adams Co., and went directly to McLean Co.,
111., settling upon Sec. 33, Yates Township, where he entered 200 acres of land, and bought (in
Sec. 32) forty acres, all of which, except forty acres of pasture, is under cultivation. During
■the war, he was elected a Justice of the Peace, holding that office for several years. He was
also elec'.ed Supervisor of Yates Township, holding office several terms. At the time of the organ-
ization of the township, he was elected School Trustee, and held that office until the date of his
death, Aug. 23, 1878. He was a prominent and respected citizen of McLean Co., and leaves a
large circle of friends, who sincerely mourn their loss. On July 20, 1854, Mr. Wikoff married
Miss Pha'be Holderness, who was born March 25, 1838, at New Marion, Ind., but was raised in
Adams Co., Ohio, to which place she went with her father at the age of 1 year. She went to
McLean Co., 111., with her husband, the year of their marriage. There are four children living —
Orra, Sarah E., Hattie and James Grant. Mrs. Wikoff lives upon and conducts lier late hus-
band's farm, assisted by her sons, Orra and James. Their farm and residence is located on Sec.
^33, with the exception of eighty acres on Sec. 32, and eighty acres in Sec. 10.
MARTIN TOWNSHIP.
W. G. ANDERSON, farmer ; P.O.Lexington; wis born in 1818, in Jetferson Co., Ind.,
a.nd came to this State in the year 1855, settling in Randolph Township, this county, where he
remained two years, when he removed to the place he now occupies. His homestead consists of
350 acres, in a good state of cultivation, and worth about $35 per acre.
WM. BENSON, farmer; P. 0. Lexington; was born in McLean Co. in 1830; he is the son
of Jaiues Benson, who emigrated from Indiana and settled in Blooming Grove, this county, at a
very early day. He received his education in what was known as the Bloomington Academy
(Rev. (}. W. Minier, Principal) ; he taught school some two years, after which he moved onto
and improved a farm in While Oak Township; in the spring of 1807, he moved to his present
location, and was among the first settlers on the open prairie in the northeastern part of the
township; his homestead consists of 160 acres, well situated and improved, and worth about
$35 ))er acre.
WILLIAM HURT, fanner ; P.O. Arrowsniith ; was born in Kentucky in 1841; came to
this Stale in 1854, and resided in Bloominglon for one year afterward. He was married, in
1863, lo .Mi.ss Mary C. Rason, and settled in Dale Township, where he resided six years; he
moved to his present location in I860, and turned his attention exclusively to farming until five
years ago, when he began the l)recding of Norman horses, and has continued in the business,
with success, ever since. He lias one child— Charles W. Hurt, who was born in April, 1865.
His farm is finely located, well improved, and worth about $40 per acre.
MARTIN TOWNSHIP. 1063
JAMES KENNEDY, farmer ; P. 0. Arrowsmitli ; was born in 1803, in Jessamine Co., Ky.,
moving to this State in April, 1852, and settled two miles west of Bloomington, remaining in
that locality eight years, at which time his wife died, and, breaking up housekeeping, he spent
several years in traveling, after which, he settled, in 1873, upon the place he now occupies.
He has been thrice married, first, to Miss Leaner Freeman ; in 1827, to Miss Asenath Gentry,
and, in 1871, to Miss Maggie Elkin. His homestead consists of IGO acres, finely located and
being rapidly brought to a high state of improvement, and is worth about $35 per acre.
JACOB H. RITCHIE, farmer; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; was born in Rockingham Co., Va., in
the year 18.'>8, emigrating to Dale Township, this county, in 1855. where he remained ten years,
when he removed to the place he now occupies in 1865. He was married, in 1859, to Miss
Sallie Hurt. He has served the people in the capacity of School Trustee, Road Commissioner
or Supervisor, almost continuously since his settlement in the township. His homestead consists
of 160 acres, well improved and worth about $35 per acre, and which represents the accumula-
tions only of the time which he has been in the State ; like others of that time, he braved the
hardships and dangers of the Western wilds in search of a competence for his family and which
he has secured by diligent application. He has seven children — Ida, George, Annie Bell,
Emma, Addison, Jay and Mary Alice.
JOHN W. RITTER, farmer ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; born in Ross Co., Ohio, in 1821, emigrating
to this county in 1854, settling in the vicinity of Le Roy, where he remained one year, and
then removed to the place which he now occupies ; he was the first settler in the southern part
of Martin Township. He was married, in 1854, to Maria Dawson, daughter of Henry Dawson,
one of the early settlers of Old Town, this county. His education was of necessity limited, as
but few facilities existed for acquiring an education in the vicinity in which he lived at that
early day, but by observation and diligence he has acquired business capacity sufficient to
successfully conduct his present extensive business ; he is the owner of one section of land,
well stocked and improved and worth about f 40 per acre.
SOLOMON K. WALDON, farmer; P. 0. Ellsworth; was born in Empire Township, this
county, in 1835 ; he is the son of Thomas Waldon, a Virginian, who emigrated to Ohio, thence
to this State, settling in this county as early as 1833 ; he first settled in Sangamon Co. in 1828,
and was a soldier of the Black Hawk war ; in the early days of Empire Township, he was a
prominent citizen of that locality, and one of the hardy and industrious pioneers who helped to
pave the way to the better state of things now existing ; he remained a citizen of Empire Town-
ship for forty years, when he removed to Downs Township, and thence to this township one year
ago. He has been twice married; first in 1860, to Miss Mary Eddy, who died in 1870; and
next, in 1873, to Miss Lydia A. Ingersol. Mr. Waldon has had five children, viz., Alfred T.
(died in 1864j, George E., James H., Samuel M.and .John L.
JOSEPH M. WILSON, farmer ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; was born in Posey Co.. Ind., in the
year 1837, and was married in 1868, to Miss Eliza Popple ; he came to this State in 1854, settling
in Stout's Grove, this county, where he remained seventeen yeai-s, removing to this township in
1870, and to the farm he now occupies in 1877. He served three years in the army, enlisting as
private in the 94th I. Y. I., in August, 1862, and received an honorable discharge from the service
in August, 1865. He has a homestead of 160 acres, where he resides, and which is being rapidly
improved, and is now worth about $35 per acre. He was elected and served as Tax Collector
in 1876.
JAMES E. WOOD, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Arrowsmith ; one of the old settlers of
McLean Co. ; was born in Monroe Co., Ind., June 6, 1831, and came to McLean Co., Oct. 30,
1854 ; he had about $500 of the wild-cat money of that time in his possession, when he came to
McLean Co., but could not dispose of it for 30 cents on the $1, the consequence was, he had to
commence in a new country without any means; but, by hard work and economy, he is now the
owner of 324 acres of land all under a good state of cultivation. He was united in marriage
with Nancy Puett Oct. 30, 1853 ; from this union there were eight childi-en, six of wliom are
now living, viz., Robert P., William E., James E., Ellsworth, John A. and George W. ; the names
of those deceased were Nancy E. and Sarah D. VIrs. Nancy Wood died Nov. 23, 1872. On
Nov. 12, 1873, Mr. Wood was married to Martha Horr, whose father was one of the pioneers of
McLean Co. Mr. Wood is a strict temperance man ; a Republican in politics, and a great admirer
of that party.
o qJ^,(^J^S^J) gA^
;^
►>v
cy
1064
POPULATION OF McLEAN COUNTY;
POPULATION OF McLEAN COUNTY BY TOWNSHIPS.
-
1870.
1
I860.
TOWNSHIPS.
i
1
a
1
i
a
6 \
1
O
Allin
1224
274
927
659
1829
14590
1219
1164
389
2351
859
1188
163
1760
856
1196
1267
2183
862
818
1709
1892
835
2404
687
999
1550
600
3156
1116
1109
1249
1958
800
1235
941
532
1048
1050
249
870
584
1394
10692
1082
1130
875
2022
752
1128
155
1502
312
1167
1079
2061
826
786
1528
1187
786
2204
657
960
1438
547
2768
1021
995
1188
1850
294
947
909
487
878
174
25
57
75
435
8898
137
34
14
829
107
60
8
258
44
29
188
72
36
82
186
205
49
200
80
89
112
58
388
95
114
61
108
6
288
82
45
170
1224
274
927
659
1810
14355
1219
1164
389
2350
858
1162
163
1759
356
1196
1247
2129
858
818
1709
1892
885
2399
686
999
1549
600
8014
1081
1109
1249
1958
300
1235
940
582
1048
:
Stanford
1
415
141
1855
6980
322
616
69
544
140
950
Blootninffton
19
285
4
Bloominffton
145
Rhie Mound
Sav brook
Chenoa
1 \
1
26
1
CroDsev
Dale
Shirlev
Diinvers
1
1375
Dan vers
Downs
20"
4 ':
4 1
1069
998
1684
658
486
793
841
861
1788
285
766
870
Drv Grove
1
Empire
1
Le Roy
1
Funk's Grove
r.ridlev
1
Hudson
1
1
Lawndale
Lexington
51
1 1
Martin
Money Creek
1
23
McLean
Normal
112
35
832
•15
Normal
662
765
1886
1
I'adua
:::::::::::
Hey worth
To wanda
751
809
541
West
■■■ 1 :
While Oak
Yates
••••■• • , ..
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
BLOOMINCTON.
Adams, E. J., Staple and Fancy Gro-
ceries, Canned Fruits, Cigars, &c., 112
North Main street.
Agle & Sons, Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in Hides, Tallow, Leather and
Shoe Findings, 205 South Center st.
Aldrich, O. M., Attorney at Law.
Aldrich Brothers & Co., Whole-
sale and Retail Dealers in Provisions,
Oysters, Flour, Fruits and Fancy Gro-
ceries, 109 West Front street.
Allin, Lee, Dentist; Rooms, 116 S.
Main Street.
Anderson, J. W., Manufacturer of
Buggies, Spring and Platform Wagons,
Track Sulkies, and all kinds of job
work, 305 West Washington street.
Ator, J., County Sheriff of McLean
County.
Atkinson, C. W., County Clerk.
Baker, S. D., & Son, Dealers in
Staple and Fancy Groceries, 115 South
Center street.
Baird & Tuttle, Loan Agents.
Ball, Francis, Carriage and Wagon
Manufacturer, 103 East Olive street.
Bailer, P. A., Florist.
Barnes, A. J., Butcher ; keeps con-
stantly on hand all kinds of Fresh and
Salt Meats, West Washington street.
Barrows, C. C, & Co., Pawnbrokers,
213 West Washington street. Estab- '
lished 1875. i You'll see our signs, i
A large stock of Forfeited Pledges for
sale at half value. Cash paid for Gold
and Silver. Fine Jewelry and Watches
repaired in better manner and at lower
rates than any house in city.
j Behr, Henry, Dealer in Groceries,
' Provisions, Fruits, Canned Goods, &c.,
1009 West Chestnut street.
Ball, A. H , & Bro., Photographers.
Benjamin, Judge R. M., County
Judge.
Benson, H., Attorney at Law.
Bishop, S., Physician and Surgeon,
office corner of Main and Washington
streets.
Blanchard, E. H., Dealer in Drugs,
Medicines, Chemicals, Fine Toilet Soaps,
Paints, Oils, Varnishes and Dye-Stuffs.
Physicians' Prescriptions accurately
compounded.
BlOOmfleld & Hughes, Attorneys
at Law.
Bloomington Stove Co., Manu-
facturers of 115 different styles of
stoves. Grand Central Cook and the
Royal Crown Base- Burner, specialties.
Bradshaw, C. G., Attorney at Law.
Brand, George, Manufacturer,
Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Furni-
ture, 112 West Front street. Low
rates given and satisfaction guaranteed.
Patronage solicited.
Brechbeller, John, Saloon, Whole-
sale and Retail Liquors.
1066
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
Brown & Gray, Grocers and Com-
mission Merchants, Staple and Fancy
Groceries, Canned Goods, Poultry, &c.,
113 West Front street.
BrOWnell, W. J., & Co., Dealers in
Boots and Shoes, 116 West Washing-
ton Street, South of Court House.
Bryant, J. H., Contractor and Builder.
Shop on East street, between Jefferson
and North.
Buffinan, K., Flain and Ornamental
Painting, Graining, Paper-Hanging,
Calcimining and Bronzing, corner Main
and Washington streets.
Bunn, T. J., Banker.
Burke, Jeff, Horse-shoeing and x Job
Work, corner Center and Olive streets.
Buxton, W., Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, 701 West Chestnut st.
Caldwell, R. M., Dealer in Groceries,
Provisions, Canned Fruits, &c.. 1005'.
North Main street.
Camp, Charles, Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, Provisions, Canned
Fruits, &e., 317 North Center street.
Carlock, W. B., Attorney at Law.
Money to Loan. Agency for the Cu-
nard Line of Steamships. Office over
People's Bank.
Camp, C. L., Dealer in Furniture No-
tions, Quconsware, Glassware, Wood and
Willow Ware, and a general as.^ortment
of House-Furnishing Goods, 106 East
Front street.
Carlton & Kerr, Livery, Feed and
Sale Stable, 12, 14 and 16 East Wash-
ington street. Carriages furnished for
funerals.
Coultar, Thomas, Contractor and
Builder. Shop corner Douglas and East
streets.
Carr, Dr. C. R. Office 711 North
Main street. Kej^idence, 707 North
Main street.
Chrisman, P. W., Dealer in Family
Groceries and Provisions, 507 W^est
Market street.
Cochrane, W. G., Manufacturing
Confectioner, Foreign and Domestic
Fruits and Nuts, Cigars and Tobaccos,
218 North Center street. West Side
Square.
Condon, William, Dealer in Gro-
ceries, Provisions, (fee. ; also Bread.
Pies, Cakes, &c., 800 West Chestnut
street.
Cox, N. W., House and Sign Painter,
114 South Main street.
Cox, T. J., Proprietor Union and Eagle
Mills, Dealer in Flour, Feed, Meal and
Grain. Custom and merchant milling
done to order.
Creed, Dudley, Editor and Publisher
of the Democrat News.
Daniels & Logan, Dealers in Fresh
and Salt Meats, Lard, Sausages, &c.,.
515 North Main street.
DeniSOn, Joseph, County Treasurer
of McLean Co.
De Webber, Dr. P., 607 West Mar-
ket street.
Dias, E., Manufacturer of Cigars, To-
bacco and Pipes, Cigar-Cases, Tobacco-
Pouches, Stems, &c., and sole manufac-
turer of the Cyprus Cigar, 103 North
Main street.
Diedrich, N., Proprietor of the Union
Foundry and Machine Shop. Iron
Fronts, Fencings, Grating, Shutters,
Window Caps and Sills, 407 and 409
South Center street.
Dillingham, L. C, & Co., Manu-
facturers of and Dealers in Plain,
Stamped and .Japanned Tin Ware, Glass
and Wooden Ware, 3223 Main street.
Dillon, E., & Co., the oldest and most
extensivi- Importers and Breeders or
Norman French Horses.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
106T
Dunn, Imri, opposite Post Offic'a
dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils,
Fine Toilet Soaps, Brushes, Perfumery.
Erwin, T., Dealer in Fresh and Cured
Meats, Sausage, Lard, itc, Front street,
two doors west of Center street.
Evans, John W., Contractor and
Builder, Planing-Mill and Lumber
Yard, Stair Building, Doors, Sash,
Blinds, Frames, Mouldings, Brackets,
•Turning, Planing, Matching and Saw-
ing. Mill, office and yard, 511 North
Center street.
Evans, R. P., & Bro., Dealers in
Groceries, Provisions, Canned Fruits,
&c., and Commission Merchants, 401
North Main street.
Evans & Patrick, Grocers and Com-
mission Merchants, 117 East Front st.
Eversole, A., Dealer in Groceries,
Provisions, Flour, Canned Fruit, &c.,
229 East Front street.
Fell, Robert, Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, Choice Teas, Fruits,
Vegetables, Provisions, Queensware,
Stoneware, &c., corner Center and Grove
streets.
Perre, Lyman, Carriage and Wagon
Manufacturer.
Fisher, John W., Dentist, 402 North
Main street.
Fitzwilliams & Sons, Dry Goods
and Notions.
Flagg, William P., Proprietor Em-
pire Machine Works.
FleiSChman, A., Butcher.
FolSOm, Peter, Loan Agent.
Fordice, J. M., Dealer in Lumber
and Building Materials, Lehigh Valley
Coal, Salt and the Moline Wagon. 1001
West Market street.
Foy, J. W^., Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, 508 East Jefferson
street.
Prink & Whittier, Dealers in Gro-
ceries, Provisions, &c., 219 East Front st.
Fulwiler, J. T., Attorney at Law.
Funk, A., Stock-Dealer.
Funk, D. M., President Bloomington
National Bank.
Funk, B. p., Stock-Dealer.
Funk & Lackey, Wholesale and Re-
tail Druggists and Dealers in Perfu-
mery, Paints, Oils, Fancy Articles, 110
West Washington street.
Ferguson, M. E., Deputy Circuit
Clerk.
Gaffron, P. W., Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, Provisions, &c., 812
West Market Street.
Gapen & Ewing, Attorneys at Law.
Gilman, W. D., Proprietor People's
Drug Store, where there always can be
found a complete line of Pure Drugs,
221 North Main street.
Goodheart, James, Deputy United
States Marshal.
Graham, Hugh, Carriage and Wagon
Manufacturer, 406 and 408 West Front
street ; also, Job Work.
Graff, R., Dealer in Groceries and Pro-
visions, Glass, Wood and Willow Ware,.
809 East Grove street.
Gregory, John A., Florist.
Gridley, Gen. A., Banker.
Guthrie, A., Cigars, Tobacco, Pipes,
etc., corner of Main and Jefferson sts.
Haering, T., & Co., Druggists and
Chemists, 41 H North Main street.
Haggard, D. D., Dealer in Hardware^
Agricultural Implements, Stoves,
Pumps, 210 West Washington street.
Haker, Christian, Saloon.
Haker, Louis, Saloon.
Hammond, P., Agent Genuine
Singer Machines ; sold at as low prices
as inferior machines, for cash or the
1068
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
installment plan, only at the office of the
Singer Manufacturing Conapany, 106
West North street.
Harlan, A. J., Manufacturer of fine
Cigars, 120 South Main street.
Hayes, S., Manufacturer of Carriages,
Buggies, Wagons, Sulkies, &c., and Job
Work, corner West and Front streets.
Hegarty, D., Stoves and Tinware.
Helbig, Oscar, Wholesale and Retail
Dealer in Pianos, Organs, Sheet Music
and Musical Merchandise, German
Music Store, 316 North Main street.
Hemmele, Barney, Dealer in Staple
Groceries, Provisions, &c., 710 West
Market street.
Hennecke, Charles, Insurance and
European Steamship Agent.
Herrington, B. L., Dealer in Fresh
and Cured Meats, Sausages, Lard, &c.,
202 East Front street.
Herrington, M. D., Dealer in Fresh
and Salt Meats, Lard, Sausages, &c.,
615 North Main street.
Hewitt, H. H., Wholesale and Retail
Dealer in Hardware, Stoves and Agri-
cultural Implements ; Agent for the
Schuttler Wagon, H09 North Main st.
Hansen, M., Dry Goods and Notions.
Higgins, H. J., & Co., Marble
Works.
Hoffman, Hermann, Saloon.
Hofmann, Geo., Saloon and Board-
ing-House.
Hohmann, S., Barber, Ashley House.
Homuth, p. A., Dealer in Fresh and
Salt Meats, Sausages, Lard, &c., 110
East Front street.
HOOPOS, B. P., Wholesale and Retail
Dealer in Groceries, Fruits and Canned
Goods ; also Proprietor of the Blooming-
ton Steam Coffee, Spice and Hominy
Mills, 105 West North street.
HoutZ, J. E., & Co., Dry Goods.
Commenced business in Bloominston
in April, 1873, at 210 Center street, at
which place they did business until the
18th of March. 1879. when they re-
moved to their new, elegant double store,
109 and 111 East Front street. Their
present store is the largest, most attract-
ive and convenient in Central Illinois, and
their business has largely increased since
occupying it. They have been obliged
to increase their force of help, and judg-
ing from present indications, still fur-
ther additions will become necessary.
The order trade from surrounding and
even as far as the southern part of the
State is immense, and have also recently
had large orders from Missouri and Ne-
braska. Eighteen persons are now in
their employ.
Hutchinson, E. T., Dentist, south-
east corner Grove and Center streets.
E. C. Hyde, Merchant Tailor, 101
North Main street.
Hyde & Martens, Manufacturers of
Centennial and Victor Plows, Agricul-
tural Implements, etc., -408 South Main
street.
Kerrick, Thomas C, Attorney at
Law.
King, D. P., Manufacturer of and
dealer in Harness, Saddles, Collars, Bri-
dles, Whips, Halters, Combs, Brushes,
etc.. South Main street, opposite Post
Office, Center street.
Kirkpatrick, A. D., Dealer in Dry
Goods, Notions, China, Glass and
Queensware, Furniture, Stoves and
Tinware, 502, 504 and 508 North Main
street.
Kirkpatrick, J. H., Stock and Real
Estate Auctioneer: office, 502 North
Main street, opposite Brokaw's Plow
Shop.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
1069
Koch, C. F., Dealer in Groceries, Pro-
visions, Fruits and Canned Goods, 810
West Front street.
Koester, John, German Editor and
Publisher.
KreiS, Peter, Soda Water Manufac-
turer.
Krum, I. R. (Successor to Krum &
Robinson), Dealer in Lumber, Shingles,
Lath, Building Paper, Doors, Sash,
Blinds, Lime Cement, Plastering Hair,
Grain, Coal and Salt ; office, 920 East
Grove street, East Illinois Central Depot.
Branch business at Arrowsmith.
Kummer, Henry, Dealer in New
and Second Hand Furniture, Stoves and
Tinware, 113 South Center Street.
General Repairing of Tinware and Fur-
niture.
LartZ, Carl, Saloon.
Laufer, August, Stone-cutter.
Lawrence, A. T., General Collecting
Agent, U. S. Commissioner and Justice
of the Peace.
Liawrence, E. B., Carpenter and
Builder, Shop North Main street.
Leland, M. F., Proprietor of the Daily
and Weekly Leader, 113, 115 and 117
East Washington street.
Lipp & Fickweiler, Hotel Restau-
rant and Saloon.
Livingston, A., & Co., Dry Goods
and Notions.
Loudon, Robert, Proprietor of Eagle
Machine Works, Engines, Boilers, Mill
Gearing, Shafting, Pulleys and Engine
Supplies, also Plumbing and Steam Fit-
ting, BIO and 612 North Main street.
Lucas, B. L., Attorney at Law.
McFarland, J. C, Circuit Clerk,
Bloomington, 111.
McLean County Mills, Estab-
lished in 1853 ; Beard & Johnson, Pro-
prietors, Manufacturers of Winter
Wheat Flour, northeast corner Taylor
and Clinton streets.
McMaster, D., Dealer in Provisions,
Staple and Fancy Groceries, &c., 506
North Main street.
Marquam & Baker, Evergreen City
Business College.
Marso, John N., Dry Goods and
Notions.
Madden, Daniel, Horseshoeing and
Job Work, East street, between Grove
and Front.
Marmon, William W., Wholesale
Druggist, 115 North Main street.
Mason, B. W., Deputy Sheriff.
Mayers, A., Undertaker, Carriages and
Hearses, Shrouds of all kinds kept on
hand, under Post Office Building.
Merchant, John, City Engineer.
Meyer, M., Wholesale and Retail
Dealer in Fresh and Cured Meats, 1011
West Chestnut street.
Miller, E. S., City Marshal.
Miller, John G., Blacksmithing and
General Job Work, 425 North Main
street.
Miner, H, A., Manufacturer of Mold-
ings, Sash, Doors and Blinds, Scroll
Work, Frames, House Finishing and
Turning ; shop with the Bloomington
Furniture Works.
Moore, E. J., Manufacturer of Lin-
seed Oil.
Moore, Dr. D. O., ^01 East Grove
street.
Moore, M. L., Manufacturer and
Dealer in Custom Work, Harness, Sad-
dles, Collars, Whips, Nets, Robes,
Trunks, Valises, &c., 114 South Main
street.
Mueller, A., Dealer in Family Grocer-
ies, Provisions, Flour and Feed of all
kinds, &c., 802 West Front street.
XX
1070
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
Mutual County Fire Insur-
ance Company; Directors: S.
Peafiley, William Karr, 0. Barnard, S.
H. West, C. E. Barclay, J. T. Martin,
J. R. Gaston, George Freeman, John
McConnell.
Myers & Stroud, Attorneys at Law.
Myers & Wocliner, Brewers.
Neff, J. C. S., Photographer.
National State Bank^ of Bloom
ington, Frank Hoblit, President;
Jacob Funk, Vice President; A. B.
Hoblit, Cashier.
Neuerburg, Henry, Saloon.
Nevin, L., Dealer in Groceries, Provis-
ions, Produce, &c., 622 and 624 North
Main st.
NiCCOllS, J. T., Groceries and Provis-
ions, Fancy Groceries, &c., 604 North
Main street.
Oberkoetter & Co., Wholesale Gro-
cers, 111 and 113 South Main street.
O'Neil Bros., Dealers in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, corner Chestnut and
Lumber streets.
Osborn & Lillard, Attorneys at
Law.
Owen Pixley & Co., Clothing and
Gents' Furnishing Goods.
Penner, W. D., Dealer in Groceries,
Provisions, Fruits, Vegetables, &c., 119
South Main street.
People's Bank, P. Whitmer, Presi-
dent; L. Ferre, Vice President; W. M.
Ollis, Cashier; A. S. Eddy, Assistant
Cashier.
Persinger, H. R., Proprietor and
Editor of the Sunday Eye. ,
Phoenix Hotel, half block from Bus-
iness Center; F. M. Bateman k Co.,
Proprietors.
Plumb, Bailey, House and Sign
Painter, 404 North East street.
ProbasOO, W. B., Grain Dealer; high-
~ est cash price paid for all kinds of Grain ;
orders for car lots promptly filled ; ele-
vator on C. & A. Pt. R., between Chest-
nut and Locust streets.
Reed & Barger, Importers and Job-
bers of Queensware, Glassware, Lamps,
• Lamp Goods, Mirrors, &c., also Ohio
Stoneware, Britannia Ware, Table Cut-
lery, &c..
Reeves, William M., Deputy Cir-
cuit Clerk.
Riebsame, C, Agent Phil. Best
Brewing Company.
Riebsame, C, Saloon.
Robinson, J. D., Florist.
Rodgers, J., Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, Canned Fruits, &c.,
721 West Chestnut street.
Roedinger, P., Dealer in Fancy and
Staple Groceries, Canned Fruits, &c.,
1107 North Main street.
Rowell & Hamilton, Attorneys at
Law.
Ross, J. S., Dealer in Pumps and Light-
ning Rods, 214 East Front street.
Scott & Miller, Dealers in Groceries,
Provisions, Fruits, Canned Goods, &c.,
corner Main and Mulberry streets.
Scott, J. v., Contractor and Builder,
shop on North Main street.
Seibel, A., Baker, 713 West Chestnut
St., Dealer in the best of Fresh Bread,
Pies, Cakes, &c.
Seibel, H. P., Justice of the Peace,
Notary Public and General Collecting
Agent.
Senseney, H. M., Coal Dealer.
Shackleford, Charle?, Attorney at
Law.
Simons, M. G., Dealer in Mackinaw
Ice, 1105 North East street.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
1071
Smith, William Hawley, County
Superintendent of Schools, McLean i
County.
Spinning:, J., Dealer in Fresh and Salt
Meats, Lard, &c., 304 North Main st. ,
Sprague & Johnson, Dealers in
Family Groceries, Provisions, Flour, ,
Canned Fruits, &c., 619 North Main '
street.
StautZ, William, Dealer in all kinds
of Fresh and Cured Meats, 501 West j
Market street. I
Sells, J., Grower of Seed Corn, Tou-
louse, African, Canada and China Geese |
and Muscovy Ducks, the Gregg, Mam-
moth Cluster, Golden Cap and Turner
Raspberry.
Stevenson & Ewing, Attorneys at
Law.
Slade, Thomas, Attorney at Law.
Smith, Stephen, Dry Goods and
Notion.s.
Stevenson & BrO., Dealers in Hard-
ware, Stoves, Tinware and House Fur-
nishing Goods, 107 East Front street.
Stone, J., Captain of the Police.
Stubblefleld, George W., & Co.,
Brick Barn, south of Wait's Hotel;
Percheron-Norman — Henry Abrahams,
Denmark, Freazier ; Saddle Horse —
Tudor Lexington.
Stubblefleld, R. W., Importer and
Breeder of Percheron-Norman Horses,
also proprietor of the old Jones Livery
and Feed Stable, corner Front and Lee
streets.
Swain, H. H., Deputy Sheriif, Mc-
Lean County.
Sweetser, A. C, Deputy Collector of
Internal Revenue.
Tankersley, J. R., Photographer.
Taylor, A. C Deputy County Clerk.
TheiS, Charles, Dealer in Groceries,
Provisions, Vegetables, &c., 712 West
Chestnut street.
Thomas, L. B., Insurance Agent ;
represents some of the best companies
in the country— ^^tna, of Hartford,
Franklin, of Philadelphia, Home, of
New York, Niagara, of New York,
Phoenix, of Hartford, Mutual Benefit
Life, of Newark, N. J.
Thompson, J., Grocer and Produce
Merchant, 701 North Main street.
Tipton & Pollock, Attorneys at
Law.
Tracy, L. L., Engineer at Water
Works.
Tryner, G. F., Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Groceries, Provisions, &c., 10!^
West Front street.
Voak, Dr. J. E., Homoepathist ;
Chronic Diseases a Specialty, 107 North
Main St. ; residence, 1109 Park st.
Wait, C. H., Proprietor of Waifs
,. Hotel.
j Wakefield, C, & Co., Manufactur-
ers of Patent Medicines.
Walton, John T., Manufacturer of
Cast Steel and Hardened Cast Steel
Plows, Cultivators, Double Shovels, Prai -
rie Plows, 210 and 212 Washington st.
Welch, A., Family Groceries, Provis-
ions, &c,, 225 East Front street.
Wilcox Bros., Dry Goods and No-
tions.
Wildberger, John C, Saloon.
Williams, W. M., Dealer in Grocer-
j ies, Provisions, Canned Fruits, &c., 204
East Front street.
Wilson, S. C, Dentist, Durley Hall
Building.
WhitCOmb, H. D., Sign, Scenic,
Fresco and Decorating Artist.
1072
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
White, S. R., Contractor and Builder,
and Dealer in Lumber, Lath, Shingles,
Moldings, Sash, Blinds, &c., 304 East
Douglas street, opposite Planing Mill.
Wright, H. B., M. D., Homoeopathic
Physician and Surgeon; office, 211
North Main street, up stairs ; residence,
412 North Lee, corner of Market street.
Wood, John F., Practical Pattern
Making, Wood Turning, &c. ; all orders
promptly attended to. Patentees and
others who are experimenting will find
it to their interest to call on or address
me, at factory, East Douglas street,
NORMAL.
Baker, Hiratn, Dealer in Real Estate.
Blackburn, J., Dealer in Lumber,
Hardware, Coal, etc.
Buchanan, W. P., Dealer in Stock.
Champion, George, Dealer in Hard-
ware, Tinware, &c.
Dickinson, A. F., Attorney at Law.
Evan S, T. W., Dealer in Coal and Grain.
Johnson & Chipman, Grocers,
Dealers in Groceries, Provisions, Coun-
try Produce, Canned Goods, &c.
Lackey, J. S., M. D.
Sargent, J. B., Township Collector, of
Normal Township.
Vickroy, H. K., Proprietor of the
Highland Fruit Farm and Gardens,
Propagator and Grower of Plants, Fruits
and Vegetables, and Dealer in Fruit-box
Material.
Woolsey, G. R , M. D.
LEXINGTON.
Bank of Lexington, Harness, Van- I
tlolali <t Co.
Becker, V. J., & Co., Dealers in '
Drugs, Medicine.s and Chemicals, Per- |
fumery, Soaps, Combs and Brushes, '
Trusses, Supporters, Shoulder Braces,
Fancy and Toilet Articles, Books and
Stationery, Kerosene Oil, Lamps and
Chimneys, Grass and Garden Seeds,
Glass, Putty, Paints, Oils, Varnishes,
Dye Stuffs, Pure Wines and Liquors
for Medicinal Purposes, Patent Medi-
cines, &c. ; Family Medicines and Phy-
sicians' Prescriptions accurately com-
pounded at all hours. Goods selected
with care and warranted as represented.
Davidson, A. B., Attorney at Law
and Justice of the Peace ; Collections
and Probate Business a Specialty.
Davis, G. W., Carriage and Wagon-
maker.
Dawson, C, Farmer, and Breeder of
Draft Horses. His No; man Stallion,
Odnet, was imported from France by E.
Dillon & Co., in 1875.
Dement & Co., General Merchants.
Edwards & Stevenson, Dealers
in Staple and Fancy Groceries, Provis-
ions, Flour, Confectionery, Cigars, &c.
Elder, Dr. C. S., Physician and Sur-
geon.
Franklin, Noah, Proprietor of Spring
Park Farm, Breeder of Pure-bred Sbort
Horn Cattle.
Fulwiler, John, Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Dry Goods, Hats, Caps, Boots,
Shoes, Notions and Trimmings, and
Groceries.
Gray, Dr. C. C, Dentist.
Hays, Henry C, Constable.
Horney, H., Breeder of Norman
Draft Horses, Sec. 29.
Johnson, James E., Deputy Sheriff
and Constable.
Mahan, Isaac S., Attorney at Law
and Notary Public, Lisurance and Real
Estate ; special attention given to Col-
lection of Pensions, Bounties, &c.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
1073
Mahan, J. C, Dealer in Flour, Feed
and all kinds of Grain.
Merrill, S., Photographer. All popu-
lar styles of pictures made, and all work
warranted.
Powley, J. W., Manufacturer and
Jobber of Tin and Sheet-iron Ware,
Stamped and Japanned Tinware, and
Dealer in Stoves, Shelf Hardware, Nails,
Pumps, &c.
Preble, C. H., Stock Dealer and
Shipper.
Smith & Moon, Dealers in Fancy and
Staple Dry Goods, Groceries, Hardware,
Queensware, Clothing, Boots, Shoes,
Hats, Caps, &c.
Trimmer, David T., Loans, and
Dealer in Live Stock.
Vandolah, D. H., Stock Raiser and
Shipper.
Waters, John W., Physician ; office
at People's Drug Store.
CHENOA.
Bank of Chenoa, J- R Snyder,
Banker ; Lester H. Snyder, Cashier ,
Collections promptly attended to ; New
York correspondence : Gilman, Son &
Co. ; Chicago correspondence : Union
National Bank.
Besley & Wightman, Dealers in
Hardware and Cutlery, Stoves, Tinware,
Agricultural Implements, &c.
Crabb, Henry, Blacksmith, and Man-
ufacturer of Wagons and Buggies ;
Horse-shoeing and General Repairing
done. '
Ewing, G- v., M. D., Physician and
Surgeon.
Exchange Hotel, W. A. Miller,
Proprietor ; J. E. Thomas, Clerk ; Bar
and Billiard Hall in connection. Trains
on the T.. P. & W. R. R. stop here for !
meals.
Fales, W. M., Dealer in Staple and
Fancy Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots and
Shoes, Hats, Caps, Notions, Groceries,
Queensware, &c., Hamilton's Block.
Stock, in extent and variety, the largest,
and prices always the lowest.
Gallehue, J. M., Dentist, opposite the
post office.
GeriSCh Brothers, Dealers in Live
Stock, Fresh and Salt Meats.
Harder, T. H., Attorney at Law, Real
Estate and Loan Agent.
Haynes, Jordan & Co., Grain,
Stock and Coal, also Real Estate.
HolderneSS, E. P. G., M. D., Phy-
sician and Surgeon ; office, over Bank
of Chenoa.
Keepers, A. D., Dealer in Dry Goods
and Notions, Laces, Embroideries,
Gloves, Hosiery, Ladies' Fine Shoes,
and Groceries, Green street, opposite
post office.
Ketcham, W. E., General Insurance
Agent.
Ketcham & Seybolt, Dealers in
Groceries, Provisions, Crockery, &c.
Lilie Brothers, Manufacturers and
Wholesale Dealers in Havana and Do-
mestic Cigars.
Marriott, B J., Billiard Hall and Sa-
loon, corner Ousley and Green streets.
Pike Brothers, Dealers in Lumber
and Building Material, Hard and Soft
Coal, Ice, &c.
Ruger, Dewey, Dealer in Drugs, Med-
icines, Toilet Articles, Perfumeries, Ci-
gars, Tobacco, Paints, Oils, Homoeo-
pathic Medicines, Lamps and Lamp
Goods, Stationery, Flower Pots, &c.
Southwick & Lenny, Dealers in
Drugs, Medicines, Perfumeries, Toilet
Articles, Paints, Oils, Varnishes, Glass,
Cigars, Tobacco, &c.
1074
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
Stickney, C. W., Editor of Chenoa
Gazette.
Zeigler, Louis, Dealer in Grain.
DANVERS.
Abbott, Ira, Attorney at Law. Will
practice in the Justices' Courts in
McLean and adjoining counties. Col-
lecting and conveyancing promptly
attended to. Charges reasonable. Also
dealer in Dry Goods, Groceries, Boots
and Shoes. A complete stock always
on hand. The oldest established house in
the village. Ladies' Dress Goods, Hos-
iery, Gloves, Ginghams, Prints, Denims,
Ticking, etc., as low as the lowest.
Highest price paid for Country Produce.
Baker, S. W., Dealer in Lumber,
Lath, Sash, Shingles, Doors, Cement,
Moldings, Battings, Lime, Hair, etc.
The best Coal in the market.
Bunn, George, Dealer in Staple
and Fancy Groceries. The best grades
of Coffees, Teas, Sugars, Sirups. Canned
Fruits always on hand. Quecnsware,
Glassware, Cigars and Tobacco. Every-
thing low down for ca.sh.
Elder, Gip D., M. D., Physician
and Surgeon. All calls promptly at-
tended day or night. OflBce first door
north of Abbott's store.
Forbes & MetZger, Buyers and
Shippers of Hogs and Cattle. Highest
cash prices paid for stock at all times.
Gideon, D. C, M. D., Editor and
Proprietor of the J>anvers Independent,
a weekly paper devoted to the interests
of the village and the surrounding com-
munity. Terms, SI. 50 per annum
invariably in advance.
Hines & Bunn, Grain Dealers.
The highest price paid in cash for Corn,
Wheat, Ptye, Oats and Barley. Ware-
rooms and scales at L, B. & W. R. R.
Depot.
Musselman, Jacob, & Sons, Gen-
eral Blacksmithing and Repairing.
Wagon and Carriage Builders. All
work warranted. Buggies repaired,
trimmed and painted. The only shop
in town.
Parkhurst, H., M. D., Physician
and Surgeon, also proprietor of City
Drug Store. Dealer in Pure Drugs,
Medicines, Chemicals, Toilet and Fancy
Articles, Fine Soaps, Brushes of all
kinds. Combs, Stationery, Pocket Books,
Cutlery, Fine Razors, Glass, Putty,
Paints, Oils, Varnishes, Tobacco and
Cigars, Lamps, Chimneys, Pure Wines
and Liquors for medicinal purposes only.
German and P]nglish prescriptions care-
fully compounded.
Robinson, Ross, Architect and Build-
er. Plans and Specifications furnished
on application ; estimates made and
contracts taken. Shop one door north
of Rowell & Johnson's Dry Goods and
Grocery Store.
Rowell & Johnson, General Mer-
chandise, Dry Goods and Groceries,
Hats and Caps, Boots and Shoes. A
fine assortment of Alpacas, Cashmeres,
plain and figured Worsted Goods, Ham-
burg Edgings and Embroideries, Cor-
sets, Suspenders, Ladies', Gent's and
Children's Hosiery, Sun Umbrellas,
Parasols, etc., etc.
Yoder, John P., Prof., Principal
Dan vers Graded Schools.
SAYBROOK.
Barton, G. W., M. D., Physician
and Sur<2;eon.
Calmer, R., Livery and Sale Stable.
Collins, T. S., Dealer in Dry Goods,
Clothing, Hats, Caps, &c., Lincoln st.
Crigler, John M., Dentist, Crigler's
Block.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY-
1075
Heller & Nelson, Carriage and
Wagon Makers and Blacksmithing, Re-
pairing ; also, all kinds of Machinery,
Main street.
Hereford, D. B., & Co. (Successors
to A. H. Antrim), Dry Goods, Grocer-
ies, Hats, Caps, &c., Lincoln street.
Hurley, D , Dealer in Lumber, Lath
and Shingles, Doors, Sash and Blinds,
Moldings, Glass, &c., one block west of
Mondell House.
McDaniel, Creed, Druggist and
Apothecary, corner Main and Lincoln
streets.
McGee Bros., Butchers, Dealers in
Hides, Pelts, Furs, Fish, Fresh and
Cured Meats.
Mason, W. T., Tonsorial Artist, cor-
ner Lincoln and Main streets.
Means, James R, Justice of the
Peace.
Means & Collins, Dealers in Gro-
ceries, Boots, Shoes, Glassware, Queens-
ware and Yankee Notions, Lincoln st.
Myers, J. A-, Dealer in Grain and
Coal.
Orner, C. T., M. D., Physician and
Surgeon.
Pugsley, J. W., General Dealer in
Hardware, Copper, Sheet-Iron, Tinware,
Threshing Machines and Farm Machin-
ery, corner Lincoln and State streets.
Reddlck, Leonard, Dealer in all
kinds of Grain.
Sabin, O. C, Attorney at Law.
Scliureman, W. H., & Co., Bank-
ing House ; Collections made.
Union House, Thomas Holway, Pro-
prietor.
Vencill, A., Commission Merchant,
and Dealer in all kinds of Grain.
Winter, H. A., M. D., Physician
and Surgeon.
LE ROY.
Barnum & Keenan, Grain Dealers*
and Milling; also Dealers in Lumber,
Coal, Lime, Cement, etc. Office at
Depot of I., B. & W. R. R.
Beeney & GalUSha, General Hard-
ware Merchants and Dealers in Stoves
and House-Furnishing Goods, Agricul-
tural and Farming Implements, and
Farm Machinery. Exclusive Agents
for Le Roy, of the Walter A. Wood
Reaper and Mower, the NeflF Farm
Wagon, New Departure, Tongueless
Cultivator, Brown's Corn Planter and
the John Deere & Gilpin Sulky Plow,
and the latest and most improved Farm
Machinery.
Brown, J. W., Postmaster and Dealer
in Notions, Stationery, Fruits, Confec-
tionery, Tobacco and Cigars ; also a
large and complete stock of Wall Paper
constantly on hand at Post Office.
Chick, Zachariah, General Wagon-
Maker and Rei^airer of Wagons and
Farm Machinery. Shop next door to
the blacksmith shop of J. W.
Wright.
Howard & Hallo well. Dealers itt
Furniture, Coffins, Burial Robes, etc.
Joseph Keenan, Banker; Bank of
Deposit and Dealer in Home and For-
eign Exchange, also Dry Goods. A
full and complete stock constantly on
hand.
Keyes, T. W., Physician and Surgeon.
Office near residence.
LeRoy Enterprise, Weekly ; issued
every Friday morning. C. M. Davis,
Editor and Publisher. Established in
1874. Subscription, $1.50. Facilities
for Job Printing unsurpassed.
Pfitzmeyer, William, Brick Man-
ufacturer. Kilns one mile south of
LeRoy.
107G
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
Rutledge, Amos, Agent for J. O.
Peckham & ('o., of Providence, R. I.
Purchaser and Shipper of Grain in Car-
load Lots.
Wright, J. W., General Blacksmith
and Horseshoer. Shop next to the
wagon-shop of Zachariah Chick.
McLEAN.
BaSCOm, A. W., Dealer in Drugs,
Paints, Oils, Varnish, Lamps and Lamp
Fixtures, Cigars and Tobaccos, Garden
Seeds, etc.
BaSCOm, James C, Physician and
Surgeon. Office at the Drug Store of
A. W. Bascom.
CrOSWell, L. P., Dealer in Hardware,
Tinware, Cutlery and Stoves.
Fay, Lewis, Physician and Surgeon.
Gifford, R. E., Dealer in Groceries,
Provisions, Notions, etc.
Haughey, M. C, Dealer in (Jrain
and Live Stock, Coal and Drain Tile.
Noble, C. M., Physician and Surgeon.
Stoner, Aldrich & Co., Mt. Hope
Mills. Manufacturers of Flour, Meal,
Feed, etc., and Dealers in all kinds of
Grain. Orders from abroad promptly
filled.
Taylor, F. E., Mrs., Dealer in Dry
Goods, Notions, Millinery, etc.
Thomas, M. M., Manufacturer of
Farm and Spring Wagons,- Carriages,
Buyrdes, etc. Also sole A^eni; in McLean
County for the sale of the Cortland
Platform Spring Wagon. I desire to
call special attention to the Thomas
Steel Tooth Harrow, the best in use.
Patent applied for.
HEYWORTH.
Delano, G. M., Postmaster.
Elder, W^. W^., Dealer in Groceries,
Quoeiisware, (&c.
Low, Nathan, Dealer in Boots and
Shoes, a full line of Men's, Women's,
Misses' and Boys' Stock constantly on
hand, and at prices that defy competition.
McFarland, D. H., M. D.,
Mann, S., Dealer in Hardware and
Agricultural Implements.
NickerSOn, S., Dealer in Dry Goods,
Notions, Hats, Caps, Boots and Shoes.
Rogers, Dr. A. F., General Store.
Uriah, George, General Blacksmith
and Wagon Building ; established in
1859.
Vanordstrand, I., & Co., Dealers
in Grain, Lumber, Coal, Salt and Lime ;
also buy and ship Live Stock.
DOWNS.
Adams, Joseph T., Music Teacher ;
Piano and Organ a specialty ; residence,
Sec. 17.
McComb, C. I., Farmer and General
Blacksmith ; residence and shop,Sec. 32.
McComb, George H., Farmer and
Blacksmith ; residence and shop. Sec. 5.
Marshall, Joseph, Physician and
Surgeon, Sec. 31 .
Montgomery & Chapin, Mer-
chants ; a full and complete stock of
Drugs constantly on hand ; also, Dealer
in Paints, Oils, Glass, Putty, &c., Gro-
ceries and Provisions, Glassware, Queens-
ware, and the difl'erent brands of Flour,
including the celebrated Vara Mills.
Montgomery, James, Physician
and Surgeon of eighteen years' practice ;
office, at drug store of Montgomery &
Chapin.
Price, P. B., Stock and Grain Dealer ;
also, Farmer and Stock-raiser.
Robertson, J. H., Blacksmith and
Wagon Manufacturer ; also. Justice of
the Peace and Notary Public ; Wagon
and Farm Machinery Repairing done.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
1077
HUDSON.
Ada/UlS, J. C, Physician and Surgeon.
BistorioUS, A., Dealer in Grroceries,
Dry Goods, Flour, Boots, Shoes and
Farming Implements.
Carlock Brothers, Dealers in Gro-
ceries, Provisions, Dry Goods, Notions,
Hats, Caps, Boots and Shoes, and Agri-
cultural Implements.
Cox & Aldrich, Dealers in Grain,
Lumber, Live Stock, Coal, all kinds of
Farmers' Produce, Dry Goods, Grocer-
ies, Hardware, Boots, Shoes, Drugs, &e.
Hasenw inkle, W., Proprietor of
the Hudson City Mills and Elevator;
all orders for Flour and Feed will receive
prompt attention ; highest market price
paid for all kinds of Grain ; orders so-
licited.
Hursey, William, Carriage and
Wagon Manufacturer, and Blacksmith.
GRIDLEY.
Blumenshine & Seidel, Dealers
in Staple and Fancy Dry Goods, Gro-
ceries, Hats, Caps, Boots, Shoes, &c.
Boies & Breese, Dealers in Grain
and Stock.
Callsen, P. D., Justice of the Peace,
Notary Public and General Collecting
Agent.
Frank, G. A., Dealer in Dry Goods,
Notions, Groceries, Hats, Caps, Boots,
Shoes, &c.
Hoover, D. L., Druggist and Apoth-
ecary.
McConnell, Dr., Physician and Sur-
geon.
Meyers, D. L., Dealer in Hardware,
Stoves and Tinware ; all kinds of Tin
and Sheet-iron Work done to order.
NeuhaUSer, C. H.^ Blacksmith, Man-
ufacturer of Carriages and Dealer in
Agricultural Implements.
Sieberns, Henry E., Dealer in Dry
and Fancy Goods, Groceries, Hats, Caps,
Boots, Shoes, Clothing, &c.
BELLEFLOWER.
Grant, L. B., Postmaster, Justice of
the Peace, Real Estate and Collecting
Agent.
Moreland, R. E., Dealer in Grain,
Coal, Seeds, Farm Implements, etc.
Plummer & Hurley, Lumber, Lath,
Shingles, Doors, Sash and Blinds.
Rome, Robert, Dealer in Choice Fam-
ily Groceries, Flour, Meal, Produce, etc.
Snyder, J. W., Manufacturer, Brick
and Tile Works, three miles southeast
of Belleflower.
Stokes, George W., Dealer in Drugs,
Books, Paints, Oils, Wall Paper, Gro-
ceries, etc.
STANFORD.
Brooks, Abel, Broker and Lightning-
rod business.
Brooks, Miles, Police Justice.
Kearby, Elisha S., Wagon Maker
and Blacksmith.
Linebarger, Henry, Grain Buyer
and Shipper.
McReynolds, Leonard A., Jus-
tice of the Peace. Carpenter and Builder.
Naffziger, Cristian W., Dealer in
Lumber, Coal, Whitehall Tile, Salt,
Lime, Cement, etc.
Nafziger, Christian A., Dealer in
Dry Goods, Boots and Shoes, Hats and
Caps, Groceries, etc.
Rusmisell, William C, Dry
Goods, Notions, Boots and Shoes, etc.
Springer, Peter D., Justice of the
Peaci!.
Wright, Samuel D., M. D., Phy-
sician, Surgeon and Druggist.
1078
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Anderson, William P., Surveyor
and Farmer, Padua Township. P. 0.
Holder.
Belleville, C. D., Postmaster and
General Merchant, Kumler Station.
Blaisdell & Leeret (Successors to
E. Blaisdell & Co.), Grain Dealers,
Weston.
Bumgardner, H. G., Grocery and
General Notion Store ; Grain Buyer,
Covell.
Campbell, John, Dealer in General
Merchandise, Ellsworth.
Chapin, S. L., Physician and Sur-
jicon. Residence and office. Holder.
Douglass, D. T., Physician and Sur-
geon, Pleasant Hill.
Douglass, J. L., Grain Merchant, of
the firm of Funk & Douglass. Gi'ain,
Coal, Lumber and Salt Merchants,
Shirley.
Dillon, Thomas, General Mer-
chant, and Dealer in Coal and Lumber ;
also. Postmaster, Express and Railroad
Agent, Osman, 111.
Fleming Bros., General Merchants,
Grain and Stock Dealers and Shippers ;
also Dealers in Lumber, Coal, Building
Material, etc., etc., Holder.
Franklin, W. P., Farmer and Breeder
t>f Draft Horses and Fine Cattle, Sec.
1 ; P. 0. Lexington, 111.
Girtin, W. C, Physician and Surgeon
(Graduate of Keokuk Medical College
and State University of Missouri),
Towanda.
Hefner, A. P., Blacksmith, Covell.
Henderson, F., Grain-buyer and
Shipper, Towanda.
Healea, Edward, Farmer, and Buyer
and Shipper of Grain and Hay, Empire,
McLean Co., 111.; Post Office, Empire
Station.
Larimer, John A., Merchant and
Postmaster. Dry Goods, Groceries,
Boots and Shoes, Hats, Caps, etc., etc.,
Arrowsmith.
McCracken, William, Dealer in
Dry Goods, Notions, Hats, Caps, Boots,
Shoes, Groceries, etc., etc., Pleasant Hill.
Paulding, O., M. D., Arrowsmith.
Quinn & Quinn, Merchants ; General
Merchandise, Shirley.
Skagg, Lewis H., M. D., Physi-
cian and Surgeon, Ellsworth.
Stevens, John, Carriage Maker, Ells-
worth.
Stretch, E., Dr., Physician, Shirley.
Snook, George W., Merchant and
Grain Dealer ; also. Dealer in Lumber,
Coal, &c., Delana, 111. Highest mar-
ket price paid for Grain.
Savage, J. B., Merchant, Postmaster
and Justice of the Peace ; also. Agent
for Barnum & Keenan for the purchase
of Grain, and Dealer in Coal, Lumber,
Lime, Cement, &c., Sabina.
Stoops, S. A., & Co., Manufacturers
and Dealers in all kinds of Drain Tile.
These Tile are not surpassed in strength
and durability by any manufactured in
the State. Factory located at Padua,
on the L., B. & M. R. R., McLean Co.,
111.
Steele, James, Farmer and Grain
Dealer. Highest market price paid for
Grain. Weedman Station.
Trimmer, J. P., Proprietor of the
Thomas Saw and Grist Mill, Sec. 20 ;
P. 0. Towanda.
Weedman, John, General Banker;
Bank of Deposit and Dealer in Foreign
and Home Exchange. Bank at Farmer
City ; also Dealer and Shipper of Stock.
Raising Blooded Stock a specialty at
residence. Post Office, Farmer City,
De Witt Co. Weedman Station.
Bloomington Biograpliies received too late for insertion
in proper place.
CHARLES W. ATKINSON. County Clerk, Bloomington; was born in Lake Co., Ohio, Oct.
H, 1835. He came to McLean Co. in 1853, and finished a good education at the VVesleyan Uni-
versity. During the winter of 18G0, he returned to Lake Co., Ohio, and, in the following spring,
enlisted with the 23d Ohio V. I.; in the spring of 1862, was promoted to Second Lieutenant, and,
in the same year, to First Lieutenant, then to Captain which position he held during his service
of over four years ; he participated in twenty-seven of the most severe b ittles and skirmishes of
the war, and was one of those so fortunate as to escape without injury. After the war, he
returned to McLean Co., and engaged in mercantile business at Saybrook, continuing until 1868,
when he came to Bloomington and filled the position of Deputy Circuit Clerk four years ; he
then, for four years, held a position as Deputy County Clerk. Being social and genial, he won
the good will and respect of the citizens of McLean Co., and, in 1877, he was elected to his
present position. He married Miss Kate Guthrie, daughter of the Rev. R. E. Guthrie, of Say-
brook, Oct. 23, 1866 ; they have a family of four.
HON. THOMAS F. :\IITCHELL, Bloomington ; is a son of George and Margaret Mitchell,
and the only one of a family of four (two sisters and a brother) that lived to the age of maturity. He
was born in Highland Co., Ohio, Dec. 28, 1828. While quite small, his father moved to Ripley,
Brown Co., Ohio, where he lived for many years. It was here the subject of this sketch received
his education, first in common schools of the place, and finally in the Ripley College. At the
close of his school days, he apprenticed himself for two years to learn the carpenter and joiner's
trade, and soon became a proficient workman, and, finally, a successful manager in that line.
He moved from Ripley, Ohio, to Maysville, Ky., where he worked as a journeyman carpenter
for several years. While here, he became of age, and, like a large majority of the people of that
section of country, was an enthusiastic Henry Clay Whig in politics. His first vote was cast for
Archibald Dixon, the Whig candidate for Governor of Kentucky. In December, 1852, he was
married to Miss Mary A. Spalding, of Maysville, and, in the spring of 1853, removed with his
wife to Bloomington, 111., where he still resides. Arriving in Bloomington at a time when it
was '^apidly developing into the beautiful city it now is, he found ample employment in the line
of his trade, which he prosecuted as builder and contractor for several years, having decidedly
the lead in the amount of business done, number of men employed, etc. In the fall of 1857, he
became a partner in a grocery store, which proved an unfortunate investment, and soon absorbed
most of the net savings from his business as builder. Having closed out the grocery business,
he was appointed Street Commissioner of the city, and in tlie following year was elected to the
same position. The winters of 1859-60 and 1860-61, he read law in the office of Swett & Orme,
and with Reeves & Hogg, and though he was amply qualified for admission to the bar, he chose
to enter upon the lumber business, which he did as a clerk for W. C. Watkins, and for seventeen
yeai's, he has been engaged in that business under various firm names, eleven years of this time
undtr the firm name and style of Whitmer & Mitchell. He has always taken an active part in
public matters, and thoroughly believes that the pi-actice of good people ignoring political attairs is
fraught with great danger to our institutions. He was elected twice a member of the Board of
Fducation of the city, and served as its Treasurer two years. Since his residence in Illinois, he
has been a Republican in politics, and has taken an active part in most of the campaigns in this
State. For six years, he was chosen Chairman of the Republican County Central Committee. At
the County Convention in .lune, 1876, he was nominated by acclamation as one of the candidates
to represent the county in the Legislature of the State. He was elected in November, and was
assigned an important committee in the House, and became a very successful manager and leader
on the floor. In 1878, he was again nominated by acclamation, and again elected to represent
this county in the General Assembly. He was one among the leading contestants for the office of
Speaker of the House, and though not elected, he was chosen as Chairman of tlie Committee on
Appropriations, which is the ranking conunittee of the House. This committee passed upon bills
which, in the aggregate, disposed of nearly six and a quarter millions of the people's money,
and to be assured of the propriety of evcj'y measure, and to present the details required to con-
vince the House of the justice and equitj' of the claims, was, indeed, a work of great labor.
There was probably no member of the Ilouse who had a greater influence in its councils ; no one
more diligent in his attention to business, and none more conscientious in the discharge of his
duties, and none who stood higher in the esteem of his fellow-members at the close of the ses-
siAn. In .lune, 1877, Mr. Mitchell w:is appointed Treasurer of the Stite Board of Education,
and still serves in that capicity. He "handles the moneys appropriated and accruing to the State
Normal University at Normal, and was a valuable friend to the institution on the floor of the
House of Representatives of the late Assembly. He is a never-failing friend to the cause of pop-
ular education.
ELIHU ROGKRS, deceased, Bloomington, whose portrait, appears in this work, was born
in Windham, Greene Co., N. Y., Oct. 8, 1805 : at the age of 11, his mother having died, he went
to re.side with his uncle. Col. James Robinson, and remained with him until he was 24 years of
ao-e, eno-no-ed in farming. On Feb. 11, 1828, he married Miss Hannah Hubbard, daughter of
Israel and Elizabeth P. Hubbard, of Durham, Greene Co , N. Y., and, one year after, moved to
Tompkins Co., N. Y., and engaged in farming and stock-raising for fourteen years; in the fall of
1844, he moved to McLean Co.. 111., and first settled in Old Town Timber, farming for six years,
where he increased his farm to 1,100 acres ; in 1850, he moved to Bloomington and first engaged
in the lumber business in connection with James Robinson, and, a short time afterward, having
withdrawn from that business, formed a patnership with Ezekiel Folsom in the grain trade,
which continued for eight years, when, having sold out his interest, he, with Mr. Sill, built the
Normal Flouring-Mill in Normal. Having retired from active business life, he lived upon the
farm, upon which his widow now resides, up to the time of his death, which occurred Dec. 2,
1872.
CAPT. CHRISTIAN RIEBSAME, Bloomington; was born June 1, 1889, in Mutterstadt,
Germany; when 3 years old, the family moved to Speyer, on the Rhine, where he received a
common-school education; came to America, arriving at Philadelphia, Nov. 17, 1853; after a
residence in the cities of New York, Brooklyn and Chicago, settled in Decatur, III., in 1858.
During the war of the rebellion, in 1862, enlisted as private soldier in the 116th I. V. I., Macon
County Regiment ; was promoted Sergeant in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou ; First Lieutenant,
for gallantry at Arkansas Post, and Captain at AHssion Ridge. The 116th Regiment I. V. 1., on
entering the field, was attached to Gen. W. T. Sherman's 15th Army Corps, and formed part of
that General's command to the end of the war. Capt. Riebsame participated in all the battles of
the Army of the Tennessee, from Memphis to Richmond, including Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas
Post, Vicksburg, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Fort
McAllister, Savannah, Columbia, S. C, and Bentonville, N. C. The grand review of Sherman's
army before the President, in Washington, at the end of the war, forms one of the proudest
recollections of Capt. Riebsame. The regimental colors, officer's swords and bayonets of the men,
were literally covered with flowers and wreaths by the loyal ladies who lined the walks along
the line of the procession, causing every heart to leap with joy that their services to the country
were appreciated. .Vt the clo»e of the war, settled at Bloomington, engaging in the bakery busi-
ness, but gave it up on account of ill health; he is now the wholesale agent of the Phillip Best
Brewing Company of .Milwaukee, for Central Illinois. Is in the enjoyment of a prosperous busi-
ness and a happy family.
ERRATA.
On page 737, in history of lielleflower Township, for Gov. John McNulta read Gen. .John
.McNulta.
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